roffle doffle! Too funny, DeigoRedD. They need to let "Chewy" start, just for the entertainment value. Great recap on the reserve game too, except you left out the part where Cassar scored on a goal kick
Ahahahahaa... Chewy rep. I still can't stop giggling about that. Yea- I missed the Jeff goalkick, didn't I? Fun times!
Yep. It was good fun. If there's a reserve game right after the big show, I'd highly recommend it for folks. You hear everything going on on the field. In addition to hearing the nickname that inspired my wacky bit of fun, towards the end of the game Kevin "Bobcat" Goldthwaite went off his rocker when the Traffic Cones keeper got thrown out. LOL F-bombs galore oozed from his lips. Hush Bobcat! Hush! I'm seriously suprised he didn't get a card for that tirade.
Once she gets back from daydreaming about a sharp dressed Drew Moor. Dax was awesome on the reserves game. He should be considered in the 1st team. Dana, "Bobcat" Goldthwaite wasn't the only one bitching about their GK being sent off. Kelly "Fahr Reject" Gray was crying like a puss. Oh a good one on the Chewbacca pic. People in the stands were wonder what the hell is this lady scream at whenever #17 touched the ball. "UUUHHHGGG-rrrr!"
ugly, Ugly, UGLY soccer. Just ugly. Its not even effective ugly soccer anymore, its just hideous crap. The worst part about it is, we have a great team and we're in a great position but this moron of a coach named Collin Clarke is fukcing it all up for us. You can't even blame it on the heat, it was an exact carbon copy of what happened on Wednesday, go up a goal early and sit on it all game. You can't do that, you just can't. Ask England, they will tell you (they tried to do the same sh!t against Portugal last Euro quarterfinals). This is not only ugly soccer, it is terribly executed. I am so mad about this game that I can't even put this into a post that makes sense or adds a valuble point. All I know is that things won't change until we're one and out in the playoffs again and thats a damn shame. We have to waste an entire season just to see CC get the boot, and even then its not a sure thing. We need the powers to be to look at the situation right now and realize we have a very good shot at the whole thing this season and we need to not let it go to hell because our coach has no imagination whatsoever and is the most stubborn SOB on the planet. STOP playing Vanney on the left side! How many games does he have to look like a middle school defender before you realize he needs to go back in the center? Get rid of Simo, the guy never passes forward, EVER. Stop the constant long ball play over and over and over. We have a non-existant midfield, a so-so defense, and one prolific goal scorer that gets triple teamed all game under CC's system. I have to almost pray that we don't score first. And I'm suppose to get my friends out to these games? Hell I'm even bored and its my life. How am I suppose to convince people to come back? I mean it'd be one thing if we won, but this is ridiculous. We got lucky it worked against LA on Wednesday, one man short or not they SUCK. RSL just beat them at the HDC 3-0 for god sakes, they BLOW and we should have kicked the sh!t out of them, no excuses. CC must go
Ruiz was walking, AND he had a yellow card. They really don't hit that many long balls. There's just not enough movement out of the midfield and even less support from the fullbacks. All fixable. This 4-3-3 thing needs to get scrapped. If that means platooning Big Bob and Kenny Boy, so be it. Nunez needs to be on the field, preferably in the middle. Ronnie needs to stay wide right. Ideally, someone with speed out wide left. And, playing effectively 4 center backs across the back doesn't help in the possession department. Clarke has shown a willingness to experiment and correct deficiencies. Let's hope he addresses this one. Vanney isn't a left back anymore. But at least we know Yi's got game.
Finally, a voice of reason. Now that Richard is back. Simo needs to grab some pine. We play long ball because on central midfielders can't string passes together. Gbandi/Vanney/Moor/Rhine ROB/Nunez/Mulrooney/Cooper Mina/Ruiz
- Vanney on the left is horrible. Wake up on that one. - O'Brien in the midfield is the cause of a lot of balls blasted up field. He is not nearly as comfortable in the middle as he is on the outside. Simo and Mulrooney aren't the ones just clearing it up and out. - 3 man midfield in the heat doesnt work - CC watched Portsmouth too much this year. He is trying to battle against relegation. Bunkering in at the 20th minute is ridiculous, not effective, and perhaps more importantly, not entertaining at all. MLS should give refunds to folks who wasted their time watching that match. What a poor advertisement for MLS. - Goodson reads well and plays space well. But marking, he is horrible. That is why we have so many issues on set pieces when he plays. On the goal, he was behind the offensive player, obviously not good. Once DeRo went out, Houston didn't have a player to expose the lack of marking in the middle, so Goodson could just drift around and cut out a cross or a bad through ball. But he is not a good marker. - KC really struggled. - Just play a 4-4-2, stop moving people around and let people fight for spots. It isn't that hard.
Abso-freakin-lutely. Grab a lead, then stick in Simo for Nunez, or Move Moor out right and bring in Goodson....whatever, there are plenty of options to go defensive when there is a 2-0 or 3-1 lead. But starting off the game with such negative tactics is a surefire way to do the following: 1. Piss off the fans 2. Kill team morale 3. Give the opponent possesion 4. Tire your players out from ball chasing 5. Rack up cards and suspensions
You'd think we were the LA Galaxy or something - a tie and we're ready to send our coach packing...... You know one of the reasons why England has struggled to win as much as maybe their talent dictates? Because their media is completely out of control, as are the expectations of many of their fans. How Brazilians handle the similar pressure in their country to still succeed, I don't know other than a love for the game that overcomes such scrutiny. But are we going to replicate that same atmosphere over here? Or is it too much to ask y'all to differentiate between criticizing what you don't like about Clarke (whether I agree or not, different minds differ) and asking for his head when he is currently leading the team with the best record in the league? I mean, yeah, you're welcome to blame the coach. But if you consider yourself a fan of the club and want the club to succeed, don't you think exercizing a modicum of reasonable discourse is in order? Shoot, you guys would've fired Bruce Arena in the first two months of his career with United....
Personally, I don't want to see Clarke go, I think he could be succesful and entertaining if he just loosened up a bit. I don't think it would be impossible to see an attacking, balanced team under Clarke. We just aren't seeing it right now. BTW, can we lay off on the "in 1st place" propoganda. With games in hand half the league can leapfrog us with wins.
Its not propaganda, its where we are. And while beating LA may not be that great of a feat these days, winning while down a man for 45 minutes is worth something. Oh, and beating KC. And tying DC on the road. Let's not forget, we've played the top teams in the West and East and have held our own for the most part. Are we "the best team MLS has ever seen"? No. In fact, if I were still doing my weekly rankings, I'm not sure where I'd have FCD other than in the top five. That isn't my point. My point is that we have a team that is in the thick of things and not doing nearly as bad as some people around here seem to think. That is all.
All we are asking for is a shred of attacking play out of this team. I am not just asking this for me but for people who are coming out and experience FC Dallas and soccer for the first time as well. The only way to do that is to play an open, attacking style of play at home. We have some of the best attacking players in the entire league but we look like RSL most of the time due to negative play.
I seem to remember being in the same place last season. In fact, I would argue that we were more dominant this early last year. And look how that panned out. Refusing to look at the ways in which this team can, and needs, to improve is not smart.
Not all are calling for his head. Most just think he has assembled a talented group and want more entertaining soccer (and one reason for it is to be able to bring friends to convert - that should be right up your alley). Being a fan of the club doesn't mean blind allegiance to slop. Sure some knee jerking is going on but just because it's a sports team doesn't mean fans shouldn't push the FO, coaches and players on to greatness. That is also part of being a fan.
Well, I'm going to get back to work now. I was just trying to bring up some objective points to consider and suggesting that wanting to fire the coach on the current record seems a bit excessive and reactionary. Makes me think we're so used to failure that we'd rather chuck it all before it might fail again rather than allow it the chance to succeed. Then again, I guess that is just me being a broken record - it isn't anything I haven't said in this forum before.
And you don't think losing what was many people's MVP from last years team (for the time he played) had anything to do with that? Or maybe the re-emergence of said player this season? Frankly, I'm surprised we have done as well as we have without Richard this season, especially without EJ as well. Kenny Cooper Jr. has been a great addition. Despite the juggling at the back for various reasons, and the fact that we're starting a relatively inexperienced keeper (in terms of knowing the league, anyway), we've found a way to stay in games long enough to get results from them. We've survived the coach benching three different starters for various reasons - two of which were MLS All-Stars last year. Color me crazy, but that sounds like a long list of positives. And I am looking forward to seeing Richard continue to get back into being the great player he was before the injury, learning how to really click with his teammates and seeing how Colin handles the fact that he probably has more MLS-quality-starting talent on this team than he can start on a given week. Break it down like this - freedom of speech goes both ways. You're all free to say you want Clarke fired. I'm free to say I think you're wrong and give you the reasons why. That is all I'm doing. I'm not a moderator, I'm not in a position to have that kind of control (and don't want it, and certainly wouldn't use it this way). It is just my opinion.
The concern comes from the fact that we are one of the most skilled teams in the league, but if you watch a DC, Houston, or even KC game when they don't play FCD, they play much better soccer than we do. The lack of quality as a side for 90 minutes is concerning and will bite us in the butt at some point this season. I will also point out that in the start we got off to last season, it was much of the same - 60 minutes of poor performances, 30 minutes of good, and the brilliance of Mulrooney was enough to pull out a result. FCD is a team that plays scared to lose. They don't play to win. They get ahead and bunker down. If they are behind, they start playing with flair and dominate the game. But once they take a lead, they stop playing any attacking soccer. Watch the DC-KC game from Saturday. When DC gets the lead, they try to pour it on and add to the total. A very different approach. Some of that is the players' approach, but a lot of it has to do with coaching, as well. Thee is also the issue of use of certain players that has been discussed ad nauseum on the board, and that certainly is a coaching problem.
Precisely. And why they do this is a bit mystifying to me. This conservative approach might be understandable in the last weeks of the regular season if the team is trying to squeak out points to make the playoffs. But why they're playing this way at this stage of the season is hard to comprehend. Hitchcock should have a chat with Clarke and remind him that one of FCD's main goals is to sell tickets. And playing boring, conservative soccer does not help ticket sales.
As someone who has watched England as long as I've watched Dallas (Euro '96), I can tell you that the single reason England doesn't kick the crap out of most teams like they should is because they play EXACTLY like Dallas does right now. They go up a goal and bunker in and are almost like "oh sh!t we're winning, what do we do now?". Like they should be surprised they're winning or something. If they just played their normal way and maybe tightened up on defense and played a little more cautiously that'd be one thing. But to totally go into Kansas City mode is stupid. All this long ball, bypass the midfield, put Ronnie in the middle and Vanney on the left crap is all Clarke. Thats why I blame him. It has nothing to do with a personal vendetta against him or anything. On the contrary I like his knowledge of the game and his no bullsh!t spirit. But he's going about this all the wrong way, IMHO. I could be totally wrong, we could be lifting both cups this year and maybe a supporters shield and you could serve me a up a nice tall glass of "I told you so" and I'll gladly man up and drink. All I'm saying is history has a funny way of repeating itself for those who don't remember it. Prove me wrong.
Do you honestly think that England and Brazil are the only two places where media scrutiny is out of control? I suggest you go to Italy, Argentina or Germany during soccer season. And those countries have managed to do pretty well in the WC. Argentina's head coach even had to quit the team while they were in FIRST place during qualifying because of all the pressure for Pete's sake. Do you not think that Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man U, Bayern, Juventus, Boca Juniors, etc are not under a lot of scrutiny? Does it impair their ability to win champioships? What about the Yankees and the media circus that is NY. I think they've done pretty well over the years, don't you? If anything, media and fan scrutiny means a passion for the team exists. That's a good thing. And I bet even Colin Clark will tell you the scrutiny and the pressure he gets here is almost nothing compared to what it was when he was a pro playing in Europe. He'll probably laugh at you if you tell him "some pressure, uh?" Hopefully, within our lifetimes, we get to the point that soccer is scrutinized in the U.S. like the other major sports in the country, or like soccer overseas. But for now, I would say be glad that there's any scrutiny at all, whether you agree with it or not. So what if they want the coach fired after a bad game? At least they show passion for the team. Listen to the ticket after a Cowboy loss. Many a fan calls in asking for Bill Parcell's head. And he's won multiple Super Bowls. Which is more than CC can say at this point.
I'm not part of the FIRE CC crowd - but I would like to thump him on the shoulder. Think back to 2003 - just look at the talent on this roster. Its night and day. This may be the most talent filled - pure talent - of any roster in MLS. And while we may be in 1st place we dont play like a 1st place team. Our lead is precarious. And in a home and home series I think there are at least 3 teams that can beat us - Houston, KC and DC. Because they play better team soccer. We should be pounding teams - escpecially games like yesterday at home. Our strenth is our offense - our attacking players. Our back line is either young , learning or slow. We need to play to our strengths. That lineup posted earlier: Gbandi/Vanney/Moor/Rhine ROB/Nunez/Mulrooney/Cooper Mina/Ruiz That is the 11 players I would play. Our defense is too prone to error to hold a lead. We need to score some FU**ING GOALS. We got lucky against LA - and were lame against Houston. I would rather lose playing fast almost reckless soccer than lose or tie playing boring and scared soccer. Oman is right. We play scared when we have a lead. Look at those mids and forwards - we can beat any team in the league on a daily basis. We have the O. We need to bring it and use it.
FCDallas96 touched on this, but I think it bears repeating. MLS is a league that offers great freedom for a coach to play an aggressive, attacking style. There is no threat of relegation, and chances are you'll get enough point to make the post-season, as long as the talent is there. There is little media attention to bring pressure on a coach that would implement such a strategy. You don't have to worry about each and every point as all that really matters are the Cups, not the Shield. This is an incredible environment for playing with gusto and not being scared of the counter, or of losing the occasional game. Not to mention that such as style 'may' result in better fan retention. Now is the time to play this way, feel it out, see if it works. The playoffs are months away, plenty of time to go back to boreball if the results don't come. But I can't bare the thought of watching this crap for 5 more months. I can't understand the mentality that allows for the team to go into a bunker after 30 minutes. And I don't want to hear about the players doing their own thing....any coach worth his paycheck would never allow that to happen. They played that way before the halftime whistle and they played that way after, which says to me CC completely advocated it.
Not only that, FCD is just about at the point that they don't even have to fear being relegated to third place in the division, the other teams other than Houston being so bad.