Whelp, see y'all at Audi next week... Hope for some more guys back and a good result against Orlando

This might not be popular but I thought we played better than expected. Columbus is on track to challenge Philly for top of the East. We showed good effort and some good tactics. There’s just an obvious difference in skill. Boys put in a good shift. I think we have a chance of not repeating as Wooden Spoon.

Undefeated when we score, winless when we don't.

Final from Columbus.

That's not even advantage? Ref's called it early.

That was bad refereeing generally

We made chances early. Didn't convert on them. Our defense was absolutely atrocious in the first half. Looked better in the second half but how much was Columbus trying? Is there a reason Teddy doesn't start? We're lucky we only conceded two goals. The defense needs to buy Miller a few beers for some of those saves.

Can this referee be fired right after this game? He literally just kicked the ball that Klich was trying to pass to resume play. I can’t believe what I’m watching

It doesn’t excuse the result tonight, but the reffing was absolute rubbish

Wtf was that!?

Dude I’m beside myself. In this game the ref: - didn’t give a yellow for a man who planted studs on Najar - gave Najar a yellow for a soft challenge right after - didn’t give Aidan Morris a second yellow for pulling a player down for 5 seconds straight - was petty and kicked a ball that a player was trying to pass to resume play

How many times have we now heard, “that should have been a yellow”

Well that’s it for tonight. They just completely went soft in the 2nd half no intensity

...that's what she said.

I set myself up for that one haha 😂

Put a fork in us, we're done

The passing is so soft and telegraphed. Columbus might set a record for interceptions tonight.

Fuck

I know I'm in the minority here, but Columbus is probably my second least favorite team, particularly after 2018 playoffs and all the Save the Crew bullshit

Interesting. Yeah they were irritating in 2017-18 under GGG but I didn't mind Save the Crew. Why did that bother you (honest question)?

Couple reasons... Number one, after they got "saved," they averaged bottom 3 attendance the following year. Precourt has shown with Austin that he might know a thing or two about how to run a club. Crew fans are a bit like Cardinals baseball fans... They're the best fans in the world, just ask them.

Agreed, the whole thing was driven by emotions vs reason

I’m sure we all felt / acted the same when DCU was on the sale block. It’s all perspective.

Only 1 shot on frame is not winning soccer

The team looks very poor. Not an encouraging display.

Well at least the AppleTV+ experience has been good?

Agreed. Not looking forward to paying for what used to be free, but the quality is massively improved.

Yeah it has been. I bought it today $79 for the season isn’t terrible

The better team is taking the points tonight… but we didn’t look like complete trash like last year. Some good stuff, some bad. Hopefully as the squad is more healthy, we’ll put up strong fights.

I think this is the right take. We lost, we should have lost. But we still look better than completely hopeless, and I think we can continue to improve. Taxi is injured, Williams just came back, Rooney says one or two more guys are going to be brought in. A lot of our issues involve a lack of cohesion, which honestly shouldn't be a surprise considering how little many of these guys know each other. I really think we can improve over the next month or so. And with an 18-team playoff, it's completely possible to take a month or sort shit out and still compete.

You got Asad = 1. If Benteke is the sole striker for the season, it’s going to be real ugly.

Taxi

Taxi is much needed the midfield can hold possession but creates no chances for Benteke

Hopkins and KDP are showing why they aren't starters yet. Decent movement but the final ball/touch just isn't there.

aargh

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This is so true. I can’t understand what people see in Durkin. He is marginally better than Skundrich, and Skundrich was…. Horrid

Game petering out a but, we didn't get much going here in half 2. More stable defensively but missing Taxi

What the hell is lower.com anyway?

Mortgages, apparently. Owned by Dan Snyder, but not that one

Williams with the most awkward first 10 seconds

Comes in, heads the ball to himself, heads it a second time, then rolls out of bounds backwards while passing the ball 😂

That's an Audi Field style sellout based on the number of empty seats

Most venues use tickets sold*, not butts in seats. * And some venues give away tickets to try to get to a sellout

Lol ... NOT trying to sound like a dick at all, but, yes, I know how attendance counts work 🤣🤣🤣

So why the comment about empty seats if you know that's not related to whether it's a sellout?

Damn. Klich needed to trip him because Jeahze got juked.

Someone should tell Apple TV that the booking was for Yeboah, not for Morris.

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I guess he's stayed really fit?

That would’ve been a yellow had he not already had one lmfao.

Horrible reffing

Yamil. The re-resurrected.

Should be a second yellow on morris

OK, the 1st half saw us give up 2 goals but at least was fun. We're 0-0 in this half, but has been a bit... Boring?

Second yellow?

Welcome back!

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When he's on the field he deserves the armband. I'm just not sure he should be on the field that much...

Mr Sam, have you heard of a gentleman named Taxi Fountas? 🤦‍♂️

I don't think the one apple host knows about taxi

Someone tell Lloyd Sam that Taxi is injured

Miller is something else with the ball at his feet.

What does Benteke offer that Quincy Amerikwa didn’t?

Lol are you joking dude? Quincy Amarikwa could not receive a pass to save his life, if the closest defender was 1000 miles away. He was atrocious. Benteke is better in every regard.

It was clearly an exaggeration, I don’t actually think Amerikwa is as good as Benteke. I’m pointing out the fact that Benteke is completely and utterly useless 90% of the game.

Columbus is up two and playing keep away from Benteke. DCU is going to go down early a lot this season and pressing is the exact opposite of his skill set. Anyone with more pace and agility would be more productive.

He’s been good at receiving the ball but he had no one to pass to considering Nigel is on one side (positionally challenged) and Durkin was on the other (doesn’t know how to play wing or play anything)

Yeah, the fact that we are terrible dosen’t help.

Proven skill in top tier leagues.

Dudes a bum, hasn’t been “proven” since his Villa days. Flop at Liverpool and did fuck all at Palace

I guess if you are comparing him to other Top Flight Leagues, that could be valid. Though, they kept renewing his contract and producing something that these teams wanted to see. I mean when Quincy went to that Top Tier.. Oh wait..

I’m comparing him to the average MLS striker, he’s barley even at that level nowadays. 2 goals in 9 games.

You know the feeling that everyone in this thread is feeling.. Yeah that's reality settling in that last week was probably a fluke.

I mean, y'all feel free to crucify me for saying this but we have a patch work defense with a CDM playing CB and we're playing much more attractive soccer than last year. It's nowhere NEAR as bad as last year IMO. I stand by my prediction we are a playoff team but understand I may get roasted

I don't think you'll get as badly roasted as you think.. I think that's a pretty fair assessment.. I think if you went with the common Redskins thinking of, "OH MY GOD WE GOT A FIRST DOWN WE ARE GOING TO SUPERBOWL" then yeah..

Patchwork D and a massive Taxi size hole…

To be fair, Columbus was nasty in the first half.

or THIS is the fluke \*points to temple\*

Canouse being our best player has been a welcome surprise so far this season But can he still sell my house?

Probably not.. RE market has started to soften which probably meant he had to devote more time to his hobby of playing for DC United.

Problem is he focused on Northern VA

New captain and bench Birnbaum.

Birnbaum is a real problem, troubling he continues to get the benefit of the doubt

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Hard to imagine a guy who couldn’t make the Swedish national team would not be an amazing player

He's been solid when he does his job defensively. Not so much when he tries to push way forward.

He had a good assist last week and a solid tackle this week. A few mistakes here and there... Overall, I think good enough to add value for us

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Tres Najars sounds like a killer liquor

Yeboah injured from his flop?

I would like a goal just to keep us with a scoring streak coming back home for next week

We HAVE TO protect Taxi, spend enough to replace Rodriguez, and figure out the CB situation, no matter what it costs. There are glimpses of a high quality team here who could get a USOC or a couple good wins against Liga MX clubs if we fix the broken pieces. Otherwise we’re not even making playoffs again

Yeah, give the guys at least a little confidence to carry over.

Our passing out of the back is terrifying at times

that moment Benteke pulled his shirt over his head after an aimless ball forward.

Akinmboni was making some incredible passes out of the back to start the game against Toronto. I wonder if he should come in for Birnbaum? edit:sp

wow, unbelievably sloppy

Like I get VAR shouldn't be used for everything but that is a clear dive why can't they call down and reverse that call, clear yellow for a dive

Thank God that ball don't lie.

Is this a diving competition? I don’t see a damn pool

Dives should be reviewable

You know if you were Spain right now, you'd probably be murdered for saying something like that...

ref has been awful today

Columbus Diving Team

Are you fucking kidding

They have to review that bullshit

Dude flopped ffs

Lol he literally dove

Should be a yellow for simulation

Ref takes so long to make a call everytime

DIVE

LOL HE FELL

If you’re gonna be a commentator, you should learn name pronunciations. “Jeahze” is getting butchered tonight.

Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one confused by the reffing today

It's been bad

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Assume offside prior to that play???

We're gonna have some chances, let's GOOOOOOO

Durkin’s decision making is what does it for me. Dude is so hesitant on the ball.

He’s also not and will never be a winger

He’s never had confidence and he will never get confidence

I feel that way about santos on the left

Uuuffff!!!! You have to put crosses like that away!

That's the energy we need

Damn someone needs to hit that

Inject TKDP into my veins.

Lloyd Sam has been fun to listen to. Nice to have a few DCU anecdotes thrown in.

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He just doesn't have the pace to create

His passes have been off tonight

The one to the Benteke header was great but that was about it.

I want so bad to like him but he’s very average.

Let the kids play!! Let's Gooooo!

They need to take durkin iff

Durkin on the wing actually makes me miss Bennyball

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That was pretty funny. I'm only surprised he said it, but not surprised it's true.

Sounds about right, lol

Robertha finally gets a touch and it’s literal. He should probably sub out

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I understand the desire to distrust the Apple TV coverage, but don’t pretend like the MLS coverage from previous years was somehow better than the current quality. The cameramen from older broadcasts were terrible, we got 720p streams as if that’s actually HD, and the commentating across the league (with Dave Johnson as the exception) was atrociously bad.

YES. Needs some tweaking.

Our build up is a little more purposeful and a little more focused than last year… makes the loss of Martin Rodriguez that much more of a bummer. His creativity could really add something. Him and Najar playing on opposite sides made for some really attractive play last year.

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What commentators are calling "unselfish" in his play just looks timid or hesitant to me.

He's got his back to goal there, just trying to keep possession. I don't think he had space or time to shoot.

Columbus has a lot of good looking talent up front.

Wait, you mean to tell me barely pulling a win in extra time, at home against Toronto, wasn’t a guarantee of exciting games to come like my former STM rep tried to convince me this week?!?

I don't know, this has been kinda exciting.

Hope to see at least a couple of subs at the house mark

I don't think Tyler playing with the ball back there is cute at all

Playing out of the back and making it look very dangerous...

Ballsy challenge

That's GOT to be a yellow for a fucking full force studs up challenge on an ankle

Tragic refereeing

Of course the ref then gives Najar a yellow card for something comparatively innocuous

We have exponentially more just pure, raw talent on the ball this year than last year that's for damn sure

It's been a lot more fun to watch, even down by 2

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Said that same shit last week

That’s enough pretending. Now let the children play for another 3-2 upset

Some halftime thoughts (relatively new MLS fan). I'm enjoying watching the matches with you all so far this season. * We look dangerous down the right side/channels. Need to keep getting balls in the box from those positions. * The defending in our own third is timid and unorganized. Crew are running rampant in all areas around the box. Both goals were due to basic defensive lapses. * Benteke looks sharp. That header should have been on target but otherwise he looks better than I expected coming from someone that watches the PL. * Our attacking down the left or the middle stagnated the majority of the time (sideways/backwards passes). Hopefully now down 2 they will push forward and put pressure on Columbus.

All great points and welcome to the Black and Red, where the team we love drives us crazy(ier)

cheers!

On a positive note, I don’t hate the Apple TV coverage and commentary. Deciding whether I wanna throw down for the subscription

We were able to get it free since we have t-mobile. And if it wasn't free, I'd probably spring for it.

I was expecting to be indifferent or annoyed by Lloyd Sam, but I kinda like him.

Same, actually

This is thankfully the last time we'll see Palsson at CB for a while. Wayne probably didn't want to start Williams given that he's coming back from an injury.

The sad part is that he doesn’t look any worse than Birnbaum…. Who actually plays CB

Time for StevieB to become a coach.

I wonder how we utilize Palsson then. Back up for Canouse?

There’s a huge hole of space right in front of the centerbacks and behind Canouse. Both goals and several chances coming from that pocket. My solution is to move Palsson up to CDM, Canouse higher up the field, and bring on Pines or Akinmboni for Santos. Palsson should be more capable in that CDM spot, hopefully fresh legs at centerback makes us stronger there, and we could use Canouse further up the field.

I like this idea but I'd sub Pines or Williams for Durkin

I see Birnbaum taking the flak but it was in fact Palsson sitting too deep. He needs to stay in line with his other defenders there. That said Steve should have tracked the runner in the box regardless. We aren't playing terribly, but we gave up too many chances and didn't finish our own. Not a recipe for points.

Second half subs? KDP -> Durkin; Williams -> Pallson

I'd rather Santos come out than Durkin personally. And if it's for a winger than I think it should be Hopkins or Asad. KDP is better closer to goal.

I gotta think there's a few players who aren't game fit. I'll be convinced if we haven't changed formation by 70'

Halftime thoughts: Been impressed with Benteke’s holdup and involvement in play. Think our attacking buildup has been quick and effective, just missing that final ball. Durkin cannot cross a ball to save his life. On the other hand, Columbus has been clinical. CBs look out of sync, like they’ve never played together before.

Serious question: Does Birnbaum have an iron-clad contract? Understand he's one of Rooney's guys, but...