Pre/In/Post-game: Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Minnesota Stars 5/25 7:30pm EST

So you guys are going to rest some players Friday?

 

Picault came into last night's USOC game in the Second Half, so it's likely we'll see him enter the match at some point on Friday.

 

We don't have players to rest Have you looked at our squad lately?

There was a very good reason for why our scoring stopped at three last night against Jax United. The Rowdies pulled WAY back and coasted for the majority of the 2nd half.

With a slew of big games coming up in quick succession, it'll be very interesting to see just how much gas is in some of those tanks.

 

He came on as a sub last night and looked pretty good. Very fast, makes good runs into the box but you could tell he isn't 100% yet.

 

Minnesota is awfully good. I'll be happy with a draw.



...but I want 3 points.

 

You got the draw.

Tuesday's big, obviously.

 

Draw is a decent result here, considering our opponent and how many games we are playing in such a short time and the fact that we have arguably the biggest game of our short history upcoming on Tuesday night. The Rowdies didn't draw for lack of trying, but we definitely were not sharp in the final third.

Alot of possession and some neat work which should have lead to more chances on goal, but didn't.

Fafa came on as a sub again and once more looked to be on a different level than most everyone else out there, on both teams. Its easy to see why he was the most highly rated player at the NASL combine. The sooner he is fully match fit and inserted in the starting lineup, the better. The kid has skills.

 

That is the story of this season. I still shake my head at how a team can control the possession in every match and have so little to show for it. Ambersley and Yoshitake were just not an effective pairing up front. Antoniuk and Fafa might do better. The small pitch at Al Lang also hinders our preferred free flowing style because the opponent can pack a bunch of bodies behind the ball in a small space.

 

Possession's nice. But you still have to score goals. And they've scored 10 in 9 league matches.

 

Exactly. Everything comes to a grinding halt in the final third. Atlanta hasn't won a game and has scored more goals than we have this year.

 

Well it doesn't really come to a halt in the final third, we usually at least create a number of chances on goal, but this last game was one of those times when we couldn't get anything dangerous on goal.

On the flip side, we aren't allowing many goals either and Attinella isn't leading the league in saves like he did last season.

Antoniuk has proven he can score goals, so that's good. But he needs one more dangerous partner and Fafa might just be that guy.

 

The Rowdies do lead the league in shots on goal with 59 in 9 games and in shots with 129 (14 per game).

 

Highest number of shots + low number of goals = frustrating. I like Antoniuk up front, he has twice as many shots and goals as Ambersley in half the minutes. Yoshitake doesn't take enough shots, I would play him in midfield rather than as a forward.

Defense has held up well despite a penchant for giving up last minute goals.

 

Watching Fafa and Washington...man, these guys were playing on a whole different level. And their speed, a nice addition to this team.

Speedy is right, we have to do better in the final 3rd. I think the reason s who were playing. Atlanta we had the same pace different result and they are an average team. Minnesota is not average. If we want to be with the big boys come playoff time we need to get these 3 points at home and keep us in the chase.

 

Oh yeah, don't forget Washington. He has been very good so far coming in at left back. He has some positional work to do and being a rookie he is going to make mistakes, but so far I really like what he brings to the table. Very good getting forward into the attack and he is confident on the ball.

It is still incredibly frustrating that Hill continues to get starts. I'm just not understanding that one. Hate to call it nepotism, but the kid just isn't good enough and yet he is STARTING game in and game out. And it isn't out of necessity, other guy who could play are sitting in favor of the coach's son.

Regarding quality of competition, maybe that has something to do with it but OTOH the Stars played alot of bench warmers on Friday night and we really should have done better against them. For this particular game I think it might have had a little more to do with playing alot of games in a short window, having the Open Cup game on their minds (more than one player admitted to this after the game) and some guys still being not quite match fit.

Also agree about the width of the field inhibiting us. We aren't really able to stretch defenses because well, there isn't anywhere to take the ball. So opposing defenses are able to just stay compact and clog up the lanes, forcing us too often to shoot from distance or try to take too many touches in around the penalty area.

 

I'm not sure. Until recently it looked to me more like the Rowdies just didn't TRY to use the width so much, but alot of people complain that the field seems narrow so maybe it is.

 

The field is short (maybe only 100yds) which is the main problem, the width is also probably a tad small. The only way to make the field longer would be take out the outfield wall.

 

Which, of course, the city would be happy to do rather than lose the team.




(ducks)

 

tear down this wall like it was november 9, 1989 in Berlin

 

Only if we can get The Hoff to sing at the ceremony.

 

DuBose just said it's "really wide," 70 yards. Seems wrong on two levels.

 

well, as long as we can avoid Victoria Zarlenga I am ok with it