CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPP!!!!!!!!!! 3-1 Metros Final. I wasn't able to see it on TV, thank goodness. Let the second guessing of Jeffries' strategy over this "Hell Week" begin. At least it's over. The good news is we're still only 2 points behind the other guys. The bad news is Colo. is only one point behind us. Strangely, despite this week (the worst in Burn history that doesn't involve calamari?), there is still a bit of hope.
Jeez that was ugly. No energy whatsoever. Understandably so, but still ugly. Whats up with Suarez? Did he get moved to midfield? More to the point, the team looks to have no shape or formation whatsoever. There is so much drifting about and random runs from everyone its hard to figure out who plays where.
It's our own fault we lost. Despite being considerably tired, we really bounced back after getting the tying goal. But you loose games when you can't burry break aways. We had at least 5 we screwed up not to mention other goal mouth incidents. All in all a very unlucky week for our beloved team, hopefully we can bounce back from all this and still manage a 3rd or 4th place finish, but it's out of our hands for this weekend.
Even though they don't play this weekend, this coming Saturday will be key to the Burn's fortunes. Realistically, you've got to expect the Quakes to beat Columbus this weekend in San Jose, putting San Jose at 45 pts and in the driver's seat for the Supporter's Shield. LA will be playing at Chicago, and combine the Fire's mediocre record at Naperville with an LA team that struggles a bit on the road, and who knows what to expect. A Galaxy win, and the Burn are apt to finish no better than 4th seed. An Galaxy loss, and the Burn have a great chance to finish in the 3rd seed if they can win their final 2 games. So while it pains me to say it, Go Fire, Beat LA!!!
No MLS team has ever performed well with less than 4 days rest. The belief that almost any of the players who went 90 minutes in LA could play well tonight was wrong. Offense actually does just fine in spurts, but defense must play air-tight sound play for the full 90 minutes. That's why I expected an entire defensive line in tact for each game. Playing the rookies in the first game should have meant playing the rookies in the third game. Or, ideally, he would have played the defensive starters in games 1 and 3 and put the rookie defensive line in for the Open Cup. If Dallas had played the Open Cup at LA with the rookies and sat back and counter-attacked with speed of Johnson and Cerritos, they might have done just fine. As it was, the strategy was too ambitious and not sound. My only thought is that making the finals of the Open Cup meant more to Jeffries and the players than losing both games 1 and 3. If so, then I can understand his strategy, but I still don't agree with it. -Tron
Didn't help that Petke decided to show up today. Marked Kreis completely out of the game. Jordan didn't look so hot Faria's first goal (Metro's second).
With Ricardo Salazar's ************************ calls he deserves the Noel Kinney treatment. I hope he dies of syphilis in a Turkish prison. Along with a couple of US Open Cup schedulers. The sore loser, Sweeper33
Screw anyone who comes in here to gloat. Screw the USSF. SCREW everyone. To hell with everyone. The team blew the shield tonight. I don't fault Jeffries for trying the way he did. The players tried but could not produce miracles. Fight on, there's games left and then the playoffs. I'm with the team, the coach, and the franchise. Screw everyone else. that crook in the yellow screwed our comeback. I hope he got a handsome check from someone for his crooked work. Burn are in the playoffs. Time to focus on playing well and getting ready. At this point where in the rankings barely matters. Since the pathetic get second spot, it won't matter much. 3rd or 4th and at least they have a first round advantage. Salazar is a crook. He doesn't deserve another MLS game as long as he lives.
What's the deal with sacrificing league play for a tournament? It's sounds to me like the regular season is getting in the way of this tournament for Jeffries. Not trolling, just curious where you guys stand on this.
No, we blew the shield Sunday with the all reserve lineup in a winable game against Colorado. Last night we blew a first round home playoff series. And I do blame Jeffries. He should know better than anyone what can be realistically expected from his team. He put them in a no-win situation in the league games, then failed miserably in the Open Cup game that he sacrificed the other two games for.
We need the 3rd seed. 4th seed is in the same half of the bracket as San Jose. We have proven we can't win out there. If we get 3rd seed, seeds 2 and 7 are in our. Much better odds of getting to the cup that way. I didn't notice any agregiously poor reffing. I actually thought we moved the ball around, we just made one too many passes in the box and when we did get a shot off, it wasn't very good. They were tired. 3 games in 5 days is just plain ridiculous with these 18 or 22 man rosters. What's done is done. We need to win out at with the Revs and DC. I will be very happy with a 3rd seed. Kreis: where are you man? Come back.
I'll be happy with the 3rd seed too, but we'll probably need a bit more than just beating the Revs and DC to get it. LA is very likely to own any tiebreaker against us ( right now the Galaxy have a +8 goal differential to the Burn's +1). So if the Galaxy win in Chicago this Saturday, our only hope will be for San Jose to sweep them in the head-to-head series, or for the Quakes to collapse and to lose 2 of their last 3 games. But with the Galaxy a formidable 10-1-2 at home and San Jose an impressive 11-0-1 at home and a shabby 2-9-2 on the road, I'm afraid neither of those scenarios are likely to happen. Thus, what we really need is for Chicago to beat LA in Naperville. Go Fire, beat LA!!
After being at the game last night, one thing comes to mind: SHOOT THE DAMN BALL!!!!!!!! Enought with the crosses in the box when you have no one between you and the opposing keeper. A shot not taken is a goal not scored!!!!!!
I was about to come here and ask the same question. The Burn had 5 or 6 open shots they passed on to try and walk it into the net. It's too bad Cerritos can't chip the ball or you would have had a precious 2-1 lead at that point....
Where was Zarco Rodriguez last night? I know Martinez was suspended. Has Zarco dropped in the depth chart?
You're dreaming if you think we're going to get the 3rd seed. We're now in a dogfight with Colorado for the 4th seed. And we do NOT control our own destiny.
I don't blame Jeffries for trying to win everything this way. I am disappointed, and I understand the other perspective. There is merit to telling USSF to go screw themselves, by putting the starting 11 in vs. Colorado, then put the team that played Sunday in Colorado, on the field in LA instead. I think that would have sent a crystal clear message to USSF that until you manage that tournament correctly, we are not going to give our best effort. It's that simple. But, Jeffries took the risk, and lost. That happens. He would take responsibility for trying, but really, the players blew two straight games. It's been a rather unpredictable season. The playoff format sucks, I cannot wait for it to change. I talked to several players last night after the game. More than one said they would get things turned around. Confidence helps.
I agree, we do not control our own destiny. However, should the Fire beat the Galaxy (or the Crew beat SJ), the Burn will be in pretty good position to earn the 3rd seed should they beat the Revs and DC.
We need some freakin' speed up front. Did you notice how NY sent Faria behind our D time and time again running onto long balls that very nearly sent him in 1v1 several times? We need to be doing that with Johnson! Our attack has become stale. We try to bring it up the flanks and send it in to some kind of a target forward which we do not have. Can we please spice it up a little with some longer balls from the midfield? Oh I forgot, our forwards are small and slow. And can someone tell me why O'brien is not taking our corners? His crossing is absolutely spectacular.
Cerritos? Will someone explain what happened to Cerritos? Any comparison to Tim Krumrie of the Bengals is VERY VERY VERY bad. The guy came back, kind of, but it was REALLLY ugly.
Krumrie actually broke his tibia or fibia, in a very bad way. That was awful. This is your typical knee injury from taking a tackle with your foot planted. He had a swollen knee and may have ligament or other damage. Initial reports were not good but not certain either. MRI today.