Simon Dawkins scored in the 83rd minute to rescue a point for 10-man San Jose in Chester on Saturday afternoon. Chris Pontius turned in Tranquillo Barnetta’s 30th minute corner kick for his 4th goal of the season to give the Union a 1-0 first half lead, but the home side could not hold on for the win.
Anibal Godoy was shown a second yellow card in the 59th minute for a tug on Barnetta’s jersey, but the Union lost focus after going up a man and the teams shared the points.
First half
Jim Curtin made two changes to the team that defeated New York City FC last weekend, with Ray Gaddis starting in place of the suspended Fabinho and Warren Creavalle coming in for Brian Carroll.
The first half started out evenly and chances were at a premium before the 15th minute when the Union started to build pressure. Tranquillo Barnetta pulled the strings in the midfield, setting up a good chance for Pontius in the 18th minute with a whipped cross from the right side.
C.J. Sapong followed that with two half chances of his own. In the 19th minute, Marvell Wynne had to hold off the big striker for David Bingham to gather on a Barnetta throughball. Two minutes later, Sapong got his head to a cross from Sebastien Le Toux but could only direct it straight at Bingham.
The Union took the lead in the 30th minute through Pontius. The midfielder did well to win Philadelphia a corner kick after another fantastic throughball from Barnetta down the left side. The Swiss man, wearing the captain’s armband in Carroll’s absence, whipped in the corner and Pontius rose over Kofi Sarkodie punished the ball into the top right corner of Bingham’s goal.
Sapong had a chance to double the lead in the 34th minute. Barnetta again found a runner as he slotted in Le Toux on the right side. The Frenchman fired in a low cross that found Sapong seven yards from goal, but the striker could not keep his shot down and it flew over the open frame. With his strong start to the season, Sapong will feel he should have scored on the play.
Second half
San Jose was reduced to ten men in the 59th minute. Anibal Godoy was caught pulling back Barnetta after the midfield controlled Keegan Rosenberry’s excellent pass and turned through the Quakes midfield. Ricardo Salazar handed Godoy his second caution — both deserved — and his walking orders.
Philadelphia looked to make the most of their numerical advantage almost immediately, as Barnetta found Pontius from the free kick in the 60th minute. The goalscorer was able to head back across goal, but Sapong couldn’t find a touch at the back post to turn the ball in.
Shaun Francis would have a good chance for San Jose in the 78th minute. The left back continued his run after playing a ball into Fatai Alashe in midfield, and the ball found its way back to the wide man just inside the Union box. Francis, however, could not put his shot on target from 12 yards, firing wide of Andre Blake’s near post.
The Earthquakes would equalize in the 83rd minute through Simon Dawkins. The Jamaican international gathered the ball 25 yards from the Union goal after Josh Yaro failed to completely clear a bouncing ball, slalomed through multiple tackles, and fired a well-placed shot into the lower left corner of Blake’s net from 17 yards.
Ilsinho replaced Pontius, Fabian Herbers replaced Sebastien Le Toux and Leo Fernandes came in for Tranquillo Barnetta as the Union looked to restore their lead, but the home side failed to create a quality scoring chance and the teams were forced to share the points.
Attendance was announced at 16,709, but there were many open seats around the ground. The Union honored Brian Carroll for playing in his 350th league match last week with a ceremony and video tribute before the match. Philadelphia is next in action on May 11, when the Los Angeles Galaxy come to town.
Philadelphia Union
Andre Blake, Keegan Rosenberry, Josh Yaro, Richie Marquez, Ray Gaddis, Warren Creavalle, Vincent Nogueira, Tranquillo Barnetta (Leo Fernandes 87′), Chris Pontius (Ilsinho 73′), Sebastien Le Toux (Fabian Herbers 86′), C.J. Sapong
Unused Subs: Matt Jones, Anderson Conceicao, Roland Alberg, Brian Carroll
San Jose Earthquakes
David Bingham, Shaun Francis, Victor Bernardez, Marvell Wynne, Kofi Sarkodie, Alberto Quintero (Matias Perez Garcia 76′), Simon Dawkins, Anibal Godoy, Fatai Alashe (Chad Barrett 85′), Chris Wondolowski, Innocent (Shea Salinas 55′)
Unused Subs: Adam Jahn, Tommy Thompson, Jordan Stewart, Bryan Meredith
Scoring Summary
PHL: Chris Pontius – 30′ (Tranquillo Barnetta)
SJ: Simon Dawkins – 83′
Disciplinary Summary
SJ: Fatai Alashe (dissent) – 30′
SJ: Anibal Godoy (foul) – 35′
SJ: Anibal Godoy (foul – second yellow) – 59′
| Philadelphia Union | San Jose Earthquakes | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Shots | 10 |
| 2 | Shots on Target | 3 |
| 3 | Shots off Target | 5 |
| 1 | Blocked Shots | 2 |
| 6 | Corner Kicks | 3 |
| 19 | Crosses | 13 |
| 1 | Offsides | 1 |
| 9 | Fouls | 15 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 1 |
| 476 | Total Passes | 367 |
| 77 | Passing Accuracy | 72 |
| 56.8 | Possession | 43.2 |
| 55 | Duels Won | 41 |
| 57.3 | Duels Won % | 42.7 |
| 12 | Tackles Won | 11 |
| 2 | Saves | 1 |
| 19 | Clearances | 16 |
No excuses here. Obviously not the end of the world or anything but definitely a step back to the old union that we want to distance this team from. Gotta finish off those chances and not leave it up to a mistake by young defenders at the end. This one goes on Curtin, 100%.
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Plus side was some great play by the likes Of Barnetta and Nogueira.
Lol how is it Curtains fault that the entire back line and midfield lost focus and all gathered to the same place and let a guy make his way thru all of them to score.
Players are at fault too, totally. But he made the wrong subs and adjustments too late. The guy has gotten ton of earned praise this year, it’s okay to criticize him when it’s due
Cup half full: The old Union definitely finds a way to lose that game. Team just lost concentration for some reason. They sagged. They just gifted San Jose that goal.Real problem is they need to convert more of those chances they create into goals. They still can’t do it.
This is the real problem…. SJ should have gone down a man in a 2-0 hole and basically balled up to play out the string, to use a baseball term.
… Carroll?
Ugh.
Wasted two points because the coach got greedy going for the second goal.
At some point it has to be obvious that the second goal is not coming. The timing of one of the subs would have been fine with me if they were defensive instead of offensive to protect that 1-0 lead.
Creavalle got caught roaming too much when Nogs was upfield.
BC for Nogs or Creavalle would have been the proper sub IMO.
That said, the defending later in the game for poor overall; we were lucky not to give up goal later in the match anyway.
These types of results separate a near-the-red-line Union from a top-three-in-the-East Union. The types of missed chances from Sapong separate a USMNT Sapong from a Union Sapong. Maybe the Union are a mid-table team, and maybe they are better off with Sapong not in the nat’l team.
I hope Philly plays better against LA, or they will get smoked.
Its damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If he doesn’t try and go for that goal and everyone accuses Curtin of being timid and parking the bus.
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We have more offensive depth then defensive. The natural inclination is to stop on their throat and end the game. If Sapong could finish….
A man up. 1 – 0. 2 shots on goal. – 2 points. This is Jim Curtin, folks. “Defense first” to a fault. The first of 6 games against quality MLS opposition. No time for regrets, coach. Sink or swim. It’s on you. See you in June. Or not.
Defense first? When all of his subs were offensive? Turn down the hate…think or watch before you write
Why the fuck do we keep giving Leo minutes? He has been invisible for us and invisible for BSFC. GEt him off the fucking firld Jim.
We needed Carrol for Warren C to calm things down. And Alberg as well. Herbers hasnt done shit all season either. Fuck Curtin and his shitty coaching.
Not sure which is more ignorant, your language or your comments.
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As far as the subs go, the ones you are complaining about were made AFTER the game was tied. Maybe you could say that subs should have been made earlier but that wasn’t the argument you made. You started making personal attacks on the players who weren’t even on the field for the tying goal.
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As far as I’m concerned, if you don’t tone down the language, I’d be happy to see you never posting here again. But then again, I guess we can’t expect much when the maturity in your writing makes me wonder if you progressed beyond a 3rd grade education.
Agreed about the prose of our (hopefully) inebriated compatriot… however he did identify the better subs for this game but did not elaborate on specific timing. But let us not cast dispersions and banishments for potentially drunken or overly empassioned responses to a disappointing draw… let us instead revel in the fact that we are upset about a tie with a western conference team rather than a win… this is a significant sign of progressome my friends.
Your point about drunken disappointment is perceptively well taken, I suspect. I had not considered that as a factor, since I want my perceptions as keenly honed as is possible at my age when watching the game.
Herbers was probably the only sub that came on and at least made himself known out there. he created chances which is more to say of Ilsinho or Leo.
Contrary to popular belief, this was not entirely on Curtin. It was even primarily on Curtin. It was a team that outplayed their opponent for 60 minutes, went up a man, and decided that the game was already won so they could stop hustling. Once San Jose went down a man, they started beating the Union to every loose. On defense the Union stopped trying to pass the ball and just cleared it, not really caring who it went to. While Curtin needs to better prepare them to play up a man, the bulk of the problem was the players on the field.
Players do play, but you are extremely too kind on Curtin.
Pissed away 2points today which is at once unacceptable yet secondary IMO to a poorly played game. A poorly played game.
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this team does not function optimally when Noguiera drops deep and pushes the other DM into midfield… whether Creavalle or Carroll. Its just that simple…what a sloppy game.
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Fabinho over Gaddis every time. Raymond doesn’t know when to get up field then when he does he doesn’t know how to help…over and over he needed to be the crossfield high OB outlet to switch play and he wasn’t there. Fabinho drives me nuts..but not more than Raymond.
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to wit ::::::: a gol scorer finishes one of the two sitters in CJ’s lap. Argue all you want.
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Ilsinho for Le Toux in a game you are trying to control possession – up a man.
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A sloppy game with way too many turnovers and useless possession and ineffective penetration and poor decision making…not a happy camper.
You watch too much footy…this game was a soccer game through and through….
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“coach did you see how hard I ran? Did you see that one real good pass I made? I decked that one guy at midfield and the ref was too stupid to call it. That means I get to start next week right?”
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MLS = Major Letdown Soccer
Does Gaddis have a future here? He can lock his man down like few in the league, but his decision making going forward is dreadful. Dribbles into a pack of defenders, plays the ball one time when no one else is expecting it, overlaps directly into the space the winger is occupying.
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It’s funny, when we were playing caveman ball the past few years and anything the fullbacks did offensively was gravy, everyone wanted to fire the Brazilian into the sun while Ray was seen as a possible member of the league Best XI. Now that we’re using Mr. Alves more appropriately, Raymond is persona non Gaddis.
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Rosenberry may be the future right now, but I think Matt Doyle was onto something when he said Keegan looks like a midfielder moonlighting at fullback. If he doesn’t improve his one-on-one defending, that’s where he should be utilized going forward. The channel between right back and right central defender has been a sieve all year.
Truly, this is so good.
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My opinion is Keegan can and will improve his 1V1 defending.
This isn’t about Curtin wanting to play defense first. If he had wanted to play defense, he wouldn’t have brought on two players who don’t play defense for two player who do play it.
Disastrous decisions.
(1) Leo:
He does not play defense. He does not stay central. He does not high press. He is usually 50/50 on passing at best. He is a backup quality winger in MLS at best. Yet, Curtin decides to play him at CAM in a key game and in a formation that relies on the CAM staying central.
(2) Alberg:
He plays defense. He stays central. He high presses. He is creative and is a strong passer. Has he been perfect? No. But he’s been damn better than Leo. He needs more minutes to get his MLS footing and is our future at CAM. Yet, Curtin leaves him on the bench and prefers Leo.
(3) Pulling Pontius for Ilsinho:
Ilsinho has done best on the right and has great chemistry with Rosenberry. He has never played on the left for us – primarily because he prefers cutting in centrally with his right foot. Pontius has been a stud at the LW spot and plays defense better than LeToux or Ilsinho. Despite this, Curtin decides to pull Pontius, compromise our defense, and play Ilsinho out of position.
(4) Herbers:
Nothing against him – I believe he is talented and has a future. However, Curtin sees Leo struggling, sees his team losing possession, sees Leo not staying central, and knows that Herbers plays even less defense than LeToux. Despite this, he decides to leave Leo at the CAM rather than sliding him to the right and bringing in Alberg.
(5) Waiting:
You go a man up in the 60th minute. You do not have a game for 12 days. But you decide to forego pressing the advantage and hold out doing a sub until the 70th minute and do not make your final sub until essentially stoppage time.
This is the Curtin that many of us feared. This team is talented and it is carrying him. Unfortunately, I do not believe he has the tactical know-how to make this team a contender. This isn’t some angry post-game opinion either. He has been criticized for this exact issue for two years. So far this season his players have saved him. Today was the first day they didn’t and unfortunately I do not believe it will be the last time.
Excellent review, Curtin played this one wrong on a lot of notes, starting with Carroll not playing on his celebration day.
By “defense first,” I refer to his focus, not his in game strategy. Ilsinho starts, not LeToux. Bring on Alberg for Pontius. Carroll for Creavalle when the second goal isn’t coming. Curtin isn’t capable of these insights. But 2 shots on goal at home a man up is also an indictment of the offense.
You should be coach. Curtin sucks.
Agree that Leo hasn’t shown his worth to be brought in for critical minutes. His set pieces have also been awful this year so the swap for Barnetta is a -2 for Curtin.
There was a point in the game (70th minute or so) where Quakes were moving through a flat-footed mid-field and D with ease – despite being down a man. Carroll has continued to show his ability to block lanes and calm things down. His substitution should have been made then and there. Major miss by Curtin there IMO.
I was okay with the Ilsinho for Pontius sub at first. Then I couldn’t believe how off he looked compared to earlier in the season – it was evident his game shape is terrible. He made two runs and spent the rest of the game ball watching and jogging back in coverage. It was also clear that he and Ray had spent very little time communicating – some obvious misses and un-necessary TOs.
It looked like two teams – the new Union for the first 70 minutes and the old Union for 24. Still remarkably better soccer than last year despite the similar outcome.
I’ll take our standings and see how we test out against continued good competition.
excellent commentary, Mike.
Some of us seem to be forgetting that Barnetta has not yet reached 90 minutes match fitness this season. should Jim Curtin be challenged for trying to condition his best option at attacking center mid? Not in my opinion. Should he be criticized for not thinking of the difference between the sometimes used 30 minute increments used in preseason and subbed for Barnetta after 75, yes, but I can understand why he wants to push Barnetta as fast as possible.
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The only thing that makes sense to me why the Barnetta sub was Fernandes instead of Alberg is that they are evaluating whether to keep Fernandes or replace him. This is an evaluation year as well as a year in which onfield improvement is a goal. My observations of Fernandes at Lehigh agree with MikeRSoccer’s. Perhaps it is time to seek him to the Cosmos and Coach Savarese where he thrived last season.
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In re Carroll for Creavalle, Larry Bowa makes the substitution under his well known managerial philosophy n te me you are playing today and worry about tomorrow tomorrow. The radio show a few days ago pointed out that sometimes “stress reactions” do not conform to expectations. Hopefully Edu’s conforms, but Curtin may be preserving BC for the longer term, and conditioning Creavalle. All of us who have coached when winning is the primary goal know the tension between maintaining a currently successful game status quo [if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it] and subbing out tired legs.
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We seemed to hit a,conditioning wall about the seventieth minute, and the Salinas appearance from Kinnear increased the pace of the game. Increasing the pace of the game from a bench sub is not currently an option available to Curtin. There is one such playing for Lehigh – Ayuk – but long term development takes precedence over shorter term tactical option.
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Curtain has to get Ilsinho back into top form, but also he has to get Alberg there as well.
Mike, your comments are just spot on, nothing to add.
Slightly off topic, it was disappointing to see stadium not sold out on a Saturday game with nice whether and following straight home wins. I hope this is not a trend.
It may be off topic, but Union attendance patterns are just…..strange. I couldn’t make the game last week, so my friend took them. Sometimes TV gives you a distorted view, but it looked to me like the stadium was pretty full. This week, following a win, with similar weather and the same kickoff time, it was half-empty. It doesn’t make sense, unless NYCFC, a geographic “rival”, is that much of a draw (for me, NYCFC is too new and shiny to be considered a rival, even after the bottle-throwing incident).
Significantly more away fans last week. Plus the weather was definitely worse this week, the clouds made it much colder.
Beautiful day, perfect kick off time…no reason not to have a full house.
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Oh well, at least I was able to buy a pair of club seats for $80 total the morning of.
Brightest spot of the match was how well they played minutes 31 to 45. They scored, then continued to control the match, not letting SJ into it. Worst was how they let up after the red card. Wow. That was bad.
Anybody know why Wondo was so angry?
With my lip reading reference manual, looked to me like Yaro kept mentioning something about missing a sitter in the round of 16 a few years ago.
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While I defer completely to the legendary lip reading skills of the mighty elephant, I would add that immediately afterward the fourth official approached Dominic Kinnear, and his bodily motions seeme to indicate being kneed.
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Wondo is of course entirely without sin in having thrown an effective hip check earlier causing a misplay on an incoming headball.
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Rookies are not supposed to disrespect stars and accept being disrespected in turn … N O T!
I was sitting at midfield on that side. Yaro did give him a bit of a cheap shot knee. I understand why he got upset. Now, I can’t explain why he carried on like a little girl for 20 minutes about it…
Very likely, that a traditional eastern conference patsy is not rolling over and playing dead on command is infuriating to the elitists of the west. “Who are the Union to try to presume to beat us?”
Wondy looked like a toddler, screaming at Yaro. I like that Yaro did not back down but did not retaliate. I was waiting for the SoBs to break out their Belgium chant…where was it? Come on you SoBs, you don’t want to MISS an opportunity that’s just SITTING there for you, do you?
Gold!
You’ve hit a pet peeve of mine, so forgive the rant…
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Why do you need to disparage girls as a way of putting down Wondo? Girls – and women – are at least as tough as boys and men. Instead of going through it all, I’ll just leave this link here: https://phillysoccerpage.net/2013/09/19/fans-view-dont-cross-the-line/
Same here, in 107 we seemed to fuel Wondo’s tantrum with the invective being tossed his way…
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Curtin seemed genuinely confused as to what set him off. Yaro definitely gave Wondo the business a little, but it was hardly a Rafa Marquez cheap shot (ask Salinas how his collarbone got broken)
Knee to the groin from behind
I’m trying, unsuccessfully, to picture how a person can deliver a knee to the groin from behind, but I confess I did not excel in my anatomy class
I was in that A&P class….more likely a knee to the minimus which is a charlie horse all its own.
My issue is that Alberg should be starting as the #10. Barnetta (who played really well today) has been primarily an outside MF his entire career. Barnetta / Pontius should be the 7 and 11 (outside MFs). Seba is not a consistent starter at this point in his career and has zero defensive discipline. Alberg distributes more, while Barnetta looks to take the space. There’s nothing wrong with Barnetta taking space, but teams understand that and then bracket Nogs. So with Nogs being effectively taken out of the game, it’s important that you have a facilitator / distributor as the #10. Also, Alberg is a better high-press defender than Tranquillo.
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As far as Gaddis goes, I thought he played well. Yaro…too inconsistent. I’ll take Tribbett over him at this point, although Yaro still has the far greater upside. And if Blake wants to play in a better league, he has to work on his distribution. God awful today.
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Only one game, but can’t be dropping those points at home. San Jose ripe for the picking, and we let them off the hook.
Excellent commentary as well.
Alberg, having no publicly known off-field reason why such as injury, without reference to red cards, has not yet come close to 90 minute match fitness, not close. I have been assuming that he does not have a nicotine addiction that he satisfies with tobacco cigarettes, but the behavior happens to fit that specific causality. I have assumed rather that the pace of play in MLS exceeds the expectations to which he has conditioned himself in the past (the usual European/Latin American adjustment issue).
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Deliberately beginning a game with a player for who you know you must substitute does “burn” one sub before tap off.
Fair point, but neither is Barnetta or Ilsihno (who needs to drop significant weight ASAP). And, Alberg isn’t going to become MLS match fit if he doesn’t play…that’s the biggest issue with foreign players (especially European) that come into the league. Even at this very instant, I’d rather have 60 minutes of Alberg (#10), Pontius, and Barnetta as my attacking midfield vs Barnetta as #10 and Seba as #7. Way more possession, way more creativity, way more dynamic. Then, depending on how the match unfolds, you can strategize your subs as necessary re: LeToux, Ilsihno, Herbers, CDM, etc.
I feel like this loss has also completely over shadowed Carroll’s achievements and honors that he was given today unfortunately
not a loss
Jim Curtain lost this game
no one lost this game
Nice job playing sweeper this AM, Osager.
Yeah I realize now, I was technically wrong in calling it a loss. Sure as hell felt like one though. Up a man, at home, up a goal… anything less than 3 points is a loss in my book.
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This was old Union. The Union we thought we were moving on from. Curtain had a full bench, and blew it. No excuses. This is on Curtain.
The players lost the game. If CJ could convert a chance into a goal, the team wins. That open net sitter he sends into the atmosphere….ugh.
no one lost this game
True. More accurate to say failed to win it.
Dropping points here really hurts. Hopefully, the team learns its lesson and realizes that they need to kill a game off either by getting that 2nd goal or to borrow from Stan Van Gundy, “build a f*cking wall” with your defensive shape.
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Kudos to SJ and Kinnear. They played down a man perfectly. Stay very compact until around 70th min to keep the deficit at one and then come out of your shell to attack.
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I just don’t understand why Leo Fernandez gets any time in a critical spot. I just don’t see what he brings to the table. Not creative, slow both on and off the ball, doesn’t hit good set pieces…what am I missing? Seems like a player who can play well at a lower level, but not in MLS as he doesn’t do anything at a high enough level to be successful.
Forgot to add that Curtin for a brief moment thought about pulling the Fernandez sub back after Dawkins equalizer, but then essentially decided to go through with it.
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Still not sure that I understand either of those decisions. If you’re killing the game off, it should have been BC. If you need a goal, would rather seen Barnetta finish the match out or bring on Alberg.
Barnetta was fork-ready done.
True, but then bring on Alberg. At that point if you’ve kept a tired Barnetta until the 87th min, you’ve already mismanaged that situation.
Game stuff.
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San Jose’s road uniforms are Sharp.
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San Jose’s keeper was not very good
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The announcer at PPL Park has a really great “Funeral Voice” When San Jose scored he said it an a manner totally devoid of emotion, enthusiasm and hope
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I actually really like the Unions 7 Nation Army hype video
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This game is what economists call “A market correction.” The Union have gotten a couple of victories while playing mediocre teams playing poorly. middling caught up to us.
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That being said we still had too many chances too pull this off for us to straight up put this on Curtin. We shouldn’t hear any talk about Sapong to the USMNT for a couple of weeks.
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Sapong is who he is. A cross between Casey and LeToux a tough guy in the box who does the work but is really streaky.
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We need another Striker pretty badly actually.
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Alberg is on someones shitlist.
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The Union still need a Left Back.
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Other than Brian Carroll who do we have that can slow down and close out a game? For all of our talk for defensive responability not much there to close out a game.
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The game in my opinion was two teams fighting for and deserving a 1-1 tie.
Re Point 3: THAT’S the guy Klinsmann thinks is the future of the USMNT??
Painful game. Hate that we squandered points at home. Carroll should have been put in when we were up a goal- especially on the day he’s being honored for crying out loud. And at no time do I ever put in Leo over Alberg. Was Curtin playing a hunch? Or was he sending a message to Alberg about playing smart? I don’t get it!
Wny take off Pontius at all? Unlike the rest of the midfield, he looked strong and fit at that point in the match.
How can you try to protect a lead with both Alberg and BC on the bench?
Conversely, why bring in a clearly unfit Ilsinho and then try and pair him with Gaddes, who does not have the skills or sense to combine well with him.
Also agree that Fernandes and Herbers have shown little, either with the Union or Bethlehem, to deserve these key minutes.
Finally, when is Edu coming back? Boy was he missed today.
Pissed about the late draw but at least we’re still in 2nd. Too many wasted chances to finish by the team as a whole. No way San Jose should be possessing the ball the way the did late in the game down a man. It isn’t on Curtin. He can’t play for these guys. They were sloppy. Some players said they need to learn from their mistakes. The young guys are going to make mistakes but some players who have been on this team for awhile are making the same lazy mistakes. The Union needed the 3 ponits in this game. LA is next. They can be beaten. But, lazy clumsy mistakes are going to get the Union crushed. All the talk about how they all know they can play better. Enough talking gentlemen! Granted it’s early in season but time isn’t on the side of a team that has a lot to prove.
My only issue with Curtin was why wasn’t Alberg subbed in for Barnetta? Fernandez is back to not showing again.
Alberg should be starting at the #10, move Barnetta out to the wing MF, and put Seba on the bench as a super sub, which is the correct role for him at this point in his career.
Watched the game on Direct Kick. Was anyone else able to hear, what sounded like someone talking with the referee? Probably through his headset. Constantly giving instruction or praise. It was odd. The guy was either spot on with his guessing of what came next, or providing step by step instructions… “Alright, blow it anytime after right now.” And the game immediately ends.
Ok , so yes we should have won and this game was on Jim Curtin. If I was Jim I honestly might not have made any subs except for Le Toux. These should be able to go 90mins if needed. Le Toux did some good things in this game but if you really know the game, he has no touch and no awareness a lot of the time. It was up to him to hold the ball and keep possession but he’s not that kind of player, we all know this. He needs to be that sub that pressures the opposing defence. He only knows forward motion. It seemed to me that Jim was desperate for a 2nd goal. I agree with others here that it just wasn’t coming. If I’m coach I am telling my squad to play the possession game first and only if a clear chance to go forward or score then take it. They could have easily played possession with a man up. Instead we get caught losing the ball in the midfield and they score on the counter. Jim’s tactical decision making has to be smarter.
Es regnet draussen. Vielleicht nicht so viele Zuschauer beim BSFC-Spiel heute. Doch noch, hoffentich wird der junge deutsche Stuermer ein Tor treffen.
slightly less comprehensible than some of el pachyderm’s ramblings
perhaps … but probably more understandable than Curtin’s strategies & tactics yesterday
Es regnete, in Ordnung.
the reasoning would be called circular.
Ha!
now get back to work
On another point, just putting it out there, Carrol is not a good defender at all. He plays to distribute and slow the pace of the game down. With one on one with defenders, he gets beat almost every time and has trouble disrupting plays. On the contrary , he has been playing better this year.
They are what they are. Extremely limited tactically, managed by a man so far over his head he couldn’t find the surface with a stepladder. CJ….there’s service-and then there’s room service. You can’t miss empty net sitters……. No LB, No LCDM, No finisher, and now add no caddy CAM. Leo has no future here.
So many poor decisions, so much wasted money and time. If you can’t manage soccer, you will get royally embarrassed dealing with Arena futbol, approaching on the near horizon.
Man, reading these comments you would think we lost this game 5-0 to the worst team in the league. You guys are brutal. I think we all need to remember that progress isn’t linear.
+1
Even after a pretty bad blown lead, we still pick up a point against a team sitting in the top half of the West.
— to this I can stipulate, however, the manner in which 2 points were lost I think opens the team up to criticism more than the one point the team earned..
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This is Philly after all.
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This is my first chance to look at PSP since Saturday’s match. After reading the comments above, I feel like many of you were watching a different game than I attended.
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First, what’s with all the negativity towards Fernandes and Herbers? I realize that both were inconsistent during their time in Saturday’s match, and have been all season, but they each played less than 10 minutes against the Quakes. And neither one of them was on the pitch when San Jose tied it up. There were far more guilty parties on the Union than those two. For instance…
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Why is there so little talk about Ilsinho? The guy has had some moments of brilliance this spring, but putting him in the match was the substitution that really hurt the Union on Saturday, not the other two. The Union needed fresh legs late, and Ilsinho failed to deliver. As my wife observed, Ilsinho looked like the old guy in an adult league match, standing around waiting for the younger guys to pass him the ball.
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And what about Sapong? CJ has been great for the Union this year, but he failed on a number of occasions Saturday to put the game away at 2-0. That one shot in the first half from directly in front of the net went almost straight up in the air. If that shot stays down just a bit, all of us in the home crowd would have been leaving happy that day.
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As for the head coach, he certainly deserves his share of the blame. His choice of subs, and the timing of them, clearly did not work out against San Jose. It appears that, like many of his players, Jim Curtin is still a work in progress.
I’m very critical of Curtin on many occasions and this is just one more instance. You ask what an alternative should be? I give you Dom Kinnear!!! That’s what I want!! He out managed Curtin today. Plain and simple. Dom is what a quality manager looks like.
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I know we can’t get Kinnear but someone in his mold. Heck he might even be the next USMNT coach….
When a coach, a good coach has the players on the field to close out the game with a second goal, and you then get a gift of a man up due to opposing team red card, then within the next 10/15 minutes your club does NOT close out, and you then can see your competition start taking the game back from you, with subs and execution, IT IS THEN TIME TO CHANGE IT UP TO “SHUT DOWN DEFENSE”. This is coaching 101… If I was ES I would NOT be happy with my coach. I am furious that the players could not close it out with a second goal, “yes furious”, but to then watch the coach not react to his team’s failings, and sit on his sub decisions like he didn’t have a clue what to do next is a complete failure by the coach to know how and when and who to sub to acquire 3 points… Worst coaching effort by Curtin ‘ever’… as a coach you are responsible to get the 3 points at home NO MATTER ‘HOW’ IT GETS DONE… TERRIBLE, JUST TERRIBLE.