Minnesota - Postmatch

CFG brass watching this game for me means Sands will be in Europe in 2020. His decision making was incredible, his passing accuracy superb including a lot of good long vertical balls and lateral switches, and in general he was a calming presence in a field full of people 10 years older than him. And he dealt really well with a UFC brawler in Angelo Rodriguez. The foul right outside of the 18 should have been called against AR on Sands and not the other way around. In a league with better refeering he would really shine.
 
CFG brass watching this game for me means Sands will be in Europe in 2020. His decision making was incredible, his passing accuracy superb including a lot of good long vertical balls and lateral switches, and in general he was a calming presence in a field full of people 10 years older than him. And he dealt really well with a UFC brawler in Angelo Rodriguez. The foul right outside of the 18 should have been called against AR on Sands and not the other way around. In a league with better refeering he would really shine.
Wouldn’t that just be a Greek Tragedy.... they take Sands and leave Dome.....
 
Probably there for the stadium opening. Hope they get some idea whats it like to play in a brand new home.
They said on the broadcast that he's been around for a over a week and plans to attend 2 more matches before he heads back. Not sure why the opening of a random stadium in Minn. would justify a visit from top CFG brass.

Fingers crossed he's here to deal with our clueless manager.
Next game is in DC.
 
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CFG brass watching this game for me means Sands will be in Europe in 2020. His decision making was incredible, his passing accuracy superb including a lot of good long vertical balls and lateral switches, and in general he was a calming presence in a field full of people 10 years older than him. And he dealt really well with a UFC brawler in Angelo Rodriguez. The foul right outside of the 18 should have been called against AR on Sands and not the other way around. In a league with better refeering he would really shine.

Watching this game I was more impressed with James Sands than anyone else. And yes, it was a push off by Rodriguez on that foul outside the 18. Sands needs to play every game and go to Europe next year.
 
Yes, Sean Johnson cost us a goal and potentially two points, but Rocha cost us the other two goals, so go figure out who really owes us points.

Dome, for putting Rocha out there to begin with.

And, nobody has addressed the most interesting thing on the night - playing Sands at center back. I like it - perhaps a lot. He was a rock out there and still got to use his skills to distribute effectively. Plus, it lets Ring play defensive mid.
 
And what did we look better playing under?
...Also if it was 5-2-3 on defense and we still let in two inside of 20, holy crap...
pretty sure Mata got sliced/diced on one of those, or maybe that was the cross that led to the open shot they put over the bar in the first few minutes. Mata made some big stops and he got burnt by the wing a bunch too.
 
Agree with most of what is said here. It was definitely the most entertaining match of the year.

Only two things to add: Ofori was quietly solid today. He played out of trouble a number of times and made good decisions on the ball. And the real difference was Maxi. He was comfortable on the ball and combining well with Isi, Taty, and Mata the whole match.
 
Agree with most of what is said here. It was definitely the most entertaining match of the year.

Only two things to add: Ofori was quietly solid today. He played out of trouble a number of times and made good decisions on the ball. And the real difference was Maxi. He was comfortable on the ball and combining well with Isi, Taty, and Mata the whole match.
Yes. Maxi had a solid match.
 
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Sands was the best player on the field today.

For his sake, I hope the powers that be realiZe that he’s more valuable from a wages and transfer fee perspective as a CB. Not a lot of guys that age can defend and play a through ball. Give him 2-3 years of proper weight training, and he’s playing CB in a Top 5 league.

Why was Brian Marwood there yesterday? He’s in charge of the Club now. It’s a good sign he was there because someone is putting pressure on Brian.

My guess is that it isn’t a coincidence that the man responsible for global growth on both the football and business side for CFG will be attending matches at the two newest stadiums in MLS. But I also wonder if there are commercial and football reasons he is here.
 
Don’t be a homer. The replay of Taty playing the ball with his arm was definitive.

The ref let a lot go. If anything, the ref should have carded Tinny for simulation on that fall to the ground that he held his head and then said it wasn’t a blow to the head to keep from going off. Could have also carded Taty early in the game for taking a dive.
I thought he got hit in the jaw and was complaining that the jaw wasn't the head so it wasn't a concussion risk.
 
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Wait... MLSSoccer says we played a 3-4-3. Is that true? Or did it look more like a 5-2-3? I didn't watch the game.
I was listening to the first half on the radio and the radio guy who isn't Glenn Crooks was saying that they seemed to switch defensive formations 2-3 times in the first 15 minutes. I'm sure he was right because he sounded English.

He was actually quite insightful: before the game started he called out the left side of the defense as a potential liability.
 
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I thought he got hit in the jaw and was complaining that the jaw wasn't the head so it wasn't a concussion risk.
Above the neck is the head and he went down. Not sure what grounds he thought he had to argue it.