Oh dear.

The First Half

After much anticipation for this match, the first 45 minutes was some of the worst we’ve seen. Where to even begin?

Kreis started an interesting team, to say the least, but we’ll get to that later. Our first half reminded me of some long lost memory in the freezing cold of March where our players couldn’t pass to each other and mediocre opponents waltzed past our defenders with stunning ease. Unfortunately, I was not dreaming as I saw our back line humiliated on several occasions in the first half.

Look, Mena and Hernandez tried pretty hard, which is nice. And Mena even managed to stick a foot in and steal the ball from the attackers, which was a welcome surprise. But none of that can make up for such poor defending aerially. I mean, honestly, it was impressive how easy it was for Montreal. All they had to do was kick the ball in the air towards our center backs and their strikers would easily be open, control the ball, and beat our guys for pace. It looked like high school. And it happened over and over again. It even lead to two first half goals. How can we be so helpless?

But it wasn’t just the back line. After finally being able to bang in goals (5-3 Orlando, 4-4 Toronto) our offense this game was abysmal. Pirlo and Jacobson were actually quite nice as a duo again, but there’s only so much the holding mids can do.

Calle offered little to nothing, McNamara worked hard and passed back, and Grabavoy was moving into useless positions right in front of the center mids, all of which gives Pirlo very limited options. Granted, Pirlo had an off day, hitting poor corner kicks and sending wayward passes, but he didn’t have much to work with. Often his long balls should have worked but Calle, Grabavoy, and McNamara didn’t really know they had to be there. The first half was typified by shitty passing, almost no shots on goal for us, and schoolboy defending.

The Second Half

I guess the second half was better. Poku and Mix came on and did what they could. Poku was good every time he was on the ball, making smart passes and taking people on, but he just didn’t have much opportunity to do so.

Mix was a similar story. He got into good positions on the right flank and looked dangerous but we need more from him. Most of the time he’d get the ball on the wing and just pass it back, not much forward-thinking play. Maybe if Kreis had started him he could have done more.

Oh, Lampard came on. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, since he hasn’t played a competitive match for a bit, but he looked worryingly out of sorts. He had a really poor touch, and didn’t seem quite comfortable on the pitch, which is weird for someone of his caliber. He wasn’t great, yet it’s only his first few minutes, we’ll wait until his next match. Let’s just hope it’s better than that.

We’re Not In Salt Lake Anymore

Firstly, Kreis has nearly lost any respect I have for him. Okay, MAYBE Shay Facey had a slight injury (although no reports indicate anything of the sort) so whatever, he’s on the bench. BUT Poku gets 3 assists and Mix scores on his return (at right mid, mind you) and they’re both benched? For NED GRABAVOY and Calle? Have you lost your damn mind sir? The craziest thing is, Kreis seems to understand his error, bringing on both Mix and Poku for Calle and Grabavoy once they were losing in the second half. It’s as if Kreis is 50 percent smart manager and 50 percent MLS-bred twat: half of his mind knows that Poku and Mix should be playing in those positions, but the other half, and thus far the dominant half, have decided that Ned Grabavoy deserves to play soccer. I can remember back to the beginning of the season when Kreis was talking about Grabavoy and saying how fans may not realize his worth, but managers do. His work rate, what he does off the ball, what he brings to the team. It’s only clear to me now, all these months later, that Jason Kreis loves Ned Grabavoy because of the context in which Kreis knew him before NYC.

Before NYC, Kreis was a player-turned-manager for newly fledged side RSL. With some good ol-fashioned American hard work and determination, Kreis built a team of overall decent enough players, that together, as a unit, were able to win. They were built on passing not because Kreis is a disciple of tiki-taka, but rather because you didn’t have DP’s running into defenders. Kreis’ team was built on passing because none of the players were selfish enough to keep it longer. Kreis lauds nice, cooperative personalities because that’s what won it for him in the past.

The issue is, we’re not in Salt Lake anymore. The question handed to Jason in this new stage of his managerial career was: can he handle a team with superstars? Can Jason Kreis, the sweetheart from Utah, handle putting together a team with Manchester City youth prodigies, Villa, Pirlo, Lampard, and a billionaire Sheikh breathing down his neck? The answer so far has been, no.

The fact is, I’ve been defending Kreis for a while. At least, amongst friends. The truth is, I believe in patience, in letting the manager figure things out. And I would be doing that with Kreis, but this game serves as the perfect example. The fact is, for all the patience and waiting for the team to gel, Kreis dropped Poku, a player who had been instrumental in orchestrating a win over Orlando, for Grabavoy, a hard working sub-par footballer who contributed little to nothing in this game and has continued to be picked by Kreis despite consistent anonymity on the field.

Kreis is a nice enough guy, but there’s nothing I’ve seen to serve as evidence that he’s the man we need at the helm. Tactical errors are still made in spades, our defense is pathetic, and half our players seem unsure of what they’re supposed to be doing.

I guess there’s always next season.

On To The Next One

We play the Red Bulls. Let’s hope we can give them a run for their money. Should be interesting, at least.

Whatever.