It was a nail-biter at the end, but three great subs and we get the result. I actually liked what little we saw of Herrera, he always seemed to be in dangerous positions, so who knows. Ekpo looked good tonight, Moffat didn't. At this point, I'd almost take Garey over Lenhart. Lenny missed some real chances, so maybe sit him a week and see what Garey can do.
That third goal was inevitable. We were destroying NER thru most of the game, and especially in the 2nd half. Garey was terrific.
That game had a little bit of everything for everyone. Rogers' 1st goal and it's a game winner to boot! I liked a lot of what I saw out of him tonight. Keep it up. Herrera's 1st MLS appearance! Like some else said, he was always in a dangerous position offensively. Gave up the ball there early on but fought back, played some D and broke up anything happening from it. That being said, he positioned well but I wonder about his speed capabilities, he looked like the kind of person that needs to build up a little steam before he's really moving. A ton of opportunities to score, we just needed to put them away. Gaven was 6 inches away from ESPN Top 10. Lenhart was dangerous all night but never deadly. Bobby Rifle still needs to sub a little sooner. And the Garey subbing for Padula was nice for its aggressiveness but we lost ourselves for a few minutes after that while the back 3 tried to settle back into the new formation. I thought we might give up another goal then because NER seemed to smell blood at that point.
I haven't been much of a Rogers fan but I think he was more troublesome for NE going forward than I've seen for sometime. I still don't understand the subs bring Ekpo and Herrera In earlier and we score 5 goals. Lots of chances guys that is a good sign going forward.
I dont agree. Garey did well when he came in but the only reason Stevie looked BAD was he had so many chances, and the only reason he had so many chances is becuase he's always in the right place. Think about it. One is NOT like the other!
I liked the subs and I loved the finish. It gets tiresome talking about how we should have scored more. It's good enough getting the win and knowing that the goals will keep coming as the team continues to gel. The first goal Hesmer gave up was just awful. Gaven was fantastic, with a goal, a crossbar, a post, and the best attacking he's done . . . maybe ever. Yeah, Lenhart didn't finish and Garey looked really dangerous. So maybe Jason starts getting some of his minutes. But I wouldn't overdo it. A tie would have really sucked. Good thing that didn't happen.
That's a tough one. Being in the right place is wonderful but it's not worth jack if you can't cash in. Look, I love Lenhart but let's be honest here, the man has no discernible skills. Attitude and his work rate are great but there are times when they are not a substitute for a little touch.
From Shawn's pre-game blog entry: "--Lenhart was in street clothes about an hour before the game and said he would not play because he had the flu. Thirty minutes later he was bounding onto the field for warm-ups..." Why start the guy when, apparently, he's not 100% and you have someone like Garey who can start?
I'd add that Garey was invisible from minute 70 until minute 80+, and only really came on after the goal. However his speed was very impressive. Lenhart made excellent passes all night, showed great hustle, and had many dangerous scoring opportunities. Whether a player shanks a few finishes isn't a good metric for anything.
It aint like he's Shaq at the foul line... these things even out. If only one of those had been clean in he'd get an 8 rating. He was everywhere and the only one I'll fault him for was the 1 v 1 on Burpo. That was poor.
I agree, that's why I suggested sitting him for a week. Why not give Garey a chance to show he's better. If not, put Lenny back in and it's settled.
Which is why we should have two strikers up top! If today shows anything, it's that we can simply blow half the teams in MLS away by playing all out attack football.
I just think Crew is deep in talent and we could have these arguments forever and there isn't a right or wrong answer: Garey or Lenhart; Moffat or Gaven, so on and so forth. An embarrassment of riches. Damn. Life is good.
I think I would have left Gino in but brought Moffat out and put Eddie in the middle sooner. And Herrera-he is a good luck charm like Padula was during Crew's run to the Cup in 2008. Rogers was MOTM because he was involved in all three goals but Gaven played very dangerous all nite. Gaven and Rogers are Co MOTM-its truly nice for Crew to have a team with two talented wings. Hesmer fluffed early but regrouped and had some nice saves late.
At least in the past, the Crew's style of play has seemed to suit Lenhart's strengths -- size, physicality, and ability to win and hold the ball -- better than Garey's. However, recently,the Crew have been able to spring the forwards facing goal...an area for which Garey is much better suited. So, I say give Garey a shot up top. Also, I think the danger in moving Gaven to the middle and starting Ekpo out wide is that it might expose us defensively. I think Carroll tends to struggle when he's the only defensive midfielder out there. And while Gaven may have developed enough defensively to help out Carroll, Rogers and Ekpo both play very little defense and both have some ugly turnovers on occasion. As much as I do think Moffat has struggled, I'd be much more comfortable with simply switching Moffat and Gaven, although I think we should bring on Ekpo early when we are looking to push the tempo.
I would like to commend my friends of the Südecke for a fun game tonight although one of the founding members kept being put in time-out for cursing around kids. Glad we got the three points. It wasn't pretty....but it was three points.