I’m sure we will qualify, it’s just the whole money grabbing nature of international football that’s bush league.
The boys looked like they “vacationed” in LA all week and got a little too much surf, sand, and sun. They looked and played like I work every Monday I return return from a vacation. Slow, tired, lethargic, an attitude of I’d rather be anywhere but here. Watching the game I wanted to jerk Hudson up by his stupid tie and ask him WTF are you doing? Is this intentional sabotage?
I didn't see the second half because it was bed time for me in Central Time. However, we didn't look like the worse team in the first half, in my opinion. Neither side was very creative. We had one or two good chances, but they broke on the rocky shoals of McBean.
Yeah, felt like we deserved more at the end with the quality of our chances. LA's 2nd goal was frustrating to me. Basically a 1 v. 2 situation where Wilson let him get a high-percentage shot off and Howard seemed to over-commit. I thought Acosta could've done better on the 1st goal against.
Really, I expected a bit of a let-down on this one. Lineup and subbing pattern told us that likely would be the case (McBean + Wynne = loss every time). The team didn't look great, but they had chances. Couldn't put them away (as many have pointed out here). Not sure if Boli would have done better, but IF he could stay on the field I bet he would have. Gashi also likely could have done better if he could run up and down the field for more than a few minutes. Can't really use the "they are tired" excuse since LAFC had even more games in recent days. Energy and focus seemed lower than the past few games for some reason, but the team played better than a 2-0 loss would indicate. Not good enough that the result wasn't fair, although a tie could have been OK. Rod.
1v1 duels lost = 1. Bradley v. Hudson. Instead of being at a 'gentlemen's' club after the match Tim was seen at the lost-and-found asking about a missing half-step.
I liked Serna. He had a couple of wtf moments in the middle but he really showed some great skill and effort. I think he will settle into a solid player in the middle with more playing time.
Also wynne showed he can’t play whether in a 442 or a 532. Jackson had a decent start but once the defenders figured him out he was out of ideas.
I wondered how he would do going 90 when he is used to a pretty frenetic pace as a sub later in the match -- didn't ever see him bent over so apparently pretty fit. Still has a tendency to launch low percentage shots when out of other options but that may be more on other players not moving off the ball?
It's Jordan Angeli. I really hope her career takes off, she's great. I listened to the first half on radio (950AM) in the car on the way back from a tournament in NM. She was good and a bit more honest about our shortcomings, I liked her style.