I don't even know what to guess at this point. I'm not sure Vermes is as ready to blow up the lineup as we are, haha.
Probably, but given that Zusi's injury was entirely predictable with that workload, maybe he will see the wisdom in resting Roger? If not, i really hope to see Duke claim that spot for his own this weekend. Also, worst field to play on in MLS, and it's not even close. Looks horrible on TV. Does that thing make defending a bit easier, maybe?
it’s a new formation/tactical change and yet the same line up. PV need to start Shelton is now bordering on pathological.
I mean I’ve seen worse performances on the road. Against a team that had been scoring at will lately, I’ll take 0-0.
Or you could look at it as 76 percent of possession and they ended up with 0.9 xG. We defended well, and there have been a lot of games in recent season when that was not the case. If we'd defended this well in every match this season, I'd be willing to say this is what you get when you're missing two attacking DPs. Our defense is young (that's nice) and improving (nicer). IMO, this was a solid performance against a really good team, on what I swear is a trapezoid field. It's a road point against a hot team, and one that this year has been good at home (4 wins and a loss before we showed up, and that loss to the Union was played just days after a CCL match). In the first half, i thought that we were the more dangerous team, and that all of their possession was pretty lame. Second half our goal felt more like a city under seige. From the stats, there is nothing I can see worth noting. Tzonis only played 8 minutes (plus stoppage, so 10) and according to the stats managed zero touches. that cannot be right, is it?
Also, has to be said: Duke was a bright spot at RB. Voldemort is growing into a CB i think we will really like. Ford is balls to the wall all the time. and Logan remains class. we went from a starting back line that was, on average a couple times, 32 (when Sweat started), to one that is, on average, 22. I mean, I mean, to reach the same aggregate age, you have to take away an entire player from the old line, then some years from someone else.
Why do you insist on calling him this instead of his actual name? Voloder is actually fewer letters and easier to pronounce... and I've never seen/read any of those movies/books, but isn't he the bad guy? Sorry, I don't mean to call you out, but it bugs me everytime I see you call him that.
Ah, I will, in that case, stop. My initial reason was that I couldn't remember his name, then it was that I found it funny. and as he wasn't being named to the 11, so almost, kind of, fit (the nickname in the books is "he who shall (or must, can't remember) not be named"). True, it is the bad guy, and I'm turning into a fan. If it annoys, I will retire that rather bad joke.
Best thing about this game was we FINALLY saw a young, completely new back four. They seemed young and athletic and played reasonably well. Besides Isi, none of the other defenders from last year should play another minute this season. Worst thing about this game, everything else. Playing on a shitty field, in a shitty baseball stadium, that isn't even the shitty baseball stadium that the home team normally plays in should be MLS 1.0, not whatever version of MLS we are in 25 years later.
Wait, I had no idea that wasn't Yankee Stadium. There was a reference to the Mets, but I wasn't paying attention and figured the guys over here just had no idea which baseball team played where. Why? If Yankee stadium was booked, why play in a baseball stadium?
I understand that Shelton is everybody's scapegoat, but Salloi and Russell aren't exactly lighting it up. Why wait until the last 10 or so minutes to bring in Vujnovic and Tzionis? The new defensive backline was certainly an improvement. Nice to see. Now, lets shake up the front line and bring in some new faces into the starting lineup.
From what we've seen this year, I'm not sure I'd see Tzionis as a sub for Salloi the best use of resources. He's been really good, IMO, in the Kinda midfield role. I do think Salloi a couple weeks ago needed a shock to the system, but the last couple games he's getting shots on goal (just about the only person doing so). I think the bigger upgrade is Tzonis for roger. Also, this summer, we really, really need to bring in a 6. Or try Isi there, or something
I went and watched the pre and post game pressers from Vermes and someone in the pregame one asked about the front line and if Peter had thought about making any changes there due to lack of consistent scoring. He got kind of gruff about it and then just said that the guys that are playing are playing because he thinks they are the right guys to be on the field. Meh. That answer and some of the other things he talked about with keeping the squad consistent because that is what has gotten him results does not give me confidence that we'll start seeing more changes more often or more early subs unless it becomes absolutely necessary. It should be interesting to see the lineups after this short turnaround.