#worst trophy was 100% Supportive Staff | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rise-alchemy · 2 years

Text

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts as I watch Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Episodes 3-4

I’m already getting Five Night’s at Freddy’s vibes from this episode.

That kid trapped in the claw machine is surprisingly supportive.

How is it April’s fault that Alberto broke down after a kid threw an entire pint of root beer into his mouth?

Where is the manager? This kind of thing should be his job!

How many times have the boys masqueraded as birthday robots to get free pizza from this place?

“I upgraded my upgrade in the middle of my upgrade.”

Honestly Donnie’s upgrades to the band are super cool - just look at that fluidity!

Ah. Yes. There’s the chaos.

Poor Alberto…

WHERE is the kitchen staff? Freddy’s is better staffed than this!

OH GEEZ HE’S SENTIENT NOW

“You know what? Turns out I cannot fix this.”

“Who wants to play a little game of ‘Running to Safety’?”

Seriously, WHERE is this manager? This kind of detachment from the business day is SUPER unprofessional.

You know what, better question: WHERE ARE TIMMY’S PARENTS?!

Has that poor child been trapped in the claw machine this whole time??

PRESIDENT PEPPERONI???

That wasn’t even the highest scoring slot in Skeeball! I should know - that game used to be my jam.

The manager absolutely bought himself that trophy.

“I’m gonna crack you open like a birthday piñata!”

“You can’t be the king of birthday parties without having one of your own!”

APRIL NO! Donnie actually got through to him with that cake and song.

Ugh. With the way that cake crumbled, I think the birthday kids dodged a bullet by not eating it.

The manager sure isn’t happy and April lost her job, but at least Timmy had the best birthday of his life.

Do we ever circle back to Alberto not being 100% dead? That’d be pretty cool.

---

Aah! This is where the worm guy comes from!

EW GROSS DON’T KISS THAT MIRROR! Do you see those stains?!

How is this man able to pay the rent for that apartment as a giant worm.

Raph is really attached to that hippo suit.

WHY does Donnie have a bottle of female hippo scent?

WHERE did Warren get a piece of flypaper that big?

D’aww! Mikey in the background just vibing out on the spring ride.

LEO WHAT DID YOU DO-

“He was ON my HEAD. I PANICKED.”

Pfft! The boys just leave Warren in the park to regenerate with his insides on the outsides.

WHERE did Warren get those fully functional non-integrated prosthetic legs?

Yo Warren don’t throw Clem’s phone at him! He was nice enough to let you borrow it in the first place!

“You ruined that woman’s 95th birthday.”

Raph: “Be careful.” *shoves Mikey through a hole in the roof to a 20ft drop*

OH. OOOOH, NO. NO NO NO. I HATE WARREN’S BUFF WORM LOOK-

“He’s Current Occupant!”

“I am Current Occupant!”

“Finally! The thing we actually care about!”

“This has been the WORST mating season!” Hypno have-…have you been through more than one…?

I am absolutely stealing Hypno’s hypno scream for later use.

WAS HYPNO GOING TO JUST DISEMBOWEL MIKEY RIGHT THERE ON THE FLOOR? GOOD LORD!

Gotta say, I’m a sucker for villains fighting to protect heroes because “I’M the only one allowed to kill them!”.

WARREN! Put those worm nips away!!!

Leo absolutely knows who Warren is. He’s just messing with him at this point.

---

How fast were these Jupiter Jim movies being churned out if there were sixty of them made in, like, just a few decades?

“OH NO! A MUTANT! …oh, wait. We’re mutants, too.”

These boys don’t understand how money works, and that’s a Vibe.

I want to know how Repo Mantis holds things with those claws.

Aaaaa! A Tototo reference!!!

So…are all of these mutants the result of the Oozesquitos? Or were there mutants/Yokai living in and around New York before then?

PUPPIES! PUPPY PUPPY PUPPY PU-. Ahem. Yes. Puppies.

“That honestly tastes exactly like sunshine.”

Donnie: “We’ve got to be tough with him. Hard as nails!”

Mikey: *finishes his lemonade* “Hard as nails!”

Todd hasn’t made a payment in two years?? My GUY, how do you still have functioning utilities?!

“I’m in something squishy. I AM IN SOMETHING SQUISHY.”

Even that umbrella is threadbare…

I love that it was Donnie’s idea to build a brand new puppy sanctuary to trade for the RV.

WHERE did all of this raw material come from??

ngl the end result is pretty darn beautiful.

Was that moon buggy always fully functional and fully fueled? Or did Repo Mantis fix it up himself?

WHY DOES THAT MOON BUGGY HAVE A FUNCTIONAL TURBO MODE???

Those pedestrians are having a terrible day, but honestly? They’ve probably had worse.

So uh…how is Donnie planning to get that moon buggy down into the sewers?

---

Do the boys have an entire arcade room all to themselves in the Lair? That’s so cool!!

Splinter has the cutest darn sneeze I’ve ever heard and that’s not fair.

Splinter: “I feel terrible. Do I look terrible? Be honest.”

The boys: *all screaming*

Raph, lying through his teeth: “You look great!”

I absolutely do not trust Donnie with uranium.

I’m with Leo - matching unicorn onesies would be adorable.

“Buckle up, boys. It’s about to get weird.”

How fast does Splinter’s fur grow back if, every year, when he inevitably gets sick and feels too hot from the fever, he shaves himself bald?

“He loves pizza in confined spaces you can barely breathe in!”

These stage names are killing me but in the best way.

How badly did these bouts of sickness go for them before they figured out these elaborate plans and procedures to deal with them? Did one of the boys miraculously miss out on the bug one year and saw the chaos from the outside?

Stage 6: Fan Fiction.

Listen. Listen. I know a couple spoilers about this show. How could I not? That said: IS SPLINTER WRITING FAN FICTION ABOUT HIMSELF???

Leo just becomes a big ol’ cuddle bug when he’s sick.

I don’t believe stage seven lasted nearly as long as the boys think it did. I think Splinter was messing with them.

#OOC #rottmnt #((this one got a little long...))#((maybe I should start cutting these))

9 notes · View notes

ikram1909 · 3 months

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/ikram1909/740057848326815744/httpswwwtumblrcomikram1909738719071974096896?source=share

comparing ig followers is a lil crazy to me, Ronaldo is the most followed footballers but Messi is wayyy more loved lol (just look how he was received in el salvador, how irl fans treat him like a divinity and even brazilians think he is the goat even if they have this crazy rivalry with Argentina, pr7 could never)

Gavi is called the heart of the club because he deserves it. He is who puts effort the most and you cant ignore his impact not only the players but the club itself. The way he plays; giving all his 100% on the pitch, him being a key player for the team since he was the one connecting the midfield and the defense, him always standing up for his teammates and defending the badge, him being the moral and emotional support of the team.....

Him being called the heart of the club has its reasons and i only said the ones i could remember (literally even his teammates and staff miss him, that is not normal for a 19yo to be this relied). See, being from la masia doesnt assure you this popularity, i really cant recall any of our current youngsters that can move masses with having only 1 social media and barely be active on it. He built this himself because he is just naturally likeable and stands out from the rest.

Something that you forget anon, is that all this popularity is also because he got a big demographic of people hating on him every time of the day; the media and press setting him up and lying about him (remember when tchoumeni had to call out the media who spread that lie of gavi injuring him on el clásico?), he got a NT teammate lying in his fucking face and literally saying he was the cancer of the dressingroom and alongside his journalist friend adding up to the "he is toxic and doesnt want to show up to meetings" bullshit, the spanish madridistas calling him names and disrespecting him when he was holding the mic after winning the Nations League (they hate him since supercup, they are pretry much the responsibles for making everyone hate on him), literally every casual thinks that Gavi is a thug that has 0 football abilities and he is a bad person because he gets lots of yellow cards, heck even you got "culers" calling his ACL a blessing because the team had decent games against porto and atleti (spoiler, they regretted his injury after the el clásico disasterclass). People opened their fucking eyes and realized how importsnt gavi was AFTER an ACL + meniscus and a el clásico disasterclass. Dont you see how fucking deranged people can be to him and how fucked his PR is? Do you see what im trying to say? Obviously Pedri doesnt deserve to receive any type of hate and much less because of something he cant control like injuries, but lets not pretend that Gavi doesnt receive much worse feedback when he does his job (and he does it perfectly, but they are just braindead to have footy knowledge). Seems that Gavi receiving so much love even after constantly eating shit from the media and haters triggers you or something, its not the first time i see these type of comments. Boy is 19yo and suffered one of the worst injuries a footballer can have due the incompetitiveness of his coach, it shouldnt be surpring why people miss him and why does he get love and even more when his teammates are absolutely nothing without him

Preach!!! It's always been weird to me how people see him get as much hate and harassment for no reason and still begrudge him for the support he gets like what do you want from him? To just be hated and get no love in return? No teenager has ever been treated as poorly as he was last year like it was hell. He was insulted to HIS FACE while celebrating his first international trophy like it doesn't get worse than that and all because he loves the club as much as he does and you're mad people show him love to support him that's just insane to me and feels evil spirited. He deserves all the support in the world actually just to balance out the amount of hate he gets. And it's not like people love him for no reason, he literally earned it twice over.

1 note · View note

torentialtribute · 5 years

Text

Gordon Elliott is driven only by winners, and he could make history next Saturday

It's only a short walk from the main garden at Gordon Elliott's Cullentra house stables to the back yard, but the dogs They are not impressed by the horse royalty that awaits us there and they decide that it is not worth the effort. They raise their heads for a moment and watch as we disappear around the corner.

The four horses in the field do not look up from their pastures when we lean on the fence and stare at them, but they are a beautiful sight, these kings and queens at ease.

Apple & Jade and Shattered Love are on one side of a rope and the mighty Samcro is on the other side. Beyond Samcro, the fourth horse, smaller and more stocky, shows a first flare of curiosity and walks slowly towards us.

The story of the Grand National next Saturday will confirm the story of Tiger Roll about history

The story around the Grand National this Saturday will confirm on the tilt of Tiger Roll in history

There is a white spot that looks like a heart on his forehead. It seems appropriate. Because this is Tiger Roll who tries to become the first horse to win the Grand National two years in a row since Red Rum in 1973 and 1974.

& # 39; He has a huge engine, & # 39; says Elliott. & # 39; He always wants to win. He has a great heart.

A truck with wood chips to the construction site of a new barn dribbles past, dragging dust clouds, and Tiger Roll and Samcro scare and bolt to the center of the field. We walk back to Elliott's office, where his desk sits in front of a window that overlooks the garden and where a wide-screen TV is on a racing channel.

The office is a monument to obsession and to success. Cheltenham trophies and Aintree and Leopardstown memorabilia displace the planks and border the walls. There are a few photo frames on the desk, but nothing in them. No photos of a partner. No pictures of father with his children. None of the gestures to family that successful men often make in their workplace.

Tiger Roll wants to be the first horse back-to-back Grand Nationals win since Red Rum "

to win back-to-back Grand Nationals since Red Rum

& # 39; I am single & # 39;" says Elliott, 41. & # 39; No kids I know I work hard I would say I have had a few long-term friends, but most break-ups are my fault because I am too selfish Horses are 24/7 "It's not easy for someone. I'm not ready to settle down. I hope it will happen to me someday, but at the moment I just don't see it.

& # 39; Racing is my life." There is only one thing I want to be: that is champion trainer. I don't care anymore. Holidays don't interest me. I watch football, but it doesn't bother me. I support no one. I don't play golf. don't have time. That's the way I am. I like being at home. I love what I do. It is well. I love to win. & # 39;

If the story of the Grand National will work on tilt from Tiger Roll in history next Saturday, it will also revolve around Elliott's remarkable fame in the race and the rise and rise of a trainer

If Mullins is a patrician dog in Irish racing, Elliott is the outsider, the son of a panel-beater and a housewife, a man whose ambition drove him and whose 78-hectare empire is surrounded by it the lush countryside of County Meath continues to grow.

The truck that scared Tiger Roll was a symbol of that ambition, the instrument of a man who is still working on making a dream come true.

While sitting at his desk, Elliott, a former jockey with a decent record in point to point, runs his finger down the list of preliminary registrations for the great race in Aintree and estimates that he is all 10 will have up to 12 runners in the National when the line-up is ready on Thursday. Martin Pipe, the idol of Elliott and the former employer, keeps the current record at 10.

Gordon Elliott & 78's acre rich amidst the lush countryside of County Meath continues to grow "

Gordon Elliott & # 39; s 78-acre rich amidst the lush countryside of County Meath continues to grow

Gordon Elliott & # 39; s 78- acre empire amidst the lush countryside of County Meath continues to grow

& # 39; I would like to run eleven & # 39 ;, says Elliott. I have worked for Martin Pipe and learned a lot from what I know I would like to run another if I could. Would it mean something? It would mean something to win the race again, but it would be nice to beat him too. He did most things, so it would be nice to beat him on one thing. "

There is something refreshing about openness d and gluttony of Elliott's ambition. He does not hide behind false modesty or insincere self-mockery. He is not boastful and he is the exact opposite of brash, but he has worked so hard to rise to where he is now that he does not have to apologize for his success.

He listens politely to the suggestion that a man who trains a quarter of the field in a race the size of the Grand National is unhealthy for the sport and slaps it away.

& # 39; I understand when I am going to do it. & # 39; I understand when people say I have too many runners in the National, & Elliott says. & # 39; I get it day in day out. But I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I haven't left anything. I bought this place six years ago. I built everything myself.

& # 39; My background drives me. I have to pay a mortgage and pay wages every day of the week. I took a chance when I bought this place. I don't have the price of a down payment, let alone buy the place. We have continued to drive and drive on and on.

We are lucky: we have good staff and good owners. If you sit back in this game for a moment, you go backwards. That's the way I see it. The success has not changed my hunger. No. It does a lot of people.

& # 39; If you are David Beckham or someone who plays football and gets a few hundred thousand a week, maybe, but in this game you don't earn much money. You have large overhead, so you cannot lean back. It all goes well, you know.

<img id = "i-3386d662eab6b510" src = "https://ift.tt/2uzzcfN 20 / 11665912-0-image-a-19_1553978953148.jpg "height =" 422 "width =" 634 "alt =" Cheltenham trophies and Aintree and Leopardstown memorabilia adorn his office "

& # 39; My mother and father not & # 39;

My mother and father don't like horses. My father cuts the lawns for me. My mother cleans the house three days a week. I worked hard for everything I have. I didn't get any handouts.

& # 39; I would not like to help anyone, but if you work hard, you will come across people who whine about everything. But that is life, especially in Ireland. I have five or six different owners on 10 of my horses for the Grand National, so it's not like an owner owns them all. But that's just the way it is. & # 39;

The National has a special place in the history of Elliott. When he was only 29 years old and had not trained any winners in Ireland, he won the most famous British race in 2007 with Silver Birch. & # 39; I didn't know who I was, & # 39; he said, & # 39; but they knew who I was. & # 39;

He founded races on courses in Northern England and Scotland because they were races that he thought his horses could. win. He was a regular visitor to Perth, Ayr and Musselburgh. Always the advice of his mentor Pipe was in his ears. & # 39;

Elliott is now reciting that mantra. & # 39; Keep your horses in the worst company & # 39 ;, the exalted trainer told him, & # 39; and stay in the best company. & # 39; & # 39; In other words, & # 39; he says, & # 39; make sure your horse runs well and wins, and make sure you hang out with the right people. We all want to be there on the big day and have runners on the big day, but it makes no sense to go to Wimbledon and play a center field when you have to play in your local park. You go where you can win. That is what I have been taught.

<img id = "i-854e976b069703dc" src = "https://ift.tt/2FLjpkz -21_1553978959559.jpg "height =" 422 "width =" 634 "alt =" The trainer wants to overtake his great rival Willie Mullins in the pecking order of Irish racing. "

The trainer wants to overtake his great rival Willie Mullins in the pecking order of Irish racing his great rival Willie Mullins overtakes in the pecking order of Irish racing

And so Elliott won in Perth, Ayr and Musselburgh and his horses graduated to bigger things. And soon he also won in Ireland. And gradually his series of horses grew with his reputation and the 30 horses under his custody turned to 40 and to 50 and 100. And then he bought the Cullentra house and the land around it in 2013 because he knew he could not fulfill his ambition without it.

The building is now state-of-the-art. There is a horse swimming pool, there are four specially built galloppers, a strip for all weather conditions. There is capacity for 200 horses. Elliott has built up such a & # 39; n reputation that when O & # 39; Leary shared with Mullins a few years ago, it was normal that he had to train many Gigginstown horses at Cullentra House.

Elliott has trained more than 1,000 winners. He has won two Grand Nationals and the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2016 with Don Cossack.

Because of all this you have stayed on earth, sympathetic.

& # 39; It has become a bit of a joke now & # 39 ;, he says. & # 39; Maybe it's embarrassing. People do not normally call when Home and Absent. It is an elimination for me. & # 39;

Elliott is loved. People are happy with him. He is inexorably respectful to Mullins and says his rival is the man who sets the standards. His garden seems to be a happy place

Jockey Davey Russell celebrates after driving Tiger Roll to victory in last year's Grand National Tiger Roll to victory in last year's Grand National "

Joey Davey Russell celebrates after driving Tiger Roll to the victory in the Grand National last year

& # 39; I am usually easy going & # 39 ;, says Elliott. & # 39; If something goes wrong, I can get a revolution. If you don't do that, you shouldn't do it. You should have a little fire. If someone saddles me the wrong way, I wouldn't be afraid to let them go.

& # 39; But I enjoy what I do. I have a great team behind me. "

Elliott travels to Aintree. Self-assured Tiger Roll has the shape of his life and that although he will carry more than six pounds more in the National than 12 months ago. Whatever happens, his own ambition will not be saturated.

Whatever happens, his own ambition will not be saturated. He is too far behind Mullins in the prize list this season to have a realistic chance of avoiding winning the title of Ireland champion for the 12th consecutive year. But he will always come back.

I am 41 and I have trained many winners for my age, he says. & # 39; But there is only one thing that I want to be and that it is the champion trainer.

& # 39; I hope to be in the game for the next 25 or 30 years and hopefully it will happen in some cases stage

& I have done almost everything regarding building here at Cullentra House. I've been here for six years. I still have the feeling that we are following an upward trend. I love it. I like racing. I love winners. I don't care where it is. If it is Perth or Leopardstown or Tramore or Aintree, I love to train winners. I love horses. I like racing.

The Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse runs from Thursday, April 4 through Saturday, April 6. Tickets are available at thejockeyclub.co.uk/aintree/ events-tickets / grand-national / tickets /

Source link

#Gordon Elliott is driven only by winners #and he could make history next Saturday "

0 notes

recentnews18-blog · 5 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/heads-must-roll-as-cheikas-wallabies-lose-against-wales-with-stupid-play/

Heads must roll as Cheika's Wallabies lose against Wales with stupid play

The problem with Michael Cheika’s Wallabies is not that they lost nine points to six to Wales at Cardiff.

The sequence of 13 successive Test wins against a formidable opponent like Wales is extremely hard to maintain. Moreover, Wales were playing at home and rather cunningly it seemed, left the roof of the Millennium Stadium open to make things difficult for the Wallabies ball-in-hand game as showers came down.

It is how the Wallabies lost, why they lost and the reaction of coach Cheika and the captain Michael Hooper to that loss that is a matter of urgent concern.

If you don’t identify why the loss happened, you will be condemned to repeating the mistakes that caused the loss to happen.

It’s imperative before the 2019 rugby season starts that heads must roll in the coaching staff of the Wallabies, in the playing squad and, just as importantly, within Rugby Australia with officials, starting with the board, through to the executives, and on to the coaching director.

The sandpaper ball tampering incident in a cricket Test between South Africa (at home) and Australia brought to a head all the problems associated with the leadership and culture of the Baggy Greens and of the officials involved with running cricket in Australia. This loss to Wales has done the same thing for the Wallabies and Rugby Australia.

Anyone with a modicum of rugby understanding watching the Test would see fundamental problems with the way the Wallabies play and the way the team is selected.

All the back moves, for instance, were launched metres behind the gain line. As well, the backs crabbed across the field in a way that telegraphed the attacking point for the Welsh defenders. Passers invariably turned towards the receivers in making their passes.

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The elementary principles of backline play in rugby going back over a 100 years (and once demonstrated by a golden line of fabulous Australian backs) are square shoulders taking the ball up to the line, drawing the defenders outside shoulder and playing close to the advantage line.

In rugby theory and practice, the team that wins the battle of the advantage line will win the game. And the best way to win the battle of the advantage line is to play as close to it as possible.

This ensures that collisions and tackles are made by the attacking side close to the advantage line ensuring that support at the ruck or for a break involves players going forward, not tracking back as the Wallabies did against Wales.

Coach Michael Cheika has worked with his number ten Bernard Foley and his inside centre Kurtley Beale for years. He has not been able to get them to play flat or square.

Bringing in Stephen Larkham, a superb running number 10 who played flat, has done nothing to straighten and flatten the Wallabies backline play. In fact, during the Test against Wales, the Wallabies backline seemed to play even deeper than usual.

Admittedly, Wales ran a defensive system that involved elements of rushing in it. But I can’t recall a significant line break made by the Wallabies. Moreover, there seemed to be no tactic, other than the occasional inside ball, to thwart the rush defence of Wales.

It is remarkable, too, that since the 2015 Rugby World Cup, coach Cheika has done nothing to develop a world class number ten to take over from Bernard Foley, who played his best rugby then and has been disappointing since.

Turning the spotlight on the forwards, we saw the Wallabies make crucial mistakes in lineouts and scrums, especially in attacking position, something that has dogged the side and led to its many losses this season.

The scrum problems relate to the technique or a lack of it from some of the front rowers.

The lineout problems relate squarely to the fact that the Wallabies are short of a lineout jumper when David Pocock and Michael Hooper, two natural (and shortish) number sevens, are playing. As a consequence, the Wallabies lost several crucial lineouts, something that has dogged the side, whoever is the hooker, throughout the season and again in this Test.

The fact of the matter is that Pocock and Hooper between them, but not separately, combine to make up a complete open side breakway.

Pocock is a terrific tackler and is world class as a jackal over the ball. He won three turnovers against Wales to two by Justin Tipuric his Welsh counterpart.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Hooper is a strong and fast runner with the ball and plays with more bustling energy than Pocock.

Playing the two of them together, though, deprives the Wallabies of two other bigger loose forwards to take the ball up hard in the close quarters, make the really big tackles and be a viable lineout option to keep the opposition jumpers guessing.

Alan Jones, a successful Wallabies coach and one of the best selectors Australian rugby has had, always talks about the concept of “shape” when deciding who to select for a side.

The concept acknowledges that a great selector does not play his 15 best players. He selects the best players to play the various roles that the different positions on the field require to be filled.

The concept implies, too, that players should be picked where they play best.

These principles suggest, to me at least, that Pocock should be selected in his best position at number seven, the open side breakaway, and Hooper be selected as a reserve to come on when his energy and dash are required.

The further consequence of this thinking is that Hooper should not captain the Wallabies, even when Pocock is not available. The plain fact of the matter is that he can’t read a game and almost always in a crisis makes the wrong decision.

In the Wales Test, with the scoreline reading 3 – 3, and deep into the second half, he three times turned down kicks at goal.

The first time was a penalty from near halfway.

The second and third time the penalties were near enough to the 22 and eminently kickable.

All the penalties should have been attempted because it was clear at this stage in the Test that it was going to be a low scoring match.

Admittedly, Bernard Foley has a shortish range on his penalty kicks. But Kurtley Beale can boot them over from halfway and he should have been given a chance to convert the first penalty, at least.

After the Test, Hooper admitted that “I should have gone for goal … probably my reading of the game there was amiss with the fact it was going to come down to penalties in the end.”

I don’t believe this mea culpa.

Hooper generally goes for the 22, even when the match situation calls for a shot at goal.

Moreover, he called himself in the first lineout near the Welsh try line.

This play suggests to me that Cheika and Hooper had worked on a play that could, if it came off, strengthen their hand when the “Poopper” option is criticised.

As it happened, Hooper made the lineout catch. But he was not strong enough or big enough to withstand the Welsh forward surge. The surge forced the Wallabies, going backwards, to cough the ball up and the scoring chance was lost.

(Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)

Despite his obvious weaknesses as a player and a captain, Rugby Australia have signed Hooper up for another five years in Australian rugby.

This is a truly dumb decision.

To begin with, it is doubtful whether Hooper is even the second best Australian number seven.

David Pocock is clearly ahead of him. Sean McMahon is also, in my opinion, ahead of Hooper. And Liam Gill, now playing somewhere in France is probably the best of all the current Australian number 7s.

Now we come to Cheika’s bizarre comments after the Test that the loss had no bearing on the next World Cup, even though the Wallabies play Wales in a pool round match:

“I don’t think it has any (bearing), but everyone has a different opinion on that stuff. My opinion is when you get to the game (in the 2019 RWC tournament), no one is thinking about what happened ten years ago or one minute ago … All I can do is get the guys improving on the things we didn’t do well today.”

As Tom Decent in his Sydney Morning Herald report noted: “Australian fans are losing patience with a team that constantly talks about its grand plans but so often fails to come up trumps on the scoreboard.”

There was nothing good for the Wallabies that came out of the Test, either. As Decent also pointed out: “This was the fewest points Australia have scored against Wales since 1975 and the six points they chalked up is their lowest number since August 2012 against any team.”

Since the 2015 World Cup, the Wallabies have won 16 Tests from 40 starts. And as Tom Decent again notes: “This year the Wallabies have lost eight of their 11 matches. Their winning record of 27 per cent in 2018 is the worst in a calendar year since 1958, when ten matches or more were played.”

The lesson from this is not Cheika’s wildly optimistic read that “the scars you collect … are only going to help us.”

You don’t win the Webb Ellis trophy with a side with a 27 per cent winning record prior to the tournament.

Heads need to roll if the Wallabies are to have any chance of going beyond the quarter-finals in RWC 2019.

A clean out of the board and most of the executives of Rugby Australia is desperately needed. Like the Cricket Australia executives, they have failed their community, in this case the rugby community, with a self-indulgent and arrogant concern about matters outside of the interests of the rugby community.

Any board faced with the failed record of its main money-maker, the Wallabies, would clean out most of the people who helped create that failed Wallabies record, including Rod Kafer who is RA’s director of coaching.

This means, also, that attack coach Stephen Larkham, defence coach Nathan Grey and the forwards coach Simon Raiwalui should go at the end of this tour.

I would like to end this pessimistic column on a slightly positive note by offering these names as possible candidates to help turn things around in 2019.

Replace Kafer with Scott Johnson, currently helping to turn around Scotland.

Glen Ella, who has been overlooked time after time by Cheika (why?), has shown with his short time with England that he can get a backline fizzing. Ask the All Blacks about the questions posed by England’s backs during that titanic battle this weekend at Twickenham.

During the broadcast of the Wales – Australia Test, James Horwill, a former Wallabies captain and second-rower, was used to give an Australian perspective on the play.

(Photo: Paul Barkley/LookPro)

Horwill’s commentary was terrific. He explained in detail why the Wallabies scrum and lineout failed from time to time and why the various penalties at the breakdown were awarded against the visitors.

The contrast with this informed commentary and the nonsense about “the referee got it wrong” from Rod Kafer and Phil Kearns on Fox Sports broadcasts was illuminating.

Horwill should be brought into the Wallabies camp as a forwards coach, as soon as possible, or at least in the lead-up and during the RWC 2019 tournament.

Someone like Alan Jones or Rod Macqueen should be included in the Wallabies camp as a selector and adviser.

And why not bring in Jake White, a coach who knows how to win the Webb Ellis trophy, to help with tactics, processes and the management of the Wallabies squad leading up to and during the 2019 Cup.

Source: https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/11/12/heads-must-roll-as-cheikas-wallabies-lose-against-wales-with-stupid-play/

0 notes

365footballorg-blog · 6 years

Text

Armchair Analyst: What's at stake across the league on Decision Day

div.video-js { width: 100% !important; height: 0 !important; overflow: hidden; position: relative; padding-top: 56.2%; }

October 26, 20182:37PM EDT

And so here it is, the final weekend of the 2018 MLS regular season – the highest-scoring regular season in nearly 20 years. I like goals, so this has been a lot of fun for me.

What’s at stake during Decision Day presented by AT&T? The final playoff spot in each conference, the Supporters’ Shield, homefield advantage basically everywhere (but especially the top of the West), perhaps the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award, and the Valderrama Award (I just made that up but from now on that’s what I’m calling the single-season assist king. Please join me in pushing this and together we can make fetch happen).

Let’s dive in and go for one last swim around the league:

Chicago Fire vs. D.C. United 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for Chicago: Pride and jobs. This, from Jose Luis Sanchez Pando’s look at the Fire this week in the Chicago Tribune, is pretty stark:

The cruel reality is that, aside from only four players (Richard Sanchez, Dax McCarty, Aleksandar Katai and Nemanja Nikolic), the rest of the roster and coaching staff will be out of a contract at the end of December and, given how poor the season has been, it would not be strange to see a complete clearing out of the squad with several departures.

That doesn’t mean those will be the only four guys who return, since the team has a ton of guys with contract options for 2019, but it speaks to just how hard a reboot might be coming this offseason. For everyone.

At Stake for D.C.: Their second-half run has been remarkable, and they finished the first job last weekend by once again taking three home points and officially qualifying for the playoffs.

What they haven’t had to do much of since July is leave home, and for a team with a 1-9-6 road record this year, that’s obviously a good thing. And that brings us to the second job: Win this one and they’ll get to play the Knockout Round game down at the Southwest Waterfront District. Lose, and they’re definitely going on the road on short rest. A draw means they have to get some help from NYCFC in order to get that home game.

United have been truly awesome to watch over the last four months, but it’s all come with a caveat. Win here and that caveat goes away at least a little bit.

By the way…

So I checked every season for every team on the #MLS website. So there’s a bit of a caveat here, but if Yamil Asad scores next weekend, #DCU will be the first team in which 4 players reached double digit regular season goals in one year.

— Steven Streff (@streffsoccer) October 22, 2018

This team is so much more than just the Wayne Rooney/Lucho Acosta show.

NYCFC vs. Philadelphia Union 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for NYCFC: Homefield advantage, their identity, a proper farewell for David Villa (maybe), and… are those whispers about Dome’s job? Too soon for that, but the fanbase is really, really unhappy, and I get it.

This team, which was justifiably considered one of the league’s best at the start of the year, and spent the first five months of the season somewhere amongst the top three or four in the Shield race, has gone 2-6-4 since the end of July. Injuries have played a part, but just a part not the part. The fact is that NYCFC have come unglued in terms of how and where they press, what they do when they win the ball back, and how to even build from the back – the most crucial and definitive part of their identity under Patrick Vieira.

They look nothing like a contender in any sense of the word, and everything like a team that will get worked in the Knockout Round if they have to play anywhere but Yankee Stadium.

All they need to claim a home game is a point. Villa’s healthy and Yangel Herrera is back for probably 30 minutes, and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi’s good to go. No excuses here.

At Stake for Philly: Homefield advantage is the big one. If Philly win this they leapfrog NYCFC and finish in third place. It would be a testament to how well they’ve played since mid-May, and a validation of both head coach Jim Curtin’s trust in the kids as well as the organizational philosophy. And it’s clear that these kids are very, very good:

good morning to everyone that wants to see how modern centerback @markmckenzie4_ handled the best press in @MLS history. he’s just getting started, y’all.

and this is only from the first half. pic.twitter.com/QJ2G6TXVYm

— Adam Cann (@adamtcann) October 23, 2018

That kind of play out of the back is really useful on most fields. Beware of it in the Bronx, though.

Here’s the thing: Philly have played five truly big games in their last six outings. They started out with two excellent wins (at Seattle, and home to SKC). Then Houston put them in the blender in the U.S. Open Cup final. Then they came out of that and got a credible draw at Columbus. And then last week they played really well against RBNY… but found a way to lose.

The Union are good and talented and, as befitting a team with a lot of young players and no real match-winning goalscorer, still leave a lot of results on the table. Win this one and the narrative continues to nudge a little bit more in the direction they want.

By the way, the Valderrama Award will almost certainly be won by either United’s Acosta or the Union’s Borek Dockal, both of whom are on 17 assists for the season.

Toronto FC vs. Atlanta United 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for Toronto FC: Nothing but pride, really. I’m pretty sure they don’t want to see the Five Stripes waltz into BMO Field and 1) break the single-season points record TFC set just last year, and 2) claim the Shield. That would, I imagine, feel pretty bad.

At Stake for Atlanta United: The Shield, and a good chunk of how we talk about the Tata Martino era. These Atlanta teams of the last two years are going to be remembered with real fondness – they played fun and fast and relatively flexible soccer, brought in some of the most exciting new talent anybody’s ever imported, and won a lot of games in style. But will they be remembered as champions?

Win the Shield (which is IMO the very best major trophy to win, because it means you gave your fans eight months of great soccer), and the answer is “yes.” Anything less than that here and suddenly the playoffs are that more pressure-packed. And it’s got to be said: Tata’s teams have a long and sad history of failing to take the last hurdle.

Atlanta are going to be without Miguel Almiron again in this one, which means they’re not going to be as explosive driving out of midfield with the ball on their foot. They’re going to have to be tidier and more creative in possession, and when they do use the ball well…

… they need better than that from Josef Martinez. The Golden Boot winner has scored in just one of his last seven games, and you could argue that the MVP award is on the line here. If he posts another zero, and Atlanta blow their 28-3 lead in the Shield race, and Zlatan leads the Galaxy into the playoffs, it’s at least a debate as to who the MVP is. Two month ago it wasn’t.

RBNY vs. Orlando City 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for RBNY: Depending upon how the Atlanta games out, they’ve got a shot at their third Shield in six years. And if they win this (which they absolutely should), they’ve got at worst the second-highest single-season points total in league history.

Beyond that: Even in the playoffs I’d expect certain teams to bunker against this RBNY bunch, and why not? Bunkering has historically worked against them in two-legged series, and we have enough data points in that regard to be pretty sure this information is not flukey. So against an Orlando side that played a 3-6-1 (or maybe a 5-4-1) last week to claim just their second win since May, and will probably do the same again, and will do so deep in their own defensive end… this is good practice, right? This is something that the Red Bulls can use to shore up what’s been a traditional weak spot.

I wouldn’t be shocked if, at some point, Chris Armas brings on a second forward next to Bradley Wright-Phillips. Just to see.

At Stake for Orlando City: Jobs, certainly. You don’t go straight into the toilet for 70 percent of the season and not suffer some sort of professional comeuppance. Closing the year with two straight wins would potentially mitigate a bit of that.

There’s also the chance to inch further toward having some definable style or philosophy. The 3-6-1/5-4-1 they played last week is an inherently defensive formation (especially when trotting out multiple d-mids as is James O’Connor’s wont), but at times in the second half it looked a lot like an attacking 3-4-3.

Columbus Crew SC vs. Minnesota United 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for Columbus: A trip to the playoffs. While they might get help from New England, they absolutely should not count on the Revs in any possible way. Crew SC need to treat this like a must-win game, and also as a should-win game. They’ve gone 2-4-3 in their last nine, nobody can score from open play, the defense has suddenly become a bit fragile, and the Gregg Berhalter-to-the-USMNT rumors are probably playing some sort of role re: focus and distractions.

You are still professionals. You are still playing a home game against an inferior team. If Columbus don’t make the playoffs it will be a choke job akin to FC Dallas last season.

At Stake for Minnesota: Nothing really – the Loons’ braintrust has made it clear that almost everybody’s going to be back next year – except maybe proof of concept:

Darwin Quintero’s output for #MNUFC this season, split before and after Christian Ramirez.

That’s a notable dip in xG+xA production. His raw chance numbers are also down, showing increased defensive focus. Ramirez did a lot of off-ball running to create space for Quintero. pic.twitter.com/juP2XjXrTq

— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) October 23, 2018

Part of being smart about building a team is understanding that it’s not just a collection of talent, but rather a collection of partnerships. So far that really, really hasn’t worked out with MNUFC’s new Designated Players.

By the way, if MNUFC lose 2-0 they’ll finish this year with 36 points, 47 goals scored and 70 conceded. Last year they finished with 36 points, 47 goals scored and 70 conceded.

New England Revolution vs. Montreal Impact 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for New England: Take it away, Brad Friedel:

“[This game is] important for a lot of reasons. Montreal has a lot to play for, so I think it’s only right we give maximum effort to make sure the final league standings are a true, accurate reading of what they should be.”

“I think the second reason is players are still playing for their positions next year, and playing for contracts next year. And performances, especially like that first half against Real Salt Lake, won’t help their chances.”

“That’s another thing. The players really need to put on a show for the fans. We were in a great position and came unstuck right after the LA Galaxy game, and that’s not something the fans deserve. They spend a lot of time and a lot of money coming out to watch us play, so I think it’s only fitting the players put in maximum effort and try to get three points.”

Friedel talks in bullet points and I respect the hell out of that. It also needs reiterating that, over the past two seasons, the Revs have spent more on their backline and defensive midfield than anyone outside of the Galaxy, and of the six big-budget players they’ve brought in, only one (Michael Mancienne) is currently a starter. And he’s not 100 percent looking the part.

So there’s a bunch of proof-of-concept stuff applying here, just as it is in Minnesota.

At Stake for Montreal: Potentially – if Columbus trip up – a playoff spot. And it wouldn’t be entirely undeserved, as Montreal have gone 11-5-4 in regular season play since the start of June. It took a while for Remi Garde to figure out what he was doing, but eventually he mashed the “bunker and counter!” button and it largely worked.

But there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to ride this into next season. Usually if a team discovers itself in the second half of Year A, then you can count on them coming out with that identity and riding it at the start of Year B. Even if they miss the playoffs I expect the Impact will try to do that in 2019 (I don’t think there will be a ton of turnover on the staff), but this is the league’s oldest team. Seven of the starters are over 30, two are over 35, and only one is under the age of 25. As individuals most of these guys are as good as they’re ever going to be, and are pretty firmly on the downslope.

That somehow doesn’t yet include Ignacio Piatti, who’s having his best year yet. But he turns 34 before next season kicks off, and eventually Father Time’s going to take a round from him.

If Montreal get the job done here, and get some luck courtesy of the Loons, and get into the playoffs, they are absolutely terrifying and potentially bracket-busting darkhorses. If not, 2019’s an open question.

Sporting KC vs. LAFC 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for Sporting KC: The view from the top. We’ve beaten to death the fact that SKC have been eliminated on the road in the Knockout Round for four straight years, and that’s because SKC have been beaten to death on the road in the Knockout Round for four straight years. If you don’t want us to talk about it, don’t play in that game.

Well, they’re for sure not going on the road in the Knockout Round – last week’s results made that official. Now they can go one step further and, with a home win against a good team on the final day of the season, claim the No. 1 spot in the West and homefield advantage at least until MLS Cup (should they make it that far).

SKC had their best win of the season last week, pounding FC Dallas 3-0 in Dallas. Khiry Shelton was at the heart of it:

#SportingKC record when Shelton starts at CF:

8W-4D-2L (+14 GD)

Shelton, Russell, Salloi start together:

8W-3D-1L (+16 GD)

— Andy Edwards (@AndyEdMLS) October 21, 2018

Do it again and the starting No. 9 job is certainly his. Maybe it should be anyway.

This is not a given, though. SKC are a middling 5-6-4 against playoff teams (counting RSL and Columbus as in, with the Galaxy and Impact as out).

At Stake for LAFC: All of the above, more or less. LAFC have had a remarkable maiden voyage, winning with goals and style and possession and flair and set-pieces and overlapping fullbacks and wingers coming from every angle under the sun. It’s been fun.

They’ve also been sloppy and naive defending leads basically throughout the year, and have given squandered 15 points worth of results, including last week’s 2-0 lead over Vancouver that turned into a dispiriting 2-2 home draw. That should not happen if you’re a contender.

Even if things go super wrong they’re not going to drop below fourth place, as the goal differential between them and the Timbers is too great. Still… show us something here. Go gut out a result.

Colorado Rapids vs. FC Dallas 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for Colorado: Jobs for the players, certainly. There’s going to be a bunch of roster turnover yet again, and at least Anthony Hudson has shown some foresight in finally getting the kids onto the field over the past month (Cole Bassett has looked unusually calm and competent at central midfield for a 17-year-old).

My guess is that, regardless of the final score here, Hudson and GM Padraig Smith are both probably safe. Closing the year with three straight results, though – a win at Minnesota, a draw at San Jose and then at least a point here – while playing the kids would be something tangible to build upon.

They need to do a better job with their offseason scouting this year, though.

At Stake for FC Dallas: They’re 6-6-4 in the second half of the season and they’ve scored one open play goal since September 1. At times they look pretty good, but then that last touch…

You’re totally justified in blaming the forwards and wingers for not finishing. But the underlying numbers aren’t great, either, as both expected goals and expected assists are down. They’re not creating as many chances, and they’re not finding as many chances, and they not finishing anything.

The defense has mostly carried the load, but we saw them start to break down last week. If they break down again this week (unlikely against the league’s worst attack), Dallas could drop all the way to fifth and find themselves opening the playoffs on short rest in Providence Park. Obviously that’s not what an ideal way to open the playoffs.

Bear all of the above in mind, but also: That lovely throughball in the highlight to start the break-out? That was from Santiago Mosquera. The DP winger has been working under the radar this season, but since earning his way into the lineup in late August he’s been mostly pretty good, a hell of a lot of fun, and an occasional match-winner.

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Portland Timbers 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for Vancouver: Two years ago on Decision Day Vancouver ruined Portland’s collective life, beating them 4-1 and knocking them out of the playoffs. In 2017 they went to Portland and lost 2-1, allowing their rivals to top the West. What will happen in Round 3?

Now, the Timbers can’t top the West, nor can they fall out of the playoffs. But at the very least Vancouver have a chance to inflict some misery here.

Beyond that, there are jobs on the line. We’ve already seen Carl Robinson part ways with the club, and a whole host of the players he’s brought in over the past few years have mostly underachieved. A bunch of them won’t be back.

Neither will Alphonso Davies, who definitely did not underachieve. ‘Caps fans should cheer and sing their heads off for him for the full 90, and he should get an 88th minute curtain call no matter what the scoreline is at the time.

At Stake for Portland: Homefield advantage if either Dallas or Seattle manage to biff it. The Timbers are a better road team than in recent years, but 11-2-5 (Providence Park) is a lot better than 4-7-5 (elsewhere). A win would at least give them a prayer of a home game in the Knockout Round, and would close their regular season slate with two straight away wins against decent teams.

Bigger picture: There’s some identity stuff at play here. Portland have performed better recently in the 4-2-3-1 Gio Savarese scrapped way back in March, and another positive data point would be useful heading into the postseason.

Biggest picture: Soccer has often been termed as a “weak link” game – i.e., the herd can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. Who’s the weak link for Portland? Most often this year it’s been the center forward and one of the wingers. Jeremy Ebobisse, who seems to have locked down the No. 9 role, was excellent with 1g/2a in the two wins over RSL. This is so nice:

Andy Polo, who’s been mostly on the right wing, has only really been “functional.” Getting just a little bit of danger out of the guy – he has 1g/2a in 1600 minutes – would be nice.

Seattle Sounders vs. San Jose Earthquakes 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for Seattle: It would be at least a little bit hilarious if, after the best half-season in MLS history, the Sounders figured out how to lose to the Quakes on the final day, at home, and cost themselves a home game in the Knockout Round. Win and get some help elsewhere and they could even avoid the Knockout Round entirely.

Given their institutional knowledge, their individual quality, their recent performance and Nico Lodeiro’s all-around greatness (this is now unmistakably his team), Seattle should probably be considered no worse than co-favorites in the West no matter what the result is here. But at the same time, they haven’t exactly been facing down murderer’s row since July.

At Stake for San Jose: Another chance to impress Matias Almeyda, who will be on hand and taking the game in with interest, I’m sure.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I really, really like a bunch of San Jose’s not-so-young-anymore attackers. They’re all playing regular minutes now, and moments like this hold more than just promise:

#WondoWatch is still alive and well, too. A single goal and he equals Landon Donovan’s career mark; a brace and he’s the new all-time goals king.

I will be shocked if he gets that brace this weekend, but Seattle have been sloppy defending restarts lately. Don’t be shocked if Wondo pinches one.

LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo 4:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & streaming info

At Stake for LA: They are mad at Bobby Warshaw in Sweden because he doesn’t believe Zlatan should be anywhere near the MVP race.

Anything less than the full three points, and the discussion becomes moot – the Galaxy will have missed the playoffs and Zlatan’s first season, despite his great stats, will be considered an on-field failure. If he puts together yet another commanding performance (he has 7g/3a in his last seven games), and leads the Galaxy to a win, and thus into the playoffs, and if Josef and Atlanta fall short in the Shield race… then Zlatan’s got a real argument.

This is literally a must-win for Zlatan, and for the Galaxy, and for interim head coach Dom Kinnear (who’s done a nice job of simplifying the team shape and tipping some expensively sacred cows on that backline).

There are bound to be a bunch of changes this offseason regardless, but if Kinnear Schmetzers this team to an MLS Cup title, he’ll probably get that “interim” tag removed. Everything’s a final from here on out for the Galaxy.

At Stake for Houston: Nothing much, and they’ve been playing like it sine winning the Open Cup. This team’s core is going to be back next year – hopefully with some defensive reinforcements – and their next game will be in the Concacaf Champions League. Going out on a high note would be nice, but what would be nicer is making sure nobody gets injured and that they get through a game without a colossal defensive error.

One More Thing to Ponder

Go check out the Slow Mo Guys on Youtube.

Happy weekending, everybody.

Series:

Topics:

The Winning 11 Pick ‘Em’

Who ya got on Decision Day? Pick which teams will win on MLS Decision Day 2018 presented by AT&T (Oct. 28) for a chance to win a trip to the MLS Cup 2018. It’s FREE and easy. Make your picks now!

hr.top-border-fade {background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) linear-gradient(to right, #ffffff 0%, #dfdfdf 50%, #ffffff 100%) repeat scroll 0 0;margin:20px 0 0 0;clear:both;border:0;height:1px;color:#dfdfdf;} .merch-block { background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) radial-gradient(50% 30px at 50% 100% , #ebebeb 0%, #fff 110%) repeat scroll 0 0; /* border-top:1px solid #ebebeb; */ padding:15px 15px 22px 15px; } .item, .copy {display:inline-block;vertical-align:middle;} .item {line-height:0;} .item img {line-height:0;} .copy p {margin:0;} .copy p.merch-block-text {font-size:1.0em;line-height:1.40em;} .copy p.merch-block-title {font-size:1.4em;margin-bottom:3px;font-family:’din_regular’,’Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;;} @media screen and (max-width: 730px) { .item {margin:0 15px;line-height:0;} .item img {width:100%;height:auto;} .copy {margin:20px 0 0 0;} .wide {display:none;} } @media screen and (min-width: 731px) and (max-width: 1120px) { .item {margin-right:20px;line-height:0;} .item img {width:120px;height:auto;} .copy {width:70%;} } @media screen and (min-width: 1121px) { .item {margin-right:20px;line-height:0;} .item img {width:165px;height:auto;} .copy {width:70%;} .copy p.merch-block-title {font-size:1.3em;} }

<!–

Stay connected: Get access to breaking news, videos, and analysis from North America’s best soccer reporters via “This Week in MLS” newsletter or using our FREE mobile app.

–>

Stay connected: The all-new, completely redesigned, FREE official MLS app is your best mobile source for scores, news, analysis and highlights. Download: App Store | Google Play

#block-block-188 {padding:0;} #stay-connected {border-top:1px solid #ebebeb;margin:20px 0;} #stay-connected p {margin:0;color:#4d4d4d;line-height:1.5em;} @media screen and (max-width: 730px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:100%;} } @media screen and (min-width: 731px) and (max-width: 1120px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:100%;} } @media screen and (min-width: 1121px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:708px;} }

MLSsoccer.com News

Armchair Analyst: What's at stake across the league on Decision Day was originally published on 365 Football

#across #Analyst #Armchair #decision #League #stake #What&039s

0 notes

mystlnewsonline · 6 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/latest-moscow-awaits-ruling-olympic-appeals/82517/

The Latest: Moscow awaits ruling on Olympic appeals

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea /February 7, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — The Latest from the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

4:55 p.m.

The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is awaiting a ruling on the appeals of Russian athletes hoping to compete in the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Forty-five Russian athletes and two coaches are seeking to overturn the International Olympic Committee’s decision not to invite them to the games based on criteria put in place after doping issues in Sochi in 2014.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport heard their appeals Thursday, but didn’t immediately issue a ruling. The court said it could come Thursday evening or Friday morning. The opening ceremony is Friday night.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that the much-awaited ruling “should be respected and complied with.” He says the IOC must abide by the court’s ruling.

___

3 p.m.

American figure skater Adam Rippon says he doesn’t want his team to be distracted by his animosity toward Mike Pence over the U.S. vice president’s conservative stance on gay rights.

The openly gay Rippon criticized the White House last month for choosing Pence to lead the official U.S. delegation for Friday’s opening ceremony. Pence has been considered an opponent of the LGBT community after signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as governor of Indiana.

Critics say the legislation encourages discrimination against gay people.

Rippon said after practice Thursday that he would be open to speaking with Pence after the games.

The figure skating program begins Friday with the men’s and pairs short programs in the team competition. Rippon is due on the ice Monday, when he tackles the men’s free skate for Team USA.

___

2:55 p.m.

A lawyer for 45 Russian athletes and two coaches says hearings have concluded in their last-ditch attempt to compete at the Pyeongchang Olympics, but there is no ruling yet.

Philippe Baertsch, representing the 47 Russians,,��says the Court of Arbitration for Sport panel will issue a decision within the next 24 hours.

He adds “we are hopeful that the panel will follow our argumentation and respect the rights of the athletes.”

Elena Nikitina, a skeleton bronze medalist who attended the hearing, says “everyone was pleasant and we were listened to.”

___

2:45 p.m.

The head coach of the hastily assembled joint North and South Korean women’s Olympic hockey team says it’s important for members to march together in the opening ceremony to show they are unified.

Asked if marching together is a political statement, coach Sarah Murray says putting the team together was a political statement, but now it’s just one team.

Murray, who is Canadian, says her worst-case scenario was that the players wouldn’t talk to each other, but she says they eat together, have meetings together, and mix and talk in the locker room.

The team has played together just once before, but she says the chemistry is better than she could have imagined. Their first game is Saturday against Sweden.

___

2:30 p.m.

Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Canada has found the fastest line in the first Olympic downhill training session despite a balky back and two creaking knees.

Osborne-Paradis finished in 1 minute, 40.45 seconds Thursday on a demanding but not overly tricky course. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway was second, 0.31 seconds behind Osborne-Paradis. Mauro Caviezel of Switzerland wound up third.

The downhill race is set for Sunday.

Over the years, Osborne-Paradis has dealt with a herniated disk and soreness in a surgically repaired left knee. Now, he has what he calls a “grumpy” right knee. Still, he found speed on a track that requires a racer’s full attention. Explained Jansrud: “You can’t afford putting out a hand and go a kilometer slower, because it’s going to cost you a medal.”

___

2:10 p.m.

Shaun White says he is working on the tricks that Japan’s Ayumu Hirano used to win the halfpipe at the Winter X Games last month.

Hirano became the first snowboarder to string together back-to-back 1440-degree jumps in what was widely regarded as the best show ever seen in a halfpipe.

White says “he’s really pushing it, and he did an amazing combination that I’m working on myself. I don’t think we’ve seen my best run.”

White’s best run, at least this season, came at Snowmass in an Olympic qualifier in January. White used one 1440, along with his patented Double McTwist 1260, to win the contest with a maximum score of 100 — one of the rare times that mark has ever been handed out.

It established him as the man to beat at the Olympics. But a short two weeks later came the X Games, where Hirano strung together his back-to-back 1440s — the first time that had ever been done in a competition — and Scotty James finished a close second on a run that included three 1260s, including one in which he rides and spins backward into the wall to execute the double cork.

___

2 p.m.

Reigning men’s gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan will not participate in the team event that opens the figure skating program Friday as he continues to recover from an ankle injury he sustained in November.

Japan will go with Shoma Uno and Keiji Tanaka in the men’s short program and free skate.

Hanyu sustained ligament damage in his right ankle while practicing for the NHK Trophy in November, and his recovery has been slower than expected. He only began training on ice last month, though his Canadian coach Brian Orser said this week that Hanyu will be “100 percent” for the men’s competition beginning Feb. 16.

Hanyu is trying to become the first skater to defend his Olympic title since Dick Button in 1952.

___

1:30 p.m.

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency is blaming underfunding for sports seeming to be losing ground to doping and cheating.

Craig Reedie says “we are 50 percent underfunded in terms of what everyone wants us to do.”

Reedie says WADA’s annual budget is about $30 million. Half comes from national governments, which is matched equally by the International Olympic Committee. Speaking at the Pyeongchang Olympics, Reedie says he hopes to see a 50 percent increase in the next several years, pushing governments for more.

The IOC — which relies on WADA to give its events credibility — has the resources to pay more.

The IOC’s revenue for the last complete four-year Olympic cycle — 2013 through 2016 — was $5.7 billion. That means the IOC’s contribution to WADA and the fight on doping is miniscule.

Says WADA’s Director General Olivier Niggli: “We think that currently the fight against doping is under-funded, worldwide.”

___

1:15 p.m.

North Korea says it is not interested in meeting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence while he is in South Korea for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Pyongyang is sending a senior delegation — including Kim Jong Un’s younger sister — and rumors had circulated such a meeting could be in the works. A top Foreign Ministry official seemed to rule that out in comments carried by North Korea’s state-run media Thursday.

“We have no intention to meet with the U.S. side during the stay in South Korea,” the official was quoted as saying. “We are not going to use such sports festival as the Winter Olympics as a political lever. There is no need to do so.”

Pence is scheduled to arrive in South Korea from Japan on Thursday.

___

12:55 p.m.

The most prized Olympic titles in Alpine skiing will be won this month on downhill courses raced only once before, and lined with trees that are sacred as symbols of fertility.

Only after the South Korean region was picked as host in 2011 were the wide speed tracks in Jeongseon cut through the forest. The mountain is now a pure competition venue for the Pyeongchang Games rather than a hub for ski tourism.

The best downhillers have each had only one World Cup race to fully test the jumps and terrain in cold air sweeping down from Siberia.

Lindsey Vonn, the 2010 Olympic champion, says it’s a very unique course. The men’s downhill race is Sunday and the women race on Feb. 21.

___

12:45 p.m.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport says six more Russian athletes have filed appeals seeking to compete at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The six include two world champion speedskaters, Denis Yuskov and Pavel Kulizhnikov, plus athletes from biathlon and ski jumping.

All six were originally refused invitations to compete by the International Olympic Committee. All have previously served bans of various lengths for failed drug tests. The IOC had said it wouldn’t invite athletes previously banned for doping.

Seven Russian support personnel have filed appeals in another case.

The court says the new cases will be heard separately from ongoing hearings for 45 Russian athletes and two coaches. The opening ceremonies are Friday.

___

12:30 p.m.

South Korea says the number of people treated and quarantined for norovirus following an outbreak in Olympic areas has increased to 86 as authorities struggle to track the spread of the disease.

Hong Jeong-ik from South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday the number of cases is likely to continue to rise because authorities are screening more areas for the disease.

Officials had initially confirmed 32 cases among security personnel and sequestered about 1,200. Because the sick workers handled security, 900 military personnel have been brought in to work at 20 venues.

The Olympic organizing committee said 63 of those sickened, mostly security staff, were staying at a youth training center in Pyeongchang. The committee did not say where the other 23 were staying but did say 12 are police officers, seven are committee staff and four are press support staff.

Hong says officials suspect the outbreak was caused by contaminated water but that an ongoing epidemiological survey has yet to confirm that.

Norovirus is a common, infectious bug that causes unpleasant symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting but doesn’t require medical treatment.

___

11:50 a.m.

Some of the Russian athletes seeking last-ditch admission to the Pyeongchang Olympics have arrived for their appeal hearings.

Forty-five Russian athletes and two coaches are seeking to overturn the International Olympic Committee‘s decision not to invite them to the games. If they win, it would force the IOC to accept athletes it considers to be linked to doping offenses.

In attendance for Thursday’s hearing at a luxury resort near the Olympic facilities are Elena Nikitina, the 2014 bronze medalist in women’s skeleton, and luger Tatiana Ivanova, who won silver in the team event in 2014.

Nikitina says she is optimistic about winning the case.

Other athletes whose cases will be heard include Viktor Ahn, a six-time Olympic gold medalist in short-track speedskating, and cross-country ski gold medalist Alexander Legkov.

A few of the Russians have said that even if they win, they won’t take up their invitations because they haven’t been training.

___

11:30 a.m.

Erin Hamlin will carry the U.S. flag into Friday’s opening ceremony at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The four-time Olympic luger was chosen by fellow Team USA Olympians for the honor. Hamlin is retiring at the end of the Olympics, after nearly two decades of racing competitively.

Hamlin says “it is definitely a privilege and honor to be the one to lead the team.”

The native of Remsen, New York, won a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games and is a two-time world champion. She’s also the fourth luge athlete to carry the U.S. flag into an Olympics.

___

10:10 a.m.

The Pyeongchang Olympics have begun with a curling competition featuring a pair of U.S. siblings in a showdown against a Russian husband-and-wife team competing in neutral uniforms with no national insignia.

The opening ceremony is still a day away, but the games are already underway. Among the athletes are 168 Russians who are being forced to compete under the neutral banner of “Olympic Athletes from Russia” as punishment for doping in Sochi in 2014. Others who were barred altogether have filed appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and are still hoping to be allowed to participate.

The first event is mixed doubles curling, which is making its Olympic debut. The more familiar single-gender version of curling will begin later in the games.

There were four games played simultaneously Thursday morning.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

___

#47 Russians #Moscow awaits ruling #Olympic appeals #The Court of Arbitration #Winter X games #World Anti-Doping Agency

0 notes

365footballorg-blog · 6 years

Text

Warshaw: What's the plan in Colorado? Rapids struggling to find way forward

USA Today Sports Images

May 21, 20186:26PM EDT

English teachers profess that it’s more powerful to show than to tell. So here’s the rundown of an MLS team over the last eight years:

YEAR CONFERENCE RANK PPG PLAYOFFS? 2011 5th 1.44 Y 2012 7th 1.09 N 2013 5th 1.50 Y 2014 8th 0.94 N 2015 10th 1.09 N 2016 2nd 1.71 Y 2017 10th 0.97 N 2018 12th 0.80 ?

They’ve finished last or next to last in the conference in three of the last four years. This year, they are last. They’ve lost five in a row. Most recently, the Colorado Rapids dropped a 4-0 result to NYCFC.

Per American Soccer Analysis, they have the 10th-highest salary total, and the 9th-highest average salary. Their six highest-paid players are:

Player Base Salary Total Compensation Tim Howard $ 2,000,000 $ 2,475,000 Shkelzen Gashi $ 1,575,000 $ 1,668,750 Stefan Aigner $ 800,000 $ 845,000 Yannick Boli $ 774,999 $ 907,499 Joe Mason $ 650,000 $ 682,500 Tommy Smith $ 600,000 $ 639,999 Danny Wilson $ 500,000 $ 540,000

*All figures from MLS Players Association Salary Guide

That’s nearly $ 7 million on six players.

Gashi, Aigner, and Boli have a combined two starts this year, totaling fewer than 300 minutes played. Mason leads the line for an attack with the second-fewest goals scored. Howard, Smith and Wilson head a defense that ranks 11th in the league.

While acknowledging the MLS Players Association’s numbers aren’t a perfect measurement and more goes into signing players (transfer fees, etc.), Colorado’s weekend opponent, NYCFC, pay roughly $ 5 million for:

Player Base Salary Total Compensation Maxi Moralez $ 2,000,000 $ 2,000,000 Jo Inge Berget $ 600,000 $ 816,666 Alexander Callens $ 500,000 $ 564,000 Maxime Chanot $ 375,000 $ 408,000 Jesus Medina $ 650,000 $ 770,833 Anton Tinnerholm $ 350,000 $ 434,000 Alexander Ring $ 370,000 $ 411,000

The Rapids have four Homegrown Players on their roster. Those players have a total of zero MLS starts this year (although Kortne Ford probably would have, had he been available for selection); two have been loaned out.

The Rapids haven’t had a great run since winning MLS Cup in 2010, and the present isn’t looking particularly bright.

Last week, Ridge Mahoney interviewed Sporting Kansas City head coach and de facto President of all-things-soccer Peter Vermes for Soccer America. Vermes has won four trophies; SKC have made the playoffs seven years in a row. Discussing the state of the US national team, Vermes reflected: “What is their plan? … I want to see what the plan is going forward.” It’s perhaps the most important question when you evaluate any organization. Because without a plan – as Vermes explains in the interview – any success is simply luck.

Bringing it back to Colorado: What is the plan? Since winning Cup, the club has made a clear slide downward, with just three playoff appearances in the last seven years – bottom two in four of five seasons – and on-field aesthetics that have often been worse than the results.

It’s one thing to lose. It’s another to have a bad season. It’s yet another to have a bad couple years. And then there’s struggling for the better part of a decade. We’re past the realm of bad luck.

What was the plan?

In 2011, a year removed from that championship victory, the Rapids parted ways with head coach Gary Smith despite making the playoffs. They brought in Oscar Pareja, who turned over the roster, trading cornerstones Pablo Mastroeni and Jeff Larentowicz. Fair enough for a coach to want to bring in his own players, and the Rapids returned to the playoffs in Pareja’s second season. Yet Pareja then returned to FC Dallas, where he had spent more than a decade, to become the club’s head coach.

Rapids legend Pablo Mastroeni amassed a 46-58-41 record as Rapids head coach over almost four seasons | USA Today Sports Images

What was the plan?

Padraig Smith was brought in as the club’s sporting director in January 2015 after spending three years in UEFA’s Financial Analysis Group. He was promoted to EVP and general manager in January.

After Pareja, the Rapids turned to club legend Pablo Mastroeni. It took a couple years, but the Rapids re-entered the playoff picture in 2016, even fighting for the Supporters’ Shield. It came down the final day before they ultimately lost out to Pareja’s FCD squad.

Mastroeni’s team used a stout defense and gritty performances to surprise the league. Every time you watched that Rapids team, you knew what the game looked like. It wasn’t pretty but it got the job done. It looked like they had a plan!

… until, less than a month into the 2017 season, when Colorado traded their starting defensive midfielder, Sam Cronin, and starting left back, Marc Burch to Minnesota. Neither of the two players they received in return started 2018 on the Rapids roster. The Rapids went from conceding a league-low 32 goals in 2016 to conceding 51 goals in 2017. At the end of 2017 – again just a year removed from a Conference Championship appearance – the Rapids made a managerial change.

What was the plan?

The Rapids hired their fourth manager since 2011, bringing on Anthony Hudson from the New Zealand national team.

Hudson and the front office staff opted to go against MLS trends. Whereas most clubs had turned to South America to find players, Colorado went shopping in England. He signed Smith, Mason and midfielder Jack Price from the Championship, England’s second tier, and Wilson from the Scottish league. While most teams moved toward a more fluid possession-based approach, Hudson decided to play direct, opting for a defensive-minded 5-3-2. Again, fair enough. Ignoring conventional wisdom is a strategy, and new ideas always seem silly until someone proves they work.

Except, of course, they haven’t for Colorado so far.

Rapids now dead last in the West w/ 8 points through 10 games. Tied for 2nd-worst start in franchise history.

Worst start was 7 points in 10 games, all the way back in… 2017.

Might be time to start asking serious questions about the front office’s approach to roster building.

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) May 19, 2018

There are caveats to Hudson’s belabored start. The current coaching staff isn’t responsible for a couple of the highest-profile acquisitions. Howard, Aigner and Gashi were all signed prior to their arrival. It also generally takes time for a new system to take hold and new players to acclimate. I like the way the Rapids play at times – it’s gritty and straight forward and unique. I’m willing to give Hudson time to establish himself.

But again, what’s the plan? Is it grizzled 20-something lower-tier British players? Is it defensive-first, counterattacking soccer?

Only Jack Price has provided a positive return from the former group and that defensive-first, counterattacking soccer is neither stopping goals or resulting in them.

Pick something. Execute it, or find a different approach. So fans can feel like the next five years might be better than the last eight.

Series:

Topics:

<!–

Stay connected: Get access to breaking news, videos, and analysis from North America’s best soccer reporters via “This Week in MLS” newsletter or using our FREE mobile app.

–>

Stay connected: The all-new, completely redesigned, FREE official MLS app is your best mobile source for scores, news, analysis and highlights. Download: App Store | Google Play

MLSsoccer.com News

Warshaw: What's the plan in Colorado? Rapids struggling to find way forward was originally published on 365 Football

#Colorado #Find #forward #plan #Rapids #struggling #Warshaw #What&039s

0 notes

mystlnewsonline · 6 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/latest-hearing-russian-olympic-appeals-concludes/82464/

The Latest: Hearing on Russian Olympic appeals concludes

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea /February 7, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — The Latest from the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

2:55 p.m.

A lawyer for 45 Russian athletes and two coaches says hearings have concluded in their last-ditch attempt to compete at the Pyeongchang Olympics, but there is no ruling yet.

Philippe Baertsch, representing the 47 Russians, says the Court of Arbitration for Sport panel will issue a decision within the next 24 hours.

He adds “we are hopeful that the panel will follow our argumentation and respect the rights of the athletes.”

Elena Nikitina, a skeleton bronze medalist who attended the hearing, says “everyone was pleasant and we were listened to.”

___

2:45 p.m.

Asked if marching together is a political statement, coach Sarah Murray says putting the team together was a political statement, but now it’s just one team.

Murray, who is Canadian, says her worst-case scenario was that the players wouldn’t talk to each other, but she says they eat together, have meetings together, and mix and talk in the locker room.

The team has played together just once before, but she says the chemistry is better than she could have imagined. Their first game is Saturday against Sweden.

___

2:30 p.m.

Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Canada has found the fastest line in the first Olympic downhill training session despite a balky back and two creaking knees.

The downhill race is set for Sunday.

___

2:10 p.m.

Shaun White says he is working on the tricks that Japan’s Ayumu Hirano used to win the halfpipe at the Winter X Games last month.

Hirano became the first snowboarder to string together back-to-back 1440-degree jumps in what was widely regarded as the best show ever seen in a halfpipe.

White says “he’s really pushing it, and he did an amazing combination that I’m working on myself. I don’t think we’ve seen my best run.”

___

2 p.m.

Japan will go with Shoma Uno and Keiji Tanaka in the men’s short program and free skate.

Hanyu is trying to become the first skater to defend his Olympic title since Dick Button in 1952.

___

1:30 p.m.

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency is blaming underfunding for sports seeming to be losing ground to doping and cheating.

Craig Reedie says “we are 50 percent underfunded in terms of what everyone wants us to do.”

The IOC — which relies on WADA to give its events credibility — has the resources to pay more.

The IOC’s revenue for the last complete four-year Olympic cycle — 2013 through 2016 — was $5.7 billion. That means the IOC’s contribution to WADA and the fight on doping is miniscule.

Says WADA’s Director General Olivier Niggli: “We think that currently the fight against doping is under-funded, worldwide.”

___

1:15 p.m.

North Korea says it is not interested in meeting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence while he is in South Korea for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Pence is scheduled to arrive in South Korea from Japan on Thursday.

___

12:55 p.m.

The most prized Olympic titles in Alpine skiing will be won this month on downhill courses raced only once before, and lined with trees that are sacred as symbols of fertility.

The best downhillers have each had only one World Cup race to fully test the jumps and terrain in cold air sweeping down from Siberia.

Lindsey Vonn, the 2010 Olympic champion, says it’s a very unique course. The men’s downhill race is Sunday and the women race on Feb. 21.

___

12:45 p.m.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport says six more Russian athletes have filed appeals seeking to compete at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The six include two world champion speedskaters, Denis Yuskov and Pavel Kulizhnikov, plus athletes from biathlon and ski jumping.

Seven Russian support personnel have filed appeals in another case.

The court says the new cases will be heard separately from ongoing hearings for 45 Russian athletes and two coaches. The opening ceremonies are Friday.

___

12:30 p.m.

South Korea says the number of people treated and quarantined for norovirus following an outbreak in Olympic areas has increased to 86 as authorities struggle to track the spread of the disease.

Hong says officials suspect the outbreak was caused by contaminated water but that an ongoing epidemiological survey has yet to confirm that.

Norovirus is a common, infectious bug that causes unpleasant symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting but doesn’t require medical treatment.

___

11:50 a.m.

Some of the Russian athletes seeking last-ditch admission to the Pyeongchang Olympics have arrived for their appeal hearings.

Forty-five Russian athletes and two coaches are seeking to overturn the International Olympic Committee’s decision not to invite them to the games. If they win, it would force the IOC to accept athletes it considers to be linked to doping offenses.

Nikitina says she is optimistic about winning the case.

Other athletes whose cases will be heard include Viktor Ahn, a six-time Olympic gold medalist in short-track speedskating, and cross-country ski gold medalist Alexander Legkov.

A few of the Russians have said that even if they win, they won’t take up their invitations because they haven’t been training.

___

11:30 a.m.

Erin Hamlin will carry the U.S. flag into Friday’s opening ceremony at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The four-time Olympic luger was chosen by fellow Team USA Olympians for the honor. Hamlin is retiring at the end of the Olympics, after nearly two decades of racing competitively.

Hamlin says “it is definitely a privilege and honor to be the one to lead the team.”

The native of Remsen, New York, won a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games and is a two-time world champion. She’s also the fourth luge athlete to carry the U.S. flag into an Olympics.

___

10:10 a.m.

The first event is mixed doubles curling, which is making its Olympic debut. The more familiar single-gender version of curling will begin later in the games.

There were four games played simultaneously Thursday morning.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

___

#bronze medalist #Hearing on Russian #Olympic appeals concludes

0 notes