in McMath's defense, I don't think anybody expected Berry to have the chutzpah to do that. One of those cases of "your reputation preceeds you" and defy the expectation, lol.
That is what bothered me most about the game. Even though I’m not a Vanney fan I keep optimistically thinking he will finally figure the defense out, simply because his job literally depends on him doing that. But even with supposedly first choice personnel our defense is still completely disorganized. In this game it was only due to pure luck (and great goalkeeping) that we didn't give up 3 or 4 goals. I was especially disturbed by Aude’s play. I thought he was improving but he was pitiful in this game. As an ouside back, a rule of thumb is you can let the ball or the man get behind you, but never both. Ideally be positioned to tackle the ball, but if that fails then grab, impede, even foul if you have to, but somehow prevent the fox from getting loose in the henhouse. But due to poor positioning and inattention he let attackers get free behind him repeatedly. Worse, after getting beaten he jogged behind the play, watching everything unfold like he bought a ticket to the game! Good coaches don’t put up with such lazy defending. It gets corrected quickly or else they are on the bench. Unfortunately we don't have a good coach. Vanney simply isn’t going to fix our D. So I think it’s time - Do your thing Kuntz!
problem is we don't have anybody (on paper) who can fill in like for like, so Aude has no competition, really. Unless he's willing to try one of our Young CBs who have the athleticism to cover the outside, like Garces or Neal.
Haha. Literally the same. I think it was something like “contenders should win these games, but they sure as hell shouldn’t lose them, but when your off-the-bench striker is Miguel Berry”
Not to mention the dumb early yellow for kicking the ball away. Come on man, It’s a third of the way through the season, you know you’re gonna get carded. Team should start handing out internal fines for those kind of yellows.
I thought Aude had a strong second half after a disaster of a first half. So good on him for "being a goldfish". Surprised we haven't seen Nelson after the first few matches of the season. Would have thought he'd get some more minutes at left back.
Highlight Time Folks Just when you think we are about to blow points, the 2024 team says "It Is Not This Day"! Onward to Wednesday!! "For My G's!!!"
It'll be interesting what the rotation pattern is from old Greg. The Loons are not great at home and then we have to come right back and host Charlotte who have lost almost all their away games save but one tie.
I thought for sure MacMath would get that one, but I think the ball kind of dipped at the last minute. The keeper ended up looking like he should have stayed home. Credit to Berry!
It's not all about Joe. If he's taken off, for good reason or bad, there's no excuse for him to not stay on the bench and support his teammates. He can have a word with his coach later if he's aggrieved. And on your questioning of subs - Dejan did not appear fit for the full game, I'm just glad he started. We need another forward, that is for sure. Wingers are often subbed - they run themselves ragged and fresh legs can take advantage of tired defenders. Plus we have a midweek game. I know you know this, but I just basically disagree that Dejan and Joe should play the entire game. Fagundez gives us another look and has helped us a lot this season, he needs to come in. I don't think keeping in Puig is questionable, especially when we need to come back from 2-0 down. I don't see Vanney's substitutions as the problematic part of his coaching - it's the defense, first and foremost. I really enjoyed seeing RSL players so gutted by our last minute goal. They did play a better overall game. We have said the same over and over - our team defense is horrendous. And the mistakes playing out of the back compound the problem. However, when we boot the ball upfield, we rarely win it since McCarthy is not great at distribution, and we have no target forward.
I didn't see it but it could have been "pray for RS". There's a lot of flooding in Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil over the last week or so. Lots of people missing, over 100 dead and counting.
I think we are on the road for Charlotte. Team might not even come back between the games. Gotta think we will rotate some players in one of these games (or maybe both).
Puig makes the Team of the Matchday bench for his 2 assists and gazillion touches on the ball. Team of the Matchday: FC Cincinnati make history, LAFC show potential | MLSSoccer.com
Once again you are correct sir. Well, that sucks for us because the Crown boys are almost undefeated at home 5-1-1.
I'm assuming Paintsil got subbed because we have a mid-week match. But he had a tough game by his standards. Unusually indecisive in front of goal. Teams like RSL will always make it difficult for us because they don't have to outplay us to come up with a goal when you have a player like Arango. Like I said many times, this is my biggest critique of this team is that they have to play well and impose their will to win and I'm not sure MLS rewards teams like that. You have to be able to downshift into an "uglier" style and having an elite DP will help you do that. Having said that, I think Vanney put together a gameplan with a clear pathway to victory for his team. I think this squad has to score relatively early to take control of the match and they had enough opportunities to do that and failed to. It's a high-risk, high-reward game. While a good leader, Yoshida shows his physical limitations frequently. Granted, Arango finishes that against many defenders, but it happens to Yoshida a lot he just gets outmuscled, outrun or out-jumped.