I have never seen fans ripping a team more after 3 games in the season. Did you guys expect a championship calibre team already????? Don't you see that Bradley is still adding players to the team? I don't get this. Bradley waited until he got his player in Gueverra (best CONCACAF midfielder IMHO). He's brought in the best American defender ever IMHO in Pope, and the best American forward in Mathis was already on the team. Can you guys wait until midseason to criticize the form of the team? Is it that difficult. Great teams aren't built in one or two games. Instead, it takes months. The players have to play with each other and form an understanding. Bradley has to undo 7 years (except for 1) of crap. I think if we are patient we will finally get some good soccer at Giants Stadium.
We had an entire thread to this effect after the first game, so relax, some are on your side. I am not ready to bail on this team, though I do think our chances are slim this weekend. And I think, in present form, you are going to get a lot of arguements over Mathis being the best American forward and if you look at JOB as a defender (for Ajax) instead of as a D-mid with good O skills, you have a tough case putting Pope ahead of him. Pope might play the "D" part of defense better, but JOB is an all-around better player. Anyway, the team will have fans left. Most of us (ahem) understand it will likely take all year until this team gets going. Remember, Revs were utter crap the first half of the season last year and ended playing the best ball in the east over the last 2 months or so. We have time, not only this year, but next.
What are you talking about? Everyone other than me and that dude Soccerfan has been very supportive of this team. I am definitely in the minority. Fire Leblanc, Magee, and Digimarino, bring back Hernandez, Villegas and Valencia!
Easy, easy. It's going to be OK. You're not a NY team unless a third of the fan support is ripping you to shreds. The second third loves you no matter what, and the third third just doesn't know what the heck's going on. And yet they all stick around.
Thank God we have the Yankees and the Jets just traded their 2 first round picks for the #4 selection in the NFL draft.
this guy's like chicken little about the not ending of the world or something...exactly, i'm confused i think you're on delay, everyone's posted on the subject...but i guess i'll nitpick for my own sake, first of all, pope can be the 3rd best US defender for all i care, the man's gettin it done and if can stay healthy will continue to do so...the other thing i could possibly argue is the revs playing the best ball over the last 2 months of last season (no offense to jamison, i'm just bored and amused by aris), they got results but it certainly wasnt great ball and while we all look forward to that type of turnaround for the metros, with our roster i expect it'll be much more entertaining soccer...(see aris, i agreee)
Re: Re: What the hell is wrong with all of you? As one disappointed with where the team is right now, I am trying to be patient, and I do think that there are signs we are moving in the right direction for this year. HOWEVER, I do not have patience to see this as a "rebuilding year" and say this is a step to next year. In a league where the last three championship games have featured teams that didn't make the playoff the year before, I don't think its acceptable to write a year off. I'm not saying we have to win the championship this year. But a playoff berth is a necessity, and a competitive showing how ever far that takes us is important. Please don't tell me it is okay to write this year off for the future. That I have a hard time accepting.
Aris: In all fairness, you must admit that YOU were one of the fans ripping the team after only 3 games LAST season. One of your threads, if I recall, was "Is Mike Petke in form?". You were ripped apart left and right from most people here since it was so early in the season to make evaluations on players and criticize the team's play. To your credit, you wound up being right . Now, YOU'RE going to be the one criticizing other people for doing the same thing you did last year? Aren't you being a bit hypocritical? Most people aren't blasting the team anymore....it's old news. The season opener was horribly played and there was a tremendous improvement in the second match. Overall, I don't think most real Metro fans mind if the team doesn't make the playoffs, provided that there's the same improvement each game, the games are entertaining and "well-played", and that the lumps the team is taking now will pay off in the long run.
Give Bob a chance....we are far from the deepest depths of sports futility - that avenue is reserved for Cubs and Red Sox fans....
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you, but you know, this is why I always hoped that the supporters shield became an important prize. Eight seasons into this league, I am just not will to endure (as a season ticket holder) a rebuilding year or a year where we watch a few months of bad soccer, followed by a month or two of "gelling" and a neat playoff run. I am not looking to get into a high decibel debate about this again, but unless you make the games in April, May, June, and July a little bit more gripping, it's hard to ask people to renew season tickets every year. That was really the whole point of the last big thread on the topic. Coaches and management take advantage of the fact that they can basically concede games -- a lot of games -- by experimenting and building and still give themselves a shot come the end of the season. I'm not saying this is the premiership, but some comparison is applicable here. Do you think Birmingham or West Brom came up this year, ready to concede some games in order to have a strong finale? NO. They knew every point they could earn would be precious, no matter when it came. That makes things much more interesting than what we have here. If the coaches wouldn't take advantage of our generous playoffs system, it would be different. I would be very happy to see our best team possible out there even though early season wins and losses weren't that significant. But coaches do take advantage of it, and in my opinion that's what Bradley is doing. You can agree with that if you will. I certainly think it is understandable. But at some point it's unfair to the perennial season ticket holders to ask them to pay for that. And some, like me, drop out of the season ticket holder category. (Don't worry, I'll still go to probably more than half the games, and watch some on tv.)
I don't think this is a fair comparison. Leblanc, Magee and Digimarino between the three of them make about 110K. Hernandez, Valencia and Villegas combine for about 350K. Regarding having to wait till the end of the season for success. I don't think we'll have to wait that long. We'll have Guevera back by next weekend. We'll also have the Boca players soon. I think we're looking at weeks and not months before we see a skilled and cohesive team.
What the hell is wrong with all of you?[R] is everyone off the ledge now.....it's only 3 games into their year. and after 3 games Columbus had 4 points. Same as the Metros
Why is OZ playing some weird unbalanced midfield no one's ever seen before and why is is Mathis playing midfield? Fire OZ.
Now I know you're yanking people's chains. Valencia could barely run when he was cut, Villegas is out of the league and Hernandez is bitching about playing time in NE.
Last year I was really critical of Zambrano. But rightfully so in my opinion, since Octavio had more then enough time to mold a team in his image. He wasn't able to do that. Bradley here, seems to not solely be looking at short-term goals, but more of a long-term commitment. That might be anathema in MLS, but I'd rather have that, then players like Valencia or Comas pretending to want to play. I'm usually not rah rah, and I'm pretty critical of the team. However, the Metros are in flux right now. New players (good? I dont' know) are coming in right that are going to hopefully add more to the product on the field. The Metros beat Columbus today, the best team so far this year in MLS. As that shows what separates the top from the bottom is very little in this league. If the Metros play a tight system, they can really have a good season. As for arguing how good Pope, Gueverra, and Mathis are in regards to others, that doesn't matter much. I feel that they are or amongst the best players to ever play in those positions for their countries. I made the point to show that Bradley didn't bring in only fringe players as some like to point out a lot. What matters IMHO is how much the players care, and I think so far they want to show better then they did last year. Maybe I missed out on the earlier threads on the criticism, but this is just what I feel.