Metros v. Chicago [R]

Metros didn't come to play today.

Petke is a disaster. That header to Razov was a thing of beauty.

Maybe it's the heat.

 

some games just deserve one phrase. "UGH"

 

Yep! Best to forget this one.

 

I had a feeling we wouldn't be able to figure out Naperville. It didn't surprise me that Big Mama asked out early.

On another note I think our chances to win the Supporters Shield and hence the Domestic Treble vanished with this match. Nine points behind the Quakes might be to much to overcome.

 

Seriously. Zambrano waited til the 70th minute to make changes. What the hell is that about?

Did we even have a midfield today. The possesion must have been 70-30 in favor of Chicago.

 

Very aggrevating. I only yell at the TV during Metro games. I feel bad for everyone who schlepped down to NH's for the party, but at least they had beer.

-g bugout

 

ugh is right

One of the worst games in a long time. Howard was the only one who even looked like he was trying. Still waiting to see more from Sheppard but he lacked vision today, just booting the ball up field (usually nowhere near anyone) every time he touched it. Probably can't really judge anyone after the performance the whole team put up. With any luck Diallo will be back at 100% after the all-star break.

In conclusion, lets all be thankful the Metro dont play like this every game. We could all be supporting the NY Power.

 

Was it me or was Ante Razov open for the entire game? And why did Jeff Moore start, to mark up super-star playmaker Billy Walsh?
You know its a bad game when Walsh is involved in a goal. Silly defending, too...

Oh and By the Way: Stoogekov needs to have his balls ripped off by Tim Howard next time around...

 

For three years, I've watched Zambrano fail to come up with a plan to get past Chicago's midfield pressure. It gets worse and worse. He's not a terrible coach, but he's a mediocre one, and who else thinks Chicago won't knock us out of the playoffs if we're unlucky enough to meet them?

I'm thinking he's got to go. Yeah, Chicago got a break with the non-offside call, and yeah, our defense totally crapped out on several occasions, but as things stand, we don't have the defense or the ability to adjust our tactics to make a run in the playoffs.

 

If it wasn't for some poor Fire finishing and great saves by Howard it would have been 7-0.
The Fire had been shutout in three straight games going into todays game which included a shutout by an A-league team.
Thank God for the Metros defense.

 

I am seriously concerned regarding a lack of mental preparation on the part of our team. The coach is failing big time in this area. There seems to be no enthusiasm and a complete lack of a professional work ethic or pride by these players.

Yes, the midfield was non-existent.

 

I love this. You must have gone to the Jack Edwards school of commentary.

 

that comment would be kind of funny, if we hadnt pasted ur ass. i suggest tim howard not start next game against the fire cuz hristo is going to be 100% healthy and looking for the net, and when he looks for the net he gets it, better than cry-mama who asked out early cuz he couldnt play with our defense but enough of that. oh well what can u expect from a metro

 

Oh man..only now my fourth Metros match I have seen all 90 minutes of this season...by far this was one of the worst performances I have ever seen.

Since I saw all 90 minutes let me take this time to break it down from my point of view....

First off , the biggest mistake was made before we even hit the pitch tonight. Why Oz went with only three in back is beyond me. It looked like he had Addo playing in the defensive midfield spot , which normally is a good idea, but with the Fire finally being able to field DMB, Razov and Wolff, why would you play a man marking system ? Those three set the pace all night long and ran our defense into the hot muggy ground. 3 at the back with Addo playing sweeper would of been ok, but otherwise we needed a full four at the back. Chronopolous...he played another horrible game..to be honest I have never seen him turn in two good games in row ever with us or the Revs., he needs to be put on the bench for awhile. Addo and Howard played brilliant in my opinion and deserved a better result. Addo back tracked alot and dug Petke and Jolley out of a lot of holes. Petke needs to be benched for a few games, Oz needs to send the message to him that his spot is not an automatic choice. Our midfield was pretty horrible all night... Paule and Moore were non exsistant, I didn't even know Paule was playing till the 60th minute when he finally touched the ball. It seemed to me that for some reason the Metros were hell bent on putting the ball down the wing, where they got beat everytime...we didn't have anyone on the field that could match up to DMB's speed, yet we went at him with almost every possesion. The Fire's central midfield was pretty cold most of the evening and that left me scratching my head as into why we never really challenged them.

Our forwards did a decent job tonight, especially if you take into consideration the service they were getting all night. Diallo played a nice game and tryed to push out a tough game in the heat, but that and his injury caught up to him and his replacement Sheppard seems to be a possible breath of fresh air. Faria did a lot of work with what was given to him and I have to say I was impressed with his attitude for all 90 minutes, he never seemed to give up. I was also pretty amazed at how well Bocanegra shut down Andy Williams..first time in awhile the Rasta boy looked non exsistant or at least Mike Sorberesque.

The field and temperature has to be taken into consideration as well. Naperville is simply god awful, the stands are nice and made it look like a full lively house...but those gridball lines are just imbarrasing to see. Another point and this is from experience, is when your playing with those gridball lines, you tend to second guess yourself to much as to where exactly you are on the pitch and that will cost you a step or two, which seemed to be one of our problems, in that we seemed to get caught behind the ball a lot. I really have never seen our players melt down this badly before this season, so maybe the field did play a part in it. The temperature must of played havoc on us, but then again we did have another team in the park tonight and they coped rather well w/ it. They really made us run all over tonight and that had to drain us fast, I was impressed with the simple touches the Fire made to open space for them...they totally set the pace for tonight.

Finally, I knew it was a bad game when I tried to sell my self the idea, that if Brian Kelly were back we might of had a better out come....at least Kelly would of had some speed on the right side.

 

As long as OZ is the coach we're never going to win anything, no MLS cup, no US Open cup. Even going to the playoffs is a great achivement. Simply he is a bad coach because:

A. Metros are one of the worst tactically prepared teams.
B. He brings really bad players year after year
(Byron Alvarez, the last year's Alvarez, Comas, now brought Chrono, etc., etc,....)
C. Looks like he's not much of a motivator, he has to make sure the players are motivated and their morale high. We've lost too many home games due to lack of spirit. Too many lethargic game (like today).
D. Never makes proper and timely subs. I don't remember that the subs have made any difference in the game. It seems to me the subs he puts in the game make it worse. Sometimes he puts them too late in the game.

Sacking OZ should be priority #1 if I were the guy who decides on these matters.

 

Right, OZ never brings in any good players. Lets send Diallo and Andy Williams packing back to NE. Clint also came to the Metro during OZ's tenure, so I say we send him back to LA. Last year's Rookie of the Year, Rodrigo Faria, can go back to Brazil. Brad Davis, who may be this year's Rookie of the Year can go too. Maybe we can see if we can get Ammann back from DC so we can trade Howard away instead.

 

I can tell you that the field is awful. It's ungodly hot and smells like burnt rubber. It takes getting used to. Your boys have been here once before, so they shouldn't have been surprised.

Our team needed this one and your's didn't look like they cared and it might have been the pitch. Personally I wouldn't be too motivated to play on that surface.

Question, what happened to Serna?

 

Like Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. We are still topping the East, and we are a dangerous team when we are on our game. I thought we found our groove in the balanced effort that produced the win vs. KC. then we take half-a-dozen steps back with this one.

Inconsistancy -- and who knows where to lay the blame for that? It's a team problem from top to bottom. It's sad to see professionals send out the blatant message that they just don't want to be playing a game. That seemed to be the message out of Naperville. Too bad they don't get to pick and choose.

Meanwhile, Diallo is day-to-day with the hamstring injury. He wasn't bagging out of the game; he was hurting.

What was the deal with Stoitchknkov? Chicago is blowing us away, so he comes on late and has to play Hector of Troy with Timmy. Big Man he is. We tremble before him.

Maybe Petke and some others should sit this Wednesday vs. Columbus. Let Mike consider the difference between All-Star and all star. We need the latter. He may start the show next Saturday, but it's dollars to donuts Yallup subs him out after about 30 minutes.

 

Serna went to NE during that SIX PLAYER DEAL you must have missed. Odd, since I did post about it on the Fire board...

 

This is just a game to forget (I hope). Metros were spent early from too many matches in a short period of time and they showed it. Mistakes were magnified and Petke is having his worst season ever. Howard was brilliant as usual, about the only good thing in that game. Let's not call for anyone's head yet. We still have injuries to key players to contend with. We're still in first, sh!t happens, especially on the road. A little rest (Mama needs it) with the All-Star game plus players coming off injury (read Mathis & Ramos) and it's a different story.

 

You must have missed it. Subsequently he is out for the season due to a knee injury.

 

Brian Kelly only played the left side.

 

You sure about that ? I always remeber yelling at his ass on the right side of the pitch...sometimes he used to play in the middle but I always thought it was the right.