1: When we have a total of 4 shots 1 on target in the first half, it’s not nearly good enough. Any time we showed any semblance of a threat it came down the right via Brooks’ excellent service or, surprisingly enough, a bit of brilliance from Luiz. To be fair, game state does matter and once Charlotte got their goal it changed everything. They set up in their mid-low block, were compact and disciplined. We just could not break their lines and Berry did not make himself available for anything over the...
1: When we have a total of 4 shots 1 on target in the first half, it’s not nearly good enough. Any time we showed any semblance of a threat it came down the right via Brooks’ excellent service or, surprisingly enough, a bit of brilliance from Luiz. To be fair, game state does matter and once Charlotte got their goal it changed everything. They set up in their mid-low block, were compact and disciplined. We just could not break their lines and Berry did not make himself available for anything over the top or literally anything else.
2: We were successful against Charlotte last time because of our counter press. Any time they won the ball off of us at least two of ours would swarm and win it back within a few seconds. At that point Charlotte was not set and we went straight to goal. That did not happen in the first 45, really the first 70, with any sort of consistency.
3: What a brutal couple weeks for former players scoring on us. Big love to Meram. It almost looked like he thought about just putting that first shot over the bar. I’ve never seen a player so remorseful after scoring. It’s been years since he played for us and he was hear for such a short time. It’s a credit to his character that he can be so beloved after such a short period and even after all these years.
4: Its just like what Lily from AT&T said, “It’s not complicated”. Watching GG and Berry play in the same match is like night and couches. They ain’t even in the same category. GG showed us more in 28 minutes than Berry has in over 445. We need an elite 9, STARTING. Everything changed after Charlotte’s first goal and we could never find our way back in, especially after the red and converted penalty. But this team plays completely differently when GG starts. The same was true when he had Josef.
5: The cries for Pineda’s head will be loud. Any coach knows that this is a results driven business. Eventually the wins have to come or a change will be made. But for me, what I saw tonight was not poor coaching. The difference between GG and Berry is vast and that ain’t coaching. Gutman making a terrible decision in the box is not coaching. For me the only knocks you could put on Pineda tonight were not being more experimental, & maybe even putting GG out there at all and risking injury when the game was gone. But I trust the trainers and staff to know what he could give tonight. Maybe some minutes might have been good for him. And it did show us, CLEARLY, what are our issue is. We can’t be a one/two player team, but we quite clearly are right now. Both in terms of quality of play and maybe more importantly, attitude. Summer window will be very important and very busy.
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