Wow, the backside ball handling by Chivas has led to both Sporting goals. Absolute gifts! Great finishes by both CJ and Omar, though.
I think our defense looks much better than I feared they would, even without the high pressure. They seem to be communicating much better than last year. Sapong is real impressive as well. He and Teal could be a beastly combo. I would like to see Davy more involved in the game though. And I don't mean another card...
That's what we lacked last year. A finisher with some creativity. I haven't liked the overall play in the first half, it seemed like Chivas controlled the ball most of the time. But the defense has been strong. It seems like we've played better since Auvrey came in.
Jimmy actually didn't have anything to do with either of the goals. He was outjumped on the Sapong goal, but his partner made an absolute piss-poor decision, taking a touch back into the center of the field. And then Thornton makes a U-12 level mistake and gets caught in no-man's-land making for an easy chip. Hell, I could have finished that chip. My dead grandmother could have finished that chip.
Does that actually equate to an assist in the stat sheet? Even though it was touched by a Chivas player?
I didn't say he had anything to do with it, but if Jimmy Conrad is your best defender....you're probably going to give up some soft goals- they already have given up two soft ones.
Haven't been that impressed with Sassano yet or Milos. Milos seemed to just be running everywhere without doing much. I would have prefered Rocastle-Auvray-Arnaud until Milos was worked into the team more, but I guess it has worked so far, but it is just against Chivas.. Overall, great first half to open a season. Good chance to get 3 points on the road.. can't gripe about that too much.
Sapong is a handful. Doesn't surprise me Conrad body slammed him. Has to be frustrating for ol' Jimmy. Big, fast, active, good first touch and a very composed finish in the first minute of his first professional game. You have to love that. Really like Cesars composure on the ball and positioning so far. Not impressed with Sassano or Stocev. Will probably take some time for Arnaud and Stojcev to figure out their roles. Both were MIA. Lets put this team away early the second half.
Any purposeful touch (and depending on the statistician, major deflections) by a defender resets the assist counter.
Bravo again! Both very skillful finishes. He is proving to be a brilliant addition to the team. Oh, and I'm still pissed at the Jimmy Conrad own goal. He knows better than that after all these years with KC
3 points. Back line looks shaky, but maybe we'll just have to outscore teams until they can figure things out.
Will post more later, but Bravo brought it, Kei did his thing, CJ with a good debut, Besler and Cesar looked good (two unfortunate bounces leading to goals). Imagine this team with Teal...