MOTM vs cRapids 9/21/05 [R]

[DadOf8]

I listened to this one on the radio, sort of. I was working so I didn't hear much of it, only the final score. I'll probably watch it if it's on mlsnet.com. Anyhow, does anyone have any thoughts on who the MOTM might be? Just curious.

[Scholesy]

Originally Posted by DadOf8

I listened to this one on the radio, sort of. I was working so I didn't hear much of it, only the final score. I'll probably watch it if it's on mlsnet.com. Anyhow, does anyone have any thoughts on who the MOTM might be? Just curious.

We gave it to two players for Colorado - Peguero and Cooke, both played well and made all the difference in the 2nd half. If we had given one to RSL I think it would likely be Cabrera, worked his tail off and is tactically a very smart player.

Hope you liked the broadcast.

[oussan]

The more I see (and hear) of Cabrera, the more I like him. I was fairly impressed with his effort in Frisco, too. Cabrera, Tarley... both some very nice acquisitions... Makes me hopeful for the future!

[Aerick]

Cabrera made a slew of crappy passes though. It was like he was on the Crapids team - passing it right to them on at least a few occassions. Plus, from my perspective, the first Crapids goal was partly his fault. Other than that, though - sure. I did like how he didn't always pass back to DJ. It seems like he would attempt some sort of forward movement of the ball all the time - even if it ended up going right to a Crapids player.

I thought Scarlett did a pretty good job out there. A couple of his crosses weren't right on, but he also seemed intent on pushing that left wing and getting the ball into a dangerous spot.

Tarley didn't do too badly from my vantage point either. He had that deadly header from that awesome Mathis corner kick that just happened to hit the GK (seemed to nearly knock him over too), and another chance on goal that went too high.

Watson didn't seem to play as energetically as he normally does. Perhaps it's because he started? He probably needed to conserve his energy for the duration of the match.

[RSL1]

Originally Posted by Aerick

Cabrera made a slew of crappy passes though. It was like he was on the Crapids team - passing it right to them on at least a few occassions. Plus, from my perspective, the first Crapids goal was partly his fault. Other than that, though - sure. I did like how he didn't always pass back to DJ. It seems like he would attempt some sort of forward movement of the ball all the time - even if it ended up going right to a Crapids player.

I thought Scarlett did a pretty good job out there. A couple of his crosses weren't right on, but he also seemed intent on pushing that left wing and getting the ball into a dangerous spot.

??? Were we watching the same game?

None of the above seems accurate to me. Cabrera was actually one of the few that DID find good passes. The midfielders weren't showing much and ye he still found their feet. Now, what the midfielders (read: Gregorio the biggest offender) did (or didn't do) with the ball after they received it is a different story. Cabrera was playing strong on the backline, filling in holes (man is that kid fast) and making smart, easy plays once he had possession. I recall one bad ball that he played up front, other than that the rest of his service was pleasantly surprising. I still believe that he's very clearly more refined and tactically aware of the game than the other RSL players and therefore going to be a huge upgrade going forward...once he gets in sync with the overall backline. Which leads to...

... the first goal. It was very clearly a miscommunication between the players. Watch it again. Maybe the Spanish/English thing? Check out Gregorio (I think it was him) stand behind Gustavo and not follow his man after the ball bounces. Further, Cabrera starts towards the deflected ball and then stops quickly - that was clearly when someone yelled. He may have though that Gregorio was calling him off from behind? Anyhow, that hesitation allows the Rapid forward to collect the ball. Also, watch Kamler, I think, who is next to Gustavo and also hesitates. Someone was clearly calling for that ball or calling someone off. Given his normally aggressive play, I don't think Cabrera let's that bounce if he's not called off.

On the flip side, I also disagree with your assessment of Scarlett. He simply has to do more with his time. On the contrary, he wasn't "pressing" the attack at all. Even when he had the ball and space to run he wasn't attacking. This is what I said he needed to work on when there was news of his arrival having watched him play with Jamaica. He has quick feet, yes, but his stepovers are rarely effective and he doesn't leave people behind after he gets them moving in the wrong direction. If he does get a step on them then he does try to beat them 1v1. He'll do some silly step over the other way and allow the defender to recover. Further, for all we hear about his speed, he has not gotten behind the defense to get himself open at all. He's simply gotta be more aggressive in the attacking third about making EFFECTIVE moves and not just pretty ones. His crossing was also pure garbage last night. All he was doing was blindly dumping it on the six. He wasn't picking out jerseys or finding people. The number of times that he let people block his crossing efforts was unacceptable too - he was very predictable out there once he got the ball on the end line. I fully expect him to be a long-term help, but he's got some stuff to work on.

[Rover]

Cabrera had a good game from what I saw on TV. I'd vote him MOTM.

[Aerick]

Originally Posted by RSL1

??? Were we watching the same game?

None of the above seems accurate to me. Cabrera was actually one of the few that DID find good passes. The midfielders weren't showing much and ye he still found their feet. Now, what the midfielders (read: Gregorio the biggest offender) did (or didn't do) with the ball after they received it is a different story. Cabrera was playing strong on the backline, filling in holes (man is that kid fast) and making smart, easy plays once he had possession. I recall one bad ball that he played up front, other than that the rest of his service was pleasantly surprising. I still believe that he's very clearly more refined and tactically aware of the game than the other RSL players and therefore going to be a huge upgrade going forward...once he gets in sync with the overall backline. Which leads to...

... the first goal. It was very clearly a miscommunication between the players. Watch it again. Maybe the Spanish/English thing? Check out Gregorio (I think it was him) stand behind Gustavo and not follow his man after the ball bounces. Further, Cabrera starts towards the deflected ball and then stops quickly - that was clearly when someone yelled. He may have though that Gregorio was calling him off from behind? Anyhow, that hesitation allows the Rapid forward to collect the ball. Also, watch Kamler, I think, who is next to Gustavo and also hesitates. Someone was clearly calling for that ball or calling someone off. Given his normally aggressive play, I don't think Cabrera let's that bounce if he's not called off.

On the flip side, I also disagree with your assessment of Scarlett. He simply has to do more with his time. On the contrary, he wasn't "pressing" the attack at all. Even when he had the ball and space to run he wasn't attacking. This is what I said he needed to work on when there was news of his arrival having watched him play with Jamaica. He has quick feet, yes, but his stepovers are rarely effective and he doesn't leave people behind after he gets them moving in the wrong direction. If he does get a step on them then he does try to beat them 1v1. He'll do some silly step over the other way and allow the defender to recover. Further, for all we hear about his speed, he has not gotten behind the defense to get himself open at all. He's simply gotta be more aggressive in the attacking third about making EFFECTIVE moves and not just pretty ones. His crossing was also pure garbage last night. All he was doing was blindly dumping it on the six. He wasn't picking out jerseys or finding people. The number of times that he let people block his crossing efforts was unacceptable too - he was very predictable out there once he got the ball on the end line. I fully expect him to be a long-term help, but he's got some stuff to work on.

Well, I'm not exactly a soccer genius so I rarely have the same perspective on the games that most of the notable people on this forum do. I guess I still have a few years of experienced soccer watching to properly analyze a game. I just called it like I saw it.

Cabrera seems like a good player, and has more speed and aggressiveness on that side than Akwari, but I also don't remember Akwari making as many notable bad passes.

As far as your comments on Scarlett are concerned, isn't it possible that when he had the opportunity to cross the ball he only had a choice of one of two options:

1) Cross to no one, because no one is there, or
2) Hold on to it until someone is there and risk getting the cross stopped, or losing the opportunity all together.

In my opinion, at least he's getting the ball into an area where he has options. Additionally, I felt that, as a wing, if you can get into those positions you can do one of two things:

1) Get a cross in the middle for someone to make a dangerous play, or
2) Rebound the cross against the defender for a corner kick.

He did both last night because he was in position to do so. I'll take either of those options versus neither. I don't remember seeing anything like that from the right wing last night (of course my memory of the game has already faded - and I didn't get to see the first 30 minutes of the game).

[ReAl]

Who was MOTM for the FCDallas game? Watson?

[prk166]

Originally Posted by RSL1

Cabrera was actually one of the few that DID find good passes.

Ya, if Harry Redknapp were the gaffer,he would say about Cabrera what he said about Haijto (also a new defender to his team Southampton) earlier this year. It was something like "I like Cabrera. He actually passes the ball which is a new concept we're trying out with our defenders this year." Not verbatim but something like that.

[Scholesy]

Originally Posted by prk166

Ya, if Harry Redknapp were the gaffer,he would say about Cabrera what he said about Haijto (also a new defender to his team Southampton) earlier this year. It was something like "I like Cabrera. He actually passes the ball which is a new concept we're trying out with our defenders this year." Not verbatim but something like that.

OK that's funny because I could just hear Harry Redknapp saying that as I read it .. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, that was surreal. 😆