Five games unbeaten? Shutout with three rooks on the back line? Road point against the league leaders and looking the more likely to win if anybody did?
Impressive. Even if the Galaxy were missing a couple of key offensive cogs. Some quick thoughts...
* Josh Wolff has had four fantastic looks at net over the last couple of games. He's finished one. Davies had a great chance to seal three points after beating both defense and keeper last night. Veteran finishers need to do better. I'll post my own caveat by saying that (1) I wasn't expecting Wolff to be much more than a veteran head coming off the bench for junk minutes holding leads, so his newfound playmaking role makes up for the lack of lethality (somewhat) and (2) Davies was always going to be a wild card and his production thus far has exceded what I thought we'd get from him.
* I continue to get that worried feeling about Pontius and his nasty case of the Quaranta's, but I'd rather have him healthy, confident, and looking to bite off more than he can possible chew than the inverse. Also, he's still playing well despite often being a touch too selfish (thought I go back and forth on whether that's really a bad thing). Speaking of worried feelings...Olsen's sideline behavior is creeping into Mourinho-land. I was thinking all that was missing was the "disbelieving/rueful smile after a botched play" moment when along came the Davies miss...
* Sticking with Olsen, I think he's found his tactical comfort zone with this group. Stay compact, attack generally on the counter with 3-4 players, and rely upon creativity from wide players, often pinching in. Sounds a bit like the USMNT, eh? After years of glacial, plodding attacks, it's gratifying to see a bit of urgency and some genuine quickness both with and without the ball. Not the most watchable stuff, I'll grant you, but getting better.
* If ever the set pieces were going to haunt a team that's been really poor against them, you'd figure a Timbers (nearly 70% of their goals come via dead balls) and Galaxy (hullo, Mr. Beckham) road swing would do the trick. Very happy to see progress being made combatting that particular weakness.
* I wonder if Davies gets back into this lineup as a starter or stays super-sub for a while? I like Brettschneider, and not just because he's a Suppie; his aerial work (only attacker outside of Pontius with this ability) and energy have both been excellent. Another one to wonder about? McCarty. Playing as part of a deeper holding pair in the center of midfield would seem to play to his strengths, but he hasn't exactly been missed, has he?
Color me almost shocked with where this team is at the moment. I knew there was some potential on the roster, but I figured the combination of youth on the bench and on the field would require more time to start stringing together consistent results. Indeed, prior to this 5 game unbeaten stretch, United were just about the train-wreck to moments-of-bliss roller coaster I had expected to be on for the majority of the season. Not that there still aren't glaring weaknesses to be addressed in the summer transfer window, but for now...
Vamos United!
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