Man. I was kind of wiped out from work. I seriously considered watching this one from the comfort of home. But around 2:00 or so, my inner Crewness took hold of me. So I went. Jeez. I'll never be mistaken for a teen heartthrob that teenage girls want to throw themselves at, but... I sound like Justin Bieber right now after all the screaming. What a difference two weeks make. Two weeks ago, if we had given up two goals in a half at home, I'd have been spitting bile. And I'd have probably left around the 65th minute. But tonight -- I swear -- when we gave up the second goal, this is what I was thinking: "Eh." I've been so impressed with what this team has been doing post-Arrieta, and certainly post-Higuain that I honestly didn't think we were out of the match. I felt like I did back in -- yeah, I'll say it -- in 2008. Now, I certainly didn't think we'd have the lead before halftime. I mean, wow. I'll need to watch again, but I thought that Reis hesitated on Higuain's first goal. It looked to me like he started to his left, stopped, and started again, and that split-second took a save opportunity away from him. Don't know if he was screened, or slipped or what -- but great goal anyway. Great ball from Milo to spring Arrieta on the equalizer. And what a brilliant finish. Blew it past Reis at the near post. Then Higuain again: Two free kick goals in A HALF? Really? REALLY? Holy crap! It was at that point that I just started yelling "What the hell is going on here?" Tough to see Andy get hurt. Victimized by a Gaven-like deflection on the first goal, and attempted the only play he could really make on the second goal. And even then, the dude had to put it off the inside of the post to keep it from getting cleared off the line. I thought New England did surprisingly well offensively. Their midfielders did an outstanding job of playing balls through into the final third and finding their forwards. Even when our guys were there, denying space and closing them down, they were still getting possession, even if nothing came of it. I had to tip my hat to them for that. Julius James was absolutely putrid. The people I talked to in the stadium got the more x-rated version of my comment on that one, which I won't repeat here, but holy god, he was terrible. And the penalty may have been soft, but you can't wrap your arms around the guy from behind in the penalty area and expect to get out unscathed. Especially when you've already shown the referee that your "strategy" was to push people down when the ball got near them. And just when it looked like one of the all-time memorable evenings at Estadio Crew was going to turn into "woulda coulda shoulda", the guy that was subbed on for Higuain, Tony Tchani, comes up with the game winning assist on Arrieta's second goal. Are you kidding me? And even THEN, backup Lampson had to come up with a couple of sparkling saves to save the two points. I mean, you couldn't write this stuff. Unbelievable.
MASSIVE indeed! Will not be forgetting that one any time soon. Some of our best and some of our worst wrapped up in a flurry of $1 brews and brats.
This pretty much sums up what was going though my mind as well. When Higuain lined up for the second free kick, I jokingly told my wife, "watch, this one is going in too." When it did, I totally lost my tihs, and didn't stop smiling until the pk mess. Then birthday boy makes all of our wishes coming true with that beauty of a game winner. Awesome night at 1 Black & Gold Blvd.
My third season watching the Crew play, and I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've seen them score on a free kick. Not to mention doing it twice...
Lots of good and bad out there. But the good far outweighed the bad. 2 FK goals from Higuain sandwiched around a beautiful Miro to Arrieta goal to erase a 2-0 deficit and put the Crew up 3-2 at half, and the first time all year we've scored more than 2 in game. Incredible. Then Arrieta (from Tchani) saves our bacon after what looked to me (albeit live) like a soft PK). Still, the back line looked like they were playing their 4th game in 11 (or is it 12?) days. Lots of attacking space for NE all night. No matter what you thought of James (I didn't think he was quite as bad as some others), we have to have some rotation back there. James AND O'Rourke may need to start next game. Miranda and Mendes (before the injury) looked a step slow, and Marshall and Williams weren't much better. Still, I'm very encouraged. After the Houston game, I said it was the most excited I'd been about the team since Guille left. I'm WAY more excited now. The Arrieta--Higuain--Gaven--Duka--Mirosevic combination could really be something. Especially if Dilly and Miro start finishing. We've got some decent CM depth (O'Rourke, Tchani, and don't forget Birchall). Just think if Speas can actually play some. If we can somehow stay in it over the next 3 games (1-1-1) I'd be ecstatic.
Many of us remember that 2008 match against NE in which the Crew scored four goals. Hell, coming out of the stadium I was hugging people I didn't even know. (In my defense, as always, drunk.) At that time New England had actually elevated to somewhat of a rival by virtue of having knocked us out of the playoffs a few times. Didn't last long. But the outcome in that game was never in doubt. I'll agree with earlier posts on here that my confidence was intact even after the second goal. This is a differnt team, by leaps and bounds, from what we saw just a few weeks ago. And I'm fired up about the assists from both Milo and Tchani. Danny O was solid, and Mirada was as well, once he gave up on silly long balls and remembered that he was too gassed to run so much. There's nothing I can say about the Brace Brothers that will do them justice. Bliss has to get some credit here, doesn't he? The subs were pretty good tonight, as was the officiating. The New England player did trap James' hand against his body a bit, but it shouldn't have been there for so long, and that penalty gets called as often as not. This sure as hell isn't '08. But I'm in a fantastic mood tonight, and not because this team just got lucky like they kind of did midweek. This is rapidly becoming a team that makes its own luck, and that's worth watching. That said, I'm glad that Birchall, Tchani and Renteria are well rested for Wednesday. They pretty much have to start. And so does that short kid who plays defense and used to have long, wavy hair, now that I think of it.
Anyone know when the last time Columbus scored a FK in a match? Was it Marshall's FK through the wall in..er '09?
The stadium sounded great when chants were going. Such a sharp contrast to the near silence after that first (and second) Revs goal.
Just got finished watching on tape delay. What a match! Bliss gets props for Arrieta and Higuain. Two guys that we reportedly were after for a long time and finally got them together. Wow--night and day. I want to refocus on Warzycha, though. As I stated at the start of the PBP thread, I really don't understand why the Crew isn't rotating his back line like he has with the midfield and forwards. Compared to most of the MLS, we've got really good depth (and experience) on defense with Vuko, James, Gehrig, and O'Rourke able to slot in. The starters showed their wear on Wednesday against TFC. Williams and Mendes especially, while solid defenders, can use some rest. Yet, we start the same back 4 for the 7th match in a row. WTF! Look what happens: we go down two goals early--Williams gets torched. Then we end up burning a sub when Mendes cramps early. Then, after Hammer goes down we're handcuffed to only one tactical sub. This is poor coaching. I figure Mendes will sit on Wednesday in Philly and James will get the nod. Free Vuko! Give the guy a chance to give Williams some rest. That way, we've got Williams and Gehrig able to slot in from the bench if needed or O'Rourke could move back from midfield.
Higua looking like the signing of the year about now. The man is on fire ever since he left Argentina. I wonder if he is just simply in the zone and loving the fact he is in new surroundings. Fun stuff!!!
Higuain just makes it look so easy. His presence has really over shadowed Arrieta, who has been lights out since joining the team. The two of them have individually been (by a country a mile) the most exciting and effective players on this team since Guillermo departed (you could even argue at this moment in time, more effective). I love this flavor of kool-aid. Jay Heaps will be back in the Fox Sports NE booth soon enough, getting paid for yet another job he;s not very good at. Must be nice. Fegundez seems a decent prospect, and I dont begrudge the referee for calling it, but he shouldn't expect to get that call every week in this league. And Lee Nguyen with that freaking headband looks like a f-ing pregnant soccer mom on her way to fat-woman yoga. Pathetic.
And just because. I spent 5 minutes on the NER wiki page. Good God. They should change their name to Milquetoast United. At least RBNY have a stadium.
That was the most fun I've had watching the Crew since...well, since last Sunday. Some things no one else has said yet: -The Hi-gua-in chant on corners with the Guillermo bow looked and sounded awesome on TV. -Our attack is going to be even better once Duka figures out his chemistry with Arrieta and Higs, and once Arriet and Higs get even more comfortable together (which is a scary thought). There were a lot of great ideas Higs had that didn't come off because he wasn't quite on the same page with the rest. As has been said, 5 matches in two and a half weeks or whatever it is is a great time for him to come into the team. -Can we really blame fatigue for how poor our defending has been? There were definitely a lot of times where it was clearly at fault, but Williams has been getting absolutely shredded on the left, and Mendes looked pretty shaky before he came off. At one point, there was a loose ball coming towards him that he awkwardly called to Marshall to take while a NE player was bearing down on them. Mendes scampered out of the way like a timid U9 while Marshall had to step in and quickly collect to pass back to Andy. Maybe Mendes was hurt at that point, but it's just a bizarre play to make. I'm looking forward to Josh returning to center back, whenever that happens. -I know Tchani has gotten a lot of crap this year, but he has really good vision. It's a shame he doesn't have the skill to consistently capitalize on that, because he could be a great central midfielder for us. His assist on the fourth goal and the headed through ball he had immediately after were both class. -Lampson looked okay in his first MLS action. His distribution was very good; he already looks like a starting keeper in that department. He has the most relaxed posture of any keeper I've ever watched. He seems to just sort of sulk around the box, which I wouldn't be concerned about if he sprang into action when necessary, but that play were James' headed clearance went off the post and Lampson didn't even try to knock it out of bounds scared the daylights out of me. To be fair, he had a nice low diving save to his left and a great smother on Feilhaber when he first came in. I think Matt needs a few more years of learning under Will and Andy to figure out how to attack the game, rather than letting the game come to him. All that being said, I know it's hard as a keeper to come in halfway through a game, and I think he did a good job for his first MLS appearance. -Arrieta is the best striker we've had for a long time. His goals last time were incredibly well taken, but it wasn't until I looked at them again this morning that I realized he scored one with either foot. Amazing. Who says midseason signings need time to get adjusted?
Talk about two players making a difference, this is a new type of team with Higuain and Arrieta on the pitch. How many times have we seen The Crew come back and go ahead from a 2 goal deficit, allow the other team to tie it up, and then get the win? I agree with other comments about our defense. Too many open attackers and available space. Too many defenders making lunges at the ball instead of just containing the attacking players. Vukovic deserves some time. Exciting game. Three points. We are on a roll.
Well, part of this question answered itself. Why aren't some of the back liners getting rest? Well, the next guy up in the queue was apparently Julius James, and you saw how well he wound up playing. I'm not surprised he didn't start. And my guess on Vuko is that he's not back to match fitness yet.