Are you watching or listening? The DirectKick feed had a replay from far enough away that it is tough to tell exactly what happened beyond taunting. Not saying he didn't stomp, just that the replay was less than conclusive IMO.
How much did we pay for Reiter and why didn't we put him on the waiver wire to free up a future allocation in the middle of August?
Chivas pouring forward now in desperation. Ezra has become an attacker for all practical purposes. Except for one great save today, Thronton has simply confirmed that he's not the commanding Beast of old. Martins with a close shot. Whew!
Watching. He stepped*, but did not stomp down. There was clear intent (probably not to injure), but it is also unsporting. Red wouldn't have been my first thought, but I can see it. *Ever "walk over" someone who was on the ground? Perez stepped on his calf while he was down and had most, if not all, of his weight on the leg for a second. Would it cause injury? Probably not.
Caballero looking likely to be coming into the game soon. It's the 90th minute so that's fine with me although we may not get to make that sub.
I dunno. Fire earned the W, but Im not sure you can take a lot away from this one. Reiter WAS on the field for 60 minutes right? I realize Chivas isnt very good but tonight the Fire were one set piece away from 1pt against the worst team in MLS history. I realize you want to save guys and not burn guys out and spread the playing time, but at the same time you cant afford to let 3pts escape you against the worst team on your schedule. So they got the result they wanted, but in a way, it was in spite of the lineup, not because of it.
Zach Thornton MOTM? Hmmm. But a road win is good, no matter where it comes - even at CD Chivas USA. Definitely a different sort of game with Rolfe in. It doesn't necessarily have to be Rolfe and Barret next week if Jaqua is still out; Rolfe and Reiter or Rolfe and Herron would present enough of a "dynamic" up front. But then, how many times did you hear Reiter's name called in the second half? Maybe I've just talked myself out of the Reiter or Herron option . . .
We're just fortunate there isn't a consistent goal scorer on Chivas or we would have been out of this one long before the final whistle blew.
There IS an empty feeling in this win, only because this is Chivas and we are the FIRE and should have dominated it. But in the end, we got 3 points tonight and 12 points against the explansion teams; that was the expectation. While I think the play of Reiter and Herron wasn't great, I think a few things need to be remembered: 1) They haven't started together (that I can remember - have they?) 2) Reiter hasn't played much at all lately, and Herron is still recovering from his injury. 3) Herron still needs to adjust to playing without that headgear on, that thing must change the way you run! 4) And the most important one... Rolfe/Jaqua have had the service of Thiago... and tonight Herron/Reiter has Beute. A bit drop of quality. Could we have done better? Yes. But we had a recovering CJ in central defense, Gonzo making all sorts of runs up the wings, Thiago getting surgery, and Guerrero doing his usual steady great stuff. I'll take it! PS... Apparently Fox Soccer Channel hates us... No Fire v DC United highlights!!! Yet to be seen if they will show us Thiago's as one of their goals of the week. PPS... For (at least) 2 days we are tops of the East!
Winning ugly is as beautiful for the Fire as it is for the Cubs. It's the "missing player" games that separate the good teams from the great ones.
Our B team (barely) beat the Chivas A team. I'll take that. Reiter continues to be unimpressive. Thornton continues to be a shadow of his former self. Herron is still forgettable. On the positive side, Curtin and Brown looked painfully slow but otherwise relatively solid, Marsch was decent in midfield even if his PK was sad, Pause did a credible job, and Guerrero, Segares and Rolfe continue to be impressive. OK, our B team will likely get crushed by the Revs but then so would our A team and everyone else's A team, so big deal. We just saw a three game Fire winning streak and the other teams in the East (except the Revs) continue to struggle. I'll take Winnin' Ugly over losing any day.
Don't write the next match off as a loss yet. The Revs are hit hard by Gold Cup call-ups. Not only are they missing Dempsey, Noonan, and Ralston but they're also missing Reis. Any game with a backup goaltender can be a possible win. Who's going to set up Twellman? Sharlie Joseph? Jose Cancela? Of course having said that Khano Smith is probably pretty hungry for a goal.
The Revs will be without Ralston, Dempsey and Noonan, and Avery John. That should give us a chance, right? Of course, we'll be missing Guerrero by then. Do we have any midfielders left? There weren't any on the bench today... Guess Fires of Fulham beat me too it. Oh, and Fires, don't underestimate Joseph or Cancela. We don't have any answer to Joseph, unless Jaqua plays central midfield next week...
I never underestimate Joseph. He's my favorite non-Fire player in the league. Are you saying worry about him scoring or worry about him defending? If you're worried about him shutting down the Fire I can agree.
I'm worried about his underrated attacking play as well (1 goal, 2 assists, and plenty of good passing). He's the one player in the league I'd take in a heartbeat.
He's a great attacking player in that he's got amazing speed down the flank when he's needed but he's more a first pass player in that. He's the best at setting up one of the offensive midfielders in the box who then make the second pass. The revs are the most dangerous because they keep possession in and near the box as well as anyone in MLS. But there's where they're beatable this week. Their swarm of attackers is playing for the United States and not the Revolution. I think we're going to get a great idea of what the expect on Monday when the Revs play the Galaxy (it's televised on FSC just like seemingly every Revs match). I can't see how Nicol is going to be able to keep a 3-5-2.
Yes 3 points is 3 points but against one of the worst MLS teams ever assembled I think this game showed how much we will miss Thiago and jaqua.More and more I'm thinking we should have gotten a better player for our allocation money than Reiter.
I was waiting for someone to comment on Buete - there was at least one post before yours. I agree with the color tonight via CSN defensive he's been fine BUT when he gets the ball on the counter he's running at the D and throws it away - at least 5-6 times tonight. This is why he'll NEVER be or SHOULD NEVER be in the starting 11 as a AM.