New England - San Jose (Saturday, 5/3) postgame thread [R]

Love Agoos' hit on Twellman during the TAO.

 

There may have been some individual performances lacking, but some real strong ones were there, especially on D. San Jose is a team. A Team. Something that NE is not.

 

That game sucked
New England looked like 12 year olds
Is it just me, or does Lagos look really awkward when trying to do anything athletic...like running.

 

can we say Agoos and Dayak are just plain awesome??? They shut down the fish last week and they didnt let anything get by them today. I Also second IBT on the nice hit by Agoos on Twellman. Wow, pretty awesome game.

 

New England looks awful. It took until what, the 80 minute mark before they strung two passes together? They may be the worst side in the league right now. MLS is so evenly matched though, that they could surge as the season progresses. My reaction to most of the match though was "Good grief! These guys are pro's?" Not a very good match to help draw fans to the league. Downright ugly.

Kevin

 

Another major test passed.

Still undecided on my MOTM. Dayak was large at the back, but Ching gives us the air game that we lacked last season. His presence created the OG...and his finish on the goal he did get credit for was restaurant quality. I'd like to see some better finishing from him on balls at his feet -- he made a hash of a pair of quality chances.

And I hate to do this kind of about face but now only Onstad's OG separates us from 4 wins on the trot right out of the gate.

Imua Ching!

 

Yeah, those two slow-assed over-the-hill reprobates. How the heck do they do it?

 

Amazing how our center backs are always in position to head away balls at the top of the box and how they always find teammates.

Notice how we never even had to give up a free kick near our box until time added on.

Quakes were first to every ball.

Earthquakes 2 and 0 on the road!

Unfortunately, the MLS playoff system is so stupid that teams might as well just tank the whole first half of the season since it makes no difference unless you finish last in your conference. Home and Away playoff means no point in winning the Supporter's Shield.

 

Great win for the Quakes to stay undefeated!!! The defense was solid and made the New England Forwards look terrible. Good goal by Ching and special thanks to Llamosa!!!


Long live the Quakes!!!

 

Dayak was awesome, Agoos good. Love Dunvant back there, kid is always in the right place. Waibel ok, got a kick out of the headlock/takedown even if it drew a yellow, nice way to say dont try that hand holding crap. Onstad is a bit shakey, but defense makes it so he doesnt have to do much. Mulrooney and Corrales didnt have much to do, were large factors. Manny was ok. Donovan is something special. Ching is a load, still can run and do some things with his feet. Mullan has some shakey crosses/shots, but is good with the ball at his feet and had a real nice assist.

Overall as a team it was clear they werent clicking 100% offensively, but their were some dangerous combinations and you could see that they were just a hair away from breaking the Revs down completely. Donovan-Ching-Mullan really are the danger guys I think, they work exceedingly well together. They open up space and look for each other in a way that is a pleasure to watch.

Defensively their shape and marking was awesome. NE didnt have much, guys were forced into bad angles and poor shots/passes.

 

Yes and no. I think the Supporter's Shield is a nice reward in and of itself. Hopefully the league doesnt ignore it when they work with players for insentive packages.

 

1. Total team victory. Great defense by all concerned, including Waibel. Nice head tackle of Kamler! Excellent call by the official on that one. Great midfield control. Mullan, Donovan, Lagos, Dunivant, and Ching all work well together.

2. The CounterRevs don't suck so much as their midfield is horrible. Nichols needs to start Hernandez and Noonan. I don't care if Hernandez did criticise the coach. His criticism was right on the money. Joseph is ok, but Kamler and Cullen are not getting it done.

3. Offstad still scares me, but he did OK today. Not many shots faced, did a good job killing the clock, pretty decent distribution.

I go with Ching as Man of the Match, but only just barely.

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark

 

Just woke up and saw the score. Great result for the Quakes.

Now I can't wait to see the game, when it airs over here, within the next 48 hours.

I'll lurk on this thread in the meantime, and offer up my thoughts and analysis after it airs via tape-delay over here.

 

Lagos is very leggy and it makes him look akward. Much like Ezra for the evil, rotten, stinking, filth. Manny gets it done though.

I could wish that Ching were faster, but he gets into dangerous positions and he keeps on working. Also, he works well with his teammates.

Great Team Win!!

We are freaking the Best!!

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark

 

Speaking of wrestling...is it just me, or were Pat Onstad and WWE honcho Eric Bischoff separated at birth? It just dawned on me during some of those closeups in the 2d half.

 

Greetings from Provo, UT, where I watched the second half while working out in the hotel gym...

Just a few notes...

-Loved how the announcers were giving Troy Dayak props throughout, particularly toward the end. From what I saw of the game, the local boy was a rock, as was the rest of the defense.

-I guess fate owed the Quakes one from the "worst own-goal ever" by Onstad two weeks ago.

-Back-to-back shutouts with Onstad in goal??? Well, more credit to the defense for limiting chances, certainly, but Pat deserves kudos for two games with solid play and no massive mistakes.

-Great header by Ching! I think since my last name is so similar, I may get a jersey with dude's name on it.

Overall another solid performance.

 

Is it not incredible just how bad the Revs suck?

 

You guys look really great. Your defense is probably league's most organized.

And you guys definitely aren't a "one man team" You play very well together.

You deserve to be at the top of the league. I only hope that DC can follow your lead.....Oh and thanks for beating a team in the Eastern Conference. eheheh.

EDIT: And thanks to Dunivant, Ching, and Mullan for scoring points for my fantasy team

 

The Revs were weak, and took out some frustration on the Quakes too. I didn't think that the CounterRevs were especially dirty, though they used their size to screen Quakes players off the ball a lot. Good tactic on their part. But there were a few frustration tackles by the CounterRevs, a really bad one on Mullan shortly after he served up the assist on the second goal.

What was with Twellman on that header towards the end where Agoos just flattened him?! Taylor got in position for the ball, and then made no effort to play it at all. He didn't step up to it, he didn't go up for the header. I think Goose must have been surprised to find himself on top of Twellman.

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark

 

The Revs front line needed a lot better service than they got...and as the 2d half went along I was at a loss to figure out where it was supposed to come from.

 

The CounterRevs need to start Noonan and Hernandez. Kamler was useless until Nichols pulled him. Cullen was invisible. Joseph is ok and Ralston is ok. But with two of your midfielders looking like orange cones, it's kind of hard to provide good service to your forwards.

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark