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365footballorg-blog · 6 years ago

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DC chillin', no 6 in the engine room & Filthsinho: What you missed in Wk 25

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August 20, 201811:25AM EDT

August is winding towards its end, children across North America are trickling back to school and the standings are posing some blunt truths for MLS teams. Week 25 is in the books; here’s some points to highlight.

A very good week in D.C.

The mistakes of the spring and early summer can blight hopes at this time of year. But no team is better positioned to erase past shortcomings than D.C. United, who are as hot as anyone in the league after reeling off three wins in three home games over the past eight days to build a five-game unbeaten run.

The Black-and-Red wore down a highly physical New England side 2-0 at Audi Field on Sunday night and are increasingly optimistic that they can sustain enough momentum to surge into the postseason with a full head of steam this fall. Of the nine total goals they scored over the week, Wayne Rooney’s two goals and two assists got most of the praise, but don’t sleep on Darren Mattocks’ excellent solo effort against his old team the Portland Timbers:

A very bad week for Portland

…speaking of the Rose City side, theirs was the funhouse reflection of D.C.’s – three games, three losses, nine goals conceded, thanks in large part to two tired-looking road performances in Washington and Kansas City.

“This was a difficult week.”

Hear from Coach Savarese after the loss to Sporting KC. #SKCvPOR #RCTID pic.twitter.com/adzYNItZu4

— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) August 19, 2018

Their 15-game unbeaten run is fading in the rearview mirror and coach Giovanni Savarese must find a way to rally his troops ahead of Sunday’s massive Cascadia Cup visit by their fierce rivals from Seattle (9:30 pm ET | FS1 — Full TV and streaming info).

An extremely good month on Puget Sound

…and speaking of the Sounders, they’ve now reeled off a club record six straight wins, the latest coming in Saturday’s emphatic 5-0 thumping of a severely undermanned Galaxy side.

The Sounders won their 6th straight and put up 5 against a depleted LA Galaxy team yesterday. pic.twitter.com/E1Ona92GXX

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 19, 2018

Over the past three years Seattle have made such a habit of Jekyll-and-Hyde late-summer turnarounds that they’ve had to deny the idea that it’s their master plan to play possum for the season’s first half. Either way, a road win at Providence Park this weekend would see them leapfrog their hated southern antagonists and seize possession of the Western Conference’s sixth and final playoff slot.

An extremely hard summer in Chicago

Kanye West once waxed poetic about the enduring gorgeousness of “summertime Chi,” yet alas, it’s been a painful time for the Chicago Fire, who’ve now lost eight straight after losing 2-1 at the Montreal Impact and have clanged to the foot of the Eastern Conference table. How painful? I’ll let coach Veljko Paunovic tell you:

The Josef chronicles

Unless you were off the grid and/or under a rock, you probably had a hard time missing this one: Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez kept up his relentless goalscoring pace with a fine effort in Sunday’s win over Columbus, his 27th of the year:

That, of course, draws him level with the three iconic strikers who share the league’s single-season scoring record. With nine games left for Atlanta, the Venezuelan will almost certainly demolish that mark in the coming weeks, and leave a gaudy new number for others – and perhaps himself, too – to chase in the years to come.

Recovery and bravery in DTLA

At the beginning of this month LAFC experienced perhaps the roughest stretch of their brief existence: After blowing a 2-0 lead at home in July 26’s 2-2 draw with the Galaxy, then slumped to consecutive league losses on either side of that agonizing U.S. Open Cup semifinal loss via penalty-kick shootout at Houston on Aug. 8.

The Black-and-Gold seem to have bounced back this week, making the most of two winnable home games with back-to-back 2-0 victories. First Real Salt Lake were comfortably dispatched at midweek, and late Sunday night they rode a strong outing from Lee Nguyen to a defeat of the Colorado Rapids:

⚽️📽️ @LeeNguyen24 opens the scoring with a beautiful shot! #LAFCvCOL pic.twitter.com/s4AMLegWpV

— LAFC (@LAFC) August 20, 2018

As I pondered on Twitter, LAFC seem to have responded to Mark-Anthony Kaye’s season-ending ankle injury by turning even more aggressive, packing their XI with skilful, attack-minded players like Nguyen and doing without an orthodox No. 6. It’s a mighty bold move by Bob Bradley and bears watching down the stretch.

Red Bulls and Five Stripes

There’s plenty of time left for someone else to make a run at them, yet Atlanta and the New York Red Bulls appear to be putting a bit of distance between themselves and the chasing pack in the Supporters’ Shield race. Both are racking up points at a pace of 2 ppg or better, and it’s going to take some work for FC Dallas, Sporting KC or (slumping) New York City FC to catch up.

ATLUTD have lost just once since Memorial Day and the Red Bulls snatched another road point with Saturday’s dramatic last-minute leveler at Vancouver, where Daniel Royer’s hot streak (5 goals/1 assist in his last four games) continued:

Filthadelphia

You’re hearing the term “statement game” a lot around the Philadelphia Union’s impressive 2-0 defeat of NYCFC, as the DOOP squad put an elite team to the sword in style to underline their recent rise to legit East contenders. And that’s all well and good and deserved.

But I just want you to savor the latest flamethrowing extravagance from Ilsinho, the saucy Brazilian who personifies the soccer cliché “mercurial genius” with his glorious, albeit all too occasional, feats of audacious individual skill. This. Is. Delicious:

Series:

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DC chillin', no 6 in the engine room & Filthsinho: What you missed in Wk 25 was originally published on 365 Football

#chillin&039 #engine #Filthsinho #missed #room

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airoasis · 7 years ago

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3 up, 3 down: Fry's confidence restored, Braithwaite's extra motivation & ex-Middlesbrough managers under fire

A new week brings with it a cumulative sigh of relief on Teesside as another worldwide break seemingly passes with minimal interest or incident.England reserved their location at next summer's World Cup over the weekend, while Scotland's hopes were rushed-but in fact it was another interruption that Boro fans and gamers alike might have done without.But now, lastly, attentions can turn to Saturday's journey to Barnsley - and Boro boss Garry Monk will invite his international gamers back to Rockliffe Park later on this week.In the lack of any Champion action to get our teeth into, instead we take a look at the winners and losers from the last few days of worldwide action - with lots of Boro gamers past and present involved.Three up Self-confidence restored for Fry In some ways, the international break came at a hard time for Boro's Academy feeling Dael Fry.The 20-year-old endured a challenging couple of weeks before the second-tier shutdown with a mistake against Norwich proving expensive at the Riverside. 4 days later on, the young centre-back was dropped from Monk's league XI for the first time because the opener at Wolves.In came Ryan Shotton versus Brentford, and for Fry, the possibility of a fortnight

far from the Boro set-up at a time when his three positional rivals would all stay on Teesside was far from ideal.But credit to Boro's rapidly-maturing talent, who put in an outstanding screen at the Riverside in the white of England as the Young Lions saw off Scotland on Friday evening. Dael Fry in action for England Under-21s at the Riverside Stadium Read More"Wonderful","amazing"and"thrilled"are all words used by Fry to describe that experience,

and he'll now return to the Boro fold with a spring in his step.Not just did he represent

his nation on house grass, but he put in an uncompromising display that will have gone a long method to restoring his confidence.Monk will have born in mind too. Fry took his medication after a few off-weeks

-now appears to have actually come out stronger on the other side.After tomorrow's game in Andorra, Fry will go back to the Boro fold with a smile on his face, rather

than a wince.He's conquered his very first mental obstacle of the season. The next difficulty is to hold off the obstacle of Shotton and Daniel Ayala over the next few weeks and

ensure his continues his development as a starter in Boro's first-team. Additional motivation for fit-again Braithwaite

The season begins now for Boro's summer signing Martin Braithwaite, who will be wanting to kick on after recuperating from a seven-week hamstring lay-off. The Denmark global started and scored against Brentford before the break in his very first look

considering that Wolves on the opening day, and he was one of the few gamers to emerge from the video game with credit.Now Braithwaite will be hoping to rack up a string of performances- and wins -over the coming weeks to help Boro climb the Championship standings.And if the previous Toulouse skipper required any extra motivation, the possibility of a World Cup look next summertime will surely now be on his mind.

Martin Braithwaite celebrates against Brentford Learn more Braithwaite was a routine in the Danish set-up before his injury, most just recently beginning in their 3-1 win in Kazakhstan back in June.Injury implied he surrendered his place in Age Hareide's most current squad, however in his absence, Braithwaite

's global colleagues held their nerve to reserve a World Cup play-off spot after a 1-1 draw with Romania

on Sunday.That means Denmark will now deal with a two-legged play-off in November to make a place at Russia 2018, and an excellent run of form over the coming weeks might well see Braithwaite brought back to the squad.Beyond that, need to Braithwaite kick on and fulfil his capacity on Teesside this season, a location in the Denmark World Cup team will be strongly in his sights.A first taste on the international scene It's been rather a season so far for Boro's increasing star Marcus Tavernier -and it might get back at better.The 18-year-old was handed his senior debut in the EFL Cup win over Scunthorpe back in August and followed that up with another appealing screen in the success at Aston Villa in the exact same competition.Two first-team games, two assists. That's okay going for the young winger who continues to take the limelight at Under-23 level. Marcus Tavernier fights for the ball in Boro's Carabao Cup win at Aston Villa His development has actually not gone unnoticed, and on Friday Tavernier made his worldwide launching for England's Under-19s in the 1-0 defeat to Czech Republic.The Boro youngster was a 76th-minute substitute and later on spoke of his pride of pulling on the Three Lions badge

for the first time.He will be wishing to go one better this evening as the Under-19s face Slovakia.

Best of luck, Marcus!Three down An uphill battle to make the cut It was always inescapable that Ben Gibson would lose his place in the England senior set-up after dropping down to the Champion But seeing his former teammates book their World Cup put on the TV won't have been simple for a gamer with a burning aspiration to rub shoulders with the best.Gibson was Boro's standout entertainer in the top-flight last season, and regardless of not making his launching, his addition in two of Gareth Southgate's teams highlighted the 24-year-old's application and

development.Now adapting to life back in the second-tier, Gibson has been ignored in the last 2 England selections-and his replacement, Harry Maguire, has

relatively seized his opportunity.The 24-year-old, who left relegated Hull for Leicester in the summertime, was handed his worldwide debut in Sunday's 1-0 win in Lithuania-beginning along with Man

City's John Stones and Everton's Michael Keane in a 3-4-3 development.

England's Harry Maguire (left) speaks with manager Gareth Southgate

And Maguire may well have actually booked his location on the airplane to Russia after that performance, according to Sky Sports.

"One of the requirements when playing three centre-backs up against a solitary striker is that those protectors are capable of bringing the ball from defence," the report read.

"Maybe that was part of the thinking behind the decision to provide Leicester's Harry Maguire his England launching. The 24-year-old is well understood for his driving runs and came up with one for the goal.

"Maguire carried on up the field in the build-up to the move that saw Dele Alli fouled inside the charge box with Harry Kane converting the resulting penalty.

"It has actually been a quick rise for a gamer who was in the Championship as recently as Might of last year but he might well be off to the World Cup next summer season - especially if Southgate sticks with 3-4-3."

With Maguire, Stones and Keane - along with the similarity Gary Cahill, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling - all fighting for a centre-back berth, Gibson faces a huge difficulty to break back into the global fold.But if Boro clinch promo, no doubt his time will come.Former employers under-fire In spite of seeing his side book their location at Russia 2018

, England manager Gareth Southgate was barely in the state of mind to celebrate.Sunday's 1-0 win in Lithuania was met by a wall of passiveness after what has actually been viewed by numerous as an uninspiring certification campaign. "We wished to score a load of goals and when you don't, you understand the reaction,"Southgate stated after Harry Kane

's charge ensured England ended their group phase shootout with another three-point haul." We've won two matches and after both we've left a bit flat. "We've not been able to break down a jam-packed defence, but the modification

of system is a starting point. We'll improve at that.

But there was little area to play in. Gordon Strachan and Gareth Southgate"We played a jam-packed defence who don't even come out at 1-0 down, and we need to discover a way of combating that. We didn't manage to do that."For me, the credentials was done and it was the time to change the system and look

at the execution of that, looking at players who can take us

forward."Southgate isn't the only previous Boro manager feeling the heat, either, as Scotland saw their World Cup hopes fail last night.A 2-2 draw

with Slovenia saw the Scots waste their play-off put on objective distinction-leaving Gordon Strachan complaining his side's hereditary makeup." We had to select a group to combat their height and strength,"he said."It's a problem for us since we have to work harder for every ball."Genetically, we lag. In the last project we

were the second tiniest, apart from Spain." Maybe we get big women and guys together and see exactly what we can do. "A familiar winger's lust for objectives What is previous Boro winger Viktor Fischer up to now following his summer move to Bundesliga side Mainz?Well, he's imagining goals.It's now pushing on 18 months since the Dane last discovered the internet, after going through his single season on Teesside without a breakthrough.He's yet to score for his new companies in Germany either, but has returned to the Denmark fold after acquiring six looks on the continent so far.Fischer-like Braithwaite-

will be looking to play his part for Denmark in their World Cup play-off showdown next month, and the former Boro winger

admits it's been a frustrating time for him on-the-pitch. Viktor Fischer"It's a balance how truthful I'll be to you,"Fischer told Jyllands-Posten."I need to score goals. I miss out on to score goals and I have to score objectives. There is no doubt at

all."There are couple of things that exist and

I think I've been close to doing something great again, but I lack some ability and luck. I spend time working it, and when I'm on the pitch I reveal that I'm positive. I'm sure it will come, but

I miss making a difference. "On his early life at Mainz, Fischer added:"It's far more positive than my start in Middlesbrough due to the fact that I've remained in the starting line-up two times. "That's why I'm part of the project. I am truly terrified that we lost the matches where I was in the

beginning lineup."For that reason, I lack goals or victories, and so the coach selects some other players. I comprehend that due to the fact that we have many other gamers, however I think there are opportunities."I am still in the nationwide team because Jon Dahl Tomasson and (Age)Hareide understand my qualities

. It takes time to prove it abroad when I pertain to a club without being anything."

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