Violets are Blue, I hate the New England Buttfucking Revolution and we finally knocked them out of the playoffs! There's not a ton to say about what happened on the field that hasn't been written already, so I'll offer a few observations:
- We had an excellent turnout, about 17.5k on a Thursday night despite a terrible weather forecast. This looked especially good in comparison to the 5500 that attended the road leg of the match. Traffic getting in was hideous and lines at will call were long, so many fans got to their seats late, myself included. The location of the Big Yoda is fairly brutal for weeknight games as fans have to battle commuter traffic, and it's by far the biggest drawback of the venue.
- Shalrie Joseph is still the most complete midfielder in MLS. His harrying, ball winning and passing over two legs was the only thing that kept New England at all coherent.
- Blanco ran harder last night than I've seen since 2007. He was chasing balls until the end and showed a lot of desire. He's clearly a big match player and loves to entertain the home crowd. His passing was as excellent as always and his shot on goal just before the half, parried by Matt "Dying Darth Vader" Reis into the path of Chris Rolfe, was a rocket.
- Chris Rolfe continues to sizzle. His quickness of thought on the ball is unmatched in MLS. He's a bit wasted in the Fire's 4-2-3-1 formation as he's not entirely effective deeper, but he always makes perfect decisions near the goal. His lightning quick finish at the end of the first half put the Revs on their heels and his assist on Segares' goal iced the cake while simultaneously rubbing salt in New England's wounds.
- Our back line is on Fire. Bakary Soumare and Wilman Conde in the middle have formed an amazing partnership, which last night resulted in only one serious New England shot on goal, easily dealt with by Jon Busch. They both dominate in the air and make solid decisions on the ball. Conde's goal was a thing of beauty; he seemingly materialized out of thin air to dominate his marker and power home a crushing header, effectively ending New England's season. Gonzalo Segares continues to prove that he's probably the best left back in the league- running the flanks, marking his man out of the game and finishing his chances superbly. His goal was especially sweet as his extra time game winning goal against New England two years ago in the playoffs was incorrectly and unjustly called back for offside, ending our season. If we can hang on to him and Conde next year (unlikely at best), we will have the best defense in MLS two years running. Soumare's decision to play for Mali rather than wait for his US citizenship is a serious loss for the USMNT talent pool.
- McBride continues to pay dividends. He didn't find much space last night but his knock down play and smart positional sense clears a ton of space for our attacking trident of Blanco, Mapp and Rolfe to operate. The difference in our attacking play since he arrived is remarkable.
- Chris Albright is still an idiot. He came into MLS as a golden boy striker, demanded to play for DC, had the draft rigged for him and then did nothing. There was a fair amount of speculation by the national soccer press that he must practice better than any American in the history of the game given his unjustified number of call-ups to the USMNT, but he produced jack at every turn. Some lauded his willing conversion to right back when it became clear in LA that he just couldn't score the ball, but now he's just an over-matched hack playing out of position. Justin Mapp and Chris Rolfe beat him like a rented mule all night long, he didn't get forward in any useful way and his passing was unexceptional at best. He capped off his black-hole-of-the-match performance by getting sent off with 10 minutes to go for a second yellow card earned by a stupid and pointless foul on Blanco. Chris, what do you have to offer? Why are you still playing in this league? Why don't you pull your head out of your head out of your ass?
- I look really handsome in HD.
So bring on round 2. Unfortunately I'll be unable to attend the match next round, home or away, but I feel confidant that I'll be in LA cheering for my boys to take home the cup on 11/23 in LA.
