2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup [R]

Floriani is playing really well now, and Munie as well. And Reid Roberts has also looked very solid. We could have a Floriani - Munie - Roberts 3-man CB line for many years to come.

 

St. Louis is the new Stanford.

 

All 3 are better than Tanner Beas(t).

 

Bruce postgame. He said that Floriani and Munie were "terrific" I think is the word he used. Said that Edwards is a good goalkeeper, that's why they got him, and that he had a couple of not so great games but implied this game is more in line with his ability. (Still not completely sold).

About USOC he said that when he was with the Gals they didn't take USOC that seriously because they wanted to win MLS Cup and SS. But with this club, haven't won anything in years, and he thinks it would be a good thing to win to try USOC to bring the club back to winning ways. I think the implication here is also that he doesn't necessarily consider us to be in the running for MLS Cup .

 

I noticed that 'Grino didn't make the bench. I wonder if Bruce has kind of had it with him. After all the blown finishes in the last USOC game, and then he shanked another chance against NE, and also had a 1v1 with the keeper later in the game with defenders trailing and instead of attacking the goal, he tried to lay it off to the far post but the pass was a bit too far off and the chance went wasting. I think his confidence is shot right now. Trip back to Norway looking more likely this summer.

As for Hernán, Bruce continues to bring him back very slowly and manage his minutes. It seems kind of suspiciously too careful. I wonder if Bruce is not yet convinced about how much he's gonna help the team. And using the "getting back into form" thing as a kind of excuse to avoid giving him too many minutes right now until he becomes more convinced (if ever). I think Hernán's time is running out to make a good impression on Bruce, and he could also be a summer casualty. I did notice that he was all smiles congratulating Skahan after the game. He may not fit into Bruce's plans but he's really adapted well to the locker room it seems, FWIW.

 

Yeah, I think you're right. Should anyone be seeing us a threat to for the MLS Cup? I'm feeling great compared to last season, but this is a rebuilding year that is going well thus far. I think the vast majority of us would stand back and say a playoff birth would be a reasonable goal after the worst season in MLS history. The USOC is an achievable goal for silverware and I would love to see this run keep going!

 

I actually think we could possibly win a few games in the playoffs if we can make it. But making it all the way to the end, probably not. Not sure we'll even make the cut.

But yeah, we're 3 wins away from USOC hardware. Shortest path to HW for sure. And I think our depth is pretty good this year, good enough to possibly make it all the way. I don't know that there are any great teams left in the 16.

 

For the first time since 2015, all eight U.S. Open Cup quarterfinalists are MLS teams.

U.S. Open Cup quarterfinalists:
2011: MLS 7, USL Pro 1
2012: MLS 5, USL Pro 3
2013: MLS 6, NASL 1, USL Pro 1
2014: MLS 6, NASL 2
2015: MLS 8
2016: MLS 7, NASL 1
2017: MLS 6, NASL 1, USL 1
2018: MLS 7, USL 1
2019: MLS 6, USL Championship 2
2022: MLS 6, USL Championship 1, USL League One 1
2023: MLS 6, USL Championship 2
2024: MLS 5, USL Championship 3
2025: MLS 8

 

I am impressed that Edwards has had 2 good games in a row — I think he just needed a NE boost — maybe seeing his family & friends or something? Anyhow, hope he keeps that up, we need a reliable backup to Daniel.

As far as the refereeing, I was surfing the various USOC games last night — they were almost all on at the same time. There was a female FIFA ref who was struggling in her game, I think it was RBNY vs Revs. I think maybe some refs have become too dependent on VAR and can’t think as well on their feet as they should. She called a foul right outside of the box on a breakaway and forgot to give the RC for DOGSO. The 4th official corrected her just before she was about administer the free kick.

 

The draw included hosting priority for the rest of the tournament. If San Jose advances to the semifinals, it would host Chicago or visit Minnesota. San Jose would host the Final.

 

Man that’s unbelievable. There’s a path to us running the table and playing every USOC game at home (if Chicago beats Minnesota). That greatly improves our chances.

 

Anybody know the xG for the Quakes and Timbers? I've looked at a few sites but haven't been able to find that one.

 

FootyStats says 2.7 vs. 1.47 for Portland. We had 24 shots, according to them. Portland 12. MLS is trying to half pretend these games don’t exist because they’re not Apple games. Their games stats are completely bogus and incomplete.

 

Sweet...my class will be over by then so I can attend whether or it's on Tues or Wed - July 8 or 9.

 

That doesn't look unreasonable to me. OTOH, MLS casting shade on the USOC is very reasonable, given what we know about the commish...

 

Other teams should wish for MLS to go back to not caring because just having only the bottom MLS teams (that aren't in Champions Cup or Leagues Cup) enter and half-@ss it with rotated lineups they won 15 of 16 games and now make up all of the final 8 teams, with the last non-MLS team that won on like a 96th minute goal in the previous round having lost 4-1... But somehow it's Garber's fault that the stadiums are 98% empty? Is he preventing fans from attending games that are included in their season ticket packages? Everyone agrees that "US Open Cup should matter more" but actions speak louder than words. Who is this even for? MLS fans already get to see these same MLS teams all year. They'll start paying attention to US Open Cup when it matters, hopefully starting this round, or maybe the next...

The @opencup Final 8 is set!

Who you got taking the trophy? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/TVXM9Uxryf

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 22, 2025

 

Chicken and the egg.

 

There are more MLS teams participating now than in the last two years, has fan interest increased?
I'd say it's the opposite, there's more interest when there is an underdog story, like Sacramento Republic making the final.
But that is LESS LIKELY if MLS takes it more seriously and enters more teams!!

As is often the case what people want and what they think will lead to what they want are at odds, because they haven't really thought things out on a game theory level....

 

Of the remaining teams I think the ones that would give the Quakes the most trouble are Minnesota and Philly. Hopefully Chicago beats Minnesota in Minnesota and we play Chicago at home but I doubt it. Playing Minnesota in Minnesota would be tough. They’ve had our number the last few years and have solidly outplayed us even at our home.

 

I suspect most Quakes season ticketholders are unaware of the Open Cup, or even the concept of bonus games. The Quakes app does not populate the bonus games at the beginning of the season (and this season unlike prior ones, to my knowledge, did not allow to enter into personal calendars the schedule that was populated) and people need to plan for a weeknight outing, even if they are getting emails from the club -- and actually reading them. There was necessarily less than two weeks notice of the Portland Open Cup match.

The Messi game was hyped for months even before the season started, during the season, and was on the local news and radio sports shows in the days leading up to the game.

By the way, the USL crowd in Sacramento could have done a better job of sending fans to San Jose for the biggest game of their season. This is not merely a MLS issue.

 

What I’m saying is that MLS has more or less shunned the competition. They wanted out altogether and now it’s half-assed some 1st teams some Next/Pro teams, and MLS has all it can do to even list the games, and the “stat” page is mostly a bunch of 0’’s and 1’s. Here’s the “stats” page for our game with Portland. Obviously MLS is really putting in effort on USOC and really cares!

 

And another thing:

MLS playoff games suffer from some of the same attendance concerns as Open Cup games (Quakes fans forget because our team never hosts). Too little notice. Must be because no one cares.