Ditto. And where the hell was our defense? MEMO to next season: Get SPEEDY DEFENDERS. We can't get burnt by speed wingers, especially from the left (get it Matt B.).
The problem is we have two perfectly capable outside backs who aren't playing, Gbandi because of injury, and Salyer because God knows why. Gbandi has the speed to get forward and recover, while Salyer doesn't go forward as much as Ezra, but that also leaves us less exposed.
Cassar is not the problem. I don't think even Oliver Kahn can get to those 5 goals. However, I do agree Cassar is no better than Countess. They are about equal. SJ's off the ball runs are very unpredictable. Their formation does not stay rigid when they are attack, and players of different positions were making forward runs at different angles. The one touch passes and the off the balls runs were too fast for Dallas defenders. Dallas backline just does not have the mental ability to anticipate what SJ was doing. Instead they can only react to things that already happens. I don't think the pace of the defenders is the problem. The problem is that the defenders just don't know how to defend. SJ as a team is more tactically advanced than any team in MLS. Dallas attack really impressed me. EJ has drastically improved. Hudson said Ali Curtis is not a precision player, but he sure is a hell of a flair player. Dallas should be able to score at least a goal or two every game from now on. You just have to fix the backline.
Once Ali learns to finish, you guys will have an all star forward in your starting 11 for '04. Not like that will help now but..... We've been where you are now. Trust me, we know how you feel. Good luck.
FAHQUE wrote "Casaar is no better than Countess" Do youi thing with DJ in goal he would have kept the game a little closer??
Bad penmanship, I meant think!!! Anyway someone asked why is Jeff in goal instead of DJ" and I believe DJ made a decision to go home and not practice last week due to a family death. Colin decided to start Jeff because of DJ's decision to choose family over soccer. DJ was only going to miss practice as he was back by game time last Saturday. Anyone have any thoughts about this??
The reason Jeff started makes sense from last week. A new coach takes over and DJ does what most people do in the loss of a family member. Jeff gets the start because he is there to practice. Jeff gets the shut-out so it just makes sense to start him again the next week. That was one of my biggest knocks on Jefferies was he was always changing the line-up week to week. Clarke will now have to make some changes this week and work on maintaining defensive shape as well. I was very disapointed in the game but truly SJ is just a far better team than us.
I don't think he would have been rounded by Donovan and might have gotten one of the others. He may have given up one that Jeff stopped. It is hard to be a keeper when the defense is so porous. My take is that since they are pretty close then play Countess most of the time. He has better reactions and is quicker with more upside. Cassar is more experienced but Countess can only acquire by playing. DJ will be very good in a year or two. My biggest question for the year is how did our defense go from being fairly decent last year to plain awful this year? We started off with the same players. Suarez freelanced too much and was traded. Is EZ an improvement? Bonseu missed a few games with injury and Thomas took over but is he an upgrade? Broome had issues and now we have seen Gbandi and Behnke, again are they better? Finally Morrow was getting burnt beacause of lack of speed a few times earlier in the year and lately has injury issues but is Dunseth a step forward or back.
they are all steps backwards. Those guys knew what they were doing last season and this season the new ones are just lost. And Behnke is well, Behnke. I think the whole defensive collapse started with Suarez and T-Bone switching places. What a bunch of crap that was, thanx Mike.
      All is not lost for the Burn, as they will get better next season now that they have Greg Elliott in the front-office... he was one of the people who helped turn the Earthquakes around at the beginning of this century.       Also, you'll be getting a brand-spankin' new soccer-specific stadium in about 1 1/2 years, while the most San Jose can probably expect is a spruced-up Spartan Stadium. -G
I think picking up Ali is the best thing to happen to the Burn since signing Ronnie. Of all the new signees, he's the only one that seems like he wants to play here.
At least the match was exciting. Felt bad for Cassar as he really got hung out to dry. A goal 11 seconds in? We kicked it off?? By the way burning247, that was Dunseth who gave away the ball to Donovan for the second goal, not Behnke. The report on MLSnet.com got it wrong. At least we're getting some goals under Colin. Two games four goals, unfortunately five conceded.
yea and gave it up just like that. And as for the Dunseth thing, well the TV said Behnke too but you never know with the tv coverage in the States. Whoever it was needs be slapped, but Behnke still needs work.
If he doesn't start looking a lot better real soon, I think he'll probably be gone at the end of the season. Not a lot of guys educated at Princeton are going to stick around for $1200 a month, and, considering 3rd's said he's begun applying for law school, I'd bet he's started planning for a life after soccer as well.
The reason Dir said it was more Behncke's fault on the second goal was Matt had pushed up (way too far forward for his offensive skill set IMHO) in an attacking position right before the ball was played long to Donavon. Dunseth did make a meal of the possesion and gave it away immediately to Donavon, but he shouldn't have had to make that play. Behncke was too far forward and Dunseth was covering the space (whole right side of SJ attacking flank) that Matt was responsible to cover.
"Whoever it was needs be slapped . . . " How about somebody just goes ahead and slaps all the defenders. And the midfielders too, why not.
uh, they have a good team? Better than every other team in the league? They will probably make the Cup final, might not lose a game on the way. The field is small. Burn don't play well there, in part because they used to use space well, since the Cotton Bowl was a lot bigger and has no real crown on the sideline, so they got the full 70 yards out of it. This year who the hell knows. The Burn have 3 attackers who are fast, like steps faster than Jeff Agoos and the other defenders who repeatedly fouled Burn forwards before they got too far away to foul. Having a small field is an advantage for the team with defenders not as fast as the forwards. Which is why I brought up the foul count. Foul on Johnson, Curtis, Davis, over and over again. Fouls on two players who'd been in the game for less than 2 minutes each, probably on their first touches. Defenders do that to avoid getting toasted. And they can achieve that contact when the attacker is five yards closer to the defender whom the attacker would normally be able to evade.
A Couple of things-EVERYBODY in the league is faster than Agoos. Always has been. What makes him so good, on any field, (ok make that any MLS field-let's just leave that little nightmare called Seoul out of it. Although the BS that Keough and EDwards heaped on him was incredibly unfair...) anyway, the thing that makes him so good is that he organizes so well. When he came to San Jose, we were a franchise in disarray, YEARS of futility not just one season. He gave us credibility and anchored what has become a solid defense. He is a credit to your fair state. Regarding the fouls, on which you seem to have a little heat, it goes both ways. Vaca's two footed chop at Mulrooney (?) last time he was at Spartan was so blatant it should have had him banned for the year. (Of course when the league let's idiots like Kovalenko, Franchino, and Pierce get away with murder on a regular basis what else can you expect-asked rhetorically) Point is this, player will play to the level that the referee allows them to play. The level of play stayed fairly high brow, although there were a few tackles ON BOTH SIDES I would have whistled if I were foolish enough to ever put my money where my mouth is. Compared to what is laughably called officiating on most nights in MLS, this guy wasn't bad.