MLS Week 24 - 2018

Can anyone explain to me how Seattle gets Brad Smith and we still have Sweat and Matarrita at left back?

It’s like night and day. And I thought we were looking for a left back.
 
I don’t know of another professional team that’s as bad as Orlando right now. This team finds a way to kick themselves in the groin week after week after week.
Quakes are much, much worse. They are completely unwatchable. At least Orlando can string some nice plays together and score. Quakes are a dumpster fire like I’ve never seen. And I have seen some BAD Quakes teams. East Coast bias just makes people think Orlando is worse :)
 
Quakes are much, much worse. They are completely unwatchable. At least Orlando can string some nice plays together and score. Quakes are a dumpster fire like I’ve never seen. And I have seen some BAD Quakes teams. East Coast bias just makes people think Orlando is worse :)
Perhaps true! But has SJ spent as much money on their roster? When comparing results based on capital spent, Orlando tried to be Last years Toronto and came up with a roster of pieces that doesn’t compliment itself. At least SJ is shitty without having mortgaged it’s future.
 
Quakes are much, much worse. They are completely unwatchable. At least Orlando can string some nice plays together and score. Quakes are a dumpster fire like I’ve never seen. And I have seen some BAD Quakes teams. East Coast bias just makes people think Orlando is worse :)
He did say professional, so not sure SJ qualifies.
 
Quakes are much, much worse. They are completely unwatchable. At least Orlando can string some nice plays together and score. Quakes are a dumpster fire like I’ve never seen. And I have seen some BAD Quakes teams. East Coast bias just makes people think Orlando is worse :)
Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen them play. Do they self destruct in the manner Orlando does ( I think they average 1 red card a game)?
 
My takeaways from this week:
1) Chicago... what happened? Schweiny's been doing nothing this season. I see boots on the wall in November.
2) NE are a drowning ship, and Toronto, Montreal are fighting to that spot.
3) NYC finally got some calls in their favor, which is unbelievable, really.
4) DC is looking scary as of late if they can patch up the defensive hole... They are now 3 points back from Toronto, with 3 games in hand. If they can keep delivering, they might even take that last spot.

5) Seattle's coming back.... again...
 
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I wonder whether Ousted was told to abandon the goal to push up or he did it on his own. I guess it was kind of like a game with playoff implications where a point is worthless, but that was hysterical.
 
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I wonder whether Ousted was told to abandon the goal to push up or he did it on his own. I guess it was kind of like a game with playoff implications where a point is worthless, but that was hysterical.
I was thinking about this too, but they have so many games in hand, and many home games left, that there is still time (9 points back from 5th and 6th place and 3 games in hand on 5th and 5 games in hand on 6th).

Additionally, this isn't like hockey where pulling your goalie gives you a significant increase in your chances to score. I'd love to see what kind of percentage bump in chance of scoring a team gets on a corner when bringing the keeper up.
 
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My takeaways from this week:
1) Chicago... what happened? Schweiny's been doing nothing this season. I see boots on the wall in November.
2) NE are a drowning ship, and Toronto, Montreal are fighting to that spot.
3) NYC finally got some calls in their favor, which is unbelievable, really.
4) DC is looking scary as of late if they can patch up the defensive hole... They are now 3 games back from Toronto, with 3 games in hand. If they can keep delivering, they might even take that last spot.

5) Seattle's coming back.... again...
DC needed some Rooney magic and idiocy by Will Johnson to beat a 10 man tire fire Orlando team that was on the road. (Yes, that sounds strangely familiar). When was the last time they beat someone of note?

They do have a lot of home games left, but their schedule is also pretty difficult. 2 games vs NJ, 2 games vs us, 1 game vs Atlanta.

Their front 6 is good, but their defense is pretty terrible. But maybe Hamid coming back steals them some points
 
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DC needed some Rooney magic and idiocy by Will Johnson to beat a 10 man tire fire Orlando team that was on the road. (Yes, that sounds strangely familiar). When was the last time they beat someone of note?

They do have a lot of home games left, but their schedule is also pretty difficult. 2 games vs NJ, 2 games vs us, 1 game vs Atlanta.

Their front 6 is good, but their defense is pretty terrible. But maybe Hamid coming back steals them some points
Well, that's why I'm saying if they fix the defense they'll be scary. Without any defensive fixes, they're gonna stay where they are now.
The team has played way less games than the rest of the league and had huge breaks in between, so it'll be interesting to see how everyone works together now that they're starting to play together a (lot) more often.
 
I wonder whether Ousted was told to abandon the goal to push up or he did it on his own. I guess it was kind of like a game with playoff implications where a point is worthless, but that was hysterical.
It's actually a pretty interesting analysis to consider whether it was the right move.

On the one hand, bagging a goal there gets you 2 extra points by moving from a tie to a win. That's an even better upside than pulling the goalie when you are down 1 goal.

On the other hand, if your open net attracts the ball, you lose the one point you have in hand. I suppose it comes down to the relative increase in scoring chance on the set piece vs. the odds that you give up a counter.

Maybe if you are DC, you like taking the chance since you really need 3 points here to make the playoffs.
 
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It's actually a pretty interesting analysis to consider whether it was the right move.

On the one hand, bagging a goal there gets you 2 extra points by moving from a tie to a win. That's an even better upside than pulling the goalie when you are down 1 goal.

On the other hand, if your open net attracts the ball, you lose the one point you have in hand. I suppose it comes down to the relative increase in scoring chance on the set piece vs. the odds that you give up a counter.

Maybe if you are DC, you like taking the chance since you really need 3 points here to make the playoffs.

I think the risk/reward was pretty close. I went through what DC has to do in the Running the Numbers thread last week. Going into last night's game, DC had 3 Away games left against NYCFC, RB, and Chicago. If you assume 3 points there, they probably needed 23 points in their 12 home games. Those include games against Portland, Atlanta, Red Bulls, Dallas, Toronto, and NYCFC. They probably need to be near perfect on the other 6, including Orlando last night, to make it.
I doubt it was a smart move strictly by the odds differential, but Olsen knows he has little room to drop points at home against bad teams. It paid off in the most backwards way possible
 
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I think the risk/reward was pretty close. I went through what DC has to do in the Running the Numbers thread last week. Going into last night's game, DC had 3 Away games left against NYCFC, RB, and Chicago. If you assume 3 points there, they probably needed 23 points in their 12 home games. Those include games against Portland, Atlanta, Red Bulls, Dallas, Toronto, and NYCFC. They probably need to be near perfect on the other 6, including Orlando last night, to make it.
I doubt it was a smart move strictly by the odds differential, but Olsen knows he has little room to drop points at home against bad teams. It paid off in the most backwards way possible
I just don't see a sizable bump in bringing the keeper for a corner versus leaving him back. It's not the same advantage that you get in hockey when pulling the goalie.
 

Remember when Orlando City was talked about being the better expansion franchise in 2015?
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