NY wins 5-4...and Tom Arnold leaves the field early to beat the traffic. I smell a conspiracy. (speaking of famous guys from LA, Roseanne & Posh Spice....couldn't be further apart...).
After watching Beckham freekick/passing against DC on Telemundo, I spent the last four days trying to figure out how to watch this game on vacation in Florida (curse ************ cable/ dial up internet access) Still, from these descriptions and the show Beckham put on the other night, it looks as if he is the real day. I questioned whether this was the case in the past, but this guy has forced me to eat crow (though I wil substitute lobster here in Florida) Long may it continue.
Wattereus = Suck. Conway must start. Angel = God and Congratulations to Mathis on breaking the record.
No it's not. I posted this elsewhere, but Red Bull were a joke in their inept attempt to manage the match and close shop. Don't get me wrong, on one level it was fun and entertaining. But on a more critical level, if I were Arena, I would be hard on them in practice this week. They need to be reminded about what it means to, "close shop." I thought the match vs the Fusion that was the top bill w/Colombia v Liberia was certainly as good if not better. In fact that season had a string of matches vs the two Florida teams that were absolute crackers. And the second game of MLS Cup semi v Fire might rank as one of the 5 best games ever played by the franchise-even if there were only about 13K people in the stands. So, I would agree on 2/3: fun, historic, but not the best match in 12 seasons.
What was with Martino diving last night? Does he always do that? You could clearly see him going down before the the challenge even came in.
Well then let me clarify: no, of course it wasn't the best match this team has ever played. I mean it was the best match in terms of entertainment. Am I pleased we gave up the lead a couple of times? Of course not. As I was congratulating a RB exec last night, his response was, "We can't let in four goals like that." Obviously. But in terms of drama, this tops them all. Howard Brown couldn't have scripted it better.
Just wanted to jump in and congratulate all the NY fans here for a deserved win. We tried our best. Our backline was screwed up without Abel Xavier and you took us to task. Great atmosphere too. Next time im in NYC, I'll make sure to schedule it around a NYRB game Before the start of the season, I ran a ton of simulations using FIFA07 (you guys having Angel/Mathis, Altidore - LA having Becks).. and you guys always had a slight advantage. Becks creates chances for LA, but cant win the games for LA. Las night game proved to be close to the simulations I ran.. you always had a slight advantage. Great game and congrats once again!
Couldn't agree more. I mean, if DON GARBER were allowed to write the script for this game he couldn't have come up with a better one. That said, the defenses were horrid. Apparently LA's entire back line is injured but what was OUR excuse? We were running around back there like it was government inspection day at a Chinese toy factory (OK, that's the best I could come up with). Granted LA's offense was very good but if we don't do SOMETHING about our backline then New England, KC, Houston, etc. are going to CONTINUE to rip us to pieces. Of course it takes time: BA spent his money up front first, perhaps now he'll concentrate on the defense. On the other hand Vide looked awfully good in spots, especially a ball he took off his chest and passed forward I believe to Mathis to set up one of Jozy's goals. I don't know what to say about Wattereus, couldn't tell if those goals were his fault or not but he did seem to lack confidence. Great game for the non-soccer fans but if any of them come back to see a game where the teams can play defense they're going to wonder where all the "exciting soccer" went. =NLK=
WHAT A freaking game I got into 101 for about 40 minutes and it was nuts then I move to my seat to get some chants going on. I can say this good job on booing Becks I think we gave our boys a boost and they showed it. Also Viper nice to talk with ya mate one hell of a match
I've witnessed a lot of great games at Giants Stadium over the last 30 years and last night easily makes the top 5, possibly top 3, of my list.
I am hoarse from all the cheering, jeering, and screaming. RBNY fans were fantastic last night. ESC was great. We even had chanting/singing in 137! Watterus is an embarrassment and should spend the remainder of the season on the bench. No way Conway let's in the first goal, and probably saves two others as well. The second Pavon goal was a nice shot. Jozy and JPA were fantastic! Mathis in the middle was everywhere he needed to be. Well done, Clint! VDB was on things, too. Only Richards was a problem up front. Richards has to go, at least to the bench. I defended him earlier in the season, but last night exposed him as a pro athlete version of the Emperor's New Clothes. He was stripped bare and exposed as a professional fraud. He brings nothing to the team. Poor Leitch. He seems like a great guy, but he is out of his league. When the Metros' idea of high-quality was Armado and Clint in the vanguard, Leitch was perfectly adequate. Now that the enitre league seems to have come-up a step, Leitch's limitations show. Leitch in one corner and Richards in the opposite corner made us much more vulnerable and ineffective than we should allow. Our limited defense was back on its heels all night. Foruntately, LA's defense makes ours look stellar. Beckham's assists were all beauties. Can't take that away from him. But his whining. Who does he think he is? He gets tackled and takes a swing at the defender as if he is above being tackled? No card for that? If Parke or Vide swung at him after a tackle it probably would have been a straight red! I will not adjust easily to LA having two prima dona(van)s. The officials did well to let the game play-out, but there was a penalty in the box early in the match, and a red card should have been given when Jozy was taken out by the last defender before the box. I agree that the players have to be allowed to play, but the line should have been drawn a little lower, I think. Landycakes was as dull as ever. Martino must be friends with Greg Louganis, because his diving skills are unparralelled. Joe Canon was remarkable! He made some great saves behind that porous defense. It was great to see so many seats filled, but it was tedious to watch 14-21 year old Jersey boys swooning over Beckham. They can't all be gay, can they? I get-it about teenage girls adoring Beckham, but why teenage boys? Do they admire his crossing skills or his bare chest? Both are acceptable, of course, but I'd love to know. The Beckham phenomenon continues to fascinate. It will be interesting to see how many 4-pack purchasers return for their other three matches! The place was electric, even with all the faux-Galaxy supporters. RBNY fans drowned them out easily. Can't wait for SEP 01!
I don't know about you, but that was a CRAZY game! The biggest game in MLS History... something like 66,500 people! No one has seen that big of a turn-out at a NY game since the Cosmos! Beckham basically got the ball, then passed it the whole game. He never ran with it.
Unbelievable game last night. It showed that MLS can have the pace, drama and athleticism of any major football league.
I'm so tired, and I did serious damage to my vocal cords last night! Tailgating started at 1:00; friends started arriving at 2:30; avoided the last-minute crunch and went into the stadium early enough to realize that Waterreus was going to start (criminal decision). Saw an amazing game, then continued the tailgate waiting for traffic to clear, drove home, and watched the game again!! Angel is just a dream come true in terms of a striker AND a team captain. Jozy.........I'm enjoying watching him now in person, because I'm convinced he'll be in Europe next year (deserves it). Clint was at the top of his game; so happy for his record-breaking goal! The only two downers for me: Waterreus, and the fact that Bruce was stupid enough to put him in over Conway. Watching (at 3:30 this morning) Yallop praise his team for giving him everything they had, after Bruce's critical, biting comments about ours.
What game were you watching? Richards's speed gave the Galaxy fits, and he basically set up Clint's goal--with a helpful deflection, true, but it was all Richards's work that led up to it. Richards clearly has limitations, especially w/regard to finishing, but he's a good player to have on the flanks, and he's going to get better. Fair enough, but Beckham's always been like this. Remember his ill-advised kick at the Argentine player in the '98 WC? Becks picks up his share of yellows and reds. He's a competitor, and gets riled up sometimes... even frequently. Good for him. (It's like when people were shocked at Zidane's headbutt; it's not like he'd never done it before!)
Astounded to see this. Richards was the guy on the left who juggled the ball through 1 or 2 defenders and sent the cross to Mathis that tied the game 2-2 just before the half.
Beat me to it. If someone who went to that game didnt walk away impressed and entertained, they need to be checked for a pulse.
Every game he plays in, he causes problems for the other team. Yes, he makes mistakes, but the positives FAR outweigh the negatives.
Richards repeatedly made Randolph look silly on the wing. Easily one of the better performers for RBNY last night.