Let’s be realistic… one big thread for the season is fine, given the relative paucity of posts on this forum. Everything can go here, including playoff matches and MLS Cup Final. And we started off well tonight with a fairly convincing 3-1 opening win at San Jose. With a few new players but not as different a look to our XI as I was expecting. Too early to draw any conclusions but there were some positive sign from several guys. Lots of early season cramping. And it was great to see Aaron Long back, anchoring our team… now as El Capitano. Let’s just see how long we can stay in first place!
I also have to agree with the first post. We still have players on the way, so there is that as well. Cautiously optimistic.
https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2022/02/28/six-month-loan-red-bulls-get-fletcher-from-watford/ SIX-MONTH LOAN: Red Bulls get Fletcher from Watford Feb 28, 2022
https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2022...or-homegrown-territory-exclusivity-of-valdez/ Red Bulls get $50K from Houston for Homegrown Territory exclusivity of Valdez Feb 27, 2022
I watch a lot of EPL and I honestly can't recall ever hearing of this guy. I looked up his Wiki and it doesn't exactly shout success or proficiency in front of goal. Hopefully NYRB scouting has some inside knowledge, but Struber's comments also didn't exactly give me a ton of hope. Also 6 teams in just over 6 years. This is not the forward signing I was hoping for.
When I said "everything can go here" I was not thinking so much about transfer-related news, as I was about match play comments. That said, I personally think it's OK to mix other news items in this thread, if people agree. As long as it doesn't get completely overrun with random rumors, etc... which apparently is not very likely, given that there are like 10 people who post to this thread!
BWP at a Middling career in England before he came here to change his career. Hope he has a good loan spell which leads to a smart purchase.
True, but how many BWP's are there out there?? Still we did get our money's worth from Bradley for quite a few years before he "regressed to the mean"
Fairpoint but didn’t he kind of drop off a cliff In the last year or two, in terms of his “contributions“ at NYRB? I don’t have his stats by year handy right now.
is there a game-day thread? I'm watching the game vs TFC while working... and thought TFC was all over them to start. and then... boom, boom, boom, boom. Morgan? really? Yearwood has looked solid, Amaya and Fernandez too. But tbh- this has so far been the sum far exceeding the parts.
I kinda remember him being injured most of the last year or so of his RB tenure... but I could be wrong.
No more match day threads. Just one faint thread. Maybe when we win Supporters Shield again, our numbers will grow. In Alumni News, Jesse March lost his first game as Leeds coach 1-0, despite something like 20-5 shots on goal advantage. He maybe able to turn them around but time is not a friend.
encouraging to see Bamford on the bench- that team needs to stop leaking goals, and to finish more of the chances they're already creating. day 1 on the job, they vastly outshot the opposition and "only" gave up 1... small victory. Bamford returning hopefully adds those goals (as will Phillips and one more guy I'm forgetting). but the RBs... I'm still not sure what to make of them. Klimala is a tough dude up front as a 9. that MF looked decent buzzing around in transition but didn't seem like a team capable of controlling a game. kudos to them on the first couple games... will be interesting to see if they can continue this run and hopefully add somebody up front (aren't they expecting somebody from Watford?)
Yeah Marsch was unlucky to not get a draw. He tighten up the backline, now he needs someone to score. At this point bring up the top academy forward because DJ is not enough. RBNY seems at least 2 seasons away from a title but you never know. This system and players are working for now but we will need depth for a long season. The forward you are thinking about is Ashley Fletcher should arrive soon.
As for being 2 seasons away from a title, I think we might be closer than that. Our supposed weakness this season was our offense and so far we’ve scored seven in two games. Now I’m not overreacting and saying we’re title contenders now but if the Morgan signing works out along with the new guys Fletcher and Luquinas, we might be ahead of schedule. To me the under the radar improvement that is key to our season is Frankie Amaya. If he lives up to his potential then he’d more than make up for the loss of Sean Davis. I think he can be better.
I was away this weekend and just catching up on this match… An alpha performance right from the get-go. Even with only 33% possession! Morgan holy cow?! Hat-trick on his 2nd start! And it probably was really 4 Since he looked even on that offside call. In the transfer thread I think I cautiously mused whether he could be the lethal, clinical goal scorer as an AM that Klimala is not at ST… and based on yesterday’s evidence, he may just be. I also really like how aggressive we were in our challenges and interceptions, Even when the odds were worse than 50-50. I think Dylan Nealis was an example of that, he basically started the first 2 goals.
Ps. What the hell was up with TFC’s pitch? Did they do away with the groundskeeper position or something? What do they not have under soil heating? Or grow lamps? It was a spotty, bumpy, slow as hell surface. Reminded me of some of the stuff I played on in high school decades ago.
agree about the aggression in the MF- and also using the RBs approach of being aggressive and quick putting the ball into dangerous spots. they're not a team built to possess and knock it around, and if they can get their MFs defending like they did and putting the ball forward like they did, and getting guys to finish like they did... it's RB soccer in a nutshell. but damn- I know nothing about Morgan... hopefully it's more like that, because yeah- even on the "assist" for Morgan's 2nd, Klimala's final ball wasn't so hot. and I genuinely like the hard work he does up there... just want to see a little more class on the final touch. mabye Fletcher can push or supplement him?
Then there was comical moment when the players were taking the pitch, on schedule for 2T kickoff, but the sprinklers were still on! I've seen players get caught in sprinklers coming on after pre-game warmups, but not at KO! So in addition to the challenges that Bob Bradley faces at TFC, they also seem to have some significant deficiencies in their grounds staff.