Terrific piece you've written. Comprehensive as usual and with some keen insights. If the D can keep playing like it is, then that will carry the day for this team, offense be damned. That said, we'll see just what, if anything, Jona brings when he returns. I hope he's got more in the tank than he did at the end of last season.
Ortiz gets yellow-carded for dissent, but blubbering crybabies Vasquez and Wolf don't? Also, you were correct in calling out Moreno about his slow decision-making. I've found his play frustrating for a long time. He seems enamored with his ball handling, often to the detriment of effective play. Too often he either doesn't look for teammates open in the box or doesn't see them.
Drew Fischer is a very curious ref. On the one hand, he's a World Cup ref who called those matches tight but still allowed the world's best players plenty of good, flowing action.
OTOH there was his work on Saturday, where he wrung every bit of flow out of the match calling ticky-tacky fouls seemingly every minute, and blowing common fouls up into some of the softest bookings I've seen.
Great write up - I’d quibble though on the Ayala ranking. I’d put him at closer to 6.5.
He made quite a few mistakes during the game and I found it frustrating to see him literally getting in the way of our taller players in the opposition’s box during crosses. He’s too short to be in there during those situations and I’m not sure that level of aggression is helpful in the final 3rd in his position.
I like his doggedness on D, but he needs to stay out of the damned opposing box. He’s no help there.
There were some soft yellows, and sorry to see Fory out for next game. They seemed like they were building to a goal early in the second half and couldn't quite get it. Credit to Stuver, and it looked like Austin was determined not to get beat on the counter and always had plenty of numbers back.They also doubled Da Costa every chance they could, and he still looked dangerous. At times we looked simply untouchable, but the final product was just a hair away.
The first half it looked like there were nerves or tentativeness and there were some mistakes, and after getting into the flow they were really creative, and it set the stage for the second half. They really had the upper hand in the second half and put Austin under a lot of pressure, but let them off the hook with mistimed pass or a pass just out of reach or a cross not on the mark. I guess that's the frustrating part. It was a winnable game.
As a road game, it's always going to be a challenge, so a point is good. I'm not expert on xG, but I don't get how we had more shots and shots on target (they had one shot on target) and yet they had the better xG. The defense really looks great and a clean sheet was definitely deserved. It would have been awesome to see Miller get the header at the death.
I saw it a little differently than you Jeremy on the Fory/Bukari matchup. I thought Fory had Bukari in his pocket, and aside from a few attacks early, we didn't really hear from Bukari and he got subbed out for O'Brian.
Also, why the high praise for Ortiz? Not to bag on him, because I do see the need to conserve Chara's output, but aside from the first 10 minutes of the second half, he was not making himself available. He had a good 10 minutes, I will grant, in the second half due to getting himself in the play. It's interesting to note that he soon became injured. His first half of inaction forces Ayala to play like 1.5 midfielders and affects his game. Ortiz has a long way to go in my book.
And Paredes, the closer, you were pretty harsh on. He put in a tasty cross at the end.
Terrific piece you've written. Comprehensive as usual and with some keen insights. If the D can keep playing like it is, then that will carry the day for this team, offense be damned. That said, we'll see just what, if anything, Jona brings when he returns. I hope he's got more in the tank than he did at the end of last season.
Ortiz gets yellow-carded for dissent, but blubbering crybabies Vasquez and Wolf don't? Also, you were correct in calling out Moreno about his slow decision-making. I've found his play frustrating for a long time. He seems enamored with his ball handling, often to the detriment of effective play. Too often he either doesn't look for teammates open in the box or doesn't see them.
Drew Fischer is a very curious ref. On the one hand, he's a World Cup ref who called those matches tight but still allowed the world's best players plenty of good, flowing action.
OTOH there was his work on Saturday, where he wrung every bit of flow out of the match calling ticky-tacky fouls seemingly every minute, and blowing common fouls up into some of the softest bookings I've seen.
Absolutely. Fischer is a "good" ref compared to his league counterparts. But I swear he and the others must take extra training in being inconsistent.
That's some high-class ATZ snark, Jeremy - Team crest of Broccoli FC, indeed!
Great write up - I’d quibble though on the Ayala ranking. I’d put him at closer to 6.5.
He made quite a few mistakes during the game and I found it frustrating to see him literally getting in the way of our taller players in the opposition’s box during crosses. He’s too short to be in there during those situations and I’m not sure that level of aggression is helpful in the final 3rd in his position.
I like his doggedness on D, but he needs to stay out of the damned opposing box. He’s no help there.
Dude. $80 for parking is absolutely insane! Do people not use the train stop there? I know there’s one right by the stadium.
There were some soft yellows, and sorry to see Fory out for next game. They seemed like they were building to a goal early in the second half and couldn't quite get it. Credit to Stuver, and it looked like Austin was determined not to get beat on the counter and always had plenty of numbers back.They also doubled Da Costa every chance they could, and he still looked dangerous. At times we looked simply untouchable, but the final product was just a hair away.
The first half it looked like there were nerves or tentativeness and there were some mistakes, and after getting into the flow they were really creative, and it set the stage for the second half. They really had the upper hand in the second half and put Austin under a lot of pressure, but let them off the hook with mistimed pass or a pass just out of reach or a cross not on the mark. I guess that's the frustrating part. It was a winnable game.
As a road game, it's always going to be a challenge, so a point is good. I'm not expert on xG, but I don't get how we had more shots and shots on target (they had one shot on target) and yet they had the better xG. The defense really looks great and a clean sheet was definitely deserved. It would have been awesome to see Miller get the header at the death.
I saw it a little differently than you Jeremy on the Fory/Bukari matchup. I thought Fory had Bukari in his pocket, and aside from a few attacks early, we didn't really hear from Bukari and he got subbed out for O'Brian.
Also, why the high praise for Ortiz? Not to bag on him, because I do see the need to conserve Chara's output, but aside from the first 10 minutes of the second half, he was not making himself available. He had a good 10 minutes, I will grant, in the second half due to getting himself in the play. It's interesting to note that he soon became injured. His first half of inaction forces Ayala to play like 1.5 midfielders and affects his game. Ortiz has a long way to go in my book.
And Paredes, the closer, you were pretty harsh on. He put in a tasty cross at the end.