Pre-match: MLS Tournament Fire Game 2-Fire v. San Jose-7/19 7:00 pm FS1 and in the Soldier Field Parking Lot

Post of the night!

 

Welp, that was a turd sammich. Ugh.

 

Trying to do math but I think we want a Seattle W now right? We’d advance if we were even on points with them (say we draw on Thursday) due to our head-to-head victory, I believe and a loss leaves Vancouver with nothing to play for.

 

Vancouver still has 3rd place to play for

 

except maybe the pride of not going o-fer for the tourney and regular season points, since that is a thing.

 

Hmm... does that benefit them at all if they end up on 3 pts? Like, I know you can advance from a 3rd place slot, but without looking at all of the tables and figuring out the scenarios I feel like that’s super unlikely.

And I get the playing spoiler can be a huge motivator and not finishing can be a motivator too, but not quite the same as playing to advance, so I still feel like that makes it a pretty easy choice to “cheer” for Seattle here.

Anyway, looks like the Sounders have made it academic, so hopefully we’ll have some clarity shortly.

 

The way things are going at least they'd need to run up the score on the Fire to take that 3rd spot. So it's going to be hard to catch Chicago even with a win.

We're likely to be 3rd even with a loss. Not sure I would pin my chances on advancement with a negative GD though. We're likely 3rd with a draw now too, but it's really rare for a team on 4 points not to advance from a 3rd spot in a 24 team tournament.

 

We didn't look like a "Bad Fire Performance", we gave a "Bad Red Stars Performance", which is an improvement. Very similar vibes to it. The Fire didn't really do very many things terribly (except Kronholm fvcking up for the most part), but they just didn't seem to be able to get on the offensive. They did get a lot of bad calls from the officials that threw off the flow of the game, but overall they still couldn't piece together a coherent attack.

 

Also, some credit to San Jose. Their system is truly strange and unique. It's very difficult to play against and they have some real talent on that roster. I expect to see them near the top of the Western Conf come playoff time.

 

Not blaming the officials, but there was chippy play on both sides, with most (or all?) of the cards being handed out to Fire players. Playing on a yellow- especially for the guys that got one earlier, does impact their play (and the game itself) to some extent and if you know the ref is being liberal with the cards, it can have an effect on your game whether you're playing on one or not. Not nearly as much as VAR, and not enough (IMHO at least) in and of itself to have changed the outcome of this game (SJ was just better than us out there- that's why they won), but it's not like officiating can only impact the game when a call or play is subject to VAR.

Agree 100% on Kronholm - defense left him with an impossible task on that first goal and I don't know that 10 foot tall keepers with the reflexes of a mutant superhero would be able to do much against an unmarked Wondo in the box. Really no excuse at all for having HIM, of all players on that team, in the box without a mark. A really deflating goal at a crucial time in the game.

 

I will say this re: the officiating -- dude lost control of the game for a while and it was annoying to watch

also, can't find the video of the goal that was waived off for the CJ foul, but that was pretty weak


on tactics, it seems like the team is clearly playing for the counter but it was not an effective strategy against San Jose, nor does it seem like we have the requisite speed for it

 

It looked bad.

 

Yeah I think Jiggly just has it out for Kronholm lol

 

Really chippy game, the ref sucked, but that's not why we lost. Two horrid mistakes. Let's leave Wondo unmarked on a set piece! Mind boggling.

I figured our attack strategy would be the counter. All for it. But our execution sucked and San Jose's speed/quickness thwarted us. I really didn't mind the possession being so lopsided. SJ didn't have many good opportunities. Just thought our counter would've been more effective.

 

Haven't seen much yet obviously but am not overly impressed yet with Navarro, Stojanovich or Medran. I do enjoy seeing Frankowski playing with fire both sides of the ball and I think Beric and Sapong will be a good tandem with service. I was a big fan of Calvo but....seems he (nor any of the cd's) are not good enough right now.

 

I like what I see from Navarro and Medran. Stojanovic haven't had much to work with. Calvo... He's frustrating

 

I suppose I just miss Segares still.

 

Navarro found himself involved in a lot of stupid shit last night

 

I’m still trying to figure out what the central midfielders are actually supposed to accomplish. Medran, Gimenez, Stojanavich, and Herbers all seem to want to sit deep just in front of the CBs. Someone needs to be the link to Beric and Sapong and get the wingbacks involved more.

It doesn’t help when Navarro and Frankowski get pinned back defending for long stretches.

I think Djordje needs to start. He is an upgrade compared to Herbers.

 

I like Herbers as depth but agree that I would Hope Djordje is better for link play at this point.

 

Unfortunately it sounds like Stojanavich is supposed to accomplish rehab....

@TyrusRose <——

 

Torn MCL