Plus, Chanot played very little last season, so it's not as if the defensive numbers from that year reflect on his ability.
On ETR, David Gass says he won't call us MLS cup contenders yet because of our CBs.
That's absolute insanity on multiple fronts.
1) the season is halfway over, and our record is 3rd best in the league.
2) we've not dropped a single point with Ring and Herrera in midfield
3) Our CBs are nails in defense.
4) Callens has reduced his mistakes on the ball to the point where I can't recall the last one.
5) does that mean he thinks Chicago and Toronto have better CBs? Because if so, I can't take him seriously anymore. Only SKC has a better pair for me, but I think Chanot and Callens have as high or higher ceiling than Besler/Opara.
My dual zone wine fridge nods its head in agreementNo I just love wine and spend way to much time and income on it.
Oh shit. Dont give me a seat on Mike's bus. We've been down that road.Great minds?
I generally enjoy ETR. Sometimes they say things that I don't agree with and sometimes they are hyping a storyline because that's what the media (and particularly league-owned media) does.On ETR, David Gass says he won't call us MLS cup contenders yet because of our CBs.
That's absolute insanity on multiple fronts.
1) the season is halfway over, and our record is 3rd best in the league.
2) we've not dropped a single point with Ring and Herrera in midfield
3) Our CBs are nails in defense.
4) Callens has reduced his mistakes on the ball to the point where I can't recall the last one.
5) does that mean he thinks Chicago and Toronto have better CBs? Because if so, I can't take him seriously anymore. Only SKC has a better pair for me, but I think Chanot and Callens have as high or higher ceiling than Besler/Opara.
Callens' score likely comes down because he plays a LOT of passes out of the back. Some connect, and some don't. Those hurt his score for non-defense situations.And in reply to this, even if you only look at the stats.
Chanot is the top rated defender per the Audi index, and is the only defender in the top 10 (he's at #9, next is Chad Marshall at #14).
Alex Callens comes in at #99 overall, the #32 defender on the list (includes both CBs and fullbacks). This is good for the 8th best 2nd CB.
That D.C. Match was a recipe for disaster. Brillant as Right Back was the voodoo and the writing was added to the wall with Pirlo being subbed out for Hererra after the winning goal was scored (along with next game that was a win followed by the bad loss to Orlando that saw Pirlo subbed out for good - except for the RSL rotation fckup)On the other hand, here is Doyle giving us some love:
"NYCFC are closest, in my estimation. They go out there every week and do their thing, and it's pretty tough to shake them out of their mindset/approach. RBNY killed them by pressing them last year, and Toronto FC did the same in the playoffs, but you just can't put them in the blender like that this year. Mistakes will still be made, of course. But I've not seen a game this season in which I thought NYCFC were the second-best team save for the 3-1 loss to Atlanta in which they were missing both Alex Ring and Yangel Herrera."
He's wrong in that Ring did play against Atlanta, but that aside, the biggest thing for me this year is that we can play in any match and generally are the "better" team. Doesn't always translate to three points, but that is why this team is leaps and bounds better than last year even if the end of season point total and/or standings finish is in the same zip code.
There are probably two other matches where I think we were second-best if we are being fair. The first was the awful loss at DC early in April, a performance that looks even more disappointing given how bad DC is. I also think that Dallas probably bested us in the 1-1 draw there. We were good enough to not feel bad about nicking a point, but I think it is hard to say we were the better team.
Even so, that is only 3 out of 17 matches, all on the road. If performances are a better indicator of future results than past results are, and 30 points at the mid-point is pretty darn good, its hard not to be incredibly optimistic.
And even that is being harsh. Feels good, man.It's crazy anyone who watches us on a regular basis knows it's the Fullbacks not the centerbacks that are our one Achilles Heel this season.
If you give young POTY to Acosta, it's incongruous to not give newcomer to Ring. The reverse also works, i.e.,if you're valuing attacking prowess, as represented by choosing Vasquez as newcomer, then BAJ is the obvious YPOTY.http://m.goal.com/s/en/news/14202/mls/2017/06/28/36695612/david-villa-headlines-goals-midseason-mls-awards?utm_referrer=https://www.google.com/
Villa, Chanot, Harrison and Ring all getting some love
Lengthy criticism of NYCFC's media relations linked below. I don't have any insight to the reporter's angle, but if our coverage in paid media lacks anything for me, it's insightful tactical analysis, not more player quotes
https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/commen...up_with_nycfcs_comms/?st=j4oa4e2r&sh=461f91e9