half its halftime now, and no goals to speak of - no real chances either. We had about two good looks at goal, with Quill's shot from within the 6 blocked after the keeper was caught out. Igor started on the bench with Armstrong and Fabrro up top. Jack Jewsbury got a start in Klein's position with Brunt starting at left full in place of Garcia. Conrad and Burciaga looked steady in the center of defense, but the entire team really looked sluggish - suffering fromthe 85 degree heat. We are playing a B side for them, and they had some nice free-flowing attacks, but didn't really get more than two shots off against us. Pre-season - hang-over - questioning what im doing awake.
FT 0-0 A better second half with lots of subs for both teams. Quill and Brown had the best opportunities, stifling heat and poor linesmen led to numerous offside calls. At least 3 were not offside with Wizards players ready to go one-on-one. The Swallows had some neat interchanges and quick passing that threatened the Wizards a little in the seocnd half. Most of their attacks came against Brunt. He struggled early but got more into at the game progressed. Quill was probably our most dangerous player, Diego, Talley and Conrad all kept things safe at the back. Armstrong did better out wide than he did in the middle. Fabbro didn't do a whole lot in the first half.
As Sam pointed out at the conclusion of the game "Remember this when you complain about MLS referees" Either that or they were auditioning for MLS.
Kudos to Wizards & Metrosports Kudos to the club and MetroSports for the coverage. It was a quality feed and production. I especially liked the post game interviews with the players and I thought the announcer with Wheelock was pretty solid as well. I like the way the clock graphic wasn't constant on the screen except on restarts and the last five minutes or so.
Still recovering from injuries. MLS match report: http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/kc0209swallows.html
I thought Preki looked fantastic and did well as usual controlling the mid. Quill looked dangerous, Armstrong looked to be pressing a bit, the defense of guiterrez, burciaga, Conrad and Brunt impressed me the most though. They did well when each was attacked. Jewsbury didn't do to much. Gomez when he came in looked ok but was too slow to deliver a pass many times and when he did ended up being to a player who now was offsides. He held the ball well though.
You gotta love the description of your side from the Moroka Swallow's official site: "Giant American side Kansas City Wizards" "One of the top soccer teams in the United States, Kansas City Wizards" "Top US team to play Swallows" Flattering eh?
At times the Wizards DO look like one of the top soccer teams in the US, when Preki, Klein, and Simuntenkov are all in the same lineup. the Swallows swallow. hehehehe
No, you're right, they're not a bad team by any stretch of the imagination, it's just interesting to hear them basically being called power-houses of US soccer. That title is really more fitting of a consistently powerful team like the Galaxy.
No, you're right, they're not a bad team by any stretch of the imagination, it's just interesting to hear them basically being called power-houses of US soccer. That title is really more fitting of a consistently powerful team like the Galaxy. Like LA? I will never like LA. They have few good players, but too many that play dirty.... like Ruiz!
For a first match the team looked ok. With Klein, Garcia and Wolff I think we're pretty darn good. My observations... 1. Brunt is not of the quality that we need on the field. (That is my nice way of not saying what I really think.) 2. Preki did look good. Dario looked like his head wasnt in the game. 3. The linesman sucked it up in the second half and cost us at least 3 one on ones. Possibly four or five. 4. Quote of the day: (Little South African pre game guy) "...a meeting of two of the worlds top clubs..." Classic! 5. Best shot on goal for both teams all day was Conrads "pass" back to Meola from 3 yards out. I wont get to see the next two games, but they can only increase in quality from here.
Look at Brunt this way.... He could have been worse. If possible, he's actually shown some improvement over last year. I was also very pleased with the commentator's statement after one of the blown linesman's calls. The flag went up very late, and he said "The speed with which the flag went up shows the confidence he has in his decision." But NOTHING can beat the look on Tony's face when they were trying to carry Eric Quill off on the "stretcher" in the first half. I hope someone taped the delayed broadcast for that.
"He [Quill] did very well to get himself off of that stretcher." Wheelock on Quill's adventure. The only remotely interesting thing about that whole game that might have some redeeming merit would be to hear about any conversations between Chet North and whatever passes for the training staff of Swallows. There just has to be a good story in there somewhere. You could have built a drinking game around the call of "our internationally renowned announcer [whatever his name was]". Just the constant mentions of "Kansas City Wiz" and the numerous pronuciations of Fabbro (Fabrio, Fabio, Fabrahr, Fa-bra-ri-o, etc. - nice) would have provided two rules right there. You could have added the shots of the empty opposite stands, "Americans", SW's mentions of bad crosses by Swallows, his almost painful corrections of "Kansas City Wiz-ARDS" and "Fab-BRO", and missed offsides calls as separate rules also. RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM THE GAME: *How did Brunt play in college and never be challenged physically? He looks like he learned little in 4 years going to keggers and 1 year as a pro. It's almost like he is only here because of his physical upside. That said he did eventually shut down his guy. *Thank goodness April is far away *We are lucky to have our announcers, analysts, refs, and stadia *Preki can just step in anywhere and be talented - he might play for another 3-4 years off the bench, who knows. *I hate being cold *Suprisingly, Bo and Tony looked interchangable. The moved the exact same way on the field - works for me. *Also noticable on audio early was Tony telling (not yelling) at Fabbro that, "You can't lose the ball and stand there, if you are going to lose the ball you have to cover back." 2 things - More evidence that Lowe had a better work rate. Shouldn't the coaching staff be on top of this obvious 10 month problem? Surely there is an out of favor striker on some roster willing to work for $80k. I only say this because within KC's system at target forward, more benificial than goals is defending back. KC can create via wings, so multi-dimensions on offense are still prevalent. Unfortunately the absence of 11-man defense might be fatal again this year. *Apparently South Africa's contribution to stadium archatechure is the idea of seats facing away from the actual game, brilliant. Form over function, I guess. I'll take "The K" with everything pointing to 2nd base, thank you. *It really looked warm *Also funny was Swallows' captain in the post-game interview jumping on the host for never giving the players any air time and then calling the Swallows the wrong name! *Wed should be a better account of soccer as the opponent should be better and KC should be more used to the environs.
I asked Saturday, and still wonder how "safe" Bo's job is. Could Goode give him a run for the #2 spot? I've been on Fabrro since day one. We wait and waited for his arrival, only to see him play like Lowe, with have the scoring skill. Neither of them hustle all that much, but at least Lowe could hit free kicks and score when he did try. A few in the Cauldron told me last season to "give him time", I'm giving him until mid May. I thought the same about the stadium. The SA announcer made a couple references to the "brilliant architecture" of the stadium. My thoughts when he said that were: What is the purpose of people facing one goal from the opposite end of the stadium and having to turn their head at 90 degrees to see the other goal. Not exactly brilliant if you ask me.
Ok the game fun and neat that was for sure. Yawn..... Chris Brunt looks like he should tryout for the WWE with all the forearm shivers he was giving out. He could be the Wizards new bully, I guess? Preki is so Money. You know what he had to be thinking. "I am Preki, cutback master. I will take them to school cuss they have never faced me. HAHA!!" And boy did ever ever school a couple of them Swallows. Which reminds me it there a porn called Swallows? Hey Onandi err Dario move your ass! I didn't like Onandi but I like him a hell of alot more Dario. Is he fully fit now? Cuss he needs to do something to inpress me and it seems like he has been hurt most of his time here. I also heard Tony yelling in the first half. Bob looked cool with those hip shades on. Cisco played some nice balls over the top. To bad they were wrongly called offside. And I thought MLS refs were bad. Who all went to the watch party?
I'm sorry, but although I didn't see the game, saying we'd rather have Lowe than Fabbro is absurd. When he wanted to be, Lowe was a dynamo who could beat defenders when he had the ball and really harass them without it. He had a great shot as well. But face it, we only saw occasional glimpses of that. Most of the time he couldn't have just cared less about what happened around here. Anyone so desperate to get out of MLS that he would go to an English 3rd division club (I don't care which 3rd division club it is) should NOT be someone we wish to have. I think Dario is a confidence player. If he starts poorly, he will get down on himself and disappear. A bad trait no doubt, but its better than praying that he might bother to care for a couple minutes a match. Lets not forget that Fabbro produced more than Onandi did.
I was there Saturday for the Nats and Sunday AM for the Wizards. I'll be there tomorrow evening and Saturday morning. I'm the gray-haired guy in the Wizard shirt. See you all Wednesday.
Better put: Onandi: .9375 points per game Dario: .94444 points per game Not exactly outproducing in the way you'd want to see to justify the replacement being an upgrade is it?
I seem to be a little foggy on both of their goals scored but didn't both score several on PK's? I would rather they score on set pieces or during the flow of the game. Beggers can't be choosers either. A goal is a goal. Does anyone have figures on how many of their goals came from PK's?