To credit Bradley with a "tactical win" on a late slop goal is just stupid. We owned them all match - for the love of God, Hudson can't finish for these guys for the umpteenth freekin time - which has been the story all year long. Bench Earnie or move him to midfield. Now.
I hate to admit this, but there certainly were far worse officiated matches this year. He was consistent in calling it close and booking at the drop of a hat. Granted, I still have no idea what Ivanov did to earn that caution in the end, but it's hard to blame this one on the officiating.
I agree that the failure to book the guy who fouled Convey for the PK was inexplicable. The ref had been carding tackles that were less violent earlier in the game. Convey got hacked badly from behind and there was no card. Who was that ref anyway? He did seem out of his level.
With Kovalenko and Petke out, the line up for C-bus should be something like this: Warren Ivanov (God help us)-Prideau-Nelsen-Namoff Olsen (if healthy)-Q2-Stewart-Convey Martins-Cerritos Not bad, but C-bus is playing inspired soccer now.
Totally agree. I was in the Barra screaming "blow the whistle with about 10 other people a good 9 to 11 minutes past the time of injury time. What a frickin' joke.....
I think somebody said we have a game in hand. Sorry but thats wrong Chicago has a game in hand on us but other than that nothing.
I know it's petty, but was anyone else rooting for an Ivanov-for-Esky "Goalkeeper" sub heading into overtime? RS
Maybe you should look at the game again. Notice how much it was the metros who had posession, notice it was the metros who were initiating play much of the time, notice how few chances DCU had, notice how much a foul-plagued game benefited the metros, not DCU, notice how the metros were able to bring the ball up to midifled without being pressured (unlike last Wednesday) and how that benefited them. And notice how Bradley played so many defensive-orientated, high work rate guys, who could sit back and wait as United s-l-o-w-l-y brought the ball forward, got it to Etcheverry and tried to deliver that great through ball... that of course never had a chance of happening. Bradley won this contest, hands down. Folks, it's like our beloved team has a split personality now. Hey- that's better than earlier in the season or last season when we had no offense, no life. But now we play one game of inspired, quick of foot and quick of mind ball (like last Wednesday of the two previous home games vs SJ and LA) and then one of those old mindless brain dead games of old (like this game or the game @LA). You never know what kind of game we'll bring next Wednesday in the USOC game or next weekend @ C-bus.
Second that................. LET'S GET IT ON WEDNESDAY IT'S OPEN CUP CHAMPIONSHIP TIME-SEMIFINALS MAN SO CLOSE TO WINNING THIS GAME!!!!
I don't think I'm going to attend any more MLS games. I really want the league to succeed, but the referee today just took all of the enjoyment out of the game for me. Why the hell should I pay money for something I don't enjoy?
Ugh... you know, I think I felt just like United looked for the first half of this game. I was sluggish... tired from partying and my voice was gone. I did not pull my weight in the Barra It just seems like we (the Barra and Eagles) were missing something tonight. Just like United was missing something. Alright... the Metros get the Atlantic Cup for a year. Oh well. I suppose it was inevitible that they would get it at some point... It's just frustrating knowing that we haven't been able to beat those fcukers at RFK. While the tie does feel like a loss ('cause we lost the win in the closing seconds), in the big picture, we're still doing well. We've picked up a point which keeps us in the playoffs (and keeps us 1 game within second place). And to make things better... we got a point after playing like absolute crap. I was very disappointed in this game. We had a few players that did well. Warren was MOTM. He's got a great pair of hands on him. He is a quality keeper and did well in his first MLS match. Convey is slowly making his way back, but he was largely invisible during large stretches. When he was visible, he was making things happens. Kudos to his hard work and earning the PK. Thiago needs to start matches. He's going to make somethings happen. He's just so physically superior than the defense he faces. It's really no wonder that he dominated the A league. He had a really good cross to Earnie (i think) late in the game, that Earnie failed to put away. I really think Cheyo had a good game. That kid hustles alot. I agree with the critism on Ivanov this time. He does make some good plays, but he's just way too risky and careless sometimes. Namoff definitely should be back in the line up. Overall it was an awful game.
I watched the referee after the game, mainly to see if Marco was going to get another post-game yellow, but from his reaction to Marco and Ernie badgering him (it was hard to see well because he was awfully friggen short) he seemed to know that he blew this game. He knew the last foul was crap, he knew the time should have been up already, and he knows he's going to get raked over the coals from the league for giving out 11 yellows, and still not keeping control of the game.
Ben's Knee I spoke at some length with the trainer after the game. Ben Olsen has a third degree strain of the medial collateral ligament. Although he awaits an MRI to verify the situation, the trainer says that the knee moves readily under examination. Third degree means near total separation and points to 6 to 8 weeks out. Healing should occur naturally. On a positive note, the trainer reports that no other player is severely enough dinged to have to sit out. Brandon Prideaux sported ice bags on both ankles. Bobby Convey has "only" a neck contusion, no concussion. The guys are psyched for Wednesday. More in my game report tomorrow. Steve Long steve@cybersoccernews.com
Well, LA used to be my least favorite team. NY definitely has that honor. Mathis is a complete piece of crap. Props to the guy in 116? who had water squirted on him. I will say this: This was not an easy match to referee. NO excuse for that amount of stoppage time though.
Terrible game all around. La Norte was OK, and things didn't get going until the near brawl after regulation. I don't know if the FK call at the end was bogus or not, but our defending certainly was. We didn't deserve to win that game. We should hand all three points to the Scum and be happy about it. If we can't beat our biggest rival in our home with their best player sent off, we don't deserve to make the playoffs. Sachin
DAMN! 4 points to 1 in the league matchup with 'em -- good enough. In the end, having won on Thursday, next Wednesday probably matters more than today. Let's get it done then. Also, well done Warren. Solid performance in your first MLS start. I agree with that. To blame Hudson tactically doesn't make sense to me in this game. We put out a pretty smart lineup, I thought. Then Olsen was injured. The other subs made sense (wasn't Cerritos limping when he came off? anyway, Martins played well).
If you give out that many yellows, lose count of the clock and generally suck, you have no place reffing a game of this importance.
Amen. The league seriously needs to do a clinic for ALL refs before the playoffs and after the season and show them what constituts a card, how stoppage time is determined, and how to take control of a game. There need to be strict guidelines which all refs should be able to abide by.
Ivanov Sucks and shady coaching First of all since the beginning of the season ive said that ivanov does have the talent to play in the mls he gets burned every game and the only reason hes making american dollars is because of his boy hristo. Second why with the lead late in the game do u sub a forward for a forward why not an extra defender as ray did later taking out El diablo. In my opinion he should have subbed a defender for cerritos and left diablo in. To my knowledge and ive been a season ticket holder since day one, this season when diablo gets subbed oout we have no playmakers at all just attack attack attack nobody to distribute patiently. Etcheverry is still the man period!!!