1. Eskandarian stayed home b/c he was not healthy enough to play. I believe the most recent Post article says he might be ready for some minutes (which implies he won't start or can't go 90). 2. I didn't see the match. But based upon the Post article, other accounts, it seems now like we've had two matches against Chicago where most of the goals (including some of the plays resulting in PKs) were a result of very sloppy marking. I don't know what this is about--generally speaking our team defense has been sharp most of the season. The exceptions have generally been when the other team had possession and came at us with a passion, really owning midfield and putting our backline back on their heels. It worries me that Chicago seems to be a team our backline just isn't sharp against. I could see it if they were an offensive juggernaut. But I'm not that impressed by their attack. Sure, Rolfe is a fine rookie. But we're losing our marks, leaving guys open, being sloppy in the back--mostly against this team. It's something we've got to get straightened out since I think there's a decent shot we'd match up against them in the playoffs. 3. True our games/GA record is identical to last year. But the difference is that last year we knew we'd get Ryan Nelsen back and we went through GK troubles the first half of the season. This season we alternate between some very sharp and solid defense and then games were we concede 3 or 4 goals (most of them on sloppy play). So those who were arguing earlier that our AAAA needs to be a finisher might want to reconsider that position. Right now our two best defenders are: an undrafted rookie and an signee from the A-league/USL.
But the upside to that is Goalkeeping hasn't been an issue. Nicky's been pretty good all year. If you discount goals by Rolfe, and Jaqua the team GAA is pretty good. I hope Chicago doesn't sell whatever stealth coating they spray on those guys that makes them unseen by United defenders.
There announcer is Kenn Tomasch - a (former) Big Soccer poster (borderline legend). He is really a Tampa Bay (Rowdies) fan - not so much a Fire fan, although he was always a season-ticket holder for the Fire. That goes some way towards explaining his relatively balanced view of calling a game. One of the problems last night was that he had no access to replays either, so he was "calling em as he saw them". Made it very tough for him to add color/analysis when he was doing his best to (on his own - maybe even without a spotter) keep up with the play.
Walker didn't actually put the ball across the line between the posts, it went into the side netting and when he realized that he had already announced that Walker had scored the goal, he made up the story about Walker being offside thats why there was no explanation.
I think 'made up the story' is a little harsh. He thought Walker had put it in the net, and speculated that there might have been a foul, or the play had been offside. He was honest that he didn't know, and that there wasn't replay available to clarify.
That's bizarre. That's completely at odds with what I heard. He did announce a goal, but when he was trying to figure out what's up, he specifically said that it wasn't offsides -- "the linesman's flag is down" was the quote I remember. So I dunno where you're coming from with this.
I didn't mean to seem harsh, I thought for sure he said that it wasn't a goal because he was offside, If Im wrong, I apologize, It was a frantic 30-45 seconds, going from excitment to trying to figure out what happened from mlsnet gametracker to the united broadcast. I do give him credit for admitting the mistake in another thread that does take some major cajones, most wouldn't admit that, they would make an exscuse.
I was at the game in Section 8 right behind the goal, to the side. The ball DID NOT enter the goal. It hit the side netting.
I am very proud of the boys for coming back from a two goal deficit. I am really pissed that we seem to be making the whiny gnome Sarah Can appear to be a quality head coach. He's much too whiny for my likeing. Kevin Terry, you have been cursed in all houses of my family since MLS Cup 1998. Then you centered cheatin bob's game and now give 3 PKs in a game, the first of which definitely swayed the match. That it was soft is no surprise, how close were you to the alleged foul anyway? GM
As I said upthread. Calling a game without instant replay and (possibly) without a spotter is extremely tough to do. He may not have had the best angle on the Walker "goal" and without instant replay - he could not do the "simulated delay" method that many very good broadcasters use (call game a few seconds behind while they keep a second eye on slightly delayed replay monitor) to avoid this kind of mistake. Kenn did a much better job on this broadcast than he did in our first game at Soldier Field, when he repeatedly "got ahead of himself" with calls.
So, why did it take this long for Kuffour to play? Seems like Boswell was really a step off last night. Hope he sharpens up before Saturday. Making a rookie mistake or two that cost a goal is one thing, but he was involved on a bunch of crappy plays from what it sounds like, and to be fair, some good ones. Unfortunately when you're on defense, two mistakes can lead to two goals. Maybe that Argentine defender isn't the worst option after all. (In terms of depth, read: right back since Namoff is out for maybe the season and Prideaux's form is dipping sharply)
Has anyone heard anything about Tim Merritt? How is he doing in practices? How is he looking in reserve league games? A couple of weeks ago Prideaux was mouthing off about how he doesn't know if the team really NEEDS a S.A. defender, as the guys there are holding their own, blah blah blah. Hell, we need TWO defenders. Right now the depth is terrible, and if Merritt can't step in and be a good replacement, we're screwed.
Geordie- Don't know where you were sitting, but since no one else on the boards was at the game, I'll tell you what I saw on the PK- I was sitting in section 203, which is the 200 level right where the foul occured on Jaqua. There is no way that would have been a PK if the defender had kept his hands down. The ball was played in from the wing towards Jaqua. Jaqua had started to beat the defender and Boswell reached up and grabbed Jaqua. The problem is that he did it more or less as Jaqua started to lunge for the ball, resulting in Nate being spun in the air. It looked a lot worse than it was, but was definitely not a dive and probably deserving of a PK... Other than that though, spot on insights about the game.
I was in 106. Maybe being higher gave you a better angle on it. I thought Jaqua was lunging for the ball and didn't see contact from Boz.
I agree. Chicago has played 17 matches, we have played 14. Columbus is 5 points behind us and KC and Metroscum are within striking distance. No panic yet.
This is really the only bright side is that we have games in hand and are within striking distance. However, games in hand don't mean a whole hell of a lot if you can't manage to win on the road. Once we can get some points on the road, those games will matter.
Glad you made a point that the first likely swayed the match. Here's a very odd stat: United has played about 95 minutes of this season trailing by two or more goals. During those 95 minutes, we've received four penalty kicks. United have played nearly all of the other 1,250 or so minutes in one-goal games or ties: During that time, we have received one PK. I'm not alleging bias, but three of our five PKs have essentially been make-ups after other teams received PKs that gave them multi-goal leads, and a fourth (the first Wed. game vs. Chicago) came after we went down by two goals following a blown offside call before the second Fire goal that should have stopped play. It's a chicken-shet way for a guy like Terry to be able to say "I gave D.C. a PK, too" when he could likely assume it would have no affect on the match. These three-PK games in MLS have become ludicrous. I've only been watching soccer in other leagues on TV for four or fiice years, but I can't remember ever seeing so many make-up PKs in any league--even Chile, where there really are no rules.
We saw him in the last 2 home reserve games. The game against the Wiz he was struggling. He blew up near the end of the game and was passing the ball straight away. The rest of the team was riding him hard. The next game against the Burn he was much better. I dont think he could replace Prideaux in the starting lineup. Brandon brings all that experience that Merrit just doesn't have. He won't knock out a healthy Namoff or Wilson, and probably doesn't play the middle as good as Boswell or Stokes. However, he may be good enough to put on the bench instead of Stokes and maybe send out for a couple of minutes to see what he has at the end of a game. At this point, maybe a healthy Kenny Arena needs to see some bench time on the road. We clearly can't rely on all 3 starters contributing in the same game. And Stokes as the only option is a 50/50 ball at best. Thx, Jay!
Only in a breakaway situation is a red given...Adu was going to his right, outside of the parameters of the six yard box, and he pushed the ball even father right (towards the corner flag). Thornton then got him. This was all about 8 yards wide of the goal, and 12 yards out from the touch line.
You are wrong on point #1. I was in section 8, but on a line with the spot where Jaqua was taken down, and both I and the 3 people around me saw the same thing at the same time. Boswell had his arms all wrapped around Jaqua. Point #3-- Nana did look good. Point #7-- I'm not any kind of a Dave Sarachan fan, but Thiago had to come off at halftime-- torn meniscus in his knee, he's out for 4-6 weeks. That's at least why the sub was going to happen, and then Dave decided to go for defense and the bunker strategy.