What a fantastic match defensively -- I probably heard Kyle Martino's name three times during the 90 minutes.
I thought that was a really interesting match. Usually last year, after we played the skewed midfield without a true right winger, the whole Metrostars board (including myself) would be irate. Rightfully so I might add. What a coach can do to a team. I was impressed by the shape of the whole team. The big gold machine just could not get rolling as Pope and Co. were tremendous in the back. Just a few comments. Digi made a lot of dumb plays today. I don't know if he's still getting back his game, but he pulled down some players, and was burned on a few occasions. I thought one of his main assets was speed? Clark, what a player. This kid marked Martino out of the game. So many times Martino tried to go around him, and Clark stood up. He also had a great run with a nice shot. That goes in, goal of the year easily. Williams has played very well. He is looking much more like the Williams of 3 or 4 years ago, then the one we've seen the past two seasons. He is alert on the ball. Makes the simple pass, and even added a couple of long runs. Wolyniec can't run. Magee seemed to be much more composed out there, and made some nice plays. Mathis had some nice touches. Spread the game out pretty well. I liked that he tracked back. Had the one chance, I was certain that was a goal, I actually stood up. Also the left foot, something we haven't seen much of on the set pieces. Basically, this team is hungry. 2000 was the last time the Metros wanted to win. The players have listened to Bradley, and seem to have bought into his system, and that shows I think. I can't wait until midseason when Gueverra is fully integrated and Jaime is playing 90 minutes. I think good things are coming.
Very impressed with Ritchie Williams. Why didn't he play this well last time he was a Metro? And by the way... FIRE BOB BRADLEY
Great Match!! How many out there expected to win this game? New promising midfielder not going to be there; Jaimie going out in the early stages; Playing away in Columbus; Lucky to have two ties. The D was outstanding. Some soft spots, but recovery was there when needed. I don't think I can take it on a weekly basis, but they worked hard and got the result.
Today's performance by Pope, Jolley, and Ricardo Clark was the difference in the game... Pope and Jolley put McBride and Cunningham in their pockets... Clark ably controlled the midfield from a defensive standpoint and got involved offensively when necessary without allowing his team to get spread... Another factor was that Cunningham simply does not fit in with Columbus' style... his movement off the ball is horrific... he is not comfortable playing with his back to goal... and he is not comfortable combining with his teammates... notice i didn't say he is a bad player... i have been saying for the past couple of weeks that he simply does not fit in with this style of play... he can help Columbus when they have a lead and he is able to get into 1v1 situations... but when an organized defense needs to be broken down by quick interplay, he's not as effective... Columbus' passing today was putrid... balls played in to target players much too soft or much too hard (so they either got killed coming back towards it, or could do nothing with them)... even simple balls to the wings were behind players at times... easy balls played back to the keeper's right foot instead of his left... just an extremely lax performance from that standpoint... Neither Hejduk nor Garcia can serve a decent ball into the box while the ball is moving... Garcia is adequate at best with a still ball (corner kick, etc.)... not enough pace on his services into the box nor his free-kicks at goal... the one ball that he hit well today in the 2nd half, caught Howard a little off guard and he still hot-dogged the save... Frankie just can't serve a ball... Finally, Columbus got beat today by a solid strategy from NY and a lack of one important individual (Buddle)... with Edson in there, it would've provided another target presence for balls to be played into... it would've helped to unlock the center of NY's defense... Columbus' ineptness at serving balls from the wings made that a futile exercise... with only one forward willing to actually show for the ball (McBride) made it that much harder to go through the middle of the defense... and Columbus' general sloppiness helped seal the deal...
Even with the win, I did not like the team this week. I think we played much better last week against the Galaxy. Even if Clark and Williams are playing good, I thought that our midfield and forward lines were terrible. Especially on the second half it looked as if we only got 10% of the possetion of the ball. It was basically long kick and allow the Crew to come all the way to the goal area where Jolley, Pope or Howard had to do something awesome to clear the ball, and back to another Crew attack. We continue to make weak passes among midfielders... Guevara will sold some of that but still. Again, glad we won, but it sucks that we played so horribly.
My ratings: Howard: 7.5 Made a few amazing saves to keep us in the game. Wasn't concentrating on one play but erased the mistake. Leitch: 6 He was a little shaky, but a lot better than the last game. Is pretty good going forward. Pope: 8 MOTM. Didn't make one mistake. OUr defense is looking great, and when Jaime and Guevara are back, hopefully are offense will too. Jolley: 7 He played his usual solid game. Nice assist. Ziadie: 7 LIke Jolley, he was also very steady. Williams: 7.5 He as great out there. He hardly gave the ball away and worked very hard. Clark: 8 This guy is amazing! He did today what no one on LA or NE could do: stop Martino. He won every fifty fifty ball, has a wicked shot, goes past people with ease, and is good at passing. Digiamarino: 5.5 Didn't get very involved... commited some stupid fouls and gave the ball away quite a few times as well. Mathis: 6.5 He didn't do much, but it wasn't all his fault. For the last half-hour we barely had any possesion. It looked like he was trying very hard. I think we'll see the Clint of old very soon. Jaime: 6 He didn't play much, but worked hard when he was there. Wolyneic: 5.5 Like I said last week, I don't really like this guy. If Mathis had some of the chances Wolyneic had we probably would have scored twice more. Not very fast, or a good passer, or dribbler. Magee: 7.5 Didn't do much, but did score the winning goal! And everyone said this guy didn't have it. Trust in Bradley, everyone! LeBlanc: NR Not enough playing time
Yea, we did play terribly, but Guevara and Jaime will make a huge difference ( I hope.) Mathis will play better when Guevara and Moreno play with him. Every time Mathis got the ball he oculd do nothing with it. We'll get better. Wolyneic is terrible, and Magee isn't too good either...
was anyone else as nervous as i was during the last 25 minutes of the match... i guess it made sense at that point to put 9 guys behind the ball and take advatnage of that lead and get the win on the road, but they were a little too bunkered in there, and i think they got lucky to get out of there with the shutout. they should have made a little more effort to hold possession, or started their extreme defensive play a little later in the game. they gave columbus too many opportunities.. i'm not conviced that magee can do anything for the team yet.... that goal was right place right time for him, and he had little to do with it, though it did look nice..
he's still too young to make a proper judgment on his play but magee shows me nothing. No break away speed and he's kinda small
Games don't get much uglier than that one. Positives: Pope, Jolley and Williams continue to stymie opposing offenses. Negatives: Offense just no there yet. Magee is too easily pushed off the ball. Mathis still seems no better than 60% and with Moreno off, didn't get the chances he needed. Can't wait till next week, though.
My ratings: Ricardo Clark (8)- He's my MOTM. Why? With Guevara out, someone needed to step up and control the ball. Clark definitely did (unlike Clint) rarely losing the ball. In ADDITION, he came back on "D" to help put the kibosh on Martino, McBride and Co. Eddie Pope (8)- Just missed a goal on a header in the first half. No mistakes on defense and never gave them a good look on goal. Steve Jolley (8)- Put the clamps on McBride. Made him look like a 15 year old (no offense to Magee). Richie Williams (7.5)- Solid all-around game. Playing better with the team in his second go-around. Mike Magee- (7)- A classic example of being in the right place at the right time. Hopefully, the goal will give him some added confidence. Tim Howard (7)- Nice save after the goal to preserve the win. Boneheaded play in the first half almost cost them the game. Craig Ziadie (6.5)- Nice job helping DiGi on the left wing and good ball possession. Joey DiGiamarino (6.5)- Made some nice runs down the wing. Leitch (6) Made two nice thru-balls, one to Williams and one to Wolyniec that could have led to goals. No big mistakes on defense like last week. Jaime Moreno (6)- Was "average" in the time he was out there. Clint Mathis (5.5)- The Crew staff may have to re-sod a 5 by 5 foot area of grass around the "30 yard line" that was worn out because Clint refused to budge from it in the last thirty minutes. He could barely move. A great cross to his left where no one was one him which didn't even come close to the goal. Wolyniec (5)- Not very quick with the ball. Brought back memories of AJ Wood. Jacob LeBlanc (INC) Final analysis: SURPRISING WIN CONSIDERING GUEVARA WAS OUT AND MORENO WAS INJURED EARLY IN THE MATCH.
Needs to learn to pass the ball once in a while. Alawys seems like he wants to walk it into the goal.
Howard : 7.5. Big saves, as usual. Gotta love him. Pope: 8. Held defence together. Stopped Col. big-time players. Jolley: 6.5. Couple scares, but a well played game none-the-less. Zaide: 6:Our outside backs are weak...but it's MLS. everyone's are. Leitch: 5: For this team to really be good...A BIG step up is needed in his play. Clark: 8. In a few months we'll all be saying "Mastroni + Armas...WATCH OUT." Williams:7.5. Works great with Clark. On top of that, contributes to the attack. These two are made for each other(Bradley knew this. He must have.) Digi: 5. Couple stupid fouls. Couple stupid give aways. He's just getting back into the groove. He'll be good on the outside this season. Mathis: 5.5. Lost a lot of balls in mid. One chance at net went over. We all know he belongs at forward. Until he gets there, he wont be about to get outta this hole. Moreno: 5.5. Injury didn't seem to be to serious. However lower back injury could linger for a while. Wolyneic: 6. I get the feeling he knows what he's doing out there. Sometimes he just doesn't have the skill/touch to do it. But his positioning with Moreno was much better than Magee's in the past 2 games.(made sure the forwards worked together, something Magee doesn't seem to do.) Magee: 6. Scores goal. Right place, right time. Otherwise, lost a lot of balls in midfield. Needs time. All in all, good win...on the road. Most importantly, this team wants to win. You can see it. There's emotion out there. Yet at the same time, the defence is like a well oiled machine. It'll be an interesting year, especially if Clint can come into form after coming back from Confed. Cup + the Gold Cup, for the home stretch. I truly beleive this team is gonna win, win ,win, at the end of the season, having all of their players coming back from the international Cups.
How can anyone complain? We're suddenly a very hard team to beat. Four points from three matches against the top two teams in the league (both of whom had played five or six competitive matches before we had played one)? Give it a couple months before you start talking about the aesthetics of our style of play. We need to start scoring, true enough, but we're learning how to get results when the odds are against us, and that's something Metro has NEVER done.