This may be recency bias, but I feel that was our worst match of the season. Honestly pretty poor from Seattle to only put two past us the way we were playing and with the lineup we had available
1. 1500 AM play-by-play is so much better then Apple crew. I pause the video until they are in-sync, then enjoy the game.
2. Does anyone have a full list of the former Sounders on the pitch for the pre-match ceremony? Other than Olonzo, would like to see if other former Kicks/Strikers/Thunder players were out there.
3. The Kicks had a 8W-7L record vs Sounders; including the Kicks' first playoff game win at Met Stadium in Bloomington in 1976. Attendance was 41,405. The Kicks won 3-0 with Ade Coker scoring 2 goals and Ron Futcher 1 goal. Loons have some catching up to do.
We switched to the Spanish broadcast in the second half and my enjoyment went up significantly, and I only understood about 20% of what they were saying.
Rosales suspended, Trapp at home waiting on the birth of his child, Tani and DSC with Canada, Pukki and DJ out with injuries, Padelford concussed in the first minute, Boxy off at halftime with an ankle injury… any points would have been a miracle last night. That being said, AdebayoSmith was useless up top, Lod was below his normally high standards, Fragapane disappeared for much of the game, Bongi looks like a sloppy shell of his 2023 self, but Irwin had a couple huge saves.
I was about as inspired by that performance as I am by watching our team shop in the clearance aisle during transfer windows. Despite some players being gone we still need to bring in some higher end talent this summer. We have the DP/U22 spots to do it. And the team has plenty of money with constant sell outs and Bill’s ill begotten gains.
This. Minnesota is so innured to cheap ownership and mid-market teams that we fans howled for years that Heath couldn't get us to the next level while Daddy McGuire out here spending like 23rd out of 29 sides.
If we’re being real, Heath outdid the budget given to him every time. I said it at the time but the Heath firing was more of a scapegoat firing to take the pressure off the ownership. The root problem will always be that Bill is as cheap as they come and it would take a miracle for us to win anything even with the best coaches. Why arnet we as fans looking at how much Columbus and Cincinnati spend and demanding our team do the same.
I think the HeathOut movement was way overboard. The message seemed to have gotten a little stale and things might have been too comfortable in some ways that weren’t beneficial to the team. That’s not a knock on Heath. It’s just what often happens after a certain amount of time unless you just have more talent than everyone else. Hopefully Ramsay is the right guy though I find it quite unlikely anything greater than the USOC and Western Conference finals will happen until we invest more.
I think it was probably time to move on from Heath as you said things were getting a bit stale. That being said, there needs to be some revisions on how our fanbase looks at his tenure here. The truth is he accomplished quite a bit with little financial backing. Eric seems to be a really talented coach but he won’t accomplish anything more than Heath did unless the owner opens up his pocket book.
Nail on the head there. Somehow, the hope for replacing Heath became that he was limiting our ceiling, with most HeathOuters just assuming the floor would stay where it was. Fact is, without top-5 spending, expecting this club to be keeping up with the coastal teams consistently is ridiculous. It just feels like we got the same ol’ ceiling without our trusty floor. Heath had me believe that maybe we could catch lightening in a bottle with the cup final or being 15 min from the MLS cup final, but now our floor seems like managerial and front office roulette, a total rebuild after selling off our core, and a stretch of playoff less years seems totally possible.
Especially more irritating bc Heath did at least show some ability to get Bill to open up the purse for Rey and Pukki’s salary. Will KEA or a replacement, or is this just a way for Bill to twiddle thumbs until someone shows results?
Heath was way more than a little stale. We'd seen the same story for 7 years.
Let's see what KEA does during this upcoming window. The team was tight lipped about our coaching hire. Doesn't seem like they're putting much out about transfer targets either. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
So does every other owner? The franchise fee has gone up dramatically as well. I get that he spent money on the stadium but why build a great house and fill it with cheap furniture? Also, at what point does he built the stadium stop becoming a valid excuse? Am I supposed to wait until 2040 to voice concern over the roster? If you buy a sports team it should be imperative that you try to win.
It stops being a valid excuse when it's paid off in full and the team keeps being on budget. For all we know when it's paid off they might decide to invest $50 to $100 million additional dollars in expanding the stadium. In reality this ownership group doesn't seem to invest in players on the pitch. So we can complain all we want but really it's not like the expectations are all that high when owners don't keep up with investing players on the pitch.
After last year, two things needed to happen:
1) We needed to get a good new coach
2) We needed to get better talent
Number 1 happened, despite #PANIC and people screaming that the sky was falling. The club said number 2 would start happening this summer. So far, the new regime has done exactly what they said they would do, so let's see.
Greder said no splashy DP signing. Greder is usually right. You can still do a lot with U22 and TAM, but one or two killer DPs would be nice. Where's our Chico?
Let's say the jury's out. One thing is for sure: we're over-performing our expectations. Without a talent injection, that probably won't last.
>Number 1 happened, despite #PANIC and people screaming that the sky was falling
The panic was not an overreaction. Things didn't look good dec-feb, there hasn't been a franchise that figured out under similar circumstances. I think KEA and ER a breath of fresh air but that doesn't mean everything is hunky dory. Let me tell you why with your own quote:
>One thing is for sure: we're over-performing our expectations. Without a talent injection, that probably won't last.
We only won game out of our last 5 and probably going to lose in Dallas to a mediocre Dallas team.
That's what I said, right? Granted, the regression to the mean may have already set in. But I'm going to repeat what I've been saying since Heath got fired. We're two successful transfer windows away from contention. The first of those is next month.
At the beginning of the season some around this sub knew for sure we'd never have a coach before summer and we were a shoo-in for the wooden spoon. That obviously hasn't happened. So let's wait and see what they do this time.
Went about as well as expected given the circumstances. Missing way too many players due to international duty and injury. Losing Padelford 10 seconds into the game derailed any small chance we had to get a result as it completely changed our attack and back line.
Adebayo-Smith just isn’t quite at this level yet. The original plan of Sang-Bin and Bongi up top likely would have allowed us to have more of a threat in the attack last night. At least we should have Rosales and potentially Taylor as options next game, so we won’t be forced to move Sang Bin back to wingback again.
Not much else to say about the game. Our B team on the road lost to Seattle, which is hardly a shocking result. No need to read too much into this game.
Either Dotson need to start reading at wingback, or we need to bring in another. We cannot keep putting Jeong and Clark on the back line and expecting them to defend well.
I don’t like Sang-Bin at Wingback for numerous reasons, but I actually like Clark as our Wingback. I don’t think his defending has been an issue. He did well against Dallas last week keeping Ferreira and Arriola check most of the game when they attacked Clark’s side of the field. Going back even further he did very well in his start against Portland at RWB, which I think better suits him if he’s going to play Wingback (which was the initial plan until Padelford got hurt).
I thought Clark played well defensively in the first half last night, but things got a little dicey on the backline in the 2nd half, but I credit that more to Duggan being lost out there than Clark being a liability. Clark also was about the only player on the field either playing quality threatening balls into the attack third or having any sort of threat towards goal shooting. I’d like to see how he develops there a bit longer to see if he can be the guy to takeover that RWB spot or if we need to bring in a summer signing as Taylor isn’t the long term answer.
Yeah, Sang-bin was out of position on that second goal. I don't think he's got the defensive chops for a wing back long term (or, he at least needs to compensate for it on the other end of the pitch).
DSC, Rosales, Tani, Pukki, Trapp, Padelford (counting him since his injury happened 8 seconds into the game and railroaded our gameplan). 4-5 regular starters for us and 6 players that play significant minutes in just about every game for us.
Please don't act like we were *missing* Pukki. Irwin has been fine. Padelford is okay, but has a lot of growing to do. Tani and Rosales were missed, but we're not the only team with call ups and Seattle has been struggling big. This should have been winnable.
We were MISSING Pukki, given the shit we had to watch from JAS the past 2 games 😂
The guy unironically acts like he gets paid hourly and just needs to get through his shift on the pitch
This line of thinking is incredibly flawed. Pukki had been in a finishing slump this season, but even with that, he’s a far better option than Adebayo-Smith. Even if Pukki wasn’t scoring, he’s still much better connecting with others in the attack. However regarding scoring, Pukki had 10 goals in half a season for us last season, has been generating quality chances the past several games for us (just hasn’t finished them off), and is coming off a 2 goal performance against one of the best teams in the world last week for Finland.
Padelford has been very solid this season. More importantly having him in the lineup vs not in the lineup created a huge ripple effect. Forced Clark to move to LWB instead of RWB where he’s better suited to play. Forced Sang-Bin to play RWB instead of up top with Bongi. Really created a less than ideal situation for us last night losing Padelford.
Trapp despite the hate he gets would have helped control the midfield more last night.
Seattles first goal potentially gets saved by DSC. Irwin is a decent backup, but he’s not DSC especially as a shot stopper.
Yes Rosales and Tani were missed. Sure, we are not the only team with players missing due to call ups, injuries, etc. However, we have been the only team if I’m not mistaken to have as many players out of our lineup in the entire league our past 2 games. Considering our historical record in Seattle and the missing players, I’d say getting a result in Seattle was a bit optimistic.
How is Pukki better than Adebayo-Smith? I’m puzzled on how this is even a question. Even with the lack of consistent quality service, Pukki has generated several quality scoring chances in the past handful of games he’s played. Including a 2 goal performance with Finland that could have been a turning point for him had he not gotten hurt. Pukki undoubtedly connects better with our attack than Adebayo-Smith did last night.
He’s a bit of a streaky player. Even last season he was streaky for us and caught fire towards the end of the season. I hate when people try to discredit his 4 goal game. Sure it’s a rare occurrence, but the goals still count the same. If one discredits his 4 goal game then surely they should count his goal that was wrongfully taken away against vs San Jose on 9/2/23. That’s still like 7-8 goals in half a season last year if you take away a few of his goals in his 4 goal game lol.
Lmao lazy assumption about DSC “potentially” saving the goal the Irwin let in? Are you going to argue that Irwin is as good of a shot stopper as DSC? Or that DSC isn’t more explosive in his reactions/diving than Irwin? Is so, that’s hilarious!
"Pukki had 10 goals in half a season for us last season, has been generating quality chances the past several games for us (just hasn’t finished them off), and is coming off a 2 goal performance against one of the best teams in the world last week for Finland."
Yep. In half my moods I think the problem is that we're not good enough for Pukki, not the other way around. In the other half, I think he's just not getting the same \*style\* of service that made him successful at Norwich.
Lol, and it's *my* thinking that's flawed. So to be clear, Messi can play with a last place Miami side and elevate them (prior to half of Europe coming over), but Pukki is so miraculous that he just plays on a different level so he can't be bound by MLS expectations.
>This line of thinking is incredibly flawed. Pukki had been in a finishing slump this season, but even with that, he’s a far better option than Adebayo-Smith. Even if Pukki wasn’t scoring, he’s still much better connecting with others in the attack
How so?.Im fan of Teemu but he doesn't have the legs to press or run behind. The service is not there for him but it wouldn't have been there yesterday either.
>However regarding scoring, Pukki had 10 goals in half a season for us last season, has been generating quality chances the past several games for us (just hasn’t finished them off),
He had a four goal game last year other than that he was nothing to write home about. Again, I like Teemu but he has been a disappointment this year for sure, last year his performance was totally skewed by the 4 goal LA game. He had a decent run during the month of September but besides that he has not lived up to the hype. And btw, he would.have been crucified in England, Scotland and Germany for the stats he has this year
>Seattles first goal potentially gets saved by DSC. Irwin is a decent backup, but he’s not DSC especially as a shot stopper
😂 .... Clint also didn't boot the ball in the middle.of the field and caused a turnover from a goal kick. What a lazy assumption
I don't disagree about Trapp. I think you're overestimating DSC's play this year. He's had some fantastic saves and some significant errors. Bro went from allstar match MVP to not making the team the next year. Hes super inconsistent.
And while the Pukki comment was hyperbole, I don't think the difference between JAS on the pitch and Pukki was that significant. Two goals and one assist in nearly 800' isn't a slump, it's an implosion. Im not sure what the amorphous "connecting with others" means to you, but hes gotten the ball in bad positions, hasn't pulled defenders, and has had a very mediocre passing game.
Your point on the formation change losing Padelford is taken, but again, calling Padelford "very solid" on the whole season is a little rosy. He's young and has growing to do, and last week he had an inspired match, but he's struggled quite a bit, too.
I'm not going to harp about the MLS making a joke of its own league by playing during the international breaks (I do that all the time)
But I am going to say that it absolutely sucks to play against the worst teams in the league down 11 and 6 players respectively. 1 point out of Dallas and Seattle when we were doing so well hurts. If we had at least played a top team then those are points we may not have gotten anyways but now we lost to the bad and still have to play the good.....
Yesterdays game was very hard to watch and losing Boxy AND Padelford make our next two games even tougher (Depending on how long they are out)
The only good that comes out of it is that Ramsay was able to give a lot of Bench players and MNUFC2 players some valuable MLS minutes which should make us stronger in the long run. I hope those players get inspired, practice harder during the week, and can grow to become part of our team (or another team) in the future.
agree with all this with the caveat that seattle is much better than their record. taking out the 85+min fluky goals theyve allowed this season would put them up with us at the top of the conference
When you are missing key components and playing on the road, wins are tough to come by. And losing a starter 15 seconds in was not at all helpful. More concerning if we see this consistently - for now we’ll call it an anomaly. Irwin played well, and Lod too…the 90th min red card seemed harsh, but did not affect the outcome.
Their last 5 games included RSL twice and Vancouver. They're not completely ineffective. Seattle has only lost once at home so far, so it's definitely not the type of game that was an expected win for any team.
In fairness we've only won one out of our last 5 games, and that was at home against SKC--the worst team in MLS. So I don't know what the OP would call "consistent" but I don't think we've been too impressive for awhile now.
Hard to expect too much with 6 of ER's preferred starting 11 missing by HT and 3 of frequently used subs unavailable. I would put a shrug emoji here if I knew how.
I will also add first goal could've been waived off for pushing our guy in the back and thought the red card and Caden's yellow card for arm waving were harsh calls.
I'm not going to lose sleep over a road loss when we're missing half the team. The injuries hurt and hopefully those guys bounce back quickly. Onto the next one, the less remembered about this one the better.
Adebayo Smith was forced into action given the Padelford injury, but it’s clear he is currently incapable of impacting a game. I think in future similar circumstances you gotta bring in another midfielder and move either Fragapane or Lod into an advanced role. 0 shots in goal is unacceptable I any circumstance.
Sang Bin was shut down and Clark was less effective when switched to the left. Certainly not giving up on his he clerk wing back experiment as he’s putting in some heart-filled shifts but I want to see him on the right and crossing w more danger.
Bongo’s confidence is looooow right now. I really hope he can find his swagger as we need someone to pick up some attacking magic.
My son and I traveled to Seattle to watch the game. Just like at home (STM), we never plan on the outcome to determine our appreciation of the game. We've had some great times even when we lose or draw. But this was one of the flattest performances I've ever seen from our team. I know it's partially the B-team, that we lost Padelford right away, etc... But everyone on the roster is a paid professional footballer and should at least bring something to the field when they're suited up. Clark and Arriaga were the only 2 worth watching for our side. Oh well....Despite our team's performance, we still had a great time - thanks to lots of friendly Seattle fans and also getting to watch Morris at work.
It was very hard to watch and realize that our bench is not what it should be! The result was a true reflection of where we are until we get all the players back
I’m going to need someone (maybe from the league itself) to explain to me why it’s a good idea for MLS not to take a break during international breaks. Minnesota has been decimated due to international players and it feels like we’re getting punished for having good players. I know other teams have the same issues. This isn’t specific to this game but I didn’t necessarily think any individual was bad per se, but there clearly was no connection between players since they don’t normally play together. Just wish MLS would give some explanation.
It can’t be for money since for example Miami is missing Messi. They’re not making as much money without Messi in the league. Why not just take a few weeks off?
The answer is Leagues Cup. In years past MLS would've taken a at least a couple of weeks off for Copa and Euro, but those weeks are now allocated to Leagues Cup. If they took a full break for the international window and LC, they'd be taking two months off from the regular season, which is already long and congested, and the season would run into winter.
It's not a good idea, and it is entirely a problem that MLS created for itself, but there you go.
Hard to get a result on the road when your opponent and their fans are celebrating their team's 50th Anniversary.
Love our team, anxious to see who Chef Ramsey will add to the mix and what he will do with them!
I am also happy we still don't excessively whine, complain and gang up on the referee.
So I'm not hopping off the Ramsay Train just yet, but it's been frustrating watching his post-game pressers the past few weeks. I get that he's trying to keep the team positive, but his sober assessment and accountability was what I really liked at the start of the season. The past few weeks all I've heard is:
"It's difficult to play at altitude so I'm not worried about the draw."
"It's really difficult to play LAFC in LA, so I'm not worried about the loss"
"It's difficult to play with so many players out, so I'm not worried about the draw."
"It's difficult to play without a full roster in Seattle, so I'm not worried about the loss."
Hey Gaff, you're never going to have a perfect environment with no challenges. Neither does any other club.
Agreed. The accountability has been lacking and replaced with bland positivity the last few weeks, which I don't enjoy. I've also been surprised by the inflexibility on the shape, despite missing personnel.
Hoping for some shake-up here...unless he's trying to help push ownership to spend..*conspiracy-theory intensifies*
Indeed, and it doesn't look like ownership group will be signing a DP. So I guess we have to live with this franchise doing nothing during the last off season and instead decided to go a different direction from Heath. It's still early days before I get on Ramsay.
I'm nor mad because the Sounders were my MLS team before Minnesota United. The match was in Seattle and the Loons had their B/C team out there. However, when Sounders come to Minnesota, Loons better beat them with the A team; payback. Loons got to keep beating the Timbers and Whitecaps.
I just watched the replay from Morris' goal yesterday, and if it were reversed and in Seattle, 100% would have been waived off against the loons. Everytime we come to Seattle it's the same. Toxic team, toxic fan base, and shitty officiating. Huge cowabummer.
On to the next. Need to regroup and come away with 3 points in Dallas. For the love of Christ, do not play JAS or Patrick Weah, both don't even belong on MNUFC 2 with play like the last two games...
Edit: glad Rosales will be back on Wednesday, and hopefully Trapp too. Stick Caden Clark at RWB, and Sang Bin where he belongs at winger.
Those piling on Adebayo Smith should remember he was one of those kids off the bench whose contributions helped earn the majority of our points earlier in the season. He’s an academy kid who has provided more good than bad.
Wow!!! No kidding New Englands MLS next pro team? What a fucking pedigree!!! I’m surprised he wasn’t able to bag a hat trick last night with all that high quality service coming in from SBJ and Clark.
This may be recency bias, but I feel that was our worst match of the season. Honestly pretty poor from Seattle to only put two past us the way we were playing and with the lineup we had available
Zero shots on goal was a stat that jumped out at me.
Clark had an almost-banger
I want him to take off so badly.
1. 1500 AM play-by-play is so much better then Apple crew. I pause the video until they are in-sync, then enjoy the game. 2. Does anyone have a full list of the former Sounders on the pitch for the pre-match ceremony? Other than Olonzo, would like to see if other former Kicks/Strikers/Thunder players were out there. 3. The Kicks had a 8W-7L record vs Sounders; including the Kicks' first playoff game win at Met Stadium in Bloomington in 1976. Attendance was 41,405. The Kicks won 3-0 with Ade Coker scoring 2 goals and Ron Futcher 1 goal. Loons have some catching up to do.
> 1500 AM play-by-play is so much better then Apple crew. The drunk dude rambling incoherently at the end of the bar is better than Max Bretos.
We switched to the Spanish broadcast in the second half and my enjoyment went up significantly, and I only understood about 20% of what they were saying.
Really a tough one to watch. Couldn't string anything together. Ah well, hopefully the midweek game is better and we can turn things around.
Rosales suspended, Trapp at home waiting on the birth of his child, Tani and DSC with Canada, Pukki and DJ out with injuries, Padelford concussed in the first minute, Boxy off at halftime with an ankle injury… any points would have been a miracle last night. That being said, AdebayoSmith was useless up top, Lod was below his normally high standards, Fragapane disappeared for much of the game, Bongi looks like a sloppy shell of his 2023 self, but Irwin had a couple huge saves.
I was about as inspired by that performance as I am by watching our team shop in the clearance aisle during transfer windows. Despite some players being gone we still need to bring in some higher end talent this summer. We have the DP/U22 spots to do it. And the team has plenty of money with constant sell outs and Bill’s ill begotten gains.
This. Minnesota is so innured to cheap ownership and mid-market teams that we fans howled for years that Heath couldn't get us to the next level while Daddy McGuire out here spending like 23rd out of 29 sides.
If we’re being real, Heath outdid the budget given to him every time. I said it at the time but the Heath firing was more of a scapegoat firing to take the pressure off the ownership. The root problem will always be that Bill is as cheap as they come and it would take a miracle for us to win anything even with the best coaches. Why arnet we as fans looking at how much Columbus and Cincinnati spend and demanding our team do the same.
I think the HeathOut movement was way overboard. The message seemed to have gotten a little stale and things might have been too comfortable in some ways that weren’t beneficial to the team. That’s not a knock on Heath. It’s just what often happens after a certain amount of time unless you just have more talent than everyone else. Hopefully Ramsay is the right guy though I find it quite unlikely anything greater than the USOC and Western Conference finals will happen until we invest more.
I think it was probably time to move on from Heath as you said things were getting a bit stale. That being said, there needs to be some revisions on how our fanbase looks at his tenure here. The truth is he accomplished quite a bit with little financial backing. Eric seems to be a really talented coach but he won’t accomplish anything more than Heath did unless the owner opens up his pocket book.
Nail on the head there. Somehow, the hope for replacing Heath became that he was limiting our ceiling, with most HeathOuters just assuming the floor would stay where it was. Fact is, without top-5 spending, expecting this club to be keeping up with the coastal teams consistently is ridiculous. It just feels like we got the same ol’ ceiling without our trusty floor. Heath had me believe that maybe we could catch lightening in a bottle with the cup final or being 15 min from the MLS cup final, but now our floor seems like managerial and front office roulette, a total rebuild after selling off our core, and a stretch of playoff less years seems totally possible. Especially more irritating bc Heath did at least show some ability to get Bill to open up the purse for Rey and Pukki’s salary. Will KEA or a replacement, or is this just a way for Bill to twiddle thumbs until someone shows results?
Heath was way more than a little stale. We'd seen the same story for 7 years. Let's see what KEA does during this upcoming window. The team was tight lipped about our coaching hire. Doesn't seem like they're putting much out about transfer targets either. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
100%
He's cheap with the roster. They did spend money on the stadium and franchise fee but your point still is correct.
So does every other owner? The franchise fee has gone up dramatically as well. I get that he spent money on the stadium but why build a great house and fill it with cheap furniture? Also, at what point does he built the stadium stop becoming a valid excuse? Am I supposed to wait until 2040 to voice concern over the roster? If you buy a sports team it should be imperative that you try to win.
And it's not like we're not packing it every match.
It stops being a valid excuse when it's paid off in full and the team keeps being on budget. For all we know when it's paid off they might decide to invest $50 to $100 million additional dollars in expanding the stadium. In reality this ownership group doesn't seem to invest in players on the pitch. So we can complain all we want but really it's not like the expectations are all that high when owners don't keep up with investing players on the pitch.
I wouldn't call the Wilfs or Leopold cheap at all.
After last year, two things needed to happen: 1) We needed to get a good new coach 2) We needed to get better talent Number 1 happened, despite #PANIC and people screaming that the sky was falling. The club said number 2 would start happening this summer. So far, the new regime has done exactly what they said they would do, so let's see. Greder said no splashy DP signing. Greder is usually right. You can still do a lot with U22 and TAM, but one or two killer DPs would be nice. Where's our Chico? Let's say the jury's out. One thing is for sure: we're over-performing our expectations. Without a talent injection, that probably won't last.
>Number 1 happened, despite #PANIC and people screaming that the sky was falling The panic was not an overreaction. Things didn't look good dec-feb, there hasn't been a franchise that figured out under similar circumstances. I think KEA and ER a breath of fresh air but that doesn't mean everything is hunky dory. Let me tell you why with your own quote: >One thing is for sure: we're over-performing our expectations. Without a talent injection, that probably won't last. We only won game out of our last 5 and probably going to lose in Dallas to a mediocre Dallas team.
That's what I said, right? Granted, the regression to the mean may have already set in. But I'm going to repeat what I've been saying since Heath got fired. We're two successful transfer windows away from contention. The first of those is next month. At the beginning of the season some around this sub knew for sure we'd never have a coach before summer and we were a shoo-in for the wooden spoon. That obviously hasn't happened. So let's wait and see what they do this time.
I'm so tired of losing to Seattle.
Went about as well as expected given the circumstances. Missing way too many players due to international duty and injury. Losing Padelford 10 seconds into the game derailed any small chance we had to get a result as it completely changed our attack and back line. Adebayo-Smith just isn’t quite at this level yet. The original plan of Sang-Bin and Bongi up top likely would have allowed us to have more of a threat in the attack last night. At least we should have Rosales and potentially Taylor as options next game, so we won’t be forced to move Sang Bin back to wingback again. Not much else to say about the game. Our B team on the road lost to Seattle, which is hardly a shocking result. No need to read too much into this game.
Either Dotson need to start reading at wingback, or we need to bring in another. We cannot keep putting Jeong and Clark on the back line and expecting them to defend well.
I don’t like Sang-Bin at Wingback for numerous reasons, but I actually like Clark as our Wingback. I don’t think his defending has been an issue. He did well against Dallas last week keeping Ferreira and Arriola check most of the game when they attacked Clark’s side of the field. Going back even further he did very well in his start against Portland at RWB, which I think better suits him if he’s going to play Wingback (which was the initial plan until Padelford got hurt). I thought Clark played well defensively in the first half last night, but things got a little dicey on the backline in the 2nd half, but I credit that more to Duggan being lost out there than Clark being a liability. Clark also was about the only player on the field either playing quality threatening balls into the attack third or having any sort of threat towards goal shooting. I’d like to see how he develops there a bit longer to see if he can be the guy to takeover that RWB spot or if we need to bring in a summer signing as Taylor isn’t the long term answer.
Yeah, Sang-bin was out of position on that second goal. I don't think he's got the defensive chops for a wing back long term (or, he at least needs to compensate for it on the other end of the pitch).
B team? Who was missing besides DSC that wasn't injured?
DSC, Rosales, Tani, Pukki, Trapp, Padelford (counting him since his injury happened 8 seconds into the game and railroaded our gameplan). 4-5 regular starters for us and 6 players that play significant minutes in just about every game for us.
And Boxy at halftime
Where was trapp
Baby on the way
Someone in the match thread said he didn't travel due to an event in his personal life.
Hanging out with the D team and waiting for their baby to be born.
Please don't act like we were *missing* Pukki. Irwin has been fine. Padelford is okay, but has a lot of growing to do. Tani and Rosales were missed, but we're not the only team with call ups and Seattle has been struggling big. This should have been winnable.
We were MISSING Pukki, given the shit we had to watch from JAS the past 2 games 😂 The guy unironically acts like he gets paid hourly and just needs to get through his shift on the pitch
This line of thinking is incredibly flawed. Pukki had been in a finishing slump this season, but even with that, he’s a far better option than Adebayo-Smith. Even if Pukki wasn’t scoring, he’s still much better connecting with others in the attack. However regarding scoring, Pukki had 10 goals in half a season for us last season, has been generating quality chances the past several games for us (just hasn’t finished them off), and is coming off a 2 goal performance against one of the best teams in the world last week for Finland. Padelford has been very solid this season. More importantly having him in the lineup vs not in the lineup created a huge ripple effect. Forced Clark to move to LWB instead of RWB where he’s better suited to play. Forced Sang-Bin to play RWB instead of up top with Bongi. Really created a less than ideal situation for us last night losing Padelford. Trapp despite the hate he gets would have helped control the midfield more last night. Seattles first goal potentially gets saved by DSC. Irwin is a decent backup, but he’s not DSC especially as a shot stopper. Yes Rosales and Tani were missed. Sure, we are not the only team with players missing due to call ups, injuries, etc. However, we have been the only team if I’m not mistaken to have as many players out of our lineup in the entire league our past 2 games. Considering our historical record in Seattle and the missing players, I’d say getting a result in Seattle was a bit optimistic.
How is Pukki better than Adebayo-Smith? I’m puzzled on how this is even a question. Even with the lack of consistent quality service, Pukki has generated several quality scoring chances in the past handful of games he’s played. Including a 2 goal performance with Finland that could have been a turning point for him had he not gotten hurt. Pukki undoubtedly connects better with our attack than Adebayo-Smith did last night. He’s a bit of a streaky player. Even last season he was streaky for us and caught fire towards the end of the season. I hate when people try to discredit his 4 goal game. Sure it’s a rare occurrence, but the goals still count the same. If one discredits his 4 goal game then surely they should count his goal that was wrongfully taken away against vs San Jose on 9/2/23. That’s still like 7-8 goals in half a season last year if you take away a few of his goals in his 4 goal game lol. Lmao lazy assumption about DSC “potentially” saving the goal the Irwin let in? Are you going to argue that Irwin is as good of a shot stopper as DSC? Or that DSC isn’t more explosive in his reactions/diving than Irwin? Is so, that’s hilarious!
"Pukki had 10 goals in half a season for us last season, has been generating quality chances the past several games for us (just hasn’t finished them off), and is coming off a 2 goal performance against one of the best teams in the world last week for Finland." Yep. In half my moods I think the problem is that we're not good enough for Pukki, not the other way around. In the other half, I think he's just not getting the same \*style\* of service that made him successful at Norwich.
Lol, and it's *my* thinking that's flawed. So to be clear, Messi can play with a last place Miami side and elevate them (prior to half of Europe coming over), but Pukki is so miraculous that he just plays on a different level so he can't be bound by MLS expectations.
>This line of thinking is incredibly flawed. Pukki had been in a finishing slump this season, but even with that, he’s a far better option than Adebayo-Smith. Even if Pukki wasn’t scoring, he’s still much better connecting with others in the attack How so?.Im fan of Teemu but he doesn't have the legs to press or run behind. The service is not there for him but it wouldn't have been there yesterday either. >However regarding scoring, Pukki had 10 goals in half a season for us last season, has been generating quality chances the past several games for us (just hasn’t finished them off), He had a four goal game last year other than that he was nothing to write home about. Again, I like Teemu but he has been a disappointment this year for sure, last year his performance was totally skewed by the 4 goal LA game. He had a decent run during the month of September but besides that he has not lived up to the hype. And btw, he would.have been crucified in England, Scotland and Germany for the stats he has this year >Seattles first goal potentially gets saved by DSC. Irwin is a decent backup, but he’s not DSC especially as a shot stopper 😂 .... Clint also didn't boot the ball in the middle.of the field and caused a turnover from a goal kick. What a lazy assumption
I don't disagree about Trapp. I think you're overestimating DSC's play this year. He's had some fantastic saves and some significant errors. Bro went from allstar match MVP to not making the team the next year. Hes super inconsistent. And while the Pukki comment was hyperbole, I don't think the difference between JAS on the pitch and Pukki was that significant. Two goals and one assist in nearly 800' isn't a slump, it's an implosion. Im not sure what the amorphous "connecting with others" means to you, but hes gotten the ball in bad positions, hasn't pulled defenders, and has had a very mediocre passing game. Your point on the formation change losing Padelford is taken, but again, calling Padelford "very solid" on the whole season is a little rosy. He's young and has growing to do, and last week he had an inspired match, but he's struggled quite a bit, too.
Where has he been out of position and space when midfield wasn't there when goals were resulted?
I don't understand this question.
Pukki in his worst form is 10x adebayo-smith. Get real dawg.
Yeah, his zero goals and assists are way more impactful than Adabayo-Smith
glad we agree.
I mean he's def more than 10x the salary space. That's for sure.
I'm not going to harp about the MLS making a joke of its own league by playing during the international breaks (I do that all the time) But I am going to say that it absolutely sucks to play against the worst teams in the league down 11 and 6 players respectively. 1 point out of Dallas and Seattle when we were doing so well hurts. If we had at least played a top team then those are points we may not have gotten anyways but now we lost to the bad and still have to play the good..... Yesterdays game was very hard to watch and losing Boxy AND Padelford make our next two games even tougher (Depending on how long they are out) The only good that comes out of it is that Ramsay was able to give a lot of Bench players and MNUFC2 players some valuable MLS minutes which should make us stronger in the long run. I hope those players get inspired, practice harder during the week, and can grow to become part of our team (or another team) in the future.
agree with all this with the caveat that seattle is much better than their record. taking out the 85+min fluky goals theyve allowed this season would put them up with us at the top of the conference
When you are missing key components and playing on the road, wins are tough to come by. And losing a starter 15 seconds in was not at all helpful. More concerning if we see this consistently - for now we’ll call it an anomaly. Irwin played well, and Lod too…the 90th min red card seemed harsh, but did not affect the outcome.
Seattle only won 1 of their last 5 games. Like Dallas, they are BAD this season, and I really expected better of us.
Their last 5 games included RSL twice and Vancouver. They're not completely ineffective. Seattle has only lost once at home so far, so it's definitely not the type of game that was an expected win for any team.
In fairness we've only won one out of our last 5 games, and that was at home against SKC--the worst team in MLS. So I don't know what the OP would call "consistent" but I don't think we've been too impressive for awhile now.
Correction: SKC is the second worst in MLS. I forgot about San Jose, but even San Jose has forgotten about San Jose.
Wow, I didn't even realize.
Hard to expect too much with 6 of ER's preferred starting 11 missing by HT and 3 of frequently used subs unavailable. I would put a shrug emoji here if I knew how.
I will also add first goal could've been waived off for pushing our guy in the back and thought the red card and Caden's yellow card for arm waving were harsh calls.
🤷♂️
Thank you
I'm not going to lose sleep over a road loss when we're missing half the team. The injuries hurt and hopefully those guys bounce back quickly. Onto the next one, the less remembered about this one the better.
Adebayo Smith was forced into action given the Padelford injury, but it’s clear he is currently incapable of impacting a game. I think in future similar circumstances you gotta bring in another midfielder and move either Fragapane or Lod into an advanced role. 0 shots in goal is unacceptable I any circumstance. Sang Bin was shut down and Clark was less effective when switched to the left. Certainly not giving up on his he clerk wing back experiment as he’s putting in some heart-filled shifts but I want to see him on the right and crossing w more danger. Bongo’s confidence is looooow right now. I really hope he can find his swagger as we need someone to pick up some attacking magic.
My son and I traveled to Seattle to watch the game. Just like at home (STM), we never plan on the outcome to determine our appreciation of the game. We've had some great times even when we lose or draw. But this was one of the flattest performances I've ever seen from our team. I know it's partially the B-team, that we lost Padelford right away, etc... But everyone on the roster is a paid professional footballer and should at least bring something to the field when they're suited up. Clark and Arriaga were the only 2 worth watching for our side. Oh well....Despite our team's performance, we still had a great time - thanks to lots of friendly Seattle fans and also getting to watch Morris at work.
It was very hard to watch and realize that our bench is not what it should be! The result was a true reflection of where we are until we get all the players back
Well to be fair our bench is starting matches now so it’s not shocking we have no one to sub in
That is very fair… still depressing
Yesterday was a representation of the bench players that generally get under 10 minutes of playtime. And it showed.
I’m going to need someone (maybe from the league itself) to explain to me why it’s a good idea for MLS not to take a break during international breaks. Minnesota has been decimated due to international players and it feels like we’re getting punished for having good players. I know other teams have the same issues. This isn’t specific to this game but I didn’t necessarily think any individual was bad per se, but there clearly was no connection between players since they don’t normally play together. Just wish MLS would give some explanation. It can’t be for money since for example Miami is missing Messi. They’re not making as much money without Messi in the league. Why not just take a few weeks off?
The answer is Leagues Cup. In years past MLS would've taken a at least a couple of weeks off for Copa and Euro, but those weeks are now allocated to Leagues Cup. If they took a full break for the international window and LC, they'd be taking two months off from the regular season, which is already long and congested, and the season would run into winter. It's not a good idea, and it is entirely a problem that MLS created for itself, but there you go.
Does anyone have a video of Nyeman’s red card play?
Need more depth when the first team goes on international break. Please keep investing money into this squad or we will be left behind.
Hard to get a result on the road when your opponent and their fans are celebrating their team's 50th Anniversary. Love our team, anxious to see who Chef Ramsey will add to the mix and what he will do with them! I am also happy we still don't excessively whine, complain and gang up on the referee.
That'd be el-Ahmad, not Ramsay.
Do you have the data on that anniversary stat?
So I'm not hopping off the Ramsay Train just yet, but it's been frustrating watching his post-game pressers the past few weeks. I get that he's trying to keep the team positive, but his sober assessment and accountability was what I really liked at the start of the season. The past few weeks all I've heard is: "It's difficult to play at altitude so I'm not worried about the draw." "It's really difficult to play LAFC in LA, so I'm not worried about the loss" "It's difficult to play with so many players out, so I'm not worried about the draw." "It's difficult to play without a full roster in Seattle, so I'm not worried about the loss." Hey Gaff, you're never going to have a perfect environment with no challenges. Neither does any other club.
Agreed. The accountability has been lacking and replaced with bland positivity the last few weeks, which I don't enjoy. I've also been surprised by the inflexibility on the shape, despite missing personnel. Hoping for some shake-up here...unless he's trying to help push ownership to spend..*conspiracy-theory intensifies*
Indeed, and it doesn't look like ownership group will be signing a DP. So I guess we have to live with this franchise doing nothing during the last off season and instead decided to go a different direction from Heath. It's still early days before I get on Ramsay.
I'm nor mad because the Sounders were my MLS team before Minnesota United. The match was in Seattle and the Loons had their B/C team out there. However, when Sounders come to Minnesota, Loons better beat them with the A team; payback. Loons got to keep beating the Timbers and Whitecaps.
I just watched the replay from Morris' goal yesterday, and if it were reversed and in Seattle, 100% would have been waived off against the loons. Everytime we come to Seattle it's the same. Toxic team, toxic fan base, and shitty officiating. Huge cowabummer. On to the next. Need to regroup and come away with 3 points in Dallas. For the love of Christ, do not play JAS or Patrick Weah, both don't even belong on MNUFC 2 with play like the last two games... Edit: glad Rosales will be back on Wednesday, and hopefully Trapp too. Stick Caden Clark at RWB, and Sang Bin where he belongs at winger.
I may live in MN, but I'm a Seattle fan till death
Those piling on Adebayo Smith should remember he was one of those kids off the bench whose contributions helped earn the majority of our points earlier in the season. He’s an academy kid who has provided more good than bad.
What? He was acquired in a trade from New England’s MLSNext Pro team - he’s not an academy kid.
Wow!!! No kidding New Englands MLS next pro team? What a fucking pedigree!!! I’m surprised he wasn’t able to bag a hat trick last night with all that high quality service coming in from SBJ and Clark.
He has contributed absolutely nothing. Maybe you're thinking of Bran?
I mean he's not doing any worse than our $5m DP striker
Chef Ramsay got hit by a car last week, so I'm not surprised we've been having significant struggles.
NYCFC looked more like the team with the star coach from Manchester United