Sunday, July 31, 2011

Up, Up and (a victory) Away!

what follows are the thoughts i had and then emailed to my fellow Helltown compatriots after the Crew's win over Real on Saturday:

"much respect for warzycha.
running out onto the pitch to grab James at the final whistle to make sure he didn't end up in a fight with espindola. awesome. those two were chirping at each other all game."

I haven't been a solid Warzycha supporter, to be honest. many a game has ended and i've wondered what his game plan was. i've wondered about his decisions. about his substitution choices. i've wondered why the boys didn't look fired up enough. why there seemed to be confusion on the field. why a player was so far out of position. did Warzycha have a handle on his team?

but at the end of the match when he ran out to grab James off, that was a big moment. a coach moment. protection. not protection from injury. from a fight. protecting him as a professional. keeping him out of a potentially embarrassing ruckus that could overshadow the game and his performance in it. and James was in a zone all night. and he had Espindola. had him. and Espindola knew it.

Saturday night I think we finally saw a Crew team that can dominate. and dominate away from home. they played smoothly, yes. Gaven was solid, absolutely. Rogers couldn't stop creating chances. Heinemann was running running running and getting physical. you can't ask for more than that. he was tracking back to defend, too, which was so important (i'm looking at you, Mendoza). Anor came in and looked comfortable.

I was biting my nails at bit when Gehrig was subbed in for Rusmir but he settled in and kept the midfield tight.

also in those emailed thoughts was this:

Ekpo is becoming a force.

aaaaaand how.


No comments: