Arena The Old Title Was Way Too Long: USMNT/MLS Discussion

Pogba to Atlanta United!

Mourinho to follow?

 

No thanks, we're good.
We'll try this and see how it goes...

So we lost Martino, Garza, and Almiron. Gained de Boer and Pity Martinez. Still feeling good about things overall.

On that note, the MLS season starts soon... Atlanta's first game is March 3rd, and first home game against new MLS team Cincinnati on the 10th. Looking forward to the new season.

Edit: Forgot to mention that Atlanta is also in the upcoming Concacaf Champions League. The other US/MLS teams in it are NY Red Bulls, Sporting Kansas City, and Toronto FC.

 

Guys ...

Guys ...


Guys


Columbus has a game today.

Columbus Crew. With no uncertainty hanging over their head.

Today.

Incredible.

 

Pretty frustrating to watch Columbus split points with an obviously undermanned RBNY squad that is prioritizing CCL play over early season MLS.

Thoughts on the overall:

Good to have Gaston Sauro back and starting. Sauro/Mensah might - might - be the best Center Back pairing in the league. That Gaston got the goal and I got to sing "no one heads like Gaston" was the icing on the cake.

Overall, it looked the team was still figuring out the minor details in Caleb Porter's system, and weren't always sure were to run, where to pass, who to look for, etc. Lots of unforced errors - including the goal - and lots of mistimed plays and just slightly wrongly hit balls.

Speaking of mistimed plays, I think Zardes just got flagged for offside again.

Higuain looks good, but RBNY had a plan to neutralize him, and it worked. Porter will need to find a way to counter that kind of initiative - Maybe Artur can shoulder more of the playmaking load?

Pedro Santos looked okay at times, like a diving *** sometimes, IIRC, he's the third highest paid player on the team, and we simply need out of him.

Justin Meram looked a step slow. Hopefully, it's preseason rust getting knocked off, and not a sign that he's regressing.

Impressed by Robinho, would have liked to see that sub sooner. Would have liked to see the team not have two subs wasted/unused.

Long season ahead, and the new playoff format means that unless you're a serious Shield contender, top seven is likely all that matters, so it's too tough to get upset about any dropped points this early.

And, honestly, the biggest win of the season is that this game happened.

 

Uggh, hope not. That was horrible. I hope the Concacaf games we also have going on now are partially an excuse, but I’m not sure what to make of this new coach yet. And new acquisition Brek Shea is really NOT impressive so far.

 

Brek Shea has just about always been a waste of a roster spot, everywhere he's been. Maybe not in Dallas, when he was "high potential", but ever since.

 

Terrible couple of nights for MLS in Champions League Play

Atlanta lost 3-0, Red Bulls lost 2-0 (at home), and Dynamo lost 2-0 (at home). The best (least bad, actually) result was Sporting Kansas City who took a 2-1 road defeat, but at least bagged an away goal to give hope of advancing.

It looks like the semifinals will be three Mexican teams, and the team from Panama likely, with KC maybe slipping in.

This continued lack of progress is, to me, another sign of the failed leadership of MK Dons Garber. If MLS wants to take another step forward - and, really, they should be trying to follow the Dutch model of being a buy/sell league - I think they need a new leader up top.

 

The Timbers start their season on a 12 game road trip. WTF?

 

Aren't they finishing up renovation on their stadium?

 

So this bad trend continued last night with a 1-1 tie at home against new MLS team Cincinnati. Nothing against Cincinnati, but they lost 1-4 to Seattle. And now last year's MLS Cup champions can only tie them at home? Fans are getting increasingly frustrated with our new coach, and many of them and even the players we have from previous years are saying that this tie feels like a loss. The frustration in some of those players is also pretty evident. De Boer seems stubbornly stuck on using formations and player positions that aren't working well for this team and its players, without giving any thought to using what worked better in the past. He's also still playing Brek Shea in all of every game so far. This isn't just for the MLS games so far, but also for the Concacaf games we've been in.

 

So, one kind of cool, semi-overlooked thing that happened in MLS week one.

The goal scored in Columbus was scored by Gaston Sauro, who many people thought his career was over a few years back. However, team doctor Dr. Pete Edwards worked extensively with Sauro, and got him back on the pitch last year, and he's starting this year. You might save Dr. Pete saved his career.

Well, Dr. Pete is one of the primary owners of the Crew,now, alongside the Haslem finally. Dr. Pete is the local investor who really put together the actual money to SaveTheCrew.

So, the first goal of the SavedTheCrew era was scored by a player whose career was saved by the new owner.

I love it. I've got goosebumps.

 

Not watching, but I'm pretty much in love with the idea of a McKennie/Trapped/Pulisic midfield. Trapp should be able to drop to support defense and play a holding/passing role will roughe that the other two can have freedom and be creative and it should be great in Berhalter's system

 

@EHT - Fun game on Saturday. I didn't watch past the weather stoppage due to the twins, but the highlights, gifs, and images were fun.

Some of my favorite stills:





seeing a lot of churn from Atlanta fans about FDB, and maybe looking to do a managerial change in June, with the Gold Cup Break providing cover. Your thoughts?

 

Yeah, it seems really quick. Still, though, lots of fans here are pretty upset with him so far. He seems pretty stubborn about formations, players for each position, etc., and it’s just not working so far. It’s still early in the season, but we’re currently last place in the eastern division... and we won the MLS Cup last season. We also didn’t do as well as we could have in Concacaf either. The biggest part that isn’t De Boer’s fault, though, is losing Almiron to Premier League. Things are taking a while to click without him.

 

Lol

USMNT drawn into a group with Trinidad and Tobago for the Gold Cup.

Lol

 

@SithLordDarthRichie @epic can you get Untied to sign Sean Johnson. Please?

 

The last time Tiger Woods won a major, Columbus won MLS Cup. BOOK IT

 

A win last weekend against New England (our only win of the season) temporarily moved us a little bit up in the rankings, but we lost again this past weekend to Dallas. So now we're back in last place in the Eastern Conference... uggh. Dissatisfaction with De Boer is really growing.

 

For those of you paying attention, Tim Weah was named to the US squad for the U-20 World Cup, while Tyler Adams and Josh Sargent were not. This likely indicates that Adams and Sargent will be included in the USMNT squad for the Gold Cup. Adams is a no brainer for that squad, Sargent is a bit more surprising. If you had told me one of Weah and Sargent would be going to the Gold Cup and one would be going to the U-20 World Cup, I would have bet on Weah going to the Gold Cup.

 

Bruce Arena has been hired by New England Revolution, bringing him one step closer to cementing his status as the "American Sam Allardyce"