Higuain shows up big with another assist and his first goal. New lineup, horrid attendance, and a late collapse but the Crew eeked out a 2-1 win. Oh, apparently the Crew also take back the Trillium cup. Discuss.
After this result, I'm excited to see Fredrico live on 9/15. I won the Xbox mls Crew fan photo contest for the month of July, and since I live in NYC, they gave me 5 free tix to watch the match at red bull arena. Great seats down low too. I might have to make a sign that says,"gettin higgy wit it."
Best game of the year by Renteria despite a slow start by him. I think he can extend his career by moving to the wing. I want an Higuain jersey - the guy already has great chemistry with Arrieta. Those two are going to produce a lot of excitement for us. Schoenfeld has seen the last bit at forward. We need a left back right? One of the worst officiated games top to bottom, sideline to sideline, I have seen in a while. Attendance was disappointing but expected with a rescheduled game during the mid-week.
An ugly final 15 minutes nearly ruined a good win, but I'm happy. First and foremost, I love how Higuain has sparked this team. His presence has helped the Crew on both sides of the ball. The dude seemed to be everywhere tonight and he simply worked his fanny off. But, I'm worried about how long he'll be able to hold up at this pace. Same goes for Arrieta and Gaven over this busy stretch. Also have to give props to Birchall. He worked hard tonight and was robbed of a goal. As for the negatives, I think Bobby waited too long to get the subs in, especially with so many games coming up. Arrieta or Gaven should have been given some rest, too. LB continues to be a concern. Williams is performing admirably, but we need Vukovic back pronto. Still, I'm happy with the result and that the team reclaimed the Trillium Cup.
Really?! I thought he was seriously lacking creativity. Just run and boot the ball. Midfield looked great but if we played the final 15 that way against any other team it would have been another draw. The boys looked tired. Hope they rest up for Saturday.
70 minutes of attacking soccer rewarded with 2 goals and a great shot off the post. Arrieta's hustle and his combination with Higuain and Gaven are so refreshing to see. When was the last time we saw someone try to slice the defense with a well weighted pass? Not since the time of GBS. And then we broke down defensively and allowed a goal. It would have been nice to see us keep the pressure but Warzycha crapped his pants when Toronto scored. Grossman for Higuain -> defensive (why not Findlay and move Gaven more central?). James for Miranda -> defensive (stay at home defender for roaming defender). Danny for Miro -> equal (the only good sub he made tonight). After these changes it was Toronto attacking with Eckersley - nothing to keep him honest anymore - pressing forward and overloading one side, and Johnson becoming an outlet on the other side. Amakwira was a difference maker for Toronto while we had nothing from our subs (Grossman, TO's in consecutive possessions, James a crap giveaway just after that, and even Danny sending a bit too long for Gaven late in the match). On the positive, three points and Duka got some rest so he should be able to go 90 for Miro. Hope Gaven gets a break after 60; maybe even Arrieta.
I'm going to step in here and say that with the super crowded schedule, those changes were necessary, scheduled and unavoidable. If the guys couldn't close out a two goal lead at home (which to their credit, they did), then the subs where the least of our worries.
No one is arguing that subs needed to be made. Taking away your offensive weapons all at once is just plain stupid. He had Tchani on the bench. Why not Tchani for Miro? Get some height in the middle for all those punts we were pumping up field. Why not James for Mendes who was struggling in the last 15 minutes? Specifically when Toronto's weapon of choice is the cross from either side. We ended the game with two center backs, a center back acting as a left back, and a center back acting as a right back. Maybe in the last 10 minutes you bring in Danny for Higuain and play a 4-5-1.
We hung on for 3 points. The last 20 min. of the game were painful to watch as TFC was shredding us on the wings and there always seemed to be 3 TFC players open in our defensive third. Johnson was always open and looked dangerous all night (Is he on the Jamaican National Team?) Definitely some tired Crew players. Higuain is a great player, my MOTM. He is exactly what we have been looking for. He simply never gives up and is very creative in distributing the ball. I loved seeing the Nordecke giving him the GBS style treatment when he took a corner. This attacking lineup from RW was a great surprise with Higuain, Renteria, and Arrietta playing together. The small crowd was not a surprise with many ticket buyers for an originally scheduled Saturday match not showing up for a mid-week match. Why were the TFC coaches constantly jumping up late in the game and screaming at someone on the pitch in disgust? They were going ballistic. I assume it was aimed at one of their players? We needed 3 points and we got them! From what I could tell no new injuries this evening. We are on a roll.
I think all 4 officials sucked donkey balls. Is that clear enough? Did you think it was a well officiated match?
Fair enough. I have set my expectations so low for him that I might have simply been impressed that he didn't spend most of the match flopping and then bitching that he didn't get a call. I'll have to go back and watch the DVR but the general consensus of folks sitting around me in the stadium was positive in his direction (unusual to say the least) but that may have been because the rest of the attack look so much more dangerous than usual.
I'll repeat everything I see these kind of posts USSF and to a greater extent global officiating has plenty of sewage spewed out on pitches worldwide. This is nothing new, and should not shock anyone. Just have to deal with it for life.
Last 20 minutes was poor, but the first 70 was pretty good. Higuain and Arrieta were fantastic. Gaven and Birchall also good. Good to have Miro back in there. We'll need more squad rotation coming up. Good that Duka got some rest, but Gaven, Arrieta, Miranda, Birchall, Mendes, Williams, and Marshall have started 3 games in the last week, and four in 10 days might be pushing it. Some of those guys are going to need rest. On that tune, it was nice to see Renteria and James shake the rust off. Miro was back. And O'Rourke continue to play. I think all four of these guys could (should?) start in some capacity on the week-end. And Vukovic is off the injury list. We have some decent CM options (Tchani, Grossman) and both Miro and O'Rourke should be fairly well rested. Got to be gassed: Arreita, Gaven, Birchall, Williams, Marshall, Mendes, Miranda Should be good to start and fairly sharp: Higuain, Duka, Mirosevic, Renteria, O'Rourke, Grossman Well rested, but rusty: James, Gehrig, Vukovic, Tchani, Meram, Finlay, George Also available: Vargas, Schoenfeld, Speas, Horton All we are say-ing, is give Speas a chance!
Due to work I only caught the last 25 minutes. The subs were strange to me. Now you have a back four and three DM's. We should've looked more secure but obviously we didn't because that is far too unbalanced. It just invites them onto you. Grossman was deployed furthest forward when he came in, sort of like a Ji-Sung Park role, tackling as high as possible. But there was just too much space in front of the penalty area. Unacceptable when you've got Danny, Birchall, and Grossman in there. Their goal? Mendes stepped up to close down Hassli. Marshall was nowhere to be seen. Literally, you could've fit about three Mack trucks through that gaping hole. Mariner is probably kicking himself because he might have won tonight if he'd only started Amarikwa. Good feet, tricky and composed, finds space and can work his way out of trouble when he doesn't have the space. Bargain player. Three points, take them and move on. But not encouraging trying to kill off the game at home bringing on two DM's when there is still over 20 minutes left to play.
I was sorry to hear Vargas had a death in the Family so he was in Costa Rica. The Crew i think is 3 for 3 on DP's, Mendoza was a jerk but he did score goals. I thought the Ref lost the game when he did not card the foul on Higuain it was a bad tackle and should have been a yellow.. Renteria got crushed by the Irishman, was not even looking at the ball he just put his shoulder into Renteria's head. I could not see it but people were shouting for 2 PK's.
We must have watched a different game. I thought Renteria was awful. With the exception of our second goal, nearly every good chance we had was from the left side. Renteria was where attacks went to die. That last 25 minutes I thought he had been subbed out. He was that invisible. I understand that most of our team was tired and struggling, but Renteria was our worst player out there last night. Gaven/Arrieta/Higuin work beautifully together. These three could make us an exciting team again and may even get us three goals. Aside from the great offense and teamwork we saw last night, I am less confident now that I was before about this stretch of matches. We were dead tired that final 20' and we aren't even half way through this stretch of games. Maybe guys were conserving energy, but I doubt this was the case. If we make the playoffs, it will be on the backs of guys like Tchani, Finley, Grossman, James, et al. Our main guys won't make it, and the second string will have to bring in some points. I know the first team is capable of winning any game, but the other guys will need to step up because we need them now.
I have to agree that Renteria messed up the attack nearly every time. He was playing with a lot of passion but he simply can't get the job done. He can't trap or pass the ball. Higuain will be a league MVP.
The Renteria foul should have been a red card. Pretty much tried to ignore Renteria's legs while swinging hard for the ball. That's a tough thing to ignore though. They're pretty hefty. The non-call on the Arrieta play was a good non-call. Arrieta got shouldered off by Eckersley and the center back came in the same way on the other side. No legs, no grabbing, nothing to whistle. I don't know what other call they missed that could have been argued as a possible PK. Maybe in one of the free kick situations?
I think that is true for the first twenty minutes or so but I thought he got better during the match. Not only the second goal but also the ball Birchall crashed off the post was a nice layoff from Renteria. And the cross that barely missed Arrieta is something we're not used to around here. Toronto playing through Ryan Johnson made it much more difficult for him to go up late in the match specifically after Miranda was subbed out.
This. I've been as frustrated with Emilio as with any other player this season. But what I'm beginning to see is more of a willingness to look for a good pass than take a low-percentage strike from distance. He's shown more potential for assists than goals this season, and we finally have the players on the field that can make this viable. That said, I don't think he should be getting many starts once the schedule congestion is through. Too many more solid options to explore.
Not much to add other than the obvious: Higuain and Arrieta are spectacular additions to this club. And I agree with those who point out how well they complement Gaven. I'll give Robert a pass on some of the positional experimentation we saw last night, simply due to the slew of games we'll be playing in the next two weeks. I'm in the group that was not at all impressed with Renteria on the wing, for example. That said, (looking at it from a glass half full perspective) a lot of our possession problems last night seemed to me to be related to the new talent that's been inserted into the roster in recent weeks. These guys just don't know what to expect one one another, so you see a lot of "early season" mistakes; passes made to players who failed to make a run into space, or did so a little earlier or late than expected. I'd like to think that that'll improve over time. Renteria, for example, HAS played on the wing and, to me, done a decent job, in the past. One concern I still have is that this club still doesn't have a go-to striker, a goal scorer. Lots of guys with "F" next to their name on the roster, but few of them are what I envision of when think "striker." I was one of one the people in here ragging on Mendoza last year, and I still doubt his heart, commitment. But I found myself wondering, last night, how he'd pair with a player like Higuain. I mean, good Lord, Marco Etcheverry made Roy Lassiter into a scoring machine back in the day. Roy Lassiter. Higuain is the type of player who can place the ball on a dime for a strike partner whose only real job is to score goals. Perhaps we'll see a revival of Renteria's form if/when Robert gives him a run out at striker and Higuain manages to get the ball to him in a position other than his back to the goal. Or maybe not. At the very least, the next several weeks will be interesting. Higuain looks like the player RW wanted GBS to be; withdrawn striker who'd collect a fair amount of assists, sure, but also score goals. At this stage in his career, Higuain seems to have the legs to play that role. I mean, every other touch seemed to be his. If that's where Robert's going to play him - as opposed to an advanced midfield role behind two strikers, say - fine, but I am curious how the rest of the midfield, and that other forward role, evolves. I have to say, though, that I remain highly doubtful that Robert is a smart enough coach to take tactical advantage of the talent he has at his disposal. Finally, one area where Higuain did not impress last night was on set pieces, ironically; he took some fairly ugly corners. I'd like to imagine that he can do much better, and will, once he's developed a better rapport with the other guys out on the pitch.