Luna has been impressive v. Miami so far (29'). He's a hard worker and student of the game with great instincts.
Could it be that he did not want to put that pressure on them in a central American road game straight out of the gate?
Miami is going to be very........very tough to beat this year. If this is the standard of MLS this year, sorry Eurosnobs, we have passed Eredivisie and Ligue 1 handily. Its only Premiership, La Liga, and Serie A ahead of us. And honest to god, the later two are absolutely negligable when you get past the europa spots. Miami would mop the floor with Celta Vigo, Granada, Hellas Verona, Cagliari, Sheffield United types
I am as big an MLS fan as anyone, but I don't see it. I think Miami will be good but a team with speed gives this squad fits, defensively.
They should. It's a moderate pressure and difficulty type game. NE should win. It's a progressive increase in difficulty players eventually have to face. And neither player are exactly noobs, especially Buck. He was their starter almost all last year. Also, got to get a jump on sniping at Porter early. He makes himself an easy target. This just goes back to his m.o. Incidentally, here they both come in the 62nd minute.
It’s also just an older team that will have a ton of games and travel. If they stay healthy I think they win MLS Cup, but I’m not expecting them to win the Supporters Shield.
There’s a number of reasons they may not have started. For now it’s too early to draw any conclusions from a single game.
Yeah they have another game this weekend. It could be as simple as planned rotations. If they don’t start this weekend though…
Yeah, I wouldn’t go quite that far. I will say though that I think most mls teams would have no problem finishing mid table or better in a league like the Eredivisie. I think many would look like they belong against a club like Utrecht, for example. Then I think top mls teams like Miami or LAFC of the past few years could compete for champions or Europa league in the Eredivisie, and perhaps avoid relegation in La Liga. I’m beating a dead horse here, but it’s just not easy to compare mls to other leagues because of how it’s structured. There are no super clubs who outspend everybody and compete for the league every year, or bottom feeders who immediately get relegated. Most teams also have similar quality/pay for their top 18-20 players or so. Richards doesn’t play much for Crystal palace not because he’s not good, but because he’s behind established quality players. some mls teams might luck into that, but they can’t spend on depth players. And I’m fine with that, as I want mls to look more like the nfl in terms of competitive balance, and to increase the number of quality players it sells to top leagues. I don’t consider mls to really be competing against the big European leagues, as even if/when top players start coming here, the European fans are still going to support their local clubs.
Miami has a lot of age. I do expect their talent to get them thru early stages. ..............but let's see how they're doing by the time they play road games in Dallas and Houston in the middle of summer. Oh, and the CCC is going well. Orlando, New England, and Philly all winning on the road? Good start. The hardest group of opponents is to come. Still, you worry about these first couple of games. Duncan McGuire with a goal for Orlando against filthy Canadians.
I'm just here to jump on the "Miami did not look good" takes. It seems a lot of people's concerns were valid. Obviously, the individual quality to turn/win any game but better teams would not struggle like RSL did tonight... Of course, I'm not going to make any season long claims off one game. Still not a team I'd like to face in a knockout game due to said individual quality... In the same boat, I do no think RSL looked any good either. Spent 1 half playing scared then the 2nd goal derailed any momentum they built in the 2nd half. I thought/think these teams would be competing for home games in the playoffs but last night they looked like they'd be competing just to get in. I thought Luna looked ok. A few flashes but felt like he was left isolated and not able to get on the ball enough.
Eh. I don't judge the quality of Premier League teams on the first week, and I'm not going to judge MLS teams in that regard either. The better early story for me is that MLS teams starting the CCC well. Tonight we have Cincinnati on the road against Cavalier in Jamaica, and Nasvhille at home against Moca of the Dominican Republic. Should be two wins. We're on track for getting all American MLS teams to the Round of 16. [Except for one as Houston and STL are playing each other.] Second legs should be fun. Philly-Saprissa is the cool one.
Here's Duncan McGuire's goal from last night. Easy-peasy. Orlando City takes the lead as Duncan McGuire finds the back of the net to open the scoring! ⚽ pic.twitter.com/VTAhbT2tzz— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) February 22, 2024
It could be, but Porter has a rep of burying youth on the bench. Ironic for a former college coach. In Portland, it was often chalked up to no players coming out of their academy, but Columbus suddenly started playing a ton of youth last year after he was fired.
I also think they are going to target CCC, MLS Cup and then Leagues Cup again. I don't think the Shield is actually a big goal. I also think that the first game is never a very good indicator, especially with so much turnover on that team.
We'll see. Caleb Porter has talked a lot in the press about his admiration for Bajraktarevic, in particular. I'm not worried about it. He did bring both of the young guys off the bench. That was a super impressive performance by New England for its first game of the season. Went down to Panama and totally dominated the game. 66% possession. 21 shots. 10 corners. Total control. Its just a shame they didn't win 3-0. The Blazing Musket | Substack Talented, extremely creative,” Porter said when asked about Bajraktarevic. “Obviously, you see the clips for the national team. He's a very, very talented player with a ton of potential. He's not only a good attacking player, he also has a great work rate on both sides of the ball as well He's dynamic, he's got good athleticism. So for me, he's going to play a major role this year.”
This is a player I'm going to be very curious about for RSL. 17 year old dual-national that's been with Mexico most recently. Speaking of Diego Luna, Barajas is another former San Jose academy player that got away. Left San Jose for the Charleston Battery, played well there, and RSL acquired him. A night to remember for @fideljr_barajas pic.twitter.com/waHJHizkCL— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) February 22, 2024
Yeah, I mean he called him a starter like a week ago and then didn't start him. He did come out more defensive but I don't know how any coach can start Mark Anthony Kaye over Noel Buck right now, and it's concerning that Nacho Gil is even on the team as he will get minutes just to make Carles Gil happy.
I'm not worried about it. He used both Esmir and Buck last night, and has talked in the press about their importance. They both came on at about minute 60. I can point to Aidan Morris as a kid that Caleb Porter gave a lot of time to. Introduced him to the squad in 2020, even started him in 2020 MLS Cup, and in 2022 he was a key player. [Lost the majority 2021 due to the knee injury.]
He's a long-tenured coach. And for him you can point to 1 player, out of college, he didn't start until he got backed into a corner. The overall record is quite bad. Buck and Esmir will have to force his hand against these lackluster alternatives.