Ronald Matarrita [Defender]
- Thread starter Falastur
- Start date
Hes a good guy. Always has been. Just makes some bonehead decisions on defense.
You could really see the emotion on his face in that postgame photo. Great shot. It's so cool how soccer players and fans get attached to each other. Feel like we don't see it in other sports the way we see it in soccer, especially players getting attached to the fans.
I honestly felt some sadness seeing him in an opposing jersey. He was also very gracious to fans. I've heard a lot of stories about people seeing him in public and he's always happy to say hello and take a photo. He makes mistakes in games that he shouldn't be making for a player going into his prime, but as a person, he's a good guy. Drove me nuts with his defensive lapses but I never disliked him. Kinda seemed like he was sad playing against us too. His usual level of aggressive effort just wasn't there.
I remember the story of after the Toronto playoff loss, he came out and was very emotional, apologizing to the fans. Which, listen he has nothing to apologize for. Definitely one of those guys who is easy to root for, even when he's responsible for bad results.
Mata just got smoked by Miami for the go-ahead goal (edited—winning goal). Caught upfield and half assed it, just minutes after he had run down Morgan from behind. Sure he had an assist for the first goal, but then he gives it right back). I really don’t miss that. Our LB situation is better this year.
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is it? Gudi has been toasted many times already. we just have the CB's to cover for him and mata doesn't.
First match yes but not since, and even then he hasn’t singlehandedly coughed up a match leading to a loss of points the way Mata did repeatedly over the years. And the combination of Malte Gudi and Gloster costs the same as Mata. That’s an upgrade.
P.S. arguably Mata had better cover (Ring and Yangel) over the years than Gudi has now.
Mata has no cover now. He did lag that play, but Hagglund, Cameron, and even Acosta were responsible for a total defensive breakdown on ther last goal, and all of them also including RM for several breakdowns before that.
No it's been way more than the first match. Last two matches it was very evident. If Raun didn't go off with an injury, we would have lost against Orlando. Gudi has looked like he has been driving 45 in a 55 all season.
Mata scored a great goal yesterday. His team also lost. Something I’ve noticed with players in this league is they really love to showcase themselves. Found this tweet a bit odd considering his team lost.
hey everyone, sorry we lost, you deserve more but check out this banger. Also shared a video of him just tracking back. Strange.
hey everyone, sorry we lost, you deserve more but check out this banger. Also shared a video of him just tracking back. Strange.
His apologies are always sincere. And far too frequent. Contento por tener Gudi and Malte en vez de Mata.
damn. the guy cannot catch a break with injuries. sucks. he just scored last weekend too. hopefully costa rica can go to the world cup and he is fully recovered and ready to go this time. last time, he got injured right before and couldn't go. really rooting for him. he's such a nice dude but cursed with the injury bug...
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Especially if we stick the the back 3 and we can utilize him as a lwb
ONLY if we stick the the back 3 and we can utilize him as a lwb. But even so…
He looks good going forward but he is a demonstratedly terrible defender who made persistent defensive errors here (reminder: he couldn’t even beat out Ben Sweat for large swaths of his time here) and was a pillar of some of the worst defenses of the modern MLS era at FCC.
FWIW we could probably use an upgrade at both FB positions but even if you overlook his defensive liabilities, Mata is not enough of an upgrade over O’Toole/Malte to justify a move for him. And he is injury prone.
Good guy. Probably a good locker room guy.
But hard pass.
