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| A brighter future. Without....all this. |
First, yes, I have once again tinkered with the format for this week’s Weakly. And, oh my holy God, how many fucking teams have midweek games tomorrow night? 20? Yeah, this is me tapping out on these weekly reviews. And I mean it this time. If anyone sees me post another one (except in the off-season), DM me and I’ll give you my address, so’s you can come over a slap me. Now, to this week’s round-up.
With a break (for most teams) coming in the first half of June (and anyone know why they’re pausing?), I decided to shorten the horizon and focus on just the next two, three games for all the teams around Major League Soccer. A two-week break feels like enough of a reset - e.g., teams could get key players back, coaching staffs can re-examine tactics that haven’t been working, make tweaks to one that have, etc. - to make that feel like a good spot for a breather/reassessment. With that in mind, I’ve listed all the games that each team in MLS has ahead between now and the end of May and threw my two cents at them for good measure. I’ll wrap up with a summary as well.
With that, it’s time for a rundown of the results. As always (and for the last time; pour one out), I’ve embedded links to The Motherships game summary in each final score and, to add a little more “why” to all the “what” below, I pulled some quotes from Matt Doyle’s Week 11 review in places where I thought he said something interesting. Now, a look back at the races….
Houston Dynamo FC 2-0 Nashville SC
[Spot Check: 1st - 20th, 45th -75th, plus box score]
Houston’s Adam Lundqvist walked off under a red mark at the 35th minute, but I didn’t notice the advantage any more than Gary Smith. Nashville teed up multiple lines on goal (e.g., C. J. Sapong, Daniel Lovitz, and Ethan Zubak) and missed them all. Houston, on the other hand, finished the shots they created and went 1-0 through Adalberto Carrasquilla nearly 20 minutes before Lundqvist’s ejection. More importantly, they looked coordinated and competent and Fafa Picault gave Nashville’s defense enough fits all on his own (just to note it, Walker Zimmerman didn’t start). In big picture terms, this result has me re-evaluating whether I’ve overrated Nashville over the first third of the season; a good, competitive team gets a point on the road against a middling team like Houston. Going the other way, this feels like an aberration for Houston, but also noted. Oh, and Doyle offered another theory on Nashville’s struggles:
With a break (for most teams) coming in the first half of June (and anyone know why they’re pausing?), I decided to shorten the horizon and focus on just the next two, three games for all the teams around Major League Soccer. A two-week break feels like enough of a reset - e.g., teams could get key players back, coaching staffs can re-examine tactics that haven’t been working, make tweaks to one that have, etc. - to make that feel like a good spot for a breather/reassessment. With that in mind, I’ve listed all the games that each team in MLS has ahead between now and the end of May and threw my two cents at them for good measure. I’ll wrap up with a summary as well.
With that, it’s time for a rundown of the results. As always (and for the last time; pour one out), I’ve embedded links to The Motherships game summary in each final score and, to add a little more “why” to all the “what” below, I pulled some quotes from Matt Doyle’s Week 11 review in places where I thought he said something interesting. Now, a look back at the races….
Houston Dynamo FC 2-0 Nashville SC
[Spot Check: 1st - 20th, 45th -75th, plus box score]
Houston’s Adam Lundqvist walked off under a red mark at the 35th minute, but I didn’t notice the advantage any more than Gary Smith. Nashville teed up multiple lines on goal (e.g., C. J. Sapong, Daniel Lovitz, and Ethan Zubak) and missed them all. Houston, on the other hand, finished the shots they created and went 1-0 through Adalberto Carrasquilla nearly 20 minutes before Lundqvist’s ejection. More importantly, they looked coordinated and competent and Fafa Picault gave Nashville’s defense enough fits all on his own (just to note it, Walker Zimmerman didn’t start). In big picture terms, this result has me re-evaluating whether I’ve overrated Nashville over the first third of the season; a good, competitive team gets a point on the road against a middling team like Houston. Going the other way, this feels like an aberration for Houston, but also noted. Oh, and Doyle offered another theory on Nashville’s struggles:
