First Half over. Metro Down 0-1. I gotta say that Mathis isnt hustling as much as he used to. He usually makes a run, gets the ball tries to do something, loses the ball, looks around. If he would just hustle alittle more he would be creating so many more chances. Guevara is awsome tho and you can see that hes trying to make the right passes even if the rest of the team isnt on the same page as him. But it does seem like they are starting to gel as the game goes on.
great game i thought... a couple of bounce go our way, and its more than a 2-1 win... guevara looked great, his touches looked so sharp and he really creates space and openings for other players off the dribble... he also showed some good vision and creativity.. Clark was awesome once again... I think we have a star on our hands because he is so poised and smart with the ball and a pretty tough defender too... I knew mathis was due for one... i was so happy when i saw him try and beat guys off the dribble in the first half... the results weren't that great, but thats the mathis we know and love.. great header, but a terrible marking job by the colorado defender, whoever it was on that play.. tough break for timmy.. uncharacteristic mistake for him.. good that it all turned out ok at the end, and he redeemed himself with some nice 2nd half saves. Pope is good man. period. some good passing and possession today too... overall very happy.. DC should be no problem if we play like this....
The great thing about Clark is how infrequently he gives up possession. Every time someone gets him the ball, he manages to hold on for as long as it takes to find an outlet pass. He's certainly something special. Ziadie MOTM -- great goal, great cross on the Mathis goal, two good defensive clearances, plus generally shutting Chungy down. Every Chung chance came when he moved himself away from Ziadie's side. Guevara's good, damn good. Magee should start. On to smack up a putrid DC next week for 3 in a row!
Nice win. Mathis gets his first of the season, and Ziadie scores his first as a Metro. Through the MLSnet.com telecast, it seemed that Guevara was really, really effective. I think he was fouled 6 times. Hopefully the real RED AND BLACK continues to play this way verus DC United.
Some completely random thoughts: - Saw SportsDesk for the first time this season. They put in a full effort to cover the Metros. - That's alright, Timmy. - Pope, man, you don't gotta bust the ball from point blank range. Other than that, good game. - Guevara made the sweetest steal of anyone I've seen in a Metros kit. - Wonderful way for Mathis to end an uncharacteristic scoring drought. Gotta see more of that this season. - Clark and Ziadie, even without the goal, were awesome tonight. - Overall, with the exception of bunkering down in the last ten minutes, the Metros played a very complete game. - DC was subpar tonight, we have to make a meal out of them next week.
Awesome game. It could easily have been more. Ziadie was crazy. Mathis looks like the mathis of old. Guevara is amazing. Clark is amazing. Howard is amazing. Pope is amazing. Our whole team is amazing! It could have easily been 4-1. How many times did we hit the post? Four?
Craig Ziadie played his best game ever for Metro; a joy to watch. Digi was feisty once again, and Williams quietly played a great game. It's still early, but I hope a streak's in the making. By the way, the ESC came through very loud on MSG during the second half, I'm sorry I missed it.
As a team, we played a very good game, but couldn't buy a goal, and we were screwed out of a blatant penalty some simply attrocious officiating. But yes, you shouldn't have a problem with us next week.
Hey, nobody mentioned Lisi's game. I thought he was great. He made no mistakes and spreaded the ball well, and he just came back from injury. I see him getting a lot of playing time in the future. Great overall effort by the team. I feel bad for Tim though. We had so many chances. Could have been 4-0. I would just start Magee over Wolyniec next time.
To be honest, the Metros needed to be kicked in the head with a solid reminder that Howard is not always going to bail them out of trouble. Not only did the crap goal get them fired up, they turned it into a win at home, of all places. If Tim came up to me one day and said that he intentionally allowed that goal to cross the line, I would've said "thank you." It lit a fire under the Metros tonight.
Tim Howard - B- :not only did he fumble the ball in the goal but he seemed off today all around. Can't complain because he certainly has saved our butts many times, but his was a bad all around game for him plain and simple. Chris Leitch - B- : ok, not not great by all means. Hope he is OK from the injury though. Steve Jolley - A- : another solid game by him. Eddie Pope - A- : same as Jolley. We have two great central defenders... I couldn't be happier. Craig Ziadie - A : MOTM... don't think we will see many, many games like this from him, but today he was awesome. I think he proved that he has to play in the right. Ricardo Clark - B+ : undisputed ROY so far. Amado Guevara - A- : just what we needed in midfield. I can't believe we finally got it right with regards to our SIs. Joey DiGiamarino - B : did most things OK... I love his hustle. Richie Williams - A- : his play is not very noticible but he is the motor that keeps the team going. I don't think I saw him make one mistake today. Clint Mathis - B+ : much, much better... I think this game was vindication for those of us who have been asking for Clint to play up front and not in midfield where he looses 75% of his efficiency. I think Guevara and him will make a nice offensive combo... already starting to get a feel for each others games. I noticed Amado looking for him a lot... loved it. John Wolyniec - C- : terrible game. (Mark Lisi 30) - B+ : he was pretty good in my opinion. (Mike Magee 70) - B to B- : a pure forward who still needs a lot to learn, but could be good in the near future. (Tim Regan 89) - not enough time to rate.
I agree with Real Madrid's comments. I think the offense looked much better tonight, especially when the metrostars were stringing together 3-4 one touch passes. Good stuff. Mathis looked much better today, and he actually hustled for the first 60 minutes, compared to 15 minutes previously. Although the Metros' offense looked much better, the crapids defense was pretty bad. I feel sorry for them; I mean they really didn't put in much of an effort tonight. Hopefully the Metros will keep getting better on offense and become the first team to win 3 games straight next saturday. Props to Zaidie as he was the MOTM. Guevara, Pope, Jolley, Richie, and Clark played well too. Let's kick some ass next saturday!
Damn, Timmy, that hurt. I didn't belive my eyes until they showd it on the big screens at the stadium. Worst. ref. ever. The fact that we don't have any players in traction is amazing. The only concolation is that he cost the rapids two great chances by not letting them play on. I don't know if there was a Rapids player (other than Chung and Spencer) who didn't deserve a card. Never heard the stadium as quite as when Mathis went down. Speaking of whom, a little slow to start, but some really neat ideas. I think that he is coming around. A little tired, but hungry. I would call him up another 10% this week. Can't wait till the next game to see what happens. BTW, Metro's, it is perfectly acceptible to switch the side of play every now and again. Really. John Wolyniec needs to go. Magee needs 20 pounds of muscle. Pretty great to see when he got hit he bounced up, well, like an 18 year old. Clark is amazing. Pope is well named. It wasn't the prettiest win, but it was a win. Pretty solid starting record for the Metro's Damn, Timmy.
Timmy had maybe his worst game and they won. It was good to see the team pick him up. They owed him that. It might be that new ball that they say can look like a wiffle ball. Mathis was running tonight.. he looked better than he had all year.. next week his touch comes back. Rico was bottled up more this week. The Rapids must have seen tape and closed in on him quickly. Will have to learn, and he will, to move the ball quicker. Still an above average game. Woly, I know he is the board's whipping boy, but who controlled the pass that lead to the cross, that Mathis put in....yes Woly boy. Ziadie man of the match...without a doubt. Eddie Pope...smooth and in control. Jolley...had it going. Ritchie...same old pain
there's no reason for magee to start... he is playing horribly so far in my opinion.. wolyniec has not been terribly effective either, but he is a physical presence out there that magee cannot come close to being at this point... let's hope one of them steps it up a bit for the few weeks that moreno is out... also, theres no reason to get down on timmy... mistakes happen... it was just unlucky...
Overall I'd give this effort a B or a B+. Metro were the only home side to win this week, pushing the home season record to 3-7-9. I don't know how much we can really take out of this tonight, as Colorado was absolute garbage for 90% of the game. They had two decent shots on goal in 97 minutes, and the one that went in wasn't one of them. Even when they went down 2-1 they seemed to be totally lackadaisical about it. Without a central mid they will be battling with KC for last in the West. Mathis and Guevara will get better together over time, and Zaidie had his best game as a Metro after moving up to midfield when Leitch got hurt. (By the way, if Craig's goal is not Goal of the Week on FSW, there better be a bicycle kick in there somewhere.) Another solid game from the defensive mid group (anyone see Chung at all tonight?). Metro hit the post / crossbar four times tonight, including two crossbar shots in succession by Mathis and Guevara. The goal by the Rapids was a busted play. Pope let Zizi go in order to stop Spencer, and couldn't get back. Zizi's shot was not a good one, but it bounced off the FieldTurf awkwardly right in front of Timmy. His body was at the perfect angle to deflect it in. Really a fluke but both Pope and Tim played it badly. Finally, I didn't make it out to the stadium but the coverage on MSG continues to be top-notch this week. JP and Shep are working great together, Cangelosi had some good insights in the pre-game and the mid-game Harrison mayor i-view, and the camera work has improved dramatically. They're just being more professional -- for example, when Leitch went down they went back to him on the sidelines a couple of times and had Cangelosi track down what the prognosis was (only a sprain), and JP & Shep quickly made some predictions about what Bradley would do in response that turned out to be correct -- sub Lisi in for Leitch, move DiGi to the other side in defense, and move Zaidie up to midfield. It just shows they're paying attention.
I'm not down on Timmy, just he had a bad game. On top of the goal, he had trouble with several other balls that he normally handles with ease. But, if they win when he has a game like this....I feel really good about the team because he won't have many more....
I disagree. Not counting the bright spark that Magee created around him after the goal last week, he pounced on and created a number of chances during the time that he was on in the last two games. Wolyniec can't say the same, I need to see the replay of the game to confirm what I saw but I remember Woly giving the ball away more than once in situations that a junior varsity player could handle. I think Magee deserves a start, but I don't think he has the stamina or physical presence to go a full 90.
Go check the tape, it was Woly who started the play which ended up in the first goal. I prefer Magee off the bench, as I think it's less pressure on him
I predicted the score and Mathis' first goal. Do I win a prize? https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?postid=1035091#post1035091 My analysis: Craig Ziadie (8.5)- A goal, an assist, and a good job on defense. Best game as a Metro....but I doubt he was looking for Clint on that "blind" cross. Ricardo Clark (8)- Shows the maturity of a 10-year MLS veteran. Doesn't let anyone bully him around, including Mastoeni. Seems like he wins almost every 50/50 ball. Amado Guevera (8)- The best midfielder the Metros have ever had. The player Tab could have been but never was. Just missed his first career goal on a header that hit the post. Clint Mathis (7.5)- Almost had a second goal if it wasn't for the post on that chipshot. Would have given him a higher score if he wasn't "loafing" around in the first 30 minutes of the match. Eddie Pope (7.5)- Another sound game on defense. Could have put the icing on the cake when his shot hit the crossbar from 5 yards out....didn't seem like there was any possible angle to even miss. Steve Jolley (7.5)- Not tested as much as in the first 3 games but another solid performance. Richie Williams (7)- Not a visible as in the previous game but another good all-around game. Leitch (6.5)- Didn't allow Zi Zi Roberts (a faster version of Big Mama) to push him around. Joey DiGiamarino (6.5)- Nothing spectacular, but no big mistakes either. John Wolyniec (5.5)- Too slow and can't beat anyone off the dribble. The best we can get I guess for his salary. Did make a couple of nice passes in the first half. Mike Magee (5)- Metros were in defensive mode when he came in with 15 minutes left so he couldn't show much. Tim Howard (4.5)- Gave up a horrific goal. He also looked clumbsy on two other shots in the second half. Tim Regan (INC)- Only played 4 minutes. I didn't think the officiating was as bad as has been noted. It seems that he whipped out the yellow whenever it was warranted on either side. Nice job of breaking up a possible fight between Mathis and Alberto Rizo (who to his credit wasn't in awe of him). Hard to get giddy over this win since most of us predicted a win. The Rapids are awful...Vallow looks like the worst starting keeper in MLS. It looks like it's gonna be a long season for them. Dissapointing turnout, despite the fact that Colorado has no "name" player. Announced crowd of 11K was closer to about 8K. No excuse for a turnout of less than 18-20K against arch-rival DC next weekend and the "Return of Mike Petke" (as the Metros are marketing this).
Attendance 11,069. Christ. Should've probably won those first two games, or at least not have blown the opener.
You thought that bad goal against would shake up the boys and put them in a shell. NOT BRADLEY'S BOYS! They played great attacking the Rapids and kept on pounding them till Clint nailed his head in the back of the net. Ziadie is unbelieveable. What a monster out there on the field for the Metro. Setting up that cross to Clint and taking down the Rapids all by himself. Ricardo Clark is showing alot of poise out there. He has no fear what so ever on the pitch. Could he be used for WC 2006? Let's wait and see. Timmy not your fault on that bad bounce, but still the boys picked him up nicely and they nailed those goals. It's starting to come together. It should be a good match on Saturday against Retched DC.