Red Bulls (U.S. Open Cup) - Postmatch
- Thread starter ZYanksRule
- Start date
Getting on here and wading through all the criticism (which I'm not disputing) as I really wasn't able to watch the game last night. Two points and a couple questions:
- It's really disappointing that Hountondji had to leave so early. Still don't have a pulse yet on his talents. I still don't think it's fair to say he's been a bust of a signing, mostly because injury lead to Ibeagha playing over him and then Ibeagha's play has lead to Ibeagha continuing to be over him (which I completely understand)
- It's really disappointing that we weren't able to better assess several players (Lewis, Sands, and I'll argue a bit for Medina though I didn't watch the game closely). When there is no quality from the attacking mid, our system goes to complete shit. The wings (I'm assuming), weren't able to get proper service like they might from Maxi being there. IMO, the incorrect international spot was used on Ofori. Bring in Berget instead and play him on the wing. Move Medina to the #10 and have Sands and Awuah behind him. A midfield of Awuah (who has barely played any minutes), Ofori, and TMac (no explanation needed here), is obviously not going to work. And its going to have a huge effect on the extremities of the formation as well.
- Question: I've seen mention of Sands' pass, but not much more mention on how some guys looked. How did Sands and Scally look? I know they came on in the second half, but any thoughts?
- How did Chanot look? Obviously we gave up 4 goals, so that's not good, was he at fault (mostly or partially?). I'm really curious as to what's going on with him and if we should have him back in the XI over Ibeagha.
I'd venture that Atlanta is #1 and LAFC is #1A only because they haven't finished a full season yet, but LAFC has done everything right so far.
1. Atlanta - they've set the standard on how to operate from academy to scouting to player acquisition.
1A. LAFC - They've done everything right in their short life cycle, but Atlanta is in front because they've had more time to build on it.
2. [NOBODY]
3. FC Cincy - they're blowing the attendance numbers up and their fan base love them (I have friends that go every week) - and for a group that was considered the back of the expansion list of 4, they muscled their way in ahead of schedule and have a stadium going.
4. NYCFC - considering their ambition and monumental screwups (Kreis, Lampard, Pirlo, See my post above for others), their portfolio of work does not live up to their stated ambition or resources.
4A. Minnesota - I'd like to rank them higher because their ownership has been truthful with them that they're going slowly and will open things up with the delivery of the stadium. Honesty still has a place.
5. Orlando - just a dumpster fire......
You are right that its 100% CFGs fault we don't have a USL side but I understand the reasoning. CFG doesn't want to have a piece of crap throwaway team at any level. It makes the most sense to have a USL side when the team can mostly be filled with Academy grads to snag the Ibeagha types or if we get lucky the Dwyer types. We aren't there yet. The USL team has to be part of the usage for a new stadium but if we don't need the stadium for a USL team/Women's team the narrative for the new stadium is not as compelling.
The philosophy made more sense in 2016 than it does today. We have 5-6 guys who need minutes and are getting none. We wont ever win the USOC without a home stadium (USL will do) and guys who can compete and win in the 4th and 5th rounds who we don't need to beat Atlanta.
Based on how the Paraguayan national team has always played, I find it hard to believe they would be less physical than anybody. They are renowned as a very physical and warrior-like team, and their stadium is one of the most feared places in South America based on the intensity of fans and players. So I would assume their domestic league is very physical. Never watched it though.
i got to wait until year two for cincy.....i remember reading tickets are dirt cheap, especially if you are U of cincy student in MLS it may not even be that way.
NT team play is different than league play i think...but i dont watch paraguay league....maybe ill have to find highlights of his games in libertad....but its no in the argentina/ uruguay level of "garra" i think
It was painfully obvious that players were choosing not to pass to him - I don’t think they trust him at this point.
There was a play last night that really summed it up - can’t remember who made the pass, but it was he and TMac vs one RB along the left sideline, and the player led TMac perfectly and TMac never moved, didn’t anticipate the pass, and if he had there was an acre of space to run down with nobody able to stop him since the one RB player was evenly spaced between them & in no-man’s land with his back to where the ball went. TMac just stood there and watched it run over the sideline. That summed up his night right there.
They successfully leveraged the passion of a city with 2 major league teams to get another. Good for them. Nothing in that means they won't build an MLS team like Minnesota (can't spend too much at once) or Orlando, just incapable. Both of those teams have great stadiums, good attendance, and passionate fan bases. OTOH, Cincy could end up developing their team like Atlanta, but it's not even an educated guess at this point to make a prediction. I can't even put them ahead of NYC if you're just measuring attendance because of the somewhat counterintuitive reality that it's easier to do that in a metro area of $2 million and 2 teams than in a 10+mm metro area with 10 other major league teams. But then I almost even put an asterisk next to LAFC as incomplete.
Just silly drama
Good strikers are selfish
He sees a rebound off the keeper on Lewis’ shot and he’s in on goal alone. If he takes a second to pick up his head and make the pass Ndam closes it off
Attachments
Orlando doesn’t because they’ve screwed up in so many other ways that the cache of the stadium is nullified.
I almost ranked Minnesota ahead of us. Their ownership’s frankness and honestly goes a long way.
Yeah, this is way overblown. This is one of the plays I did watch last night. Maybe 1 out of 100 strikers in this league looks to pass off that rebound. Sure, from that angle we can clearly see TMac being open, but that isn't seen as easy from the striker's POV. That wasn't attempting to "cheapen" Meara.
It's pretty clear this is just an issue of something being lost in translation. It's pretty obvious English is not a first language for the speaker of that quote. I wouldn't read too much into it.
Oh dear. The recap link for last night’s game gets you the story on the other 4-0 loss to Red Bull.
https://www.nycfc.com/schedule
https://www.nycfc.com/schedule
I wouldn't be surprised if he meant or said "chip".
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