Gyasi Zardes and Baggio Husidic each netted a goal and two assists as LA Galaxy brushed off Philadelphia Union 5-1 in front of 23,875 at the StubHub Center Saturday night.
Husidic and Juninho tallied in the first half, and then Zardes, CJ Sapong and Stefan Ishizaki all scored in a three-minute stretch. Sebastian Lletget got on the board for the third straight match six minutes later to round out the scoring in the 65th minute.
Philadelphia will begin the week in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, with Seattle and Montreal on their way to PPL Park in the next seven days.
First half
In setting his lineup, Union manager Jim Curtin moved Sheanon Williams to the left and restored Ray Gaddis at right back. Maurice Edu and Richie Marquez continued in front of Brian Sylvestre. The triumvirate of Brian Carroll, Vincent Nogueira, and Cristian Maidana started in the center of midfield with Andrew Wenger on the left and Zach Pfeffer stationed right. C.J. Sapong was the lone striker, with Maidana joining in a 4-4-2 shape defensively.
The Union were by far the better side at the start of the match. Sapong turned AJ DeLaGarza in the 6th minute, with the defender earning a deserved yellow card. Maurice Edu put the free kick into the wall from 22 yards out.
In the 8th minute, Gaddis shook off Husidic and found Pfeffer streaking into the box. The midfielder juked and had his deflected shot pushed wide by Jaime Penedo.
Four minutes later, Edu was surprised when a Maidana corner kick squirted through to his central run. The Union captain deflected his free header over the bar from five yards out.
Prior to the 23rd minute, the Galaxy’s only attempt on goal was an off-balance shot from Robbie Keane that drifted well wide. But an Ishizaki long ball gave Richie Marquez trouble. Though the Union defender held off Zardes well, he couldn’t handle the bouncing ball and his header created havoc that allowed Zardes a free shot that hit the left post. Husidic gathered the rebound and drilled it past Sylvestre to open the scoring.
In the 27th minute, Pfeffer’s poor pass from deep in his own half allowed Zardes to charge into the box with space. Edu closed down the striker, but it took a fine save from Sylvestre to keep the match tight.
Zardes and Keane grew mightily in influence after the opening tally. Meanwhile, Andrew Wenger continued to struggle, with a fine move to open space turning into a pass through the box to no one.
With ten minutes left in the half, another bad pass led to Los Angeles’ second goal. Ray Gaddis was picked off near the center circle, and Zardes peeled into the space Gaddis left behind. Edu was slow to close down the LA front man, and Zardes easily picked out Juninho alone near the penalty spot. The finish was a simple one.
In the 44th minute, Nogueira was dispossessed in midfield, and Ishizaki broke with Zardes and Keane. The pass wide right was played perfectly by Marquez, and Carroll held off Zardes to earn a foul and kill the counterattack.
Philly almost went down three before the half when Sheanon Williams defended a long ball perfectly, then fed his outlet to the wrong team. Ishizaki’s cross was cleared well to keep the score close.
Second half
In the 49th minute, Edu was whistled for pulling on Zardes on the edge of the box. Replays showed the Union captain hauling back the striker inside the area, but the first foul was given.
Eight minutes into the half, Wenger continued to operate as a living metaphor for the season by taking apart his defender then laying a soft cross in to the Galaxy’s Mika Vayrynen. Three minutes later, the match was out of hand.
Recovering the ball in midfield, Zardes sliced an outlet to Keane up the left wing. The Irishman drove at Marquez before unleashing a hard, low cross into the box that split Brian Carroll and Vincent Nogueira. The finish for Zardes, like Juninho and Husidic before him, was simple.
Vayrynen left the match in the 57th minute due to injury, and Sebastian Lletget came on to operate in front of Juninho.
A minute later, the Union had a goal back through Sapong. Wenger drove hard up the left, cut inside and hit Sapong in the box. The striker turned and slammed the ball past Penedo with an easy swing of his right foot.
Less than sixty seconds after pulling one back, the Union gave another away. Omar Gonzalez used a Marquez stepladder to sky at the back post and head across to Ishizaki who lashed home a volley from twelve yards out.
Two minutes after that, Keane turned Marquez and tried a looping shot from distance that squirmed wide of Sylvestre’s goal.
In the 65th minute, a Husidic-led counter flowed through Zardes. A fine pass to a late-arriving Lletget resulted in another simple finish that simply twisted the knife into Philly’s long-dead hopes of leaving with any points.
Fred and Fabinho entered for Nogueira and Wenger in the 66th minute, and Ethan White replaced Brian Carroll six minutes later.
Ray Gaddis created a good chance in the 76th when he put Robbie Rogers on skates and sent in a low cross to the near post. Pfeffer could only try to redirect and no other player was in motion.
In the 82nd minute, Keane shook off White and cut to his left foot in the box. The Union defender appeared to grab the LA captain, but it wasn’t called and White made a good recovery to block Keane’s shot.
The match slowly fizzled out as LA killed the tempo and the Union accepted their fate.
The Union face a depleted Seattle side Wednesday night at PPL Park at 7 pm.
Philadelphia Union
Brian Sylvestre, Ray Gaddis, Maurice Edu, Richie Marquez, Sheanon Williams, Andrew Wenger (Fabinho, 66′) Brian Carroll (Ethan White, 72′), Cristian Maidana, Vincent Nogueira (Fred, 66′), Zach Pfeffer, CJ Sapong
Unused Substitutions: John McCarthy
Los Angeles Galaxy
Jaime Penedo, Dan Gargan, Omar Gonzalez, Robbie Rogers, Baggio Husidic, Juninho (Jose Villarreal, 68′), Mika Vayrynen (Sebastian Lletget, 57′), Stefan Ishizaki, Gyasi Zardes (Alan Gordon, 71′), Robbie Keane
Unused substitutions: Brian Rowe, Tommy Meyer, Ignacio Maganto, Kenney Walker
Scoring Summary
LA: Baggio Husidic — 23
LA: Juninho (Zardes, Husidic) — 35
LA: Gyasi Zardes (Keane) — 56
PHI: CJ Sapong (Wenger) — 58
LA: Stefan Ishizaki (Gonzalez, Juninho) — 59
LA: Sebastian Lletget (Zardes, Husidic) — 65
Disciplinary Summary
LA: AJ DeLaGarza (foul) — 6
PHI: Fred (foul) — 88
| LA Galaxy | Philadelphia Union | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Shots | 14 |
| 8 | Shots on Target | 5 |
| 7 | Shots off Target | 8 |
| 5 | Blocked Shots | 1 |
| 3 | Corner Kicks | 7 |
| 14 | Crosses | 13 |
| 3 | Offsides | 0 |
| 11 | Fouls | 13 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 409 | Total Passes | 431 |
| 83% | Passing Accuracy | 81% |
| 49.1% | Possession | 50.9% |
| 44 | Duels Won | 48 |
| 47.8% | Duels Won % | 52.2% |
| 12 | Tackles Won | 19 |
| 4 | Saves | 3 |
| 25 | Clearances | 12 |
Watched the debacle to the gruesome end. So much for the hopes that this team would start the 2nd half of season well. Losing is one thing but this…..
.
Besides the starting lineup one need look no further than the substitutes for each team to lighlight the difference between Class and Glass. We had Fred. We had a whole lot of money in the paycheck for an Algerian goalkeeper somewhere in the northern hemisphere but certainly not LA. Yes, a mid market team with small resources paying someone not even on the team anymore. This is god. This is wise.
.
Dear Union, please stop pulling the football away. Good Grief.
sorry for typos.
I think Wenger heard me, when I yelled, “What the hell are you doing, Wenger?? You belong on the bench!” I’m not kidding.
While the Union are a disgrace, my brother and I had 3 sections obsessed with us. I think we actually made the game more fun for those pathetic LA fans.
While it doesn’t excuse the garbage play after minute 15, I think the ref and ARs were atrocious. It was 14 v 11.
The only redeeming point for me was after the game, when Curtin came walking over directly to where we were. I think he was looking for someone he knew, but I took the opportunity to say, “what the hell, Curtin?? That was painful!”
He just looked at me and waved. lol.
Here’s the thing: everyone with the exceptions of Marquez and Sapong were ATROCIOUS! I’ve seen all of them play better, and it seems like nobody gave a crap.
Fire everyone. Burn the stadium down. Move the franchise to a St Louis. Start all over.
Totally reasonable. Lets get started on that tomorrow.
No less reasonable than do nothing, what is what ownership will do.
Queue Denny Green:
.
“They are who we thought they were!”
.
Not sure if I want to even buy tickets to the US Open cup right now. How else to we protest this team but by not buying tickets?
.
This team has a roster that is 60% full of not ready for prime time players.
Wow. Devastating loss. I wasn’t expecting a result on the road in L.A. but geeez we were totally dismantled. And alarmingly, despite our injuries one could argue that our best eleven was on the field to start the game. We were like a vw beatle getting crushed on the tracks by a freight train at full stride!
¥
JC’s choice of subs though was perplexing. Down four goals we bring in the dynamic offensive trio of Fred, Fabinho, and Ethan White? What the F’ing F Jimbo? Shouldn’t we have used the last 35 (not meaningless because they are MLS) minutes learning if other young guys can bloom like Marquez has (despite his rough outing last night.) With our limited resources we should use every opportunity to uncover diamonds in the rough.
My guess is he was considering the 12 games in 11 days – though, regarding the subs in generally, please see my comment above.
.
Fabhino should have been starting there instead of Wenger.
He was clearly (and appropriately) giving up on the match and resting some starters for the Seattle game. And it was clearly the right move.
I don’t think so. HE was still trying to win the game by moving Edu up to midfield. He should have given Jimmy McLaughlin garbage minutes.
I don’t think he was trying to win it at all at that point. He moved Mo up to get Ethan White some mins. The players knew it was over after the first goal. You could see it. They gave in, lost confidence. And the game ran away from them. Edu made far ranging runs all match. For NO good reason. At least one directly resulting in a goal.
.
The game was just a showcase of the disparity between the top of the league and the lowly Union. It’s a disgrace really. No depth. Barely any talent. No heart. WSSM.
The really scary thing: yes, the Galaxy won the Cup last year, but came into the game at 5-5-7 and a -3 goal diff. So this was a showcase of the disparity between the middle of the league and the lowly Union.
No depth. No clear cut first XI starters. No takers for the biggest drain on your payroll. Your second most expensive player is stuck playing out of position…
This is all because of a lack of management. Not coaching, not effort.
I know I sound like a broken record, but this is the fault of the Front Office. There are some quality players on this roster. In NASL we’d probably be competitive, maybe mid table, hot on the Cosmos’ heels? But this simply is not a team that can hang in the MLS week in and week out on it;’s best day, let alone when it’s dealing with injury and suspension– it just doesn’t have the personnel, and no matter how hard this side fights, it doesn’t change the fact that they are outgunned and outmanned every match they play. A few wins here and there will not change that, it only provides temporary relief from the cancer.
There need to be protests with banners that read PHILLY FANS WANT A REAL FRONT OFFICE.
At every match.
EV.
RY.
MATCH.
Support the players all you want, but until there is real management, this horsesh*t won’t stop. Philly will not get an MLS intervention a la LA, New England, Toronto, or Seattle. Their front office needs to clean this mess up, but in order to do that we need a real front office.
Yes the front office is horrible but the fact that Curtin starts fabinho in the last match, where fabinho really played one of his best games, and against L.A. he sits bench??….Furthermore he finally brings up hoppenot, who in my eyes should be starting or at the least the first offensive sub to a match. But last night he subs in Fred???? who nearly decapitates Keane’s legs….players go through slumps and also go through periods of really good play..once a player is at that stage you have to start these players…front office decisions don’t give curtin much to work with, but it’s mls and the bottom feeder teams can handle the top clubs on any night…Curtin is not using what he has to its fullest potential and that is why he needs to go …..sapong st, arristegueta st, maidana cam, nogueira cdm, wenger lwm, ayuk rwm, fabinho lb, edu cb, marquez cb, gaddis rb, sylvestre gk
Wow I’m glad I didn’t stay up and now I’m considering not watching it off my dvr
Watch if you need a tear-jerker.
This is what happens when four days earlier and three time zones away you have to play 120 minutes and then go to PKs against the Rochester Rhinos …
The Rhinos proved to be an equal competitor to the Union. The Galaxy on the other hand…
So much for being a winnable game. I was actually hoping it would get worse because if they lost 8-0 or something like that, maybe someone upstairs would realize something is wrong with the team.
Union should rest their starters for the next two home losses and try and keep some fresh legs to be DC in the open cup like they did last time DC came to town. No way that team is beating even a depleted Seattle or a hot Montreal. As soon as Chicago wins one of their games in hand, the Union will be facing last place for the rest of the season.
That game had Rene Meulensteen’s name all over it…!!!
Explain please.
Please explain how this is Meulensteens????
He’s not even with the club is he??
We are sooooo bad. Even the Rapids would beat us, and I thought they were the worst team, until the real Union resurfaced
Hard to get even worked up over a performance/result like this. The die has been cast for awhile with this team, but the question is will things change moving forward or are we doomed to repeating the mistakes that we’ve made in the past?
–
Looking forward to this week’s ratings. Lots of material to analyze.
I gave up at half time. It was pretty clear where the game was going.
Sakiewicz is still here? Then we’ll be repeating the mistakes that we’ve made in the past.
One minor positive from the game. Nogueira is no longer in immediate yellow card jeopardy. Of course if he doesn’t play better than he did last night, it might not be bad for him to sit a game.
Nogs had a tough night last night. Not his his best work.
For as much as the Union suck I personally feel the Phillies suck more so I guess that’s a bright spot lol!!!
I was going to say don’t forget the sixers, but somehow the team everyone accuses of tanking didn’t have the worst record in the league. Union and Phillies are without a doubt the worst teams in each league. That’s quite a trio we’ve got there. Has anyone seen Ruben Amaro jr. And Nick Sakiewicz in the same room?
And whether you agree with it or not, the Sixers have a plan – develop youth and find a superstar.
If someone can explain the Union’s (or Phillies’) plan, you’ll win the grand prize.
Basketball is probably the only sport I don’t watch but I’m surprised to see the level of patience Sixers fans have shown their plan- even a couple of years in with not much on-court success to show for it. I’d imagine the Union’s plan goes something like:
1. Squeeze enough money out of team every year for an acceptable profit.
2. See #1
-END OF PLAN-
The Sixers have been bad for so damn long, minus a few years with Iverson. So if someone is offering a decent idea, we’ll take it. Just so we’re not crP anymore (or worse…average).
I think Sixers fans need to see progress this coming season. I know I do. They don’t need to win a lot – they can finish just out of the playoffs, or just barely squeak into the 8th spot. But they need to be more than two young guys and a bunch of D-League players.
Everyone sucked. That was an embarrassment to mammals. Let alone humanity, the city of Philadelphia, and the game of soccer.
How’s that GM search going Sak?
This. Everyday this post needs to be posted and someone needs to call the Union for a comment from the organization on the status of hiring a director of soccer operations.
–
The good news is the club will get some cap relief once our World Cup GK is moved. The bad news is the current people in charge will be the ones signing players with it.
You’re assuming this franchise is competent enough to complete the transaction. No one wants to think about it, but there is the very real possibility that we either can’t move him, or we have to most of his salary in order to move him.
Let’s wait until a deal actually happens, but this FO has given me no reason to be optimistic that it will go well.
Not moving him would be a more epic failure than the original signing. I’m not counting on a transfer windfall but rather that he is sold somewhere. That clears a roster, international, and DP spot plus takes him off the MLS books. That is all I expect from his transfer. That, and the fee of two corner flags.
I want to know who would want him? Why would a team want him? And please don’t let the Union spend his money and DP status on Wilson Palacios. A 30 yr. old D-mid for high DP money is not what the Union need. They already have one.
No upside! The absolute worst franchise in MLS! A dog and pony show from top to bottom. Sugarman and Sakiewicz are a joke! Turned it off after LA’s 5th goal. Found a weird cable station here in NY showing 60’s/70’s Roller Derby. Coincidentally it was the Philadelphia Warriors vs the NY Chiefs at MSG. Even sports entertainment is better than watching what the Union call a professional soccer team. By the way the Warriors beat the Chiefs 52-49. Warrior women captain Judy Arnold out skated and pummeled the Chiefs captain Sandy Dunn. The men where good too. Lil Richard Brown out skated Mike Gammon. This is what it’s come to.
Sell this franchise to a competent and financially competitive ownership!
FREE THIS FRANCHISE!!!
oops! sp: were
Well first, Happy Fathers Day to all the dads. At least we have that going for us. Haha
.
As for whatever that was last night, I wish I could say it was an anomaly and hey every team throws up a stinker now and then, but it’s not. That is who this team is to the core. The Union are just not good. They show flashes of goodness, but when the cards are on the table, they cannot hang with the LA’s, Seattle’s, etc. Shit, they can barely hang with the Rhinos!!
.
We will always be this way as long as Sak & Sug keep cutting corners and not spending the money equal to their fans interest. They have a goldmine waiting for them if they would just spend and hire the right people. You have to spend money to make money… except in MLS. This is what happens when you have single entity. We are a laughing stock on so many levels.
.
I agree with whoever said burn it all down and start again. That might be the only true option.
This is what happens when you have dingle entity. 100%.
.
The Onion have become the poster board for why MLS must become a pro/rel league….maybe not now but in the future.
.
Think about it…our team…. Is not good enough to play top tier football. They absolutely should reap what they have sown.
.
Btw- I left the dingle typo- cause well this club reminds me of a dingle berry.
.
To think I was happy 2 games ago cause I thought clearly they had turned a corner. Must of been the antipsychotics.
.
Dingle entity. Ha! Best typo of the day, maybe even the year!
Oh, but hey, nice goal from Sapong. Heck of a turn and shoot. Seriously. That was good stuff. Everything else… bad… very, very bad.
Funny how good things happen when someone actually turns and shoots rather than looking for a pass to someone who’s not ready to receive it.
Montreal and TFC have righted the ship and are now better than us.
Orlando and NYCFC…better than us.
Atlanta, Minnesota, Miami…about to be better than us.
Unless MLS decides to literally include the Little Sisters of the Poor as a franchise, we will remain as the worst team in the league.
.
Welcome to the league doormat.
.
I want to believe. I want to love the players and the coach. But we are inching closer every day to the “Salt the Earth” plan. Wipe the board clean and start over.
Call Sam Hinkie. He’s very good at it.
Don’t forget LAFC. Wish we could organize to force the sale of this team to an owner who will keep it here and who will honor and appreciate this fan base and not take it for granted. In a perfect world Heckle and Jeckle aka Sugarman and Sakiewicz would be forced out of here by MLS and a new financially competitive ownership would take over. I wouldn’t care if the new owner kicked everyone to the curb. I would like Edu to stay because,in spite of the blinders and personal agendas by some on this site, he is a player a team should be built around.
The only way to force someone to sell is to make life uncomfortable for them. There is no legal reason for them to sell, and the longer they hold on, the more valuable the franchise becomes. With the expansion fees, combined with the new TV deal, they would be stupid to sell now, from a business standpoint.
That is a major reason for our frustration. No matter how pissed we get, there is truly nothing we can do but hope for something better.
This all comes down to The Boycott.
.
Trouble is there are too many people down PPL Way getting all Dooped Up over ultimate failure.
.
You know another word for Dooped….. Duped.
.
Stop going to the games….
That’s excellent Pach- doop=/=dupe. Slowly but surely we’re getting some good slogans for future picketing and protests (#SakOut, WSSM, etc) I’ve been wanting to propose #SugBlight for some time but thought it might be dated.
you underestimate the power of people telling the world you suck, over and over, day after day. followed by the inevitable drop in attendance and local tv ratings, and sponsors fleeing. sugarman sucks as an owner because he does not know what he is doing. sak’s track record as a GM sucks and he is doing nothing to reverse that here. the investors from swarthmore suck because they foisted these guys on us but now are nowhere to be seen.
Donald Sterling was told he sucked for decades. Didn’t effect him very much.
perhaps – but his crappy team made tons of money for him, and he was already much richer than Sugarman. Can the Union owners say the same thing? Assume capital calls still being paid, at least by Sugarman. But I guess the gist of your reply is it won’t matter to them, that they are as crass and craven as Sterling. I am certain they will be happy to be lumped together with him.
This has to come from attendance.
.
The only way to hit them is in season ticket sales and walk up sales.
.
The voice of the people will prevail always does. They would sell….
.
Problem is…as I mentioned above, in the middle of the Chester doldrums a month or so ago, I went down PPL Way and saw 17,000 people…mostly happy and still pleased we have professional soccer here on a balmy saturday evening….
.
…. a happy Doop here a happy Doop there- here a Doop there a Doop everywhere a Doop Doop. How much for this poop?
.
We are a long way away from the fans revolting.
.
Troubling.
.
Don’t blame me for the most part I shunned the family drunk.
You have to look on the bright side, folks. Curtin finally found out that you are allowed to sub people before the 70th minute!
Always look on the bright side of life *whistles*
So…..It’s time for a new front office and a new coach as well. The biggest problem in this match was the central midfield. When LA was on the attack our central mids were not checking back and were lazy with marking up. At least two of those goals happened because of Carroll. One the one goal he let Zardes pass right by him even after looking twice to see that he was there and made sure he was goal side. On another goal where Ishizaki scored, he was left alone wide open to take a shot. All that LA had to do when pushing forward was to look at the top of the 18 for open midfielders or other players to distribute to bc the Unions midfielders were not checking back at all the entire game. Fabinho should have started over Williams. Right now there is no huge difference between the two except that Fabinho has been picking out players when crossing balls in from the flank and he has had more success going forward in the attack then Williams at this time. Williams isnt a fast player either, so if Curtin had Williams in bc of a match up decision it still would not make any sense. Fab. should have started. This team also needs to try a 4-4-2 line up. Although Sapong is one of the best forwards in the league that can play alone up top, The Union need to have someone for Sapong to work off of. I would suggest Fernando or Hopponot or try Catic, remember him? or any forward we have at this point. Hopponot should be at least a sub. in this match. At least! The Fred sub was pointless.
I’ve been wondering how Catic is doing in the USL too. But don’t forget the U had to loan him to Carolina to get Sylvestre because apparently having the “3 best goalkeepers in MLS” wasn’t enough to prevent us from being a league-wide laughingstock. Alas, if only we had signed the 4 best goalkeepers in MLS…
Thanks Mikex. I wasn’t aware that Catic was on loan to get Sylvestre.
According to the Railhawks’ site, he has 4 games played (1 start), 93 minutes played, and no other stats.
Funny how Fabinho, like it or not, has played as well as he ever has for this club only to be relegated…get it get it?….. to the bench.
The Fred sub was ingenious Union5… he played quite well against the 3rd level Rhinos remember…. in truth…
.
…. JC had quit the game by then I think…. The Fred sub was for fresh legs on Wednesday.
.
Either way…. it is all moot…. the fact that our sub was Fred and LA’s sub was the league leader in goals tells you everything… Just like Seattle in Cup Final last season. Nothing changed.
.
.
.
Boy what a nice 2 week break for me…. the cynicism vacation is over…. welcome back… time to get to work.
Yea I understand the sub but again against LA Fred could not do enough to change the game. To be fair, nothing would be enough to come back from that deficit.
Funny, I received an email asking if the Union should start a local USL franchise/affiliate. This has to be an early April Fool joke because the clowns running the Union don’t have a clue. It would be better if a USL team was started by a new entity that could eventually take over the Philly MLS franchise. Of course then I woke up.
I am 100% interested in, and a supporter of, a group of fans approaching Comcast or the owners of the Sixers about starting a USL team in Philly. I see playing at Camden Riversharks as a good home for the team to start (next to the new Sixers Headquarters), and a subway or ferry away for Philly fans and soccer crazed SJ fans. It is ridiculous the state of the Union, and the fact that Garber isn’t publically recruiting new owners is a big fail on his part.
I rue the day when Sak and Sug are gone. We f’d until they go. F’D
There’s only one other team in all of MLS with fewer points. This speaks for itself. What we’re watching is an utter FAILURE of a team…..excuse me…..failure of “so called” team leadership, which is an oxymoron in itself in this town. “Sak-in-hand”, “Sugarboy” and “Curtin-call” …all need to go YESTERDAY! Throw the baby out with the bath water! I don’t care if we lose every remaining game, just get me somebody else. They’ve ALL pissed away opportunity time and time again. Naw, that can’t be it… they can’t even piss straight enough to come within a mile of opportunity. I refuse to watch another game, and for that matter refuse to even log onto their website until I hear that the franchise has been made FREE FROM INEPTITUDE!! Now I need to take a look at who will be “my team”. It sure isn’t the locals. I feel sorry for our players. They deserve better.
Why do we get to play “first division football”… because our owners bought in at the right time?! We are an embarrassment. We literally encompass what is wrong with MLS and football in our country. God damn… I hoped I’d have a model franchise but not like this.
.
BTW – Jordan Speith… 2 for 2… very Tiger like. Impressive.
Dude made double then ripped one down the 18th fairway then piped a 3 wood to 12 feet from 287 purposely cutting it to the backstop just right of the pin…. no fear.
.
His game is WAY impressive and embued with total belief. Total belief. That 2nd shot at 18
.
reminds me of Tiger Wood at Bell Canadian Open in 2000 when he ripped a 6 iron from a fairway bunker 200 yards out all carry over a pond to pin high on 72nd hole. I was slack-jawed.
.
Tough to look The Great One in the eyes after that melt down on 18 for Dustin. You could tell he didn’t believe. Here’s hoping he takes a deep breath and really lets it roll off his shoulders.
.
Make no mistake golf at a high level is 100% a game of belief.
.
Envision positive outcomes. Too bad I am unable to envision a positive outcome with our team locally.
I think when the stadium hits around 8K people or less in terms of tickets sold is when Sak and Sugarman sell the team. Until then, they are happy with the lemmings watching this product that they shovel. Because it is shit. Utter shit.
.
I am glad that NYCFC is shelling out the $$ for Pirlo, Lampard and Villa. I hope they come back strong and win the league to shove it in the face of the cheap spending Union.
Utter trash. More of the same as I’ve been saying. Edu is that damn CB WTF was he doing all game. First 3 goals I think it was both BC and Nogs were further back trying to cover for him then he was. Just terrible no soccer IQ on this team from top to bottm. My starting lineup and bench for the rest of the season.
GK Sylvestre
RB Gaddis CB Williams CB Marquez LB Fabinho
CDM Nogs(Captain) LM Mclaughlin RM Ayuk CAM Maidana
ST Sapong ST Nando
Bench GK Blake ST/CAM/Winger(if switching to a 4-3-3 only in desperate attack mode)Hoppenot STCasey CAM/LM/RMPfeffer CDMCarroll CBEdu RM/LMLe Toux.
This should be the lineup going forward. Obviously this puts them in a diamond as I have the line up, but could work as a flat 4-4-2 as well. Screw defensive cover it doesn’t matter with this team and maybe this backline gives enough speed and ability to stay in position. Replacements on the bench only cover the positions that are labeled next to their name. And first sub comes at first shift in play and momentum whether that be early in the game, or half, or at 65min. All 3 subs will be used all games as this team does not have the ability to run the whole team out 90 minutes every game. This team and organization is just sad and a mess.
Sad.. STH since season one, and what we thought was the start of something really cool years ago has turned into little more than a really expensive afternoon out.
I may be oversimplifying, but I see veteran players who have declined in abilities (or chronic injuries) and younger players who arent yet ready for the big leagues, along with two inexperienced coaches getting promoted over their heads.
Since my retirement, money is tight and renewing is a much bigger commitment than it used to be. If there aren’t drastic changes in the off season we probably wont renew.