lol sure... just type your number on here and look forward to a very interesting statement arriving in the mail.... good luck for the rest of the season
Quoted for truth. A real shame the team laid a big fat egg in front of such an energized crowd. And I'm not a Briggs fan, but having them play at kickoff from the top of the Riot Squad section was genius. Now the pressure is on Bruce to figure out how to get our best players on the field in a way that they succeed. Four games left to figure it out. And despite all the excellent observations about our attack, the game swings on our backup central-backs making a bad play that gives up a goal and forces us to play from behind. Which allows NYRB to play compact and stay behind the ball, and forces us to press forward to find the equalizer, which then leaves us exposed on the counter, leading to the second goal....and there's the game. But really, when your best player blows an open shot from the middle of the six-yard box, you're just not going to win that game....
The problem with this team is simple: Bruce Arena has been phoning it in since the World Cup break. He's not doing ANY of the things that are needed to get this team right. He has made a series of terrible gaffes in the transfer market, in team selection, in formation, in motivation and in substitutions over the past few months. In fact, he has easily been the worst coach in MLS over that period of time. I'm not afraid to say that I'm ready for a new coach. Bruce isn't getting it done, it's that simple. Being in first place at midseason is a meaningless accomplishment.
What really sucked is the Red Bull Sh*t had a 12th man on the field with a wistle making some many calls including a unearned PK favoring the VISITING team that I sent the following email to brianhall@ussoccer.org To Whom It May Concern: I honestly believe Ricardo Salazar needs to be investigated for his possible financial interest in refereeing the 24 September 2010 match involving the Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls. Only a financial interest on Mr. Salazar’s part would explain why he made so many oblivious calls favoring the VISTING Red Bulls. Mr. Salazar awarded the Red Bulls a penalty kick with no apparent foul on the part of a Galaxy player plus numerous calls favoring the Visitors. Mr. Salazar had publicly expressed his opinion about is dislike of the Galaxy and a certain highly paid player. Therefore, I believe Mr. Salazar should not be allowed officiate matches involving the Galaxy because of his obvious prejudice for the team
It was clearly a penalty. We got caught on the counter, Yohance couldn't keep up with the speedy Richards, and resorted to grabbing and pulling him down.
Already? We still are sitting at 50 pts. and you are already calling for his head??? I don't think we'd be here at this point if it wasn't for the Brucer. Yes we sucked last night and it freakin' showed. But c'mon. Let's be serious and not let this bad loss turn into something Tea Party-ish...
I agree with some of them... Just wonder how come Bruce didn't want to correct our passing game. We sucked monkey balls. And goddamm lazy, NY players played their heart out and they have a good system. We have been the same(shit) for the last 2 months.Bruce, move your ass. Forget about the MLS cup
To me, it looked like Richards was holding onto Marshall's arm, and then went down like a ton of bricks, pulling Marshall down with him. In the replay you can even watch Richards' arm curl up around Marshall's arm. You could argue that Marshall was holding him back regardless, which wouldn't be a baseless assertion, so I'm not that worried about the call because Marshall handled that situation so poorly that he deserved to have a call against him due to his sheer incompetence. I agree with people attacking Bruce. He's been very poor with his tactics, player selection and transfer market activity. Obviously we don't fire him yet, but if we lose the shield (which we will unless something changes), and go out in the first round of the playoffs (which we will unless something changes), we should seriously consider Bruce's future.
Maybe so, it looked like it could have been a 50/50 battle to me. Regardless, from the referees angle, it looked like Marshall pulled Richards down, and I'd say a play like that is called a penalty 90% of the time, in any league, at any level. So you could make a case against it, but using it an excuse or reason why we lost in misguided.
I was sitting in the upper deck, section 228 right in front of Ricketts' goal and I could totally see that Marshall was going to get beat by Richards and he did. As soon as Marshall took that little stutter step to try and step up, Richards flew right by him and it was bad news after that. PK without a doubt.
I have Pegs, and thank you for you message as well. Long story short, I invited several friends of mine, some of whom had to been to games in the past, all of whom really enjoy soccer who were trying to get behind the Galaxy. I would include that that a few of them were seriously contemplating purchasing season tickets for 2011 either for personal or corporate use. I purchased tickets for everyone, traded my regular seats in 102-C to be able to sit with them. Despite the results on the field, everyone was having a good time; joining in on chants, getting excited for the team when we came close to scoring (which includes getting up and cheering). So, at the 75th minute, 4 security guards walk right in front of my friends and I and begin to tell us to sit down and were actually telling us to move from our seats. A few of them actually sat down and occupied OUR SEATS....for no apparent reason. I asked these people several times to tell me what the problem was. I finally spotted someone who appeared to be in a supervisory role (he was wearing a headset, not sure if that counted for anything) and appealed to him. He was trying to get his guys to get up and leave our seats, but they just stared at him. This whole thing lasted pretty much until the 90th minute. Not that we missed much, but we spent pretty much that entire time trying to figure out what was going on instead of enjoying the game. It was embarrassing. To cap if off, we had an annoying NYRB fan, who probably couldnt tell you where NY is on a map, sitting a few rows behind them screaming obscenities for most of the second half and security didnt even look at this guy, yet they gave us a hard time. I understand that the LAG doesnt have direct control over security at the HDC, but they need to be ready to answer for how security treats their fans. WE are the reason reason they are getting a paycheck. Sorry everyone. That wasnt as short a comment as I had anticipated, but I just needed to vent a little.
if this has already been mentioned i apologize; but i have not made it thru all of the thread yet.....I am watching the replay this morning.....and I think we can all agree we are not dangerous in the final third. This is the line-up we need to see (or what I want to see): [LINEUP-4-4-2]Buddle, Landon, Stephens(Lewis), Juninho(Becks), Dema, Becks(Stephens), Dunivant, Gonzo, Berhalter, Franklin, Ricketts[/LINEUP-4-4-2] Basically Landon needs to be up top. With Becks back we are more dangerous with Landon up front.
And THAT is a perfect example of how "speed kills" in soccer. When crunch time comes players like Richards are difference makers even if they don't end up scoring themselves. No amount of skill in a defensive line can completely negate the danger a really pacy opponent poses.They make a defense continuously vulnerable to being punished for a single mistake or by a well placed pass into the open space behind the def line. (Sorry for kinda repeating my earlier post but I'm so frustrated I can't stop myself.) Unfortunately LA didn't pose the same threat due to Bruce's lineup decisions. We looked like the Columbus Crew when they played us at HDC - they also started with no speedy forwards or wingers. As a result our back line was seldom threatened. Just like our lineup last night never threatened NY's normally shaky defense until we changed it late in the second half.
If Juninho is playing poorly because he is either scared, intimidated or too lazy to play well just because Beckham is out on the right then that is his fault and not Beckham's. During the Columbus Crew game Juninho and the team played very well and when Becks replaced him in the 2nd half Becks and the team continued to play well. Now this is all well and good; however you want your best guys on the pitch at the same time and that means they will both need to start. But if it means Juninho loses his composure and forgets how to play well, then he can ride the pine and somebody who isn't getting playtime can take the center-mid spot. This is the kinda crap he did during his first few games with the team and it prompted me to hate him at that time. If it wasn't for Birchall, Mikey Stephens (Remember when people were calling him the next CienFuegos?) and Landon we would not have won those early season midfield battles. Juninho did eventually get comfortable and started to click with those on his flanks and suddenly he became "The Man". However with Beckham back (and mind you this is the first game where we have seen them on the pitch at the same time) he seems, in my opinion, to be trying to play like Beckham plays and that is not working for him. We all know Beckham will drift center if the spot is not protected or float to the back if the defense is getting hammered. If it wasn't for that trademark ability of his to shoot the long ball from so deep, so well even, that it lands on the feet of our forwards, he'd frustrate me to no end just for playing out of position all the damn time. Now if Juninho drops back we get completely mowed down in the middle. And when we get the ball back on the defensive end, there is nobody in the center mid position that can get the balls to the forwards. In order for the team to work with both Juninho and Beckham on the field at the same time, we are going to need Juninho to not drop back on defense. He is going to have to trust in the Defensive-mid to get him the ball back or if Beckham is going to be back there (which he shouldn't be) he is going to have to trust Beckham to pass him the ball or trust that Beckham can pass it to the forwards from that range. And with Buddle and LD up top, it is unacceptable that they can't handle a cross from Beckham. Totally Unacceptable! I still have faith that this team can go all the way this year. Its just going to be a matter of getting the right mix of youth and experience on the pitch for whatever particular team we are playing. That and a healthy defense would be nice, because when our midfield has to do their job we are in major trouble.
That was depressing. Nice to see Beckham regaining his form and able to play the full 90. Good to know he hasn't lost his touch. But it sucked to see some of the players on this team playing like they'd never actually seen him before and had no idea what he was doing or how to respond. In the past I've gotten bent out of shape about people claiming he disrupts the team's chemistry and whatnot. (And to be fair the team's chemistry has been off since mid-July.) But last night that it is exactly what it looked like to me. I'm a Beckham fan. I'm thrilled he's recovering so well. Ecstatic to see him back playing again. But if the team can't mesh with him then what the effingbleedinghell are we supposed to do with that?!?! This isn't the beginning of the season. There's not a lot of time to try and 'fix' this. Okay. Deep breath. It's just one game. Letting it go now.
That's called Coach's job. It's called coach's job to play your best players and let them play like a team. So here's sports 101. If your player did not perform, he got the blame, fair and square. However, when he's the best performer on the field, he's still singled out as the reason that this team did not perform? That's the most ridiculous opinion ever. No team in the world should put the loss up to their best performer. That's just so stupid. What about the previous games when after he made an appearce the match was won? Should that attribute to his performance? Or that because he's less a distraction? Sometimes it's quite simple. You win some, you lose some. Without your first central defenders, the team always will be under pressure of counter attack. I know everyone is frustrated when the team lose. But for god's sake, get some perspective.
so what should be happening in training this week? Beckham is in Trinidad for the womens under 17 world cup because of an agreement with Jack Warner. I hope he is back by mid-week to at least be a part of some training sessions before Chivas on 3rd