He's never been that guy in his career, to dominate with his shot stopping like Blake or or Turner. His best MLS shot stopping season would rank him in the teens this season.
Good article on LAFC and Dolo. Love the insightful description by Chiellini.: “I was positively surprised about Steve,” said veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini. “I think that his best quality is to maintain the balance in every moment of the game, and in every moment of the season. This is one very good thing and he is very able to read the game. He is a person that understands the moment, understands when he has to raise up our focus, or he could leave us a little bit lighter, because we are so heavy for other things, other games. “I think it is a very huge quality, this understanding of the situation and the level of pressure on the team. Tactically he has a clear idea. We are training on that and when we have time to train it, I think we could see also much better during the game.” https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/lafc-s-marathon-season-reaches-defining-match-at-mls-cup
There are definitely a few ideas that are somewhat lost in translation there, but overall seems like pretty high praise from Chiellini--especially given the intense tactical focus that the Italians are known for.
Columbus up 2-0 at half, but it's been closer than that. First goal was a pretty lucky pen in that it was a handball in the box that was nowhere near scoring. Second goal was gorgeous. LAFC was playing defensive and trying to counter and it wasn't working really at all. Now they have to come at Columbus and it's been fun. There was a really good chance right before the half ended. I personally didn't love the initial gameplan from Dolo -- I think playing for 1-0 against this Columbus team is a mistake -- they are going to score. But the change has been effective so far. Nancy's history says he's not going to adjust that much, so LAFC will have their chances. Really one of those games that turns so much on that first goal.
Morris is wreaking havoc again in his second MLS Cup so far. The Columbus press is impressive. Tillman had some nice plays but almost got a second yellow, so he's off. Acosta has been pretty missing. Nagbe really helps to release Morris to be a hunter/killer. Schulte has not really been tested.
Columbus deserved that. Frankly, LAFC probably deserved a red in there -- they definitely were hacking the hell out of a team they could not get the ball from.
This would be a great signoff for Morris. Tillman had 31 appearances in the B1. Acosta had been a National Team regular. Morris triumphed. 68/78 passing 4/5 long balls 7/10 duels 3/0 fouls/fouled 5 tackles 6 recoveries Sofascore(7.4)1st
Garbers favorite team (/s) won again, great to see. Happy they still have a team Name dropped Sac, Phoenix, Tampa, and Detroit as cities of interest. Interesting no Vegas mention anymore
A's plus a likely NBA team mean that market is super saturated, especially for the number of people. Somewhere along the way, the owner interested dropped out. The three biggest media markets MLS isn't it are Phoenix, Tampa and Detroit, I believe.
Oh snap........New England, are ya finally getting a stadium? Is a soccer stadium for the New England Revolution coming to Everett? - CBS Boston (cbsnews.com)
Apparently, the Rapids have not learned their lesson about overpaying for overrated (at the time) American keepers (as they would certainly overpay for Steffen).
David Beckham is spokesman for Las Vegas Sands Resorts and they're focused on new properties in Macau, Singapore and Long Island. They would be the obvious backers of something MLS related in Vegas.
Was it Stu who said on the broadcast that both Morris and Tillman are on the prelim January camp roster? Looking forward to seeing them both. Nancy's scheme was clearly better than Dolo's in this one. LAFC will need different pieces if they are going to effectively build around Denis. Looking at LAFC's top compensation; Vela-$4.5M, Bouanga-$2.5M, Acosta-$1.4, Ilie-$1.2M, Long-$1.2M, Chiellini-$1.0M. Gonzalez-$890K. Guys in bold are out of contract in a month. I would expect 3 of the 4 players in bold are replaced next season. Columbus and LAFC again next year!
Which was a badass pass from Amundsen. Also, Yeboah was really fantastic all game. He must have been totally gassed for Nancy to decide to sub him off (but I didn't pick up on it). As for Americans, Nagbe played his typical game, which is to say extraordinarily safe with the ball (and I mean that positively--no one can take that ball from him). Aidan Morris was really good himself throughout. I would have liked to see him connect on some of the higher-difficulty passes he attempted in the final third, but otherwise he scarcely made anything that one could consider a mistake. Solid. He's shown good progression in his career to date. He's definitely a more hard-nosed 6/8 than the options the USMNT has been using in Adams' absence. He doesn't seem to have lapses in judgment--crucial for the position. Schulte had another very good game. He shows remarkable consistency for a relatively young GK (22 yo). As for the Yanks on LAFC, I don't have much to say about any of them because Columbus so thoroughly outplayed them for at least 2/3s of the game.
I think the answer is "The season is over and the front office is about to start making calls about next season's tickets".
Schulte is on a first contract. He will likely get a very nice bump up on the next deal if he stays in MLS. If a club wants to pay a long-term servant, like Andre Blake at the Union, a big contract, that's one thing. But to go out on the open market to sign a keeper for big wages would be ill-advised.
Yeah, Yaw Yeboah was great. One yank that really struggled in this game was Hollingshead. Yeboah had his number over and over and over again. Morris was great. I still have no idea what happened and why he left the team at the Gold Cup.
Schulte made a great save on the would be goal. Not his fault the ball caromed to an unfortunate spot point blank to allow that rebound. Overall he was smooth with his feet and claims. I've always said he has real potential. And he improved throughout the season. He may still have some to go to compete for USMNT starter, but it's realistic. Morris disrupts the opponent rhythm so much by getting in passing lanes, and then controls tempo the other way with his quick passing. He's improved so much in his solutions in tighter spaces. He already deserved more shots w/ the USMNT. But he should be off to Europe now too. 2 Championships for his club is enough. I think a Serie A club could watch that and think they found their new Gattuso. Going back to us, I'd like to see what he'd look like next to Musah for a couple trials, because he's an analog of Nagbe, who has great chemistry w/ AMo. Columbus are a suitable champion. I suspected they'd win before the start of the playoffs. But they needed a big road comeback before they could enjoy their home dominance again.