Roland Alberg’s 7th goal of the season gave the Union the lead late in the first half, but two Real Salt Lake goals to start the second half gave the visitors a 2-1 win at Talen Energy Stadium.
Alberg converted from the spot in the 44th minute after C.J. Sapong was wrestled to the floor by Aaron Maund. But Joao Plata equalized in the 47th minute before Javier Morales scored the winner in the 54th minute.
First half
Jim Curtin made four changes to the team that lost in Montreal last Saturday. Ken Tribbett and Fabinho replaced Josh Yaro and Ray Gaddis in the back line, while Warren Creavalle and Ilsinho came in for Tranquillo Barnetta (suspended due to yellow card accumulation) and Sebastien Le Toux. Keegan Rosenberry and Andre Blake both started despite playing 45 minutes in the All-Star game on Thursday.
Salt Lake generated the first chance of the match in the 16th minute. Plata got in behind the Union defense after Tribbett seemed to stumble retreating to make a play. Plata got a touch to the ball before the onrushing Blake could and pushed a shot that beat the keeper but hit the inside of the post and stayed out.
The Union struggled to break down an organized Salt Lake defense for most of the half, settling for two decent Ilsinho drives from distance that did little to trouble Nick Rimando in the end.
Philadelphia would open the scoring in the 44th minute though. C.J. Sapong tried to turn Aaron Maund inside the RSL box after a ball into his feet, and the defender hauled the Union striker to the ground, giving referee Juan Guzman no choice but to point to the spot. Maund was yellow carded for dissent on the play.
Alberg grabbed the ball to take the kick and made no mistake firing a low drive into the lower left corner with Rimando going the wrong way.
Second half
Salt Lake equalized just three minutes into the second half through Plato. The midfielder played a clever give-and-go with Demar Phillips at the top of the Union box and curled a fine effort in off the underside of the crossbar that left Blake no chance from 18 yards.
The visitors took the lead in the 54th minute through Morales. Olmes Garcia did well to find Morales near the top of the Union box and the midfielder lofted a measured chip over Blake into the far corner of the Philadelphia goal from 17 yards out on the right side.
Philadelphia brought on Fabian Herbers, Leo Fernandes, and Sebastien Le Toux for Roland Alberg, Warren Creavalle, and Ilsinho, respectively, as they searched for an equalizer.
Fernandes just missed Sapong with a cross in the 85th minute, and Brian Carroll forced a good reaction save from Rimando in the 89th. That would be as close as the Union would come as Salt Lake held on for the 2-1 win.
Philadelphia are next in action when they travel to D.C. next Saturday (7 p.m., CSN).
Philadelphia Union
Andre Blake, Fabinho, Richie Marquez, Ken Tribbett, Keegan Rosenberry, Brian Carroll, Warren Creavalle (Leo Fernandes 72′), Roland Alberg (Fabian Herbers 63′), Ilsinho (Sebastien Le Toux 76′), Chris Pontius, C.J. Sapong
Unused Subs: John McCarthy, Ray Gaddis, Walter Restrepo, Joshua Yaro
Real Salt Lake
Nick Rimando, Jamison Olave, Demar Phillips, Tony Beltran, Aaron Maund, Javier Morales (Devon Sandoval 90+1′), Luke Mulholland, Kyle Beckerman (John Stertzer 86′), Joao Plata, Olmes Garcia, Juan Manuel Martinez (Omar Holness 69′)
Unused subs: Jeff Attinella, Chris Wingert, Justen Glad, Phanuel Kavita
Scoring Summary
PHI: Roland Alberg (PK) — 44′
RSL: Joao Plata (Demar Phillips) — 48′
RSL: Javier Morales (Olmes Garcia) — 54′
Disciplinary Summary
PHI: Fabinho (unsporting behavior) — 21′
RSL: Aaron Maund (dissent) — 42′
RSL: Javier Morales (time wasting) — 55′
PHI: Brian Carroll (unsporting behavior) –90′
| Philadelphia Union | Real Salt Lake | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Shots | 11 |
| 3 | Shots on Target | 6 |
| 4 | Shots off Target | 5 |
| 7 | Blocked Shots | 0 |
| 10 | Corner Kicks | 3 |
| 29 | Crosses | 9 |
| 3 | Offsides | 0 |
| 12 | Fouls | 17 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 366 | Total Passes | 329 |
| 80% | Passing Accuracy | 74% |
| 53.9% | Possession | 46.1% |
| 54 | Duels Won | 54 |
| 50% | Duels Won % | 50% |
| 13 | Tackles Won | 18 |
| 4 | Saves | 2 |
| 11 | Clearances | 29 |
We’re fucked.
I’m back to being tired of CJ Sapong. He just doesn’t get on the end of chance after chance after chance. A striker who doesn’t score. This team can be so impotent. It’s torture to watch.
And if hes not winning headers hes invisible. Hes a one trick pony.
I mean, he’s slumping to be sure. But unfortunately strikers do that sometimes. I’m having the hardest time with us playing the double pivot and giving up 2 goals. That’s a recipe for disaster since we can’t create chances at the same rate (and yes, finishing has been poor too). But I can’t pin either goal on creavalle or BC, so I’m scratching my head right now.
Sure, you cant. But you dont need to to know theyre not good enough.
Plus the whole “cant create chances” falls on them as well.
He’s a one dimensional player. Been saying this since he came here. People equate work ethic with good and it’s inaccurate.
“Danny Cruz Syndrome”
Went from a GAA of around 1 to a GAA of around 3 since the Copa break.
Our double gets killed in transition…….
I disagree. The dude drew our only penalty and he’s the problem? He was the only one remotely able to hold possession. It’s not his fault the midfield is inept. I’m sorry but he was the farthest thing from the problem today. Not even close in my humble opinion
He’s not the problem, but he’s also not a long term solution. His hold up play is great, but he’s so rarely in the right place at the right time to poke him a cross and he isn’t capable of making space for himself to put a shot on frame when he does bring the ball down in a dangerous place.
He is a one trick pony with his hold up play. Is too slow to connect on crosses and is terrible heading the ball (if he ever makes contact). We need a better striker if we want to compete with the big boys. Instead of Jones they should have signed a big time striker.
Is Curtin deploying Sapong as a false 9?
Being Union fans, this is an all too familiar view. The scary part is I’m looking for my scapegoat after a loss like this, and I’m struggling to find one. Sure, the ref was bad but that happens basically every night in MLS. Thoughts anyone?
They just didn’t execute. Game could have easily been 4-1. Union can make chances, but they don’t finish. The team just isn’t good enough. It’s an OK team. That’s all.
Carrol for being there soley for his defense, isnt good enough anymore. He shouldnt be an automatic starter.
Sapong is invisible if hes not winning headers and he doesnt score.
I understand the modern game, but i hate how often illsinho and pontius cut inside. They are ineffective more often and not, and relying soley on your fullbacks to get to the endline is risky when one is fabinho and the other is a great rookie teams now plan for.
The only thing i can say about warren c is that its not his fault we dont have anyone better than him. Gotta get jones in there next week.
Marquez has sorta settled into being painfully average and tribbet is sorta meh.
Le toux isnt good enough for this team anymore.
If Ilsinho wants to cut in consistently maybe he should be used as an inverted player.
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So insipid. So devoid of aesthetic. So boring.
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Point One
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I think it is time to unpack the Tribett Yaro Anderson Conundrum. If neither Tribett or Yaro are full time first team starters than you have only one starting level CB in RM who is decidedly unspectacular and MLS average… and Anderson is a waste of an international slot and a misplay by the sporting director?
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Point Two
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Put the Doors, Texas Radio and the Big Beat rhythm in your head… “Now listen to this I’ll tell you about heartache, I’ll tell you about heartache and” …… Long for Sapong…. “Some call it heavenly in its brilliance others mean and rueful of the Western dream.”
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Point Three
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Maurice Edu is now two full months behind schedule. Your bar none best player is in France. Your only other ‘best’ player is suspended… and lament that, “out here on the perimeter there are NO STARS.”
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Point Four
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I’m in the basement, in the corner gathering my bivouac next to the HVAC and a box of macaroons, “meager food for souls forgot” in my rucksack, two switchbacks and a crevasse yet to pass…on my way to the Cliff of Union Despair.
I dont think anderson was supposed to be anything more than depth, really. Hes a non issue.
Regarding cbs, we need to start yaro and let him grow and see what we have with him.
He’s an issue in that he is a waste of a valuable international spot, not that this is a guarantee we would then fill it with a talented player. But still. Could be dealt to one of those ambitious clubs who but players for their dross.
Please remember as you calculate and consider that according to a doc whose MD is from Hard Knocks U, Jim Curtin, he is finishing the season with some variety of a surgical shoulder.
Out here on the perimeter we have no stars (or dps). Just stoned and immaculate.
I’d challenge your 3rd point about our best player being in France. Our best player was and still is Barnetta. You could see how much we missed his presence in our build-up last night. How many times did Tribbet have the ball in the back and had no one to play it forward to?
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We even missed his leadership. When Morales got in Fabinho’s face in the first half and was accusing him of diving, not one Union player came to his aid. If Barnetta was out there, he would have stepped in and defended Fabi. I’m sure if the roles were reversed, Beckerman or another RSL player would have confronted the accuser as you have to stick up for your teammates.
Yes, our “stars” are Barnetta, Edu, and Nogueria. We had none of them last night, and basically only 1.5 of them this season. Lets see any other team lose 2 of their best 3 players and still do anything. It’s not an excuse either, it’s just the reality of MLS rosters right now.
Cliff of Union Despair? Shouldn’t be hard to find, I understand they repainted the sign…
OK, we need to have a short discussion on BC. I can no longer tolerate ill speaking of him or his play this year, and especially since Nogs left.
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He has been nothing short of brilliant since Nogs left. He is not only playing CDM, he is playing Nogueira’s position as well. Look at the pass that he hit at the 3:40 mark in the game. Now consider that he has been dropping passes like that a couple of times a game for over a month. He is 35, is playing 90 minutes every game, is doing the same yeoman defensive work he is famous for, and is now dropping Pirlo-esque passes to make up for the nonexistent #8s that have been paired with him since Nogs left, and he is still tasked with organizing the team defensively and setting the lines.
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If you are picking him out as someone who should not be playing or who is playing poorly, you have lost it.
pretty hard to argue…
I think BC has consistently been one of the best players on this team. Every game he plays.
He is still able to surprise us and drops some nice dimes sometimes, sure.
But for a player who is only out there for his defensive ability, we sure seem to be leaking goals with him on the field regardless.
And having such a yeoman out there hasn’t prevented the need to partner him with another mostly defensive player because the yeoman can’t lock down much himself anymore.
I just have trouble wrapping my head around the fact we are leaking goals while our coach is telling us defense is the biggest thing we have to fix, while we have someone like carrol who is only there for his defense game in and game out.
Maybe i am wrong and carrol really is playing great. Maybe hes the best d mid in the mls! And everyone else on the field is letting him down.
But maybe hes 35 and simply isnt good enough to lock down the other teams best player anymore.
Respectfully, I think you’re argument is flawed. It seems to be this: BC plays CDM, we have been conceding goals, and so BC must be playing poorly.
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1) How do you explain his large part in crafting one of the best defenses in MLS for the first half of the season?
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2) Isn’t responsibility for goals conceded a better metric for measuring who or what is to blame? With that said, I encourage you to read some of the excellent match reports PSP and Kevin Kinkead have done. How many times has their analysis concluded that BC was the cause of the conceded goal? The answer is very few. And when he has been responsible, it’s largely because he has 0 effective help from his #8 or one of the other defenders left him to cleanup their mess.
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3) Pirlo earns a couple million a year to drop 3-4 passes a game like the one BC dropped in the fourth minute. And he has been dropping 3-4 of them a game.
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The man is essentially playing two positions at the same time, but the professional analysts are not finding him to be the problem, quite the opposite in fact.
1) Based on everything we’ve seen since he left, sure looks Nogs had a much bigger role in crafting that defense.
2) Sure. I’ll agree. He hasn’t been the sole cause for a conceded goal. But maybe I need more from him? Maybe if I’m playing a #6 that is 100% defense and 0% offense, I need more than “it wasn’t his fault!” A fantastic last ditch tackle, a cheeky dispossession in midfield, anything at all. Carrol is good. Post Nogs, we need great.
And, for someone we just assume to be a great leader because of his age, we still have a lot of defensive lapses around him. Is that not his fault too? Or can we expect more from him?
3) I think you are overplaying his passes, respectfully. He has played some nice ones recently, but no one is confusing him with Pirlo, or Nogs. But a couple of outliers doesn’t really replace his complete body of work. Which is more sideways and backwards passes.
I spoke from anger to suggest Carrol sucks. He doesn’t. He is pretty damn good for his age. But, we need more now. We need great. And if I’m playing a #6 who was bred from the MLS 1.0 style of pure defense, I gotta look at him as much as anyone else when my defense is leaking goals.
Personally, I don’t understand how the solution to replacing Nogueira is replacing BC. That seems to be what you are suggesting by saying that BC needs to step up his game to compensate for the loss of Nogueira. There is no doubt that Nogueira’s play was vital to our defensive structure, but BC was a vital part of that defensive structure as well. BC shut down the lanes and Nogueira was the release valve, recycling the ball to relieve pressure and then redistributing it to the attackers.
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The solution to the defensive issues is to adequately replace Nogueira, not to replace BC.
For the sake of the argument, let’s say I’m wrong and that we’re all overestimating BC’s play. What is the bigger issue right now, replacing BC or replacing Nogueira? We aren’t replacing two starting midfielders in the next month and in reality we have no idea if Edu is going to be playing any time soon. This is his third go at rehab and he hasn’t seen the field for almost a year.
I seems to remember Nogs missing a lot of games before he left too so I think it’s unfair. I think what really happened is Blake bailed us out in the beginning, young guys in the back have hit a bit of a wall, and we just got unlucky. Last nights goals were both low % locations.
BC on the ball…DROPPIN’DIMES, DROPPIN’ DIMES!
With you on that Mike. I’m hoping that (by some miracle) someone is added to the team before wednesday to play next to him and effectively replace nogs. I appreciated the attempt to move Barnetta to the 8 in the short term, but it doesn’t seem to be an every game solution. Sure, we broke down the fire and DC with it, but those teams stink.
DC has shown some pure invention tonight.
Personally, if Edu or a new player is not ready to go by Wednesday, they have got to start Jones. Baptism by fire be damned, we need an 8.
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There has not been a midfield triangle since Nogueira left. If you watch how we play, it looks more like a straight line. BC, Creavalle directly in front of him, and then Alberg directly in front of Creavalle. I think that is largely responsible for the disconnect between the midfield and attack. It also means that there is one less outlet/body available to our defenders.
IMO Jones is not ready yet.
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Need Edu to get healthy or a new signing.
+1
A midfield of BC, Nogueira,and Barnetta works very well, with clear roles.
I’m not a big believe in Creavalle,and certainly don’t think a midfield of him, BC and Alberg fits well together. But for tonight, what other choice did we have?
#BCLegend
There’s no one to blame except the coaching and front office. Plata is a difference maker. We don’t have one. CJ won us our only goal. Union couldn’t score from the run of play. Ilsinho is still slow. Our rookies have potential but that’s it.
Anderson Conceicao was a complete waste of an acquisition and that is completely the fault of the Philadelphia Union front office – those wishing to console themselves with some quality entertainment on YouTube are cordially invited to watch the Brazilian centerback get absolutely torched by the young Toronto FC II striker in the 17th minute of BSFC’s 3-2 loss at Lehigh University’s Goodman Stadium this afternoon.
Not sure why anderson is on anyones mind right now. He was always a depth loan. Remember before the emergence of tribbet and yaro cb was a bug question mark.
Now that we have those two anderson will be gone in a month and no one will care. Anderson means nothing.
He wasn’t always a depth loan…that’s easy to say when he’s depth at the start of the season. You didn’t know he was a depth loan in February. These kinds of arguments are what drive me insane. Yes your hindsight is 100%.
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He was outplayed in camp— which then means his sizable salary and international spot are a complete waste in the Lehigh Valley… which makes my hindsight, of never signing him in the first place —- 100% as well.
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Yeah. I just dont see the problem. He is not blocking any other signings. He is not preventing us from making moves.
He was an ill advised move that did not work out bt was only a loan and will be gone forever soon. I guess i just dont see the issue here. Wed have a real issue if it wasnt a loan, for example. But its a loan.
El P, you have the instincts of an historian! Whether you know it, and you may, or not, you are arguing against “presentism”, interpreting everything against the values, standards assumptions and context that exist in the immediate present!
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The errors and misunderstandings that so arise from presentism are myriad. Would that you had been teaching my students back in the day.
Great. We all have duds. We all make mistakes. The only issue with it now is that he occupies an INTL slot. It seems to have been identified after all of 1 game against Dallas, and we’ll move on from it.
How do you come out flat after halftime?!? No excuses. Absolutely awful.
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I now have that uneasy feeling that we peaked a month ago, and the rest of the league is finally getting going. I’d be genuinely surprised if we finished in the top 3. Playoffs… yeah I think we can do that but 4th-5th place is more reasonable now. Teams regress to their mean. We are regressing while others get better.
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If Edu can’t be effective these last 3 months we are cooked. Barring a signing or trade in the the last week of the window.
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I need to remember we are the Union and we can’t have nice things.
“I love the friends I have gathered together on this thin raft.”
I feel you totally, the rest of the league is finding their stride while we are tripping over our feet…and I just don’t see edu making a much of a difference, I felt the past few years he’s been sub par, and coming off an injury that was supposed to be healed by the start of the season, I just don’t trust him to do anything
That was surprising to me. I feel like this season the Union have been a second half team – even in the other loses, they were mostly goals given up in the first half that they could not come back from.
The overall effectiveness of paint-by-number soccer tends to diminish in the heat of stretch drives it would appear.
Talent: consider purchasing it, or continue to serve up wins to the opposition on a quick-Silva Plata……….
* tonight only: w/ Burrito………
See now this is quality and artistic… shows me what your thinking without telling me what you’re thinking. This is the desired effect.
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Love admiring other’s work.
Anderson is the only “dud” on the Philadelphia’s entire MLS roster or is there more dead weight dragging down the Union’s ship that has sailed to exactly one win in the team’s last six competitive matches played?
I would think the U have to be disappointed with what they’re getting out of their midfield depth. Creavalle is just okay, and I think they expected a bigger leap from Fernandes than what we’ve seen. We’ve been fortunate that BC continues to perform at a good level, or our MF would be a really big mess post-Nogueira.
So sign somebody….can I get some freeken help over here? This team needs a boost from somewhere…Jones…Maurice….that striker from Holland who can bang in ten goals in a hurry. Take away the goals scored from the spot and I think you identify a problem that needs fixing Ernie.
Read your comment and in my head all heard was…” Can we get a friggin striker with a friggin Lazer beam on his friggin head..come on Union throw me a bone here!”
There is no excuse if this team doesn’t bring in some help in transfer window. If Union were in 8th place and building for next year or the year after, then I’d understand it. But currently we’re in playoff position, and clearly in need of help given recent run of form. If Union weren’t going to compete this year then Leo and Herbers and whoever else should have been getting starts instead of slow Ilsinho and almost-a-soccer-player Creavalle. But no, Jim Curtin is evidently trying to win games and make a playoff run. SO GET HIM PLAYERS! (Just make sure they fit into the 4-2-3-1 counterpress system bc he evidently can’t coach anything else.)
What I find most frustrating is that the Union probably had a better chance of winning with Herbers and/or Fernandes in the starting line-up last night than they did with the Alberg/Creavalle/Carroll trio in midfield. Did anyone expect good things with that combination at the center of the starting eleven?
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Alberg has been far from his best in recent games, and he did little against RSL other than convert the PK earned by Sapong. As for Creavalle and Carroll, when was the last time the Union looked good with the two of them on the field at the same time? Certainly not last night.
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The Union offense on Sunday picked up considerably after the second half substitutions. Perhaps if some of those reserve players had been on the pitch from the beginning, the game would have been more enjoyable for Union fans to watch.
We’ve moved our goalpost a long way forward in a very short time.
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And after all, the organization will encourage that sort of thinking because it does sell the odd ticket here and there.
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I doubt the underlying plan, which we will never see until we gain hindsight of it, has changed its thinking or its timetable. Earnie is surprised by how far the organization has come how fast.
But if you listen carefully, they know they are not there. This a rebuild that has started more favorably than expected. They have had two transfer windows, in a trilateral negotiating situation not bilateral.
The back line started really well because it had two outright two-way midfielders in front of it, plus an aging fossil who gets the concept and does better executing it than any off us had any expectation that he could, including his coach who talked about a hybrid playing-teaching role with Bethlehem last winter.
Against RSL that dinosaur was the closest thing to a two way midfielder on the pitch. Never say die goes only so far. See Verdun, 1916. Or Iwo Jima, 1945. In 1917 the French army had had enough of its officers’ blindness to reality and mutinied. We all know what happened to Japan after Iwo.
Or, what I’d prefer, just start the young guys, give up on this year, and find a coach who can coach. (We’re not going to win MLS Cup: we haven’t beaten a Western team all year. Shit, we can’t even beat a mediocre Eastern team like Montreal.) I agree with MikeRSoccer: start Jones at 8. Draft or sign a young #6. Start a front 4 that includes Herbers or Restrepo. If we played a front 6 – ie 4-4-2 – we could start them both!
There is one telling stat from last night’s game, blocked shots 7-0. RSL’s defense was organized and keeping the Union from getting clear shots. The Union weren’t doing that and two great shots from RSL found the back of the net. I don’t think the Union had two clear shots from within 25 yards all night (PK excluded).
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The Union defense needs to organize better and they need to find a way to break down the other team’s D.
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Looks like Gaddis will play next week since Fabinho is out again for yellow card accumulation.
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I do have to ask if Guzman is the worst ref in the league. Fouls were completely inconsistent. In the Union’s favor, I thought the PK was less of a foul than when CJ was pulled down a few minutes earlier outside the box which wasn’t called. So RSL figured the other wouldn’t be a foul. How many times did he warn players against stalling but no cards (except for walking through the circle after the last goal)? Unlimited use of hands against opposing players was completely overlooked.
Yeah, you know the ref is bad when the SoB chant “We Want Geiger”…
Agreed, Guzman was terrible. Let too many fouls happen without handing out cards and players started to take advantage of it. After that point, it’s hard to reinstate order and he didn’t even make an effort to.
Waste of 90mins of my time. Ugly, uninspired, listless. CJ Sapong is an athletic superfreak but somehow cannot get a boot to some of these passes? Tribett is a complete liability at this point. Alberg still acting like a 20-something year old child. Fabi played the best of the XI and barely contributed. Aside from his role in creating the PK, I didn’t even know Pontius was on the field. Ilsinho was Ilsinho (which is not a good review). Allstar Blake was beaten by two allstar goals – I fault him very little.
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This was a winnable game, through and through. I’m disappointed, through and through. Where oh where is Maurice Edu?
Your feelings of despondence…your sentiments of dejection…fill me with delicious sustenance…You all thought that you had forgotten me…you thought me banished by the Nethermerican…but much like the red eyed cicada, though I am not omnipresent, I will always return…I am the mistress that you are never fully free of…I am the extra large tub of Rocky Road that you finish all in one night…I am regret for having hope…I forever loom in the ever nearing distance…I am the Cliff and it’s like our motto always said, “Welcome to the Cliff of Union Despair, where no one truly leaves.”
I have returned… I admit for most of this year, I was physically not present on the Cliff, but mentally I never really left. Now I am seated with my feet dangling over the side, blissfully watching the sun rise. I have a feeling my seat will not be getting cold.
That’s fantastic, CUD.
unless reinforcements are coming, might be time to warm up the oven for those cookies.
Is the Sun Rocket fueled up?
That was my smile for the day!
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Can you please just hand them a damned cookie and encourage people to jump quickly as possible when they get there? 😉
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We want people to be in control of their jumps. We want gradeful swan dives. We want double salchows. We want triple Lindys. (Aesthetic is important!)
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I don’t want them slipping on all the melodrama that’s gonna be oozing around up there and ending up like that poor sap who hit the propeller in “Titanic”.
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(All said in good jest)
Like Jim Curtin’s cliches, you’ve been here all along!
A few thoughts and comments I’ve had in looking at this team.
1. This clearly has been an issue all season and has not been corrected and I for one can not understand why it is not corrected – Rosenberry constantly and without fail gets beat to the inside everytime (everytime it is his weak spot). Plata did it to him last night again resulting in only one goal, but beat him inside 5 times at least. I understand he is a rookie, I understand he was an all-star, but are you kidding me. He has played soccer enough to know that as an outside back you never push your guy to the middle of the field. He gets torched inside game in and game out and I for one have no idea how the coaches don’t correct this. A list of people I’ve seen beat him to the inside more than once Plata, Piatti, Castillo, Villa, Meram those are just a few off the top of my head that come to mind.
2. Warren Crevalle is no spot starter and is often lost on the field. Atheletic yes, organized no. Is nothing more than a sub in my opinion these spot starts are not helping this team.
3. BC is playing great, but needs the right partner. This leads me to my next point:
4. I know this is a stretch and I’m gonna get a lot of flax for this, but the Union need to pick up Mix. Just hear me out. No Mix has not been what he has in the past in Norway, but he is also not getting playing time. His value will not be any lower than it is now and he currently wants out. He fits this team playing the exact role Nogs played. He can distribute he has the skills and athleticism to go for 90 he is larger 6’0″ in size and better on the ball than any of our current CDMs except Barnetta, but this would allow Barnetta to move back to the 10. I think moving here would reinvigorate his career and you can get him on the cheap now. His current salary is no worse than Edu’s and I think he holds more value being only 25 years old. Also say we are gonna keep Edu. Can anyone on here argue that on paper a midfield of pontius barnetta ilsinho Mix and Edu doesn’t look good come playoff time. With a bench of Alberg, Le Toux, Carroll in the midfield. Then you come to the end of the season and you either keep Mix and Edu or unload one or the other. Value will rise for Mix as this team does not have someone with his abilities on it thus allowing him to show his value to the league.
5. The goal leaking seems to be a result of the fact that are young backline is starting to look like a young backline. They need to get back to simplicity and communication and organization in the back. To much crossing over by the CB and OBs are getting caught wide and upfield to often.
Not a big Mix fan but you make an excellent and compelling argument. Count me in.
Sadly, it looks as though the Union will stand pat as the transfer window closes on Wednesday morning at 1:00 AM. There’ll probably be a Maurice Edu fitness announcement just prior or post signing deadline. So we get homegrown Jones and Mo Edu as our reinforcements for the playoff run. Right? Is that not the script?
Adding no one is going to be hard to swallow. The goal posts moved this year, as stated well in previous articles and posts, and to do nothing is to sacrifice this season. Given the Union’s short existence, and even shorter amount of playoff experience (see: once)… this flat out F’N sucks. This team backs into the playoffs, assuming a total collapse does not happen, and goes no where. Sad, when less than a month ago we were in first.