Post-match: The (Other) Cup: #MUSTWINGAME - Crew v Inter Miami - '24 Leagues Cup Round of 16 - 8/13/24 7:30P

No one mentioned the sweet toe poke reverse pass from Farsi to Rossi on the winning goal. My boy Mo just continues to do work.

 

Also have to rotate players with the short rest between games.

 

Reading this thread this morning was a roller coaster of emotion.

I'll admit, when Miami scored their second goal I looked at the calendar and said to my other half "we're gonna have 17 days until out next home game, that's two free weekends!" And then Ramirez scored and I knew that the rally was on and I shouldn't go making plans.

So y'all can thank me for that thriller. You're welcome.

 

Hell, that's 2 vacations for ol' pappy LaMacchia...

 

It was a very clever little ball, no question, but what impressed me more was how much the energy level on the right side of the offense went through the roof when he came on. The defenders had to actually work, and the guys up front suddenly had some space. Nobody is frightened of him based on reputation but when a guy is flying around out there it forces the defense to respond.

 

I love this guy

 

Ramirez needs to be in the middle.

 

It sounded great on TV. Wish I could have been there!

 

Delete it? What would be the fun in that? Besides, as luck would have it, I've just begun a new Appalachian fad diet where crow constitutes the main protein source.

Obviously, I'm thrilled we came back to win. But I'm not happy with how we played in the first half and remain confused as hell as to Nancy's initial line-up decisions, especially as regards Chambost and Hagen. We weren't good enough in that first half and spotted Miami two goals before waking up. Love the final result, and I'm sure it's the kind of thing that'll make the team stronger in the long run. But I also hope it's a bit of a wake-up call that against top teams we need to be ready to play when the 1st half whistle blows. That game could easily have ended 4-4 or 5-4.

I've not had a chance to watch Nancy's post-game presser; just read some comments in Boehm's article. He clearly enjoys coaching in matches like this:

Re: Jones being subbed out, on second thought, he's only been with the club a short while. He's match fit, of course, but he can't have a great sense of the system yet. You can rationalize why he'd have been taken out.

Re: Chambost, it'll take some convincing to see why a Ligue 2 player who's not scored that much over his career would be seen as an attacking 3 starter over Ramirez in a huge game. I'd love to eat crow on that one, too. Re: Hagen, I'm sure he's a nice person, and I'm happy he's gotten some experience, but his place is on the bench now that Schulte is back.

Two more points:

I detest Miami and the entire state of Florida for reasons that go far beyond sport. Still, it's extra sweet to see Garber's preferred franchise taken down in this way. Anything that makes Don miserable is to be celebrated.

Second, I know Cucho gets most of the press, but Rossi is my MVP this year. He's just a total player, and so, so clinical around goal. Tireless, too.

 

If Messi comes to town, October 2nd is gonna be an all timer

 

Im not positive that Jones is match fit. There was some reporting that he was carrying a knock before he left New England and thats why he didnt play in a few matches leading up to the trade.

Good shout regarding Rossi being team MVP. Thats something to think about. Hes been incredible.

 

He has become one of my all time favorite allocations the crew made.

 

Markus embarked upon sixth grade today. He wore his Peanuts jersey. What a statement feeling at the start of this school year.

 

re: Ramirez, the guy is 33 years old, and the team will need him down the stretch. I think Nancy is trying to manage his minutes. If so the only alternative is JRR and he's really better coming off.the bench since he's plug and play.

 

I wonder how this cup fits into Nancy's and Crew ownerships priorities - the line up choices may make sense in benefitting the season overall?

 

I'd guess that has we won the CCC, it wouldn't matter as much as it does now. You don't get in these positions very often. It all went down the shitter - so to speak - in Mexico. Leagues Cup offers a chance at redemption. And how many times did you hear about LAFC last year having, what, six chances to win hardware, and coming up empty. Not to mention, you look at the remaining clubs and having home field advantage throughout, and it's hard to come up with a reason for not prioritizing this.

 

Also, while this tourney can lead to a CCL spot, its overall meaning is very little. Doesn’t hurt our shield standing, doesn’t help our playoff chances, doesn’t help us win the cup. But with our roster size we are going to need every guy capable of stepping into a big moment. Why not start some rotational guys in a knockout setting against another top team in a game it is largely meaningless?

 

It's not meaningless though. Getting into CCC next season is huge. That alone is enough incentive to win the thing. Guys also don't want to train for 2 weeks straight without having any games. They get rusty and they get bored. They are better off staying in the rhythm of playing which should actually help our shield chances once we start up MLS play again.

And on top of all of that, these guys are insanely competitive. They naturally want to win everything. And it doesn't hurt that there is some bonus money on the line for them.

 

Chemistry that’s why , i think Nancy was managing minutes by starting new guys. Then realized we needed a cohesive unit on the pitch and subbed accordingly

 

This edition of the League Cup will have a total prize purse of $40 million, which will be distributed throughout the tournament. What's more, each team will earn $100,000 from participating and $50,000 for every game won.


Plus the CCC entry and possibly CWC bid

 

Just circling back to this, and thankfully it does appear that this is going to amount to nothing, but what Twellman pointed out during the broadcast was true. Cucho throwing an enormous fit when JRR took that shot cost the team a fourth goal. The ball came back to JRR after a rebound and Cucho had that entire half of the box to himself. Cucho didnt notice though, because he was too busy facing away from the ball and the goal waving his arms and screaming. Oh well. Again, thankfully the team held on and this is water under the bridge at this point.

 

It didn't look like JRR even saw him. But yea, that's Cucho. He's a fiery player. It's what makes him great, but not without faults just like any other player.

 

As Nancy likes to say: "You win or your learn." Hopefully, last night we did both. I'm sure that the team will review film of the match, and JRR will be reminded that it would be good to be aware of his teammates' whereabouts in such situations.

 

I know there's people around here who are Caleb Porter fans..but let's stop to think if that press conference yesterday was done by him.

Yikes.