I'm trying not to bag on Dema, but he's played two full playoff matches so far with no results, Kelly has played one and got the game winning assist. I don't want to give up on Kovalenko, but shouldn't Gray get a little more playing time. It just seems like he really makes things happen when he's on the field
As much as I've rooted for Kelly Gray to play more this season, in all honest he was lousy last night. Most of his passes went to white jerseys. In all honesty, he looked lost out there. Now, that said - nice assist.
He looked very lost out there, but he did settle down a near the end of the game. Maybe he attended the same class Jesse Marsch did on how to turn over the ball. Jesse had two back to back turn overs, within a minute, and in each instance he did not even look up to see to whom he was passing the ball. As for Dema, I thought he was much more involved in last night's game than he has been in quite some time and he really worked his tail off. As for lack of production, that is a team wide problem. The first half had me reliving flashbacks of MLS Cup 2000 - where the Fire dominated, controlled and did everything but score.
I know Bob would never do this but I would have Dema play in Marsch's position and start Dipsey up front.
As long as Bradley is the coach, Marsch isn't going anywhere. We will just have to deal with his usual turnovers. He wasn't terrible last night, but he had his moments. Kelly Gray had a rough game. I've wanted him out there, but he played poorly for the most part. He did pick it up when it mattered the most, during crunch time. Bradley put his best eleven out there and told him here you go. Hristo played his heart out, and some defense... He played like its going to be his last game at home. Let's hope not.
Wednesday's prediction is easy. Play like Game 1, wait til next year. Play like Game 2, Bring on Columbus! GO FIRE! P.S. All things considered, I'd still like to see Marsch out of there. I think Kelly Gray caught whatever bug for bad passes he's got. And someone buy Ante a right foot. That's high school crap. Cost us 2 goals. Hopefully it won't cost us any on Wednesday.
I agree with Gray looking lost in the middle. His reaction time was always a couple seconds slower than it should have been. But he did have his moments. Jesse is fine in the middle, give him a break. He has been our healthiest, sturdiest player this season. Dema played well last night I thought. His confidence is still kind of low, but he is coming around.
No matter what kind of total game Gray had he did have an assist on the winning goal, what did the other offensive players besides razov accomplish. Dema's cross at least led to the pk being called. I still don't understand Bob's reluctance to start Dipsey it's not like we are scoring goals in droves.One goal besides the pk in two games.
Marsch healthiest? I guess Sturdiest? if you mean that he's still standing sure. Saying he's ok in the middle and that we should give him a break? Hell no. Compare him to some furniture. Maybe he's a couch that can hold 3 or 4 people but he just doesn't fit the decor of the room. Basically...NO STYLE or substance. But if he somehow manages a goal or a nice pass that sets up something good on Wednesday, that's A-OK by me. Just do it already!
No change for Starting XI I wanna see Marsch and Dema score on Wednesday, damnitall. Then we can knock out all this nonsense. Sunday's starting lineup was the best one Bradley could put on the field, and the best Fire lineup will include both of those guys. Dipsy is a non-entity, and won't be any use til next season. His presence on the field only symbolizes that we don't know what we're doing. None of us should look forward to seeing him in the first 80 minutes. Unless we're winning 4-0, and Bradley wants to protect the Rev Killer from some retribution. I was so very thrilled to see no Vaud, Walsh, or Perez out there Sunday. I really hope Hristo has one--or three!--more of those performances in him. He had a great game.
Despite his passing, Gray did have some presence in the middle. More than a few times, he postioned himself in space in the center to receive passes from teammates on the wings. It provided an outlet that the wingers being pressured needed and helped initiate some counters. He also helped pressure quite a bit. As a rookie, he's a work in progress that will be prone to making some mistakes. But he'll learn and then the Fire will have a terrific player. In the meantime, be patient.
When we have ofensive players on this team who have started game after game and who don't have any assisits or goals, it's time to try someone else to see if they can actually contribute to scoring goals.
In mid season this is great logic. In the playoffs it's idiotic. Bob beleives in his guys, as he should and will stick with them. Dema, Jessie, Ante - all these guys are longtime vets and longtime winners for the Fire. You can't just dump them and throw an unproven talent in there and hope that the chemistry will click and that Dipsy will make things happen. In a tie game well into the second half, sure maybe you send out a spark. But not a start, not in the playoffs.
The one criticism of Bob I have is he is too loyal to veterans who don't produce. I don't know if dipsey will produce but it is a safe assumption that some players won't based on this years performance. Why not be daring.
The team just completely dominated their opponents for a full 90 and won. It would make no sense to be daring right now in a must win situation. Dipsy is there on the bench. If we need scoring punch in the second half you bring him on. But to start such an inexperienced player for the first time in a do or die playoff game makes no sense at all. It's easy to be daring when you really are not involved with the decision making at all. It would be easy to say "bring on wonder boy Capano for Dema!" but it would also be idiotic. Bob's a good coach, he knows what he's doing. It's fine to question, speculate and suggest but the fact is starting Dipsy is not the right move at this point.
At home they dominated but in the last 3 road games the forwards and midfielders have produced no goals.
With all respect, Fanaddict, you are talking some heresy. It is not fair to the team, organization, players, fans and opponents if you put some new face into play in the playoffs when he has not appeared (practically) in the season. You just don't do it. The worst thing you can do to a player is to disallow him to play if he really wants to. Have you ever been in such a situation? If you were a coach, what would you tell Stoitchkov before this last game on Sunday in Naperville? He thought: "OK, I fought better or worse through the season, now to have a shot at the MLS Cup. I put effort and now don't anybody think I am going to give up." The team that played in the season should also have a shot in the playoffs (unless some real, extenuating conditions exist). This is not my rule; this is the rule the sport world goes by.
I think it is very possible that we will see Dema in Marsch's or Armas's position once one of them retires.
No Change Needed A couple of weeks ago I cringed when I saw Fire fans on here posting that they felt the Fire didn't deserve to go to the playoffs and that they hoped that the Fire wouldn't make it - because surely they would only be disappointed. Well, the Fire did make it and deserve it; however, Dipsey does not deserve a starting position over the guys who have spent the season fighting to get there. I will take Sunday's starting 11 again.
Re: No Change Needed I hope no one took what I said the wrong way but when I said it would be better if we didn't make the playoffs, I still mean it given our player and salary situation. It's plain fact that MLS gives a lot more leeway and tools to rework teams to make the playoffs, and we'd have likely better teams in the long run if we hadn't made it. I wouldn't trade it, of course, now that we made it, but I still feel the same way.