Sacramento Republic FC (33 pts., 9-6-6 overall, 5-2-2 at home) at San Antonio FC (24 pts., 6-7-6 overall, 2-4-3 away) Saturday, 8:00 p.m. at Bonney Field Television: CW31 Radio: KHTK 1140 Online: www.SacRepublicFC.com/Matchday Last five: SRFC: T-L-L-T-W SAFC: W-T-W-L-L Home, sweet home!
halftime, 0-1. General control of the pace of play, but one eff-up results in a goal. This seems familiar somehow.
Yup. And we just have little ability to break through that final third. I just hate that our outside backs are as big a threat as our MF & forwards.
Not impressed by Rodriguez so far.........and don't bother crossing high through the box - no one seems too motivated to win a ball in the air tonight. /rant off
Uninspired performances tonight, against a team that has won exactly one game on the road this year. Lost points imho
That was a fine example of 3rd division soccer. Very little creativity, no movement or runs capable of breaking through an organized back line. Very little opportunity through the middle of the pitch. Telling TT to try to win the game on his own would have been just an effective strategy.
Even the penalty was kind of soft. We were lucky Guzman's PK got past the 'keeper because that was a ball that a better 'keeper would have easily smothered.
As disappointing as our result was, at least LA (loss) and Vancouver (draw) dropped points to lesser clubs, and OKC and RGV drew. The western conference title is there for the taking. A good team just has to step up and take it. BTW, Kiffe suspended next week for yellow card accumulation.
Getting worried about this track record of little offense. I know Buckle loves Iwasa but he's not the answer. Alvarez isn't the answer. We need better offensive weapons, and a team built to score. We are in shambles right now and it's sad when something like this come from behind tie feels like a victory.
Couldn't get excited about the starting 11. Was not impressed by our play. Thought "here we go again" after giving up the "eff up goal". Wondered if we had any chance to score. Keep thinking - everything has really been on a downward trend since Preki left. Think maybe I can get my fill of soccer without a season ticket and driving up from Lodi to see that crap.
Buckle's post-game comments Wasn't sure who would take the penalty; Pulled Rodriguez at half as part of a tactical change, not because of the gaff.
You guys know i was buckle's biggest fan but even at this stage I have to admit the football is crap. We had a rock solid defence but too many changes have killed even that. Is it bad luck? Injuries or suspensions that have messed up the back 4 of Klimenta, foran, Christian and Kiffe or was buckle too loyal to jakubek leaving it too long to bring in Newton? Koval I feel only had a big rep because he was sj and cazarez just isnt up to it but was left in quite a long time and as for Motagalvan... That guy is just awful. Lagrassa and Minter were either bad signings or long term projects and the jury is also out on Williams but this is buckle's team and the buck stops with him. Jahn going is I think good because I really don't rate him and colvey is just awful - i wish sj would keep their rejects except of course TT who we should sign permanently next season when his MLS contract is up.
I agree with just about everything you say except I thought that LaGrassa looked good last night in the only (somewhat) extended action I've seen from him, and; no way TT signs with USL. But, if he can look elsewhere he probably should as I'm sure another team would give him better opportunity than Dom does. Speaking of TT, why must the announcers ALWAYS refer to him as "Tommy Thompson?" What's wrong with just Thompson? It's not like there are ever two Thompsons on the field. Just my pet-peeve.
I'm not a Buckle apologist, but I look at this from another angle. This is third division soccer. If a player is above average at his position, chances are that he will be moving up the ladder (Daly, Vukovic, Braun, Stewart). Can't place those losses on the coach. Finding above-average replacements willing to put more time into the USL is hitting the lottery (Newton, Christian). Injuries have been brutal at key positions (Klimenta, Trickett-Smith, Williams). All are players important to offense, and we are just now beginning to get a feeling of what Williams brings - and he's still playing with a broken arm. That daFonte or Tavo can't directly replace Klimenta is not bad coaching, its simply the reality of third division player quality. One player can make a helluva difference, and your bench will never be so deep that a player of that quality won't be missed. An example of that is Roro. Since he left, the lack of creativity and vision of our other midfielders has been made more obvious. I do blame Buckle for this...its an issue he knew about early, but has yet to actively address. Instead, I think he made the mistake of believing the solution was more creative forwards......yes, we could use them, but so can every team at every level of soccer. To lay the scoring malady solely at the feet of his forwards was something that he could count on most fans agreeing. but, for a guy with his experience and knowledge.......well i think it was disingenuous, at best. Didn't intend this to go so long, and i don't disagree with you on quite a few points, but the current situation, imo, isn't all on Buckle. Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk
More creative forwards? We don't have any. Tommy Stewart had something about him but he scored once in a year - and that was a pk! Barrera was brought in to replace Toro but he hasn't exactly lived up to it. What has Williams done so far? At least Iwasa can score. Jahn was just useless and Pridham is proving why Vancouver didn't want him. I honestly think the problem is buckle doesn't know his best 11. Too many changes and nit from game to game but throughout games. Of course injuries and suspensions mess up the best laid plans but its like names and faces are in Buckle's scrabble bag and he just tips it out on a table every week and again at half time. I hope I'm wrong because I do rate the guy
Good luck rest of season. Would love to face Sac Rep again in the playoffs. Hated how the game ended, as not sure that was a valid PK that was given. But happy to walk away with points on the road.
Yeah, the contact might have been a little soft, but it did clearly come from behind and Kiffe would have gotten to the ball, so the call seemed reasonable to me. It's one of those calls that illustrate just how judging contact in soccer is, IMO, trickier for the center ref when compared to other sports.
BS, the refs in USL are terrible - all of them. It was never a ok but we'll take all the help we can get right now. God knows they owe us a ton of PKs...