The DAL board has it 3-0 KC. ABC has announced a crown in Tulsa of 14,000! Tulsa has also taken 3500 orders for season ticket already. Not bad for a place that has no team. To the game: Obviously I saw nothing personally, but the scoreline is indicative of KC being an offensive minded team like I've been saying that they actually have been for at least a full season. It simply looks as though now they have the skill to produce goals instead of mere chances. Defensively of note is yet another shutout. That makes 7 SOs in 10 starts and 4 against MLS competition in 5 games overall. Not bad. Noone has given up less pre-sesason goals than KC - 4 total through 10 games. Next best is 8 by LA, SJ, and COL. Dallas coming in was the most prolific offense in MLS pre-seaon with 31 goals in 14 games. Only dc has scored more per game. 7 days to dc!!!
I just found matchtracker for the game. mlsnet.com has it up as a regular season game...too bad it wasn't! Matchtracker doesn't have mutch but after reading it these things stood out: *Was DJ Countess was really that horrible or was KC that strong? Either way Dallas may be in trouble with the young keeper. *3 goals without Wolff and on the road is signifigant also. *With Klein in the lineup this offense goes. KC will have to find a way to do it without him. *Brownie with a goal in each half is all you can ask from a guy. He has a history of being streaky. I've been very critical of his finishing in the past. Did he have any easy misses today? I start Brown with Wolff v dc. We'll see. *Fabbro leading KC in fouls committed is a poor sign of work ethic among other things. It's not excusable for any fwd, but he's an SI! Ruis led LA in FC in '02 so maybe some of this is by design, but Ruis' production lets it slide. That said Dallas committed more fouls 15-12. *What was the crowd like? I'm sure it was vocal, but who was the "home" team, etc.?
I just read the recap at MLS. Looks like KC added the last two goals late. Good to get the loss to Columbus out of us before the season. Who knows what DC will look like next week. I wonder how many of the 14,000 were locals? I'd say a few hundred were probably Burn & KC traveling supporters. 2500 for season tickets, that's great, as long as it wasnt traveling fans filling them out (from KC & Dallas). If they really have that number, I would think they would certainly get a franchise. James
Props to Brownie... He's becoming my personal "eat crow" player. Everytime I dog him in threads he starts knocking a couple in. Much like the Mike Seagroves - Brian McBride saga that has gone on for a few years now. Good crowd in Tulsa. I grew up there and there is a very strong youth soccer base there. I've ranted about the NASL Roughnecks games I went to there when I was a kid. I hope MLS can put a pro team back again starting at Skelly but getting a SSS in South/South East Tulsa area. I would travel to Tulsa regularly for games and they would come here; it's that close. (3hrs and change) I can't wait for the 12th...
Neither? DJ's main weakness appeared to be his ability to hold the ball. Had trouble handling a couple of easy "shots". Seemed to me that his defense sort of hung him out to dry. He did have a nice save on a Fabbro shot that deflected off a defender. Neither team seemed to dominate in the first half... KC stepped it up in the 2nd half. Interesting that Dario commited the most fouls... especially since he subbed out at halftime. He didn't seem to do much else. Starting lineup looked like this: ---------Meola Conrad - Garcia - Burciaga -----Talley - Gomez Klein - Preki - Gutierrez -----Fabbro - Brown Wolff in for Dario at halftime Zavagnin for Preki (85') Quill for Gutierrez (85')
Y'all would have known more about the game if you'd gone. It was a pretty good game, but I'm dead-ass tired, so I'm going to bed. Just know you missed a very good performance by a good team today. And the Dallas fans' attempt(s) to start a wave were as feckless as their team's offense.
Some day you'll explain this logic to me. You, yourself, mention Ruiz. With his strike partner putting in two goals, he sounds productive enough to me.
One less thing to worry about next Saturday.. Milton Reyes will be out for the year with a torn ACL.. Not that you have anything to worry about after spanking us 5-0 a few weeks back, and according to most United posters, we are going 0-30-0 for the season, so that should settle a few nerves for you Wizards fans..
Bad news about Reyes. I thought DC would do poorly myself, until I saw Earnie play with the USNT last week. You had a rough preseason, but still have alot of talent. Kovelenko, Stewart, Etcheverrey, Quaranta, Rimando, etc. Off topic a little here, but how has Esko been in preseason? I havent heard much, which makes think he's been a disappointment. James
Gladly, the Royal's were ppd by rain today so I have some free time... Your point would have more weight except that Fabbro's name isn't on the scoresheet for any of the 3 goals and he was subbed for Wolff at half, therfore only on the field for Brown's opener. I wasn't in Tulsa so maybe I'm missing something. Maybe Fabbro was highly effective in drawing defenders to create space on that one. More likely he wasn't involved. What we do know is that once every 15 minutes he handed out a free pass upfield. Andy, you have seen a comparable number of KC games since '96 to what I have. Nobody that has been even remotely effective up top for KC has ever committed fouls with regularity. I mentioned Ruiz because he led the league in FC last year. The difference is El Flopidito had 18 more goals than Fabbro. Fouls at F are often retaliations or "laziness" type things. A foul might be the right decision in an instance where a smaller guy is competing for space or to stop play if his defender is caught forward. Still Fabbro isn't small like Ruiz and if it's the turnover thing, he probably coughed it up initially. Connecting the dots: if your F is going to give free outs, at least put it in the net half as often. I hope that helps you with my logic.
Let me help a bit with the logic on Fabbro. Towards the end of the first half, Klein took the ball into the corner, to the top of the 18 about five yards off the top corner of the right side. He got into trouble, looked up, saw blue and passed it. He immediately said "Oh ************" (at least his body language did) when he realized that the guy in blue was Dario. Dario proceeded to lose the ball immediately. What was most telling about this exchange and Dario's workrate is not that he lost the ball, and didn't try to win it back, but rather Klein's reaction to passing the ball to Dario. Seems pretty clear to me.
My report from the game. First and most importantly. Burciaga is the real deal. He will have a few bad plays this year, but I will be surprised if he has a bad game. Dario just lost his #3 spot to brown in my book, this is twice that he has crapped up the feild, preaseason or not he does not deserve to be the first sub. When Wolff came on, it was a different game. Maybe it is the speed. Maybe it is pressure being taken of of Klein and Preki. This happened last week as well. I am not sure what it is, but I like it. I am extremely pleased with Gutirez at left-mid. It is a wonderful place for him to be. Whatever lack of defensive play Preki has, Deigo makes up for it in the midfeild, instead of the D-mid. I am scared of Ganslers faith in Gomez. Gomez had an awesome free kick that everybody in the stadium thought went in. He also hit one out of the park. Garcia finally takes control of the defense with the central spot. I am sure Meola will help him bark out orders. Once again this is the most intriguing position of the off season. Who sits out at d-mid. Deigo looks to be pushed forward out on the wing. Gomez probably will get the start, as well as Talley. The most baffling thing is Zavagnin riding pine. Zavagnin is a menace to any opposing teams mid-feild. Talley is good on both defending and attakcing set peices. Gomez does carry the ball better. Gansler must be confident in his backline enough to put in the attacking aspect in D-mid on the feild. Zavagnin, as much as the menace he is, makes the smart pass, the one to Preki, everytime. That is his downfall though, no creativity. McKeon would atleast push forward to try to create something. Maybe Gansler also realizes the problems with set peices and has elected to keep Talley in there as well. The odd man out is an aging Keirgan Zavagnin.(29)
I'm not so sold on Diego at left mid. (Glad you brought this up...) I think that as a defender, he goes forward very well. Not sure if he's the answer at left mid though. Seemed awful quiet on his side of the field all game long. The majority of our chances came down the right side through Klein. Granted, I've only seen him play the position this one time, but I find it hard to believe that Armstrong or Quill isn't a better choice.
It was bad karma from me. I wanted to support my fellow Infernites but it was halfhearted because I hate the wave. I mean stealing from an 80's baseball team? Your team looked ok but Gbandi was at fault at the end and he was most likely exausted since he hadn't played a full game in a year and a half. Who knows though, your offense may be better than I thought before this game. Garcia reminds me of Suarez, both good players but tend to get to much into it where you wonder when they will get carded and maybe sent off.
Re: Re: KC v DAL in Tulsa [R] - preseason ??? The "wave" was invented in Seattle at U. Washington football games. from the official U. Wash site (no, I'm not biased, I have no affiliation): "Despite claims by others, the Wave can trace its origin back to Husky Stadium. It was October 31, 1981 when former cheerleader Rob Weller (yes, the same Rob Weller who once co-hosted Entertainment Tonight) was back on the sidelines and instructed the Washington crowd to start in one section and make a human wave that rolled around Husky Stadium. The original Wave saw Husky fans remain standing until a full circle was completed in the stadium. Weller’s original idea - working with former Husky Band Director Bill Bissell - was to have the crowd stand rapidly from the lowest seats to the highest. But they could not effectively coordinate the attempts. The Wave is believed to have started in the third quarter as the Huskies reeled off 28 points in route to a 42-31 win over the John Elway led Stanford team."
But it is often internationally referred to as the "Mexican wave". Are you sure the Wave was not "born" during the 1970 World Cup? or perhaps the world learned of it from the 1986 World Cup. oh well.
LOL Suarez told me to suck it! What I said must have gotten him stirred up becuase late in the game he was in the thick of things. How he never got carded is beyond me. Had some new faces with us in the section which was nice. The atmosphere was lukewarm. If it wasn't for the Inferno's drums it would have been really bad. BTW memo to Burn fans you can't chant ole, ole, ole if you haven't scored. Or looked good for that matter. We were mistaken for players at least a half dozen times. With beers and food in our hands no less. On to the game Cisco played some good balls over the top to Klien on the right. Which was the side of choice for the attack yesterday. The left side was unused and an after thought. But if they switched field quicker they would have had more chances. Cisco had a chance early 2 v 1 and his shot dribbled to the keeper. Tulsa World sign to the left of the goal is where his shank hit. Mr. Preseason has once again been in good form. Maybe this is the year that he takes the next step and stays consistant all year long. Well see, he usually fades away at the two month mark. So until then, row Z in the yard is safe. I like Talley in the lineup becuase of what he brings to the team. (height and tackling) But in the D-mid position he is going to find himself on the ball more. Many times yesterday he would win the ball yet seem to loose it moments later. That is the only thing that scares me with him playing there. I like Diego and Kerry in the D-mid posistion personally. Preki got confused in the first half with all the differant lines along the side. A classic really. Tony is in good form. Late in the second half stopping a quick shot bound for the lower right corner. Not alot of action for Tony really. Dario is well lazy and seeing Klienie putting his hands on his head after he relized who passed it to was priceless. I think he hustled and moved once during the first half and won the ball back to start the setup of Brownie's first. Other than that he was like Dallas... sh4t, shi5, ************.
Suarez is a hot head biatch. I still think Zavagnin being left out is a bad thing. I know Talley and Gomez bring more offensively, but Z is the silent player that always gives you a lot. The jury is still out on our d-mids. Preki trying to throw the ball in from 5 yards ON TO the pitch was hilarious. While Tony was busy, the couple saves he did have to make were awesome. Dario: Oh I have a lot to say. First, Andy, I understand your location, but you have no grounds to defend his play based on the score. He was on the pitch for ONE goal, not two, and he was total crap. He is lazy, had low drive, and its obvious he doesnt care much about fighting for a starting role. I say F--- him and sign someone else (Dante Washington) The little girls thinking that we were Wizards players before the game was hilarious as well. Five or six guys standing around kicking a soccer ball, drinking beer and eating brats 2 hours before kickoff... Welcome to the fans that stood with us for the first time. I think we may have 3-6 new faces in the Cauldron from this trip alone. Never stay in a hotel anywhere near the Tulsa airport. Only TWO pizza places would even deliver to us, we were so far into the hood. I would have feared for my life had there not been a gun convention in town, leading to every room around us filled with guys carrying their guns into their room. Had the shyte gone down, we were gonna be safe.
Re: Re: KC v DAL in Tulsa [R] - preseason Diego had the same problem in the second half... there were only, what, 3 different lines down that side? Quality stuff.
Since this has to do with dallas it goes in this thread. This has to be the gayest lunch box ever http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2169002736&category=1410