Now, obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this match. We had almost zero chance to advance, and we threw out a bunch of reserves. Still, they played well despite adversity, and that gives me a little hope that we'll go out with a bang this weekend (assuming we have anything to play for). In the meantime, my sole talking point boils down to this:
CONCACAF is a joke, and the standard of its officiating is a miserable punch line.
Match recaps here (restrained) and here (less so) in case you missed it. One bad dream down, one to go?
Ugh.
Kasper and Payne must be held accountable for this debacle. I don't want to hear about injuries. Every team has injuries and the better teams like Houston are smart enough to plan ahead and manage their teams in a way that minimizes the effect injuries have on a team's chances of success for a whole year and all the competitions therein. DCU doesn't do that; their technical staff is a group of shallow imbeciles who manage their egos better than their team. Houston is smart and visionary, hence more successful. They deserve to pass DCU as the team that is the face of MLS and win thire 3rd MLS cup in a row next month.
ReplyDeleteNow that's a bit harsh, don't you think? By the world standard, we've "won the league" in the previous two years by dint of finishing the regular season with the most points. Admittedly, that gets you a shield and precious little else in MLS, but to me, it means we've been playing at a consistently high level over the previous two seasons.
ReplyDeleteWe were overextended and unlucky with injuries this year, both of which hurt us in a league that is ruled by parity. True, the FO has to absorb a lot of blame for signing high-priced foreign talent that didn't work out, ignoring the draft as a means of successful team-building, and failing to recognize the glaring lack of quality and depth in defense.
They screwed up this year. Let's see how they respond in the off-season. They're smart guys, hardly the "shallow imbeciles" you make them out to be, and I have faith that they'll learn from their mistakes. If they don't, I'll be the first to break the glass on the headsman's axe. But not quite yet.
PS. All of the above applies to Kasper/Payne. Soehn is another story. Inconsistent motivation, questionable team selection and rotation, and a lack of tactical nous have all long since damned him in my book.