Isn’t Houston bigger than Dallas? Yet people always talk about Dallas. I wonder if they feel disrespected by that.
This match seems like a classic rock vs. hard place match-up. Which could result in a great game. But also could see one side holding while the other breaks. LAFC's concede possession/counter-attacking style has worked flawlessly in the playoffs. They're not racked up a ton of goals (except vs. Vancouver in their first match), but have also given up zero. Then again, they've not faced a team that attacks - and scores - like the Crew. If there's ever a match where the team scoring the first goal will have a huge advantage, it may be this one. If it's us, we'll force LAFC into trying to play a game that they're simply not accustomed to playing; and it's not as though our counter-attack is lackingm, either. If it's them, their concede possession/counter-attack approach becomes all the more dealy as we push harder to equalize.
The Dallas MSA population is about a half million larger than Houston's and it's growing more quickly.
LA is kind of the perfect team to beat us. They have the leagues best counterattacking player in Bouanga. And Vela and Olivers are dangerous partners. Their FB's get involved. Hollinghead is their 3rd leading scorer. They have a defense that has pitched 3 shutouts in 4 PO games and are more than confirtable soaking up pressure & countering, giving up roughly 70% possession to Houston & Seattle. Chiellini is one of the best to ever do it at CB. They are excellent on set pieces. Hollingshead has 3 PO set piece goals and as a team they score a bunch. Other then NYRB, they vrcreate the most offensive third TO's in the league. On the other hand, we are the team you don't wanna concede the ball too. We are not Houston. I think it is a real Ali v Foreman situation. Except we wear YOU down while attacking.
That is a fantastic comparison, which seldom seems to happen between boxing and soccer. One obvious difference: Instead of the Rumble in the Jungle, this could be billed as "the battle between the league's darling franchise vs. those bastard children who won't go away no matter how badly Donny Garbage wants them to in a deceptively sized and populated Midwestern City." Oh, sure, that title seems a bit long and impractical. But still . . .
I'm not sure that this is so. I saw a podcast yesterday from the MLS guys (Wiebe, etc.) where they specifically called Columbus "the team everybody loves" and LAFC "the most hated team in the league". Now I'm sure that by now everyone has heard my theory that the Crew is a whole bunch of people's second favorite team, but I don't think that's it. At this point enough people have watched them play and said "Man, that's fun to watch". While the concept of the Crew being everyone's darling may take a bit of getting used to (and of course they hate us at MLS HQ because the boss hates us - it's hardly a secret) at the moment at least Nancyball has caught a lot of people's fancy.
I'm much more concerned about Bouanga than Vela. Vela has not looked great recently, only has 1 assist and 0 goals in his last 10 games, and had multiple great scoring opportunities against Houston that he didn't put away. Bouanga, on the other hand, has been on fire. He has 10 goals and 1 assist in his last 10 games. With that said, Vela definitely possesses the quality to hurt us if he can raise his level a bit from where he's been recently.
I really like the sound of this, and I hope it's actually a thing. God knows, we got a lot of meaningful support from all over the place during STC, and yes, Nancy Ball is one of the best products on the market, sure to see lots of imitation. The chip on my shoulder is almost entirely league related, at this point, and I am sure I would be a much happier person were I to evolve from "Everyone hates us, we don't care" to "I'd like to buy the world a Crew." Maybe a win on Saturday gets me further down that evolutionary path, where I'd so dearly love to go. But for now, I have just enough scar tissue to respond, simply, isn't it pretty to think so.
Starting Farsi and letting Gressel come in against a tired defense has worked pretty well the last few games.
Y’all are thinking too hard and worrying too much. Nancy is going to come in, kick some ass, and walk out carrying the cup.
Team full of poets and philosophers: Malte Amundsen, on the story #Crew96 is writing in the postseason - "We're past the point of no return... We just got to make the beautiful ending."— Brianna Mac Kay (@brimackay15) December 7, 2023
In addition to all of what you've stated here regarding league-wide interest, the team really seems on the verge of becoming "mainstream" within Columbus and a large reason for that is the way Nancy has us playing. Up until the last couple years, the Crew has always been a niche item within the Columbus sports and entertainment landscape. The amount of conversations I've had or overheard at work relating to the Crew over the last few weeks has been incredible. It used to be a rarity to hear someone else openly talking about the Crew, or to be able to talk about the Crew without the other person being totally clueless about the subject, but that's no longer the case. If we can win on Saturday and continue this style of exciting and successful play through next season, I think we'll really see support for the team solidified within that "mainstream" status. We seem to be on the verge of joining the top tier of MLS teams in terms of their position within their local sports and entertainment landscape.
I thought we were favorites against Cincy, but not against LAFC. They have guys that can finish off counterattacks.
LAFC are an absolute nightmare on set pieces. Columbus are not great at defending them nor are they dangerous with them offensively. It’s a bad matchup there. LAFC are an absolute nightmare in the counter. Bouanga WILL get a clear chance in this game, as Columbus have given up clear chances in every game, and his record this year shows he will very very likely finish that chance. It’s a bad matchup there. Columbus have Cucho. Columbus have Wilfred Nancy. LAFC do not. That’s a bad matchup for them. This could be an absolute all time classic game. If Columbus are going to win, they are going to have to outscore LAFC. It is not going to be 0-0 or 1-0. Columbus have shown repeatedly the ability to outscore opponents while giving up clear chances. Adding to the layers of intrigue and pressure and drama: the possible last games in respective team colors for Cucho, Nancy, Vela, and Chiellini. All will be desperate for a trophy. I absolutely cannot wait, and feel like I might explode before kickoff.
Okay, okay. Here I go. Diego Rossi will show up against his former club. He has had his share of naysayers since his acquisition. Rossi will be brilliant to see. The timeline for the team’s chemistry accelerated at an astonishing speed. A whole list of incredible soccer personnel within this team from Nancy to Nagbe are contributors to this story. This Crew is our Crew. Let the sights of 2008 (and 2020) light Saturday’s game.
Totally agree. I'm about 90% certain we'll give up 2 goals, but I'm also about 96% certain we'll score at least 2 goals. Nancy really doesn't care if his team gives up 1-2 goals, and neither do the players, because everything they do is with the expectation that they will score at least 2 goals. I will be very interested to see who starts at CB for LAFC, and how they deal with our attack. Chiellini has started all but one game during the playoffs over Long. Neither player is quick but Chiellini is probably the slower of the two. He obviously makes up for that with his excellent positioning and ability to read and anticipate player movements, but I definitely think we can turn him into a liability if we have Cucho, Rossi, and Matan continuously running at him. He's given up a few bad fouls (and got away with a few) in the last couple games but all were outside the box. If we can be as advanced as we typically are and force him to defend inside the box, I think there's a decent chance we can win a penalty off him.
The thought just popped into my head about the crowd and the effect of giving up the first goal. I think most of us here unfortunately remember MLS Cup 2015, and how going down 2 early goals affected the energy of the crowd. I was there. It completely deflated the atmosphere and changed everything. We can’t let that happen Saturday. There has to be an awareness by the crowd, which I am extremely excited to say I will be in, that even if LA comes out firing and gets the first 2 goals it is far from over. Columbus has scored and been dangerous against every single team all year long, and it’s up to us to drive them forward and be deafeningly loud all game long no matter what.