Well, in that game it resulted in another goal and a tie, so it meant a little. I guess it's splitting hairs at this point, but we were even more terribler at home.
Everyone is giving DePuy love, and I get the desire for him to be useful, but it was pretty embarrassing the way Ali Adnan danced around him on their goal. He went for the big impressive slide tackle (which had worked for him up to that point) and got worked. I feel like we should all be more disappointed in him or at least be saying we hope he learned a lesson.
Very much like the Houston goal, he was forced to do an emergency tackle because the other defenders let a player run behind them.
I don’t know. I think he could have contained Adnan without the slide. Then kitchen stays with his man and nothing come of it. His may have been the second mistake but it’s still a mistake. I don’t think he made a mistake on the Houston goal. he’s young(ish) and learning the position so it’s ok. But let’s not pretend he was faultless. All our center backs are liabilities to one degree or another.
Yes, we got the tie so that's a positive, but I don't think we can count on Pavon scoring a scorcher like that on most weekends.
Actually, our midfield and offense is so weak that our defense is probably our strong suit. Didn't see that coming.
I'm with you. He made a cardinal defensive error. The game was so ugly I'm not going to rewatch anything to confirm, but real time I saw a guy go to ground and let the attacker waltz in on goal leaving the defense scrambling to rotate until someone's man is wideopen for the finish - maybe Lletget's. I don't really care.
What's bumming me out is reading on Doyle's thread about GBS's tactical history. And GBS's own quotes following the Vancouver game that seem to say we're going to cross more and not less. Starting to feel like the coaching staff is not the right choice. And it takes a lot for me to get to this place.
Get you some Loons. Look at the freaking Loons! At least get Opara. I've even dropped Pavon. This team right now. Just no.
I don't judge a player by one play. Throughout both games I've seen DePuy has been mostly very solid. What I like about his play is that he is proactive - I've seen him anticipate passes and come way out to meet the defender as he's receiving the ball and let him know that he's there. These were the kind of situations where Steres and Rolf would usually let the guy receive the ball and turn. But I agree that DePuy way over-committed on that play. That was an instance where his aggressiveness bit him (and us) in the butt. Hopefully he will learn. And I will take that mistake over Rolf on the same play. At the very start of the play Rolf is in a good position to mark one of two men next to him but he just lets both of them go, then jogged behind the play, ball watching and doing absolutely nothing to help.
We have (naturally) been focusing on our team's (poor) performance but I also thought VAN deserves some credit for their win. I was surprised by the consistent level of pressure they brought all over the field. Impressive, especially given they were on the road.
On the other hand, a really weak team can make a slightly less weak team look great by comparison. It's all relative. That's one thing I have learned over the years is an indisputable reality in soccer (and probably most sports). But you're right. It could also be the other way around. That's why I was saying earlier it's WAY to early to call the Vancouver game a "Trap" game. Too early in the season to know which teams are really strong or not. Looking at rosters and last years' results don't hold much water IMO.