Except for that one kick that went straight out of bounds on the left side between two FC players. Unfortunately it was routine for Saunders when it would have been easily routine for anybody else.
Seattle Postmatch
- Thread starter NYCFC_Dan
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Really? I wanted it to be true, but I wasn't sure it was better on the defensive end. In all, I thought they torched our backline pretty consistently.
Morris is hell on wheels in this league. Too bad for him he has no one to play with him up there. Sounders really should've at least kept Rose or something. Kovar doesn't look bad, but they just seem an attacker short even when deuce is there. Let's be honest, Deuce only runs in big games. He wound back the clock for Copa, but even there I bet he covered significantly less ground than anyone else. For Sounders, he's going to walk a lot.
Sounders made one of those dumb decisions that a VP of Common Sense would stop. You can't try to win your first title and concurrently rotate out some of your critical, core players to be replaced with untested youth and transfers. If you buy Deuce to go for a title, don't try to rebuild the roster while he's there. Just augment what you have.
All that said, I can't believe their front office is dumb enough not to know that, so I wonder just how damn much money Oba cost China. Crazy shit.
I think he's significantly faster and better receiving the ball as well.
I know I and others have said it before, but I think Poor Man's Zardes is absolute ceiling on Shelton. Other choice is eventually make him a fullback, which might not be the worst idea. Less pressure on the ball, more space to run. I just don't see him ever developing into a reliable option, so he'll always just be a prayer we send up when no other options are left.
I think this is basically right. I joked about it above becauseI'll do anything for a joke, but in truth I think Lampard tried hard to keep his arm away from the ball -- the Seattle radio guys I listened to on Sirius said he had T-Rex arms and when I saw the play later it described it perfectly. I think it might have hit his chest, then slid off to his hand and the defender's elbow as Gator said. It took multiple replays and several minutes to find the right one to even show that much. Refs gotta call what they see. I don't blame Sounders fans for complaining but this call was reasonable at worst.
I listened to the game in the car on Sirius, which featured the Sounders announcers. I only skimmed the recording when I got home so I have no personal opinion of this that's worth sharing, but I will note that I got in the car and turned on the radio a few minutes before the Lampard goal and missed those first 20, and spent the next hour wondering if Morris was in the game. I never heard the announcers never called his name. Ivanschitz and Friberg seemed to be everywhere.
Zardes is tough as nails and composed as long as he's not shooting. Khiry is soft as butter and can't seem to hold on to the ball if he's not running along the sideline. I'd take a poor man's Zardes over Khiry any day.
Very tough call to make. The one thing I was not happy with while watching live was the indecision, then they point for a goal, then they huddled for a while and discussed it.
Now, I'm all for them talking with each other to get it right, but with them huddling, I thought it gave every chance for one of the refs to grab a glimpse of a replay on the jumbotron and allow the fans' reaction to possibly influence the end decision.
Now obviously they still allowed the goal, so perhaps it was a well disciplined conversation they had.
Was thinking the exact same thing during the broadcast. Way too easy to watch the replay.
As others have noted, Harrison is the real deal. He had several great crosses into the box, and one in particular that Villa probably should have put in the net. But the most impressive play I thought he had was around the 11-13'. He had the ball around midfield and dribbled out of trouble around 2-3 guys or so, made a run into the middle, then laid out a through ball releasing Mata wide. It was wonderful. It ended up not resulting in anything, but it was pure brilliance from Jack.
I actually thought Mena played decently. He had some shaky moments, but some of that I attribute to him not playing very much, especially with the group of guys that were on the field. His worst moments seemed to be receiving passes from our other guys, so perhaps moreso communication issues. But I thought he definitely showed what he is capable of physically and defensively.
As others have noted, Iraola is freeing Pirlo up massively. Pirlo had so much space yesterday and was able to play lots of great through balls to running teammates. He had a tremendous impact.
One other play I wanted to revisit was a chance off a shot Lampard had in the first half. I believe it was Mata who played a ball into the middle of the box to TMac with his back to goal, he spun onto his right foot and had plenty of space to shoot it, and was very surprised he didn't. The lay off to Lampard was a good play, but I thought he had a much better chance, turning onto his right foot, to put it in the net himself.
I actually thought Mena played decently. He had some shaky moments, but some of that I attribute to him not playing very much, especially with the group of guys that were on the field. His worst moments seemed to be receiving passes from our other guys, so perhaps moreso communication issues. But I thought he definitely showed what he is capable of physically and defensively.
As others have noted, Iraola is freeing Pirlo up massively. Pirlo had so much space yesterday and was able to play lots of great through balls to running teammates. He had a tremendous impact.
One other play I wanted to revisit was a chance off a shot Lampard had in the first half. I believe it was Mata who played a ball into the middle of the box to TMac with his back to goal, he spun onto his right foot and had plenty of space to shoot it, and was very surprised he didn't. The lay off to Lampard was a good play, but I thought he had a much better chance, turning onto his right foot, to put it in the net himself.
Not much more I can say about Harrison that hasn't already been said. I'll live with the fact that he got a little loose with the ball a few times and got dispossessed. You have to give a player like him the latitude to try and be creative. The fact that teams have to worry about his one on one capabilities is only going to create more space and good chances for Villa.
I thought Mena was shaky. Not sure if he's a significant upgrade over Hernandez, but I also don't know that he's a significant downgrade. I like Mena's physicality but his soccer IQ seems to be lacking. Some of that might be the language barrier though. It's gotta be tough not being able to verbally communicate with your center back partner.
Totally agree with your point about Iraola freeing up Pirlo. I was skeptical when PV first slotted him into that defensive center mid spot but he was really good yesterday. he makes up for his lack of pace with great positioning and his passing was very tidy and efficient.
As far as TMac's layoff to Lampard goes, I'm ot sure what space you are talking about. Marshall was goal side of Tommy and marking him close enough to touch him. Remick was right next to Marshall and Davis was closing him from behind. It was absolutely the right choice to lay it off. Plus, I think when you have your back to the goal and either Lampard, Villa or Pirlo scream for the ball, you have give it to them. Different story if Tommy is facing the goal. Then I say let it rip.
Whispers to self: Don't make the "he's a forward" joke. Don't make the "he's a forward" joke. Don't make the "he's a forward" joke. Don't make the "he's a forward" joke. Don't
I thought we dominated them defensively, they only had those chances because Morris is so good. I'll be upset to see hernandez back next week
Personally, I thought Mena was just fine last night. Especially considering he's played all of 20mls minutes and 83cup minutes this season before last night - he's had zero opportunity to practice as part of the starting group. Hell, Hernandez has had 16 games to gel and he still looks like crap at times. I'd much rather give Mena a chance to continue the shutout streak (83 min of the cup and 90 last night) before letting Hernandez back on the pitch.
But Marshall was on Tommy's right shoulder. Had Tommy turned to his left, he had plenty of space to get a shot off with his right foot. I feel as though the only thing that would have prevented that would be Marshall grabbing TMac's arm/shoulder to prevent him from turning, and that should end up being a penalty.
Like I said, I don't think the layoff to Lampard was necessarily a bad decision, in fact, it was a good decision. I just think a turn to his left and shot with the right foot would have been a better decision.
I also remember when he didn't know whether to grab a ball going out of bounds when an attacker was coming and he fell, twice.
PV also likes to go with the hot hand, or what's working. That's why Lurch didn't get to start in Toronto, he felt it wasn't right to sit Saunders after his Portland performance.
This clearly speaks the need of a secondary scorer. can/should we get Torres or Aduriz as Villa's partner? How about Tevez or Higuain (who is clearly fallen out of favor after Copa, which got to damage his reputation at the club level too)?
A new goalie, another good striker and another defender, this club can win MLS
We're not getting Higuain anytime soon. If I recall correctly, he put up 36 goals for Napoli last season as the leading goal scorer in Serie A and is under contract until 2018. Transfermarkt has his value at 60M Euros. It's debatable but he's probably one of the top five strikers in the world at the moment
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