We looked much better. Still lost at times. Especially in the midfield. Our buildup is slow and our forwards are getting the ball with their backs to goal. Later in the game when Talles was able to run with the ball we looked much better.
MLS - October 20 - Atlanta (Away)
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
He also said that he feels like he has a responsibility to get the players playing better.
And no, the context did not make is seem more sensical.
That back to the goal crap… over and over… is this what Ronny is setting up in practice. When is the last time Taty had a good look facing goal just outside the 16. He has a cannon that seems underutilized. Happy his aerial game seems better this year. I don’t understand why it seems they are always trying to cram the ball into tight spaces. Hell look at what Gudi can do from a distance.
That was a huge point, and massive to get that goal after 509 minutes. Now we can go into the next two home games with some confidence. It's a six-pointer against DC on the weekend, then a game against a Chicago team already eliminated, followed by a game at a Miami team that will likely be already eliminated by the time we play them.
Frankly, 7 out of the next 9 points is the absolute bare minimum. Have to win these two home games, then at least get a tie against Miami, and we should be securely in the playoffs before Decision Day.
We still didn't look as good as we should, but at least we broke the seal. Hopefully that allows us to play with some confidence on Saturday.
Frankly, 7 out of the next 9 points is the absolute bare minimum. Have to win these two home games, then at least get a tie against Miami, and we should be securely in the playoffs before Decision Day.
We still didn't look as good as we should, but at least we broke the seal. Hopefully that allows us to play with some confidence on Saturday.
To his credit, that was a pretty awesome free kick goal from Thor
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IMO, the biggest contributors to our recent slide are Maxi's regression and inability to control the midfield, the lack of a healthy center forward to play with Taty, and RD's inability to successfully manage the flawed roster we have. I love Maxi, and he has had a terrific run for us, but he smothers our ability to control the midfield. This has doomed us. It's like watching what Pirlo did to us before he finally was sat down. RD needs to bench Maxi, move Sands up further, and figure out how to take advantage of the best of the raw Gedion and Santi along with Parks. It won't happen but it should. The FO fucked us with their ignore the 9 approach (particularly given that there was no way Heber could contribute), so the staff should have been working on turning Magno into a more direct striker. Maybe he showed a glimpse of that last night. Run with it. And an offensively starved team should not be playing without Gudi's left foot as we saw in 3 minutes last night. He should be a 90 minute player when we can't score. There is obviously a confidence component to this, but much more of it is roster and coaching flaws.
Last year everyone was on Gudi's case for not being good and this year that opinion has shifted. I bet you that of the young players we signed this season, at least one or two will have the same effect next season.
Anyway, I think we make the playoffs. If we win all of our remaining home games we're through. Even, as mentioned above, win two home games and tie at miami and we're almost 100% through (no team has been 8th place with 48 points, 46 however....)
Anyway, I think we make the playoffs. If we win all of our remaining home games we're through. Even, as mentioned above, win two home games and tie at miami and we're almost 100% through (no team has been 8th place with 48 points, 46 however....)
And 0 wingers have stepped up whatsoever during this slide. Medina, Tajouri-Shradi, Thiago, Talles, Jasson, and even Santi have all been subpar there since August.
I think I'm going to put something better out there on twitter later today, but since August, those 6 have a combined -3.17 in Goals Added since August 1st and none of them are better than -0.32.
That on top of Maxi's -1.09 since August 1st and you can see the lack of goals scored.
One point in Pirlo's favor is how he took his benching his last year here, including not playing in his last game. For all we know he even told Vieira to go ahead and do it. In contrast, Maxi kept taking penalties long after he should have quietly stepped aside. I don't have much hope anything happens here. Ultimately, it's Deila's decision and responsibility. Even if Maxi kicks and screams the coach needs to do this. But Maxi could also be quietly helpful, and based on the PK history, I don't think it's in him. I don't necessarily think it's selfishness either. I think he just always thought he was about to start making the PKs and he probably can't see how he's regressed on the field. Someone needs to tell him, and in the end that Ronny's job..
team looked more alive when santi came in. Talles used his size to at least go forward and try to force the issue, he didnt really win any one on ones but i guess he at least drew the foul that led to the goal.
Ronny just got desperate and threw all forward options in there and hope something stuck. i think zelalem actually had some good passes here and there. i dont know though if hes a 10 or more of an 8. well see. looks like he has some vision for passes.
Ronny just got desperate and threw all forward options in there and hope something stuck. i think zelalem actually had some good passes here and there. i dont know though if hes a 10 or more of an 8. well see. looks like he has some vision for passes.
I had some issues early on, seems like Hulu/ESPN+ catch on to overused IPs (locations). Try swapping it for a different location, I ended up being able to VPN through using Washington DC.
Obviously this doesn't help you now, but when the VPN doesn't work it's usually because they found too many people using the same IP.
As somebody already said, I think our poorest area has been wingers. Thiago is limited, Talles is not a winger, and neither are Medina or Santi. Which leaves Isi, who is frustrating because he has a rocket left foot, tends to strike the ball really well, and always looks like he could be so much better, but it's been 3 years and he's never gotten there. If Santi is our 10 he'll be much different than Maxi. For good or ill Maxi is a metronome kind of 10, deliberate and precise when he's good and just slow and unaggressive when he's bad. He rarely tries to dribble too much, and most of his dribbles are defensive (rotating on his own axis trying to relieve pressure while looking for a pass). Maxi limits risks. Santi looks like a much more vertical player, and IMHO he hasn't dribbled through many people yet, but not for lack of trying. I am not exactly in love with him, and I don't think he's the kind of player you build your team around. Also, we don't have the personnel to shield that kind of 10, because Sands doesn't always play 6 and he has great anticipation and positioning but he's not super athletic, which means he's great at putting out predictable, patterned fires, but he's not great at jumping into emergencies. And all our other DMs are sloooow.
Zelalem has looked great in limited minutes, and I love the fact that he's an 81K player who tries to play a between-the-lines pass every single time. He thinks he should be at 810K, and maybe he'll get there. Maybe he can team up with Parks and one of the them higher up the pitch can do some of the things Maxi did for us. I dunno.
I was one of Gudi's biggest critics. I mean, how could you not be when this guy was brought in to replace Mata? That was a pretty big downgrade and we were still getting some terrible defensive lapses.
Fast forward a bit, and it was revealed in an interview that he had never played left back before. That puts his lack of defensive instincts into perspective.
Toward the middle of this season, you could see that he has been working on his position and is slightly better than he was last year when he looked completely lost. He's still super slow and his defensive positioning still needs more work, but that comes with experience. At least he is fairly good on the attack and is a threat on free kicks. Furthermore, he's basically all we got since Ronny buried gloster and we have no idea if he could give us more on that left side or not. Amundsen continues to disappoint.
I also criticised Gudi a lot, and he is a defensive liability, and he cannot get to a long ball on the attacking half to save his life. But he has talent, and his crosses are among the best in MLS, and those are 2 valuable qualities. His decision making is also usually good. If he were athletic he would be a fantastic player.
I noticed the pick-up in energy after the Santi sub as well. Maybe the team is as sick of Medina as we are, it was like he came off and the entire squad thought, let's go we actually have a chance now. I agree Zelalem really helped unlock some stuff with his passing, in his limited min for us over the last 2 years it almost feels like he's best used as a holding mid sitting deep as a playmaker. He's not a physical presence but he seems to have the ability to steal the ball with well-timed tackles despite his size.
Agree with this. He was a downgrade due to his lack of XP and speed when we were used to Mata flying up and down the flanks. Part of our beautiful play under Dome was Mata's essential wingback role, which Gudi obviously cannot do due to lack of speed. However, he does seem more comfortable now when compared to last year, and has at least given us consistent performances. The explosion of his left boot mimicking Mjolnir is a welcome addition too, so he has definitely stepped up into his role.
Amundsen has given us consistently bad performances, but I think it is always tough to judge a player based on their first year. At the same time, most p[layers have shown glimpses of positive play such as good runs or passes, but I honestly haven't seen much from Amundsen aside from having some speed. Malte gets caught in bad positions and is often caught up the pitch. I remember a previous loss where the opposing team essentially put all their attacks down his side, as he was incapable of stopping them.
