Not a great game, but some positives: 3 points and defense muzzled some highly effective strikers. Our forward line still blows.
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game What a rancid game between two awful teams. At least Columbus has reasons for being so miserable. Dallas is just an embarassment. I wouldn't get too excited about "muzzling" anyone though. There is no one on FCD right now that could possibly be described as "highly effective" at anything. Just enjoy the 3 points and be thankful that you are not the worst team in the league anymore.
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game Congratulations, guys. You withstood what pressure Dallas could muster and then found a way to get the win. Good composure. Nice save by Walker on ROB's shot late in the second half.
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game You are right, not a great crowd at the game, got to change my seat a number of times during the game. The small crowd was probably a good thing since we were all stuffed under the bleachers during the severe weather delay. Aside from Glen's goal, I thought he was generally ineffective. Woly was better at being a target for the balls through the air. Did anyone else see Frankie's reaction at being subbed out at the end of the game for Vasquez? He was about to be subbed out, then play resumed quickly before the switch could be made. Hedjuk had his head down and seemed genuinely unhappy about being subbed out again. Props to the Columbus defense for largely limiting the FCD offense. Ruiz was pretty much a non-factor. Walker with BIG saves down the stretch as the visitors poured everything on in the final minutes, not to mention saving Schulte's header from going in. Speaking of Schulte, I was not totally happy with his play. Props to Szetela for having the balls to actually wanting to shoot from beyond the 18. His strike in the 1st half JUST missed curling inside the near post; fooled everyone in the stands. hangthadj - do you still want a tape of the game?
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game Have to say I thought we [overall] were quite boring. Granted I had just watched my US/T&T tape before the game started, but our passes didn't seem to be too accurate. We also played more long balls than I would have preferred. To be brutally honest, the team almost looked today as if they were playing under the old regime, which is something that bothers me. Despite my negativity, I did manage to find a few bright spots in the game: -the play of Johnny Walker -the play of Kyle Martino -Szetela's willingness to shoot from outside the box -our defense (in general) We need to get a whole lot better if we even want to fight for a playoff spot, regardless of if it is even possible to get that spot.
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game Y'know for all the crap this guy gets, when he gets the call he steps up and the Crew don't do too bad. We did get a clean sheet today. Althought he isn't the future of the Crew I'll cut him some slack and give him some credit for at least coming in and not blowing the whole game. The Crew get a result and another three points in a season that probably doesn't matter. But three points at home is a good thing.
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game Glenn had it going into the net when it went off Ghbandi. Same deal as Wingert's - nothing he could do and it hit him facing the goal from 1 yd . Did anyone else think Storey was just fast with no real idea what to do? He appeared lost and didn't really challenge for balls like he did in his last appearence. Can we complete more than 50% of passes >10yds? Inquiring minds want to know.
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game GBandi had no time to react, but I wasn't clear whether it was going in before he touched it or not. It was a great play by Henderson to beat Goodson on the end line and a good job by Glen to get in the 6, as well as a good touch on the ball to put it towards goal.
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game Congrats, guys. You did outplay Dallas in my opinion. But, I have to ask, why do all Crew games have lightning storm delays these days?
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game Who knows, but those attending the Crew/KC game next Friday... They may wanna stay away, rumors have it a tornado will be hitting Arrowhead.
Re: Crew vs. Dallas, post-game Good thing both Florida teams folded... Else we could get the weather disaster hat trick.
small crowd? that was actually the largest of the year at 15,525.. most were on the opposite side of the espn camera like the d.c. united game of the previous week.. i thought we had some good build up in the middle of the first half after the rain delay. I thought Szetela's ball was in. That would of been a sick goal of the week. At the end of both halfs it looked like we were holding on for our dear life. Second half we would get the ball, pass it a couple times, and mess up on a pass or just shoot it at the goalie weakly from 40 yards out.. That was painful. I was like there is no way this team is going to score.. it's impossible. and then we get one.. It was great relief no matter where you were at in the stadium.. or how the team played.. nice to be able to cheer for something. props: --Fraser looked like the old rock in defense. --Schulte did a good job first half.. And made some crap passes just like the rest of the team made from minute 60 to minute 80.. good job to come in and replace wingert nonetheless. --Szetela this kid has some great touches. Nice shots a couple of times. Some frustration sending balls and receiving just like everyone else. Just not clicking sometimes.. like the rest of the team. --Smoke bomb. --The dude waving the polish flag at Warzycha.. --Goal. cons: --Ruiz is a diving bitch. --Rain. --Vazquez not playing again. until really, really late. I got a good picture of V-Army's smoke bomb. and Sutton's afro..
I have to say that's what you should expect with the line-up Robert sent out there today. I really have no idea what's going on there and it bothers me. Problem is unlike the last guy, I actually feel like Warzycha actually DOES know the game better then me so I find it hard to really question the guy. The huge problem is these guys just aren't selfish enough. We don't have a guy that wants the ball at his feet in the box . The Crew have got to get a glory hunter. I think there were at least four or five times players had shooting angles in the box and choose to try to make that perfect pass so some other guy could walk it in. If Ruiz had been at the end of those type of chances that Martino and Storey got, I have no question in my mind he gets a goal or one goes in off a rebound. Jeff Cunningham summed it up perfectly last year as far as what a goal scorer's mentality should be. He said he needs goals like a fish needs water. That's classic striker and the Crew don't have anything like that on the field. But that's going to be the problem when you start midfielders and a crap player at your forward spots. Woly is just horrible. I don't see anything other then a stiff when he plays. As much as people complain about Knox Cameron, this guy is 10 times worse. No touch, trips over the ball, can't hold the ball, can't pass. The only thing he's better at then Knox is he makes those runs to goal. Which I admit is pretty valuable, but still Woly is just a horrible overall player. Storey at forward, I don't know. He was with UNC, but all year long they've been conditioning him as a wide mid. There's just a different mindset to being a forward and you can't just turn it on and off. When he goes in as a wide mid, I think he performs because that's what he's practiced all year to do. Martino, he just never will be a forward. He did some pretty amazing things out there. Probably the best player on the field today and I'm sure there is some position for him that he is perfectly suited, but forward ain't it. At the moment I'm going to finally agree with the other people here who said to put him out wide right in midfield. Hejduk is useless there. I know one thing, the US could use a RM and Kyle could be it. The witch doctors need to get done with Buddle and he needs to come back focused and maybe for once lets get an extended viewing of Sutton. He certainly seems like a player that wants the ball at his feet in the box. Anyway he should of got in for his hair alone tonight. His hair style choice deserved a national audiance. I haven't seen something like that since 1960s Aretha Franklin. Perhaps he's looking for a little R E S P E C T. As for the defense steller. At some point Schulte deserves to get some props. The first few minutes were shaky from him, but the rest of the game I thought he played at a hell of a good level. He's definatly one of the better passers out of the back and I thought considering he went up against ROB and Johnson most of the game, he did pretty well for himself. Honestly I thought he did better then Wingert has done in the past few games. I'm not saying he's a world beater, but I think he could really be a steady MLS player. Let's hear it for Robin Fraser. If he could play every game like this one, I wouldn't even hear about retirment. Unfortunatly for us, every game isn't at this high a level. Still there's no question in my mind that when Wingert gets back, Fraser needs to stay in the middle and move Wingert outside. Marshall on the other hand, he always plays well, but this year he's getting a little too cheeky with the ball sometime. A little careless. Sometime the best thing to do is just get it out of there. Don't fool around with a striker like Ruiz on your back, more times then not, you will get busted. The midfield play wasn't that bad, wasn't that great. I just don't like the personnel they had one the field. Hejduk just shouldn't be on the field in this system. Either change the system or sit Hejduk. HEJDUK ISN'T A MIDFIELDER. Henderson played well all night running up and down both sides, switching fields, good crosses, good passing. Really it's like Fraser, you wish he was young enough that games like this were a regularity for him. Szetela about what I expect out of a young player like him. Some really good moments and some really bad moments. I don't think it helps much that he's being played a little out of postion. I think he's more of a holding midfielder and he's being asked to be more attacking. I just don't think that's his game. He's Simon Elliott's replacment; get the ball, move it around, hit those early balls over the top. As for Elliott. It's fashionable to get on this guys case and I do it too. I just don't know. He does some really good things for the Crew out there, but he also does some really bad things. Plus this guy has 6 assists this year, he had 10 last year. He hits four more and when was the last time the Crew had a player that had double digit assist years. Maybe Warzycha. It's hard to say take that out to put in a guy like Szetela or hell even Vasquez as much as I like him and want him on the field. Really I've come to the conclusion with the forward situation we have, why are we in a 3-4-3? We've certainly had some success with it, I know, but I can't point to the reason why. I wonder how something like this might look? -------------Walker-------------- Hejduk--Marshall--Fraser--Wingert ----------Elliott--Szetela--------- ---Martino--Vasquez--Henderson-- ------------?????-------------- The forward really take a number out of a hat. We don't have a guy available that has shown he deserves a starting spot at forward. And really that puts a huge hole in any lineup you send out there. Then again giving up goals hasn't been our problem lately, so why go with 4 in the back? Not having a go to striker really sucks.
myshap, I think what you're seeing, or at least it's something I noticed, is how interchangable these guys/positions are. You mentioned Henderson being all over the place, it wasn't just him. Just about every single one of the front 7 (4 mids and 3 forwards) can play any of those spots. Once exception being that target spot up top, but even Wolyniec was coming back some and getting wide. I noticed sometimes Martino would be higher than Henderson, somtimes the other way around. I'm getting the feeling that that's what Warzycha's masterplan is, to have those 4 mids and two wided forwards buzzing all over the place and not really worrying about who plays what position. It's definately something to watch.
Just a few things I took from the game: I agree with a couple posts up about the Crew passing too much in the box... the thing is, if they could really make a good pass then, there wouldn't be much of a problem... but, pretty much every attack by the Crew went as follows: 1. Crew attacker takes the ball up the flank. 2. Crew attacker passes into the middle of the box. 3. FC Dallas defender intercepts pass 4. FC Dallas defender clears ball What was it... the Crew had one shot on goal after 70+ minutes? Ouch... getting rid of Cunningham sounds worse and worse by the minute. 2. I wouldn't say the Crowd looked that bad... it just sounded bad... there really wasn't much of an atmosphere at all, except for the drums I could lightly hear in the background. One poster on here was complaining about the lack of care during the Crew's friendly at the Riverhounds... at least Riverhounds fans cheered during the prize giveaways... maybe the Crew should start shooting hotdogs into the stands so that the crowd can at least make some noise during the game. 3. I don't like subbing Hejduk out in the end... you know FC Dallas was going to bring the heat, and they have 3 of the most capable attackers in MLS... taking a forward out and bringing another defender in, and letting probably your most tenacious defender stay at RB would have been a good idea... in my mind, at least. I'll admit it though, I like Hejduk.
nominated worst idea of the year.. i was the one that said that about the riverhounds.. i went to the game and it was god awful. Someone shooting ********ing hot dogs at me every two seconds, gay ********ing mascot always in the way, jock rock continously.. it was just left over baseball jock rock. like the pa guy didnt even bother to download any music that would have anything even to do with soccer. we have it to sadly.. but not continously.. 85 minutes of take me out to the ball game.. or put me in coach.. and it's a baseball field.. and you got 1,600 fans usually at a game.. and they only cheer for hot dogs. our fans actually come to the game to watch the game. i do not enjoy hot dogs thrown at me. i do not buy into the american obesity concept. and that game gave me a ********ing headache when i was their.. i couldn't even watch the game because everything else going on around the stadium except for the game made it completely impossible to focus. we had 15,525 fans today.. come to a CREW game and then come back on here and ask me if you want to challenge on atmosphere.. what a ********ing joke. btw: three things on the sound 1.) when we scored the goal and did good things it sounded loud as hell in crew stadium.. but when i watch the replays it doesnt sound as loud.. is espn2 sound rigging ********ed up in crew stadium or something? i was asking myself the same thing after the all star game. yet again as a whole espn2 doesnt spend much money on sound for any of the games.. 2.) it's always louder at the game then on your couch. 3.)You dont know what the ******** your talking about.. last person to be giving advice.. it's great that the riverhounds have their little 3,000 capacity baseball stadium that only sells half full and needs hot dogs thrown at them because they have no ability to watch the game.. attendance wise the crew has been one of the most successful in it's 10 years.. and after los angeles, dc united, chicago, and rsl.. it's us in attendance.. their are many other teams to complain to.. colorado, san jose, chivas, new york, kansas city, fcd.. it's not our fault that espn2 sound sucks.. come to a game.. ask someone who was their. the atmosphere was not bad at all today.. no it wasnt great. we are in last place bud and the team plays absolutely confusing all the time.. u dont make much noise uttering ******** and ******** underneath your breath.. we have looked like ******** all year.. and we had greg andrulis as our coach for half this year!! a guy that makes me want to eat ********. and still being in last place were around 4th or 5th in MLS in attendance. give me a break.. and riverhounds are a joke.. sorry bud.. you deserve it for this insane post.
Good post. That is probably true, good analysis. Still that masterplan only works if those players hit the goal every once and awhile. Unfortunatly what we have is a bunch of guys that think of themselves as mids and are looking for that perfect pass instead of sniffing out the goal. Those mids and forwards have to all think of themselves as forwards and go for goal when they have the opportunity. I don't know that those players have that mentality.
Are you an idiot? Can you not tell when something is a joke? Wow. Good attendance does not equal good atmosphere. I'm just saying what it sounded like on television... and that's always a large sticking point for MLS games... what it looks like on TV. The crowd looked good for an MLS game, especially for a last place team... but it sounded (for the most part) like there were less than half of that 15k number at the game. It plagues most American soccer teams, but, as I said... it did not sound good. And you insult the Riverhounds like I'll be offended? Wow. Once again, I inquire... are you an idiot? I know you're a tool, I just want to know if you're an idiot too... all you do is yell and make asinine claims... I don't know how other regulars on this board can stand you.