LA @ KC 5/24 POST game thread

Right on, 3 points finally. Can't wait to watch it on the tely. So what did the "little fish" do to get the late red?

Scoring Summary:

KC -- Igor Simutenkov 3 (Chris Klein 1) 21
LA -- Carlos Ruiz 3 (Chris Albright 1) 75
KC -- Preki 4 (Chris Brown 1) 89

Kansas City Wizards -- Tony Meola, Jimmy Conrad, Carey Talley, Nick Garcia, Chris Klein, Kerry Zavagnin (Alex Zotinca 73), Preki (Diego Gutierrez 89), Francisco Gomez, Eric Quill, Chris Brown, Igor Simutenkov (Stephen Armstrong 73).

Substitutes Not Used: Davy Arnaud, Chris Brunt, Taylor Graham, Jack Jewsbury, Bo Oshoniyi, Josh Wolff.

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Preki 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Preki 4); FOULS: 20 (Nick Garcia 4); OFFSIDES: 5 (Eric Quill 2); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Preki 3); SAVES: 4 (Tony Meola 3)

 

Got knee'd in the head by Nick "I live inside your shorts" Garcia and retaliated. Little punk does his job well I guess.

 

well deserved win by the Wizarads. Well deserved Red card for Fishy. Three points. I'll post more once I watch the tape delay and sober up.

 

cool game, alot shots on goals, great save by Meola, nice goals by Igor and the lefty by Preki.... but with all the scuffles I thought I was at a hockey game... the end of game fist-to-cuffs was about to get ugly... man it was cool...

the best part was the Galaxy scored when it was Papa Johns pizza minute deal... that was hilarious..
dam goal at the right time by the wrong team.. maybe next time...

 

I don't see what Garcia is doing to Ruiz but he is clearly pissing him off.

 

Hahahaha. Ruiz tried to elbow Garcia's knee but it looks like the elbowed missed him and Ruiz got tossed. Garcia immediate dropped to the ground rolling around and probably laughed his ass off.

Even if Ruiz has connected, that shouldn't hurt that much. Garcia should get an Oscar for that one.

 

Wow. I'm glad I stayed up to watch this!

Good game Wizards, Galaxy. Finally a televised game that wasn't dull!

 

Garcia was pretty dirty throughout the whole game, if he could get contact on Ruiz without drawing attention to himself he did it. Pretty dirty play overall by Garcia, he really did a number of things that deserved yellows at least, he shouldnt have made it through the game without a card.

Ruiz's diving history hurt him though, the ref was pretty much wasnt going to listen to him. Predictably he lost his temper and did something stupid to get himself a red.

 

I don't understand how blind Rob Stone is. Garcia stepped on Ruiz's hand, and Ruiz threw a forearm that barely caught Garcia's shin. At least they were right about one thing: Garcia deserves an Oscar. The fracas that ensued would indicate that something worse happened, but so would the way Petke reacted last week when he saw blood on Convey's head.

Garcia was trying to get into Fishy's head all game, by taking little cheap shots here and there, and luckily it worked out to his advantage in the end.

Other thoughts: How about less(no) Zotinca and Brown, more Armstrong?

 

I agree, after seeing it on the replay.

However, I think that Garcia must have a sixth sense or something. Ruiz clearly didn't connect with his elbow, and yet Garcia knew exactly where and precisely when the hit would come. Extraordinarily artistic and interpretive work, especially for a defender. He'll probably get fined.

 

Yeah, so what else is new?

Great goals by K.C., and Ruiz's suspension is the icing on the cake!

It's always nice to see L.A. lose, but even nicer to see them lose at the last possible minute when the Galaxitives actually think they have a chance...

 

man. that was one hell of a game to be at in person.

I have lots of random thoughts.

-Brown. Should. Not. Be. Starting.
-Armstrong. SHould. Be. Starting. ( in place of brown)
-Simu is, and will always be, the man.
-Simu may be the man, but, as we all know, preki is god.
-I really frizeakin HATE carlos Ruiz. how about y'all?
-Eric Wynalda needs to be in the booth. or at least keep him on the field, and get ty out of there. I gained more knowlege and insight from wynaldas little voice clips than i did from Ty's long ass Epic poems about how Cobi Jones plays Midfield.
-The fireworks were, as usual, really good.
-Garcia did what he does best out there tonight. getting under the player's skin so much that it completley throws him off his game. Worked with Luis Hernandez as well. maybe its a galaxy thing
-Confetti is good, until it gets in your drink.
- As much has we all know we would love to do it, the whole throwing the beer on cobi thing was pretty uncalled for.
However. It should be known that i understand the reasons for doing so. I mean, C'mon. Its friggin Cobi jones.
- Klein got mobbed by all the people coming down for fireworks. i can understand now how it would get really annoying to get asked for yuor shirt, shorts, shoes, autograph whatever, about 300 million times, but chris took it all in stride, and politley denied any request for jerseys and such. HOwever, he seriouslt must ahve wrote his name about 300 times tonight. well done chris.
-i was seeing visions of Mo circa 2000 when Z cut his head. Ironically enough, both against LA.
- damn it feels good to win, at home, in front of a big crowd, in a game so exciting that i just stayed up all this time to watch it again.

 

Garcia's pathetic acting job was almost as bad as Rivaldo's during the World Cup against Turkey. Hopefully MLS will review it and rescind Ruiz's red card, allowing him to play next week against Colorado. That was just plain sad and unnecessary. Garcia should have gotten a yellow for acting. Sick.

The Wizards won the game fair and square, but that little episode really spoiled it for me, expecially thinking about the Fish not being able to play against the Rapids for something so silly.

 

Stuff

So many topics of interest in this one -
*3 points, SWEET! Burying LA in a 9-point hole? Not quite priceless, but definitely high-rent.
*To the Marc Connely's of the world who continue to pick KC to lose, keep it up. There is no law against anyone being continually unable to learn.
*Garcia winning yet another mental battle against Ruiz. Only after Garcia tweaked the hammy did El Flopidito have the quickness to score. The real proof of this will be the first game in LA. It might be tough to keep Ruiz to just one - I'm sure he'll be motivated.
*Ruiz should have to eat the multi-game suspension as others have had to when they didn't leave the field immediately. If it is a 2-game ban. KC @ LA will be Ruiz' return. I'm rooting for 3, screw 'im!
*Refs watched this game and Garcia will pay a price later
*This was a great game missing several good players: Ezra, H. Gomez, Vagenas, Elliot, Wolff, Burciaga, Fabbro, and Guti was in only long enough to earn a silly yellow. The rematch had better be televised.
*Elliot was sorely missed on restarts for LA. They had poor crssses all night.
*I'd bet good money that Sigi has never - never - been part of a team that had 7 winless games straight or even just 1 point from 4 games too often. I not only worry for Sigi's cardiac health, but this is interesting for the possible dichotomy presented. 1) LA could be lost as a team given events of this game, Sigi's lack of experience in dealing with this specific problem, pressure to win at the new home, and Ruiz' volitility. Jones seemed to be the only cool head among the guys in white, Sigi included. A rare loss to COL might see LA on a rapid pace toward a "you suck" pick. 2) Conversely, LA will have to meld somehow before whipping up on hapless Colorado next week. They should have a full lineup except Ruiz. The week after is the opener at the "tool shed". If Ruiz gets to play (he shouldn't), that could be the start of a 2 game streak and the cure to LA's ills.
Whatever the direction, I believe it will be an extreme one way or the other.
*To expand on that, LA was good most of the game and great at times. That level of quality with no results has driven many to the brink. What happens after you arrive at that brink defines you. LA could easily go either way.
*KC: 8 games, 8 times scoring first, 9 leads and 7 of them punted away. From the Oversimplified Solutions Dept.:
GUY: Doc, when I do this [wiggles] it hurts.
DOC: Don't do that. Pay the gal up front.

KC:When we score with lots of time left we give up the lead.
WISE MAN:Then score with almost no time left.
*Bo Hong has looked lost at times in MLS. Many brilliant plays with frequent moments of no brain function whatsoever.
*Meola played well. The CHI game seems to be behind him. 1 SO in 8 is well below his personal pace
*Gutierrez had that dead sprint at the end of the game where he was off and earned the yellow. He'll get miinutes next week and will be back in the mix for fitness in 2 weeks. He certainly had speed.
*How can Igor look so good one game and impossibly invisible a week later? I hope the answer is health so we don't have to worry about it the rest of the season.
*Do we expect too much from Klein? Great through to Igor, but was still poorly inaccurate on crosses. It's difficult to put a cap on how rediculous KC could be if Klein finds a consistent cross. Quill, Klein, and Preki feeding from 3 directions would put defense on the back burner, or maybe even in the sink.
*15 goals and Wolff has 0. I say let him back in about a month when he's completely healed, slower if needbe.
*Quick, name a draft pick that is doing anything. Not easy - Noonan and Magee are the only answers so far.
*Zotinca had another cardable tackle and was lucky not to get one - he would have been suspended a game for a yellow in 3 straight. His play was unimpressive. To date it doesn't look like a good signing. Someone must step up as a bench stopper. Preki bailed KC out tonight. Other nights will be different.
*Speaking of 'ol #11. He's second in scoring behind six goal Twellman. Great, but KC will have to find scoring from elsewhere - See Ben's "Preki - Success" thread.
*Speaking of non-scoring FWDs. Brown missed 2 quality chances and had the terrible whiff, but did get himself in dangerous positions. By comparison Preki had 4 SOG and scored the one.
*I've posted before that teams score about 1 of every 4 SOG. Good teams and FWDs do a hair better, bad ones and Ds do a hair worse. KC is at a rediculous 34% overall. 8 SOG last night.
*KC is unbeaten through 5 games. Only 1 loss in 7 and nobody has outclassed KC for more than :20 at a stretch.
*@ NE up next, 10 points from their last 4. The tie? KC in Arrowhead on Twellman's stoppage time goal.

 

I'll happily take back Garcia's acting job if we get back Ruiz's ************************e penalty in the playoffs.

It just doesn't get any better than beating the Galaxy with a last minute Preki goal AND Ruiz getting red carded. Woohoo!

 

Yes Garcia acted, but, Ruiz raised his arm and tried to strike...that is a sending off offence if there is contact OR NOT a players arm cannot be raised like he did and I bet he would have been off even if Garcia didn't roll around...retaliation is a cardable or sending off offence even if provoked...Ruiz was stupid and got what he deserved...Garcia should hopefully get something for acting as well...I guess as far as acting is concerened Ruiz got some of his own medicine, so perhaps he might learn? A great talent, who spoils it all time and time again by "extra-curricula" goings on..

-Richard

 

Great game. My brother came and hes always saying how big of a "girly sport" soccer is, Im really thinking this game changed his mind a bit.

About Ruiz's red- Even if he didn't hit Nick, or just tapped Nick, he still attempted to hurt him. I was so happy to see him get a red and when he was walking into the locker room I finally got to tell him how much I hate him.

 

While your favoritism is to be expected, it's way off base. El Flopidito Grande dove and exaggerated injuries to at LEAST and order of magnitude more than Nick. There were a couple of times that Ruiz should have earned a yellow for imitation. Striking, or attempting to strike, another player is ALWAYS a sending-off offense. Ruiz was just mad that he was owned, yet again, by Garcia, and he showed how little class he has in an attempt to retaliate. If anything happens from the MLS review of this game, Ruiz should earn a multi-game suspension.

I was really excited coming into this season. With our "draft picks" (Wolff and Conrad) and only losing one player who we'd really miss (Vermes) I thought we were poised for a great season. Here's hoping that Gansler can pull this team together soon.

 

So what was thrown on the field at/near Cobi during the late corner kick. I really hope it didn't come from the Cauldron.

 

Preki - god

Brown - utter, unredeemable shite

Quill - redeemable shite

Igor - Our most effective forward since Molnar

Klein - Better, but still seems to be forcing it, trying too hard. I wonder if he's got one of the injuries that he's not telling anyone about.

Zavagnin - The feel good story of the first 8 years of MLS. Worked his way back and I can't imagine not having him on the roster.

Gomez - Solid game. I think he's recovered from succumbing to the pressure put on him to fill Preki's boots in 2001. I really like his passing and decision making this year.

Talley - Good game.

Conrad - worst game as a Wizard. But he's played well. Made some crazy plays that damn near cost us on a few occasions.

Garcia - The better the opposing forward, the better he seems to play. I think he took too many chances tonight and got lucky. Easily could've been called (wrongly) for a PK on several occasions.

Meola - Getting better. But ZERO shutouts in 8 games may be the drought of his career. Really not making a good case to have Bruce call him in for his 100th cap. Works for us, though.


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Is Preki hurt? Immediately after scoring the winner his reaction was to look to the bench and issue the international "get me off the field" signal.

 

Sweet win, just don't pass us in the standings. Cobi got a beer shower? "Papa' muerto del golpe" getting carded is perfect for that diving punk. The galaxatives win last year was a fluke and this season proves it!

 

I love all the support from the Quakers in this thread.

Garcia, as a rookie, did the same thing to Azizi & Hernandez.

I'm optomistic about our season now, still don't like the point total from home games, but glad we only have the 1 loss.

Should we switch to 4-4-2 at halftime? The 3 man back line is the problem for the last 45 in my mind.

Not saying that we shouldnt attack, but maybe switch things up.

Glad to win at home, and glad to keep LA winless.

James

 

Only on those days you play the Galaxitives...

Seriously though, very entertaining game, right down to the last second. Well worth staying up for.