Monday Night Football Rocks the US of A!

Sadly, our Monday night didn’t go aswell as hoped, as I’m sure you will have gathered from Rob’s post.
This entry isn’t so much about the game (though it is at the same time), it’s about blogs for future games. After Sunday’s date with FC Dallas, I will be going to Germany for three weeks. Hence, I will be watching all games (home and away) in an online stream. What I practiced during the Salt Lake loss, is a type of live blog that I would like to do during the games in August. While it was divided up by player instead of chronologically, I would do it much like the blogs you are used to during CL play or for games at international tournaments. But I’ll post what I accomplished during the game on Monday (and add in a rating /10, and you can give me feedback and let me know what you think.

Sutton: 9/10
Great save in 7th minute off cross and volley.
Great control of his box throughout the match.
Strong punches (to the side, not to the front like against DC)
Brilliant stop in 94th on breakaway. Ripped ball from attacker’s feet.

Brennan: 7/10
Providing some offense (good pass to Smith in 4th minute)
Nice defensive play in advance of Sutton colliding with a Salt Lake attack (25th minute)
Trouble with the turf as he stumbles, leading to Salt Lake hitting the post.

Marshall: 3/10
Caught out of position early on (Salt Lake with good early chance in 7th minute) (lost header in 9th for second salt lake chance)
Having himself a weak game (especially on crosses into the box)
To blame for the goal first goal – lost his man, again on a cross into the box.

Velez: 4.5/10
Makes a great potentially goal saving tackle in the 26th, then makes a huge defensive gaffe in the 27th and Salt Lake’s Robbie Findlay hits the post.
Got deked out badly for second goal.

James: 6.5/10
Again, dangerous offensively with his head (chance off a throw in in 3rd minute)
Looks comfortable at right back.
Very surprised with his play at right back…looks strong defensively.
Tried to play offside and got burned (41st)
Bad positioning for second goal.
Again has a good chance with his head (90th)

Ricketts: 8/10
Beast 3 defenders in the 44rd, provides a beautiful cross to Laurent Robert, crossbar.
Taking on defenders the way he should, and beating them.
Shields the ball nicely during an attacking run, and is taken down hard at the 19 yard line (of scrimmage).

Robinson: 6/10
Making strong defensive tackles.
Weak in the air
Sluggish on the attack
Gives up free kick at the edge of the box in the 38th.

Guevara: 7/10
Spreads the field nicely
Not as offensive as usual (playing in Edu’s more defensive role)
Invisible for long stretches.
Useless pass to waste a scoring chance (71st)
Wins a freekick with a great deke.
GOOOOOOOLASOOOOOOOOOOOASOASOGOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!

Robert: 6/10
Lazy passing.
No danger from his corners.
Header off the crossbar.
Wasted freekick (56th)
Great corner (58th), cleared off the line.
Great pass through to Cunningham (72nd)

Smith: 6.5/10
Volley over the bar in 4th minute.
He could never score and I’d still love him for his effort. Tracking back well defensively.
Apparently loves to slide tackle on cement. Never stops working.

Ibrahim: 7.5/10
Likes to take on players 1 v 1. Looks quick out there.
Carver is right, great off the ball runs.
Good chance off a Robert cross (45th), hits outside of the net.
Does seem to be a bit of a flopper (50th minute in the box)
Not always the best first touch (54th on Ricketts’ throw in)
Pulled a Cunningham by missing from half a metre out on Robert’s corner. Cleared by Kovalenko’s hand?
Great control at half on the sideline on a 75th minute goal kick, then beat two defenders and took a hard shot from outside the box. Could have squared for Cunningham, but well done anyways.

Cunningham: 5/10
Brought on for no apparent reason in the 66th.
Missed a relatively free volley from the top of the box by about 5 metres (high).
Decent shot from a sharp angle (72nd)

Referee: 9/10
Kevin Stott
Halftime: Have not noticed the man. This is a good thing.
Is not stupid and does not call a backpass against Julius James in the 51st (no intent)
Made a strong call by calling ball to hand on Marshall in the box.
Plays advantage well.
As good as we’ve seen all season.

Salt Lake:
Rimando is tiny. And has incredibly tattooed arms.
Not a lot of cohesion…mostly long balls (25th minute)
Beckerman likes himself some long distance shots.
Salt Lake brings on Jamaican International Andy Williams (born in Toronto) for Kenny Cutler at the half.
Kenny Deuscher on for Movsisyan in the 62nd.
Robbie Russell for Ian Joy (74th)

CBC Broadcast: 3/10
Why oh why does my screen keep getting smaller??? Are you trying and failing to provide me with high def?
Keep talking about Salt Lake needing the self belief that they’re that good. Uhh…no they’re not. If TFC wins tonight, we’re ahead of them. The West is a joke.
Hmm now my screen (which is back to normal size) goes black for a while.
Jason de Vos goes ahead and spouts bullshit to fill dead air (apparently referees will always give calls to home teams if it’s close).
I really dislike de Vos. He seems to be there only to criticize TFC. This is the case every game.
Commentators not actually in Utah…they’re calling it from the same screen that we’re seeing.

Again, these notes were jotted down during the game, and are therefore not the most eloquent. However, they give us a more accurate representation of what happened during the match. A liveblog would add to this. What do you think?

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