Short and simple: They were fine. I was worried they'd be in big trouble missing their recent aquisitions. And the way Cangelosi and Messing were talking about Clark and Magee still recovering from their operations, I thought they'd be playing in wheelchairs. Very entertaining as well. Looking forward to April 17.
BTW, I should have been clearer on the Crew goal. It was ZIadie's fault for not tracking Hejduk, but normally Walker smothers the original shot. Oh well.
Why has no one mentioned Walker's save at the end of the match? That was one of the best saves I have ever seen. Point blank header and an unbelievable reaction save. More than makes up for the "mistake" on the first goal.
Vaca and Gavens wing play made the difference today. Cant wait to see Pope and Parke play together. I say keep the formation the same. Why change something that works.
It's time for somebody to say it: This team is better without Clint Mathis. Don't get me wrong, Clint is my favorite player...ever. I still maintain he is the most inventive, unprectable player that the US has ever produced. That being said, I don't believe the Metros would have opened the season the way they did had Clint been on the field. Many people have commented how much movement we were getting from our forwards. Because of the way Clint plays, and again, you could say it's because of the unique way he reads the game, Clint never did half the off the ball running that Magee and Woly and the entire midfield showed in this win. I think a big reason for all of the running off the ball is because Clint's departure has ushered in an enormous stable of capable strikers and now the heat is on EVERYBODY'S ass to perform up top. Yes Vaca is the best inter-league pick up of the season. Yes Gaven is the best player under 20 in the country. Yes Jeff Parke might start for the US in the 2010 World Cup (and T-Bone should sit). Yes we all love our Clint. But the team is better without him.
No mistake on the first goal, Walker did well to get a hand to the shot and block it. The mistake was alowing Frankie into the box unmarked.
You were saying? hehe Its bad enough that some of the Crew posters keep saying this in spite of proof to the contrary (that pic is of the EXACT moment the ball is played to Lisi), but wanted to settle it here once and for all - Lisi was NOT offsides. There was nothing from last night that anyone can use to tarnish our win.
Against a lesser opponent we scored one more goal than DC. I think next week's match will give us a real preview of the rest of the season --barring a plague of injuries and mental breakdowns that alters the trajectory. Watching our match and the DCU-Quakes game convinced me that the two teams are more evenly matched than in any prevous season. Will they continue to use a 3-5-2 as they did vs. SJ? I'm sure they will; Nowak clearly is partial to his selected midfielders. Now, who does he slot in for red-carded Dema? And will we have Eddie back? And if we do, who starts with him, Bonsu or Parke? I think our first home match sets the tone for the rest of the season. Beating DC will be big, but how we beat them is more important.
i really was not very impressed by DC at all...for much of the match, SJ even looked better...DC's buildups were hardly fluid, and they should've capitalized on SJ's porrous defense...even if i were impressed by DC, i would never place that large of an emphasis on the 2nd match of the season, in fact, Jamison said it best, 8 teams make the playoffs, so it's how you finish...it will undoubtedly be awesome if we beat DC, but you dont get too high on your highs, and too low on your lows...common rule in sports.. **also, can we pleeease stop talking about MEthis?? it was so good not to hear his name for a while..
About Lisi....A healthy Mark Lisi, as he is now, will miss some games for the Metro's...the kid will be in National team camps and involved with WC 2006 qualifying....he's that good and is primed for a really big season....mark it down.
You're wrong. Download the 'Woly.mpg' goal clip from Bigfoot, and look at the second camera angle. Lisi is, without a doubt, onside. We did not get 'lucky.'
Lisi was never offsides on Woly's goal. And once again to Staab. Walker is not at fault on the Crew's only goal. Ziadie didn't mark him when the ball was in the air. Ziadie should have been aware about poachers coming in to take a free shot at a scoring chance and Frankie Connected. Walker was sharp all match long. Yes I too almost forgot about that big one handed save he made at the end of the match against Cunningham. Also towards the end of the 1st half Just got enough of his hands on it to force the ball wide of the post.
This team is better with wide midfielders. Last season, we had NO left wing, and Clark often played out of position on the right wing. This season, we have Vaca and Gaven is doing well on the other wing. THAT is the key difference. Mathis was not a detriment to this team last season. EVERYBODY in the middle began to suck because we had zero ability to spread the field. As to the person who suggested keeping the same formation since it worked this time, try and keep some perspective. I'm thrilled with the win, but this was Columbus. We need to get our best players on the field. A 3-5-2 does that. In a 4-4-2, we have to sit one of our fantastic midfielders in order to keep a player like Ziadie in the starting 11. Doesn't make too much sense.
The big difference for me is this. In 2000/2001, Mathis would come back into the midfield rush the ball and would be able to dish it off to other midfielders who were moving up into spaces. That specifically did not happen last season. It was static, and everyone would sit around watching each other.
I'm shocked to see Walker being blamed on the goal. What exactly did he do wrong? That shot was a cannon that Walker turned aside, and Hejduk was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. In fact, Jonnie made a spectacular attempt at punching it away from him. Let's not get carried away about Lisi playing for the Nats. Remember, most of his assists last year were in the first 1/3 of the season. The Crew were giving the Metros plenty of room to manuever.
I dont get to see as many games as I would like. Still I thought it hard for DC to be fluid in a game as physical as that one. Some here have critized the ref for blowing the whistle too much. Maybe they wanted to see a hockey game.They should have scored more considering the mistakes by SJ defense. I thought they put themselves in position but blew the final shot.
I appreciate that your side burst the bubble of Crew management's lofty hopes in the first 90 minutes of the season.
Does anyone know where I can download goal clips or general highlights from the game??? I made the mistake of drinking too much before the start and now dont remember much of it at all. Thanks for any help.. GO METRO!!