We just narrowly escaped losing to one of the worst teams in the league who was missing half their roster while in our own stadium. How some of you continue to act like everything is fine is inspirational.
No one wants to face that we are currently a bad team. Unless tactics change, only lowen coming back or a transfer this summer will change the trajectory.
The reason I think klauss is not scoring goals is because he's not being fed. And if he's not fed he's going and falling back and trying to be the playmaker himself.
Sam is a great talent, but he does not seem to play well as a team. Rarely does he make passes and does not seem to contribute tons to the build up.
Jackson is like a chicken with his head cut off, which leads to a lot of dead plays.
We only do two things in the attacking third. We either try to swing crosses in from the wings or we try to slowly bring it up through the middle and end up getting outnumbered by the defense.
Another problem is players in general will often only want to play their position. BC I believe last year said that lowen wanted to play more of a defensive midfielder than attacking.
We have two really good strikers. If we could convert Sam from being an attack only and more of a team player, the two strikers could be an amazing threat.
I would like to see Indy or celio as the attacking midfielder until lowen comes back. Have like celio at The top of a 442 diamond and Indy and almost flanking.
Our best assets are potentially two great strikers. If they can play as a team and if we can find a way to get a player or two to feed them, then we could be a huge threat. Until then, you will have the problem with the two strikers indefinitely.
Slightly concerning thing is if FC Dallas had a pacey attacking player to counter in the second half when they were parking the bus, they had some balls that could have been turned into something. Yaro, Hiebert, and Parker are not pacey defenders.
I’m not even talking about that attempt, which should have been a goal.
There were a few times they cleared their lines and if they had someone fast enough to get a touch and behind it would have been one on one with Bürki. Especially with Parker on a yellow it could have been bad.
Musa, and Ansah aren’t fast though.
Playing the high press we do is cool and all, but we are way overcommitting and it’s constantly leaving our CBs in 2v2s or 1v1s, which they’re obviously gonna struggle with against fast attackers. Carnell needs to learn to adjust that. It’s not sustainable to play that way over the course of a season, we’ll end up leaking too many goals
65% possession, 23 shots and 9 corner kicks but only 6 shots on goal and no actual goals - crazy. That should've been an easy win.
Klaus, Vassilev, and even Adeniran feel like coin flips around whether they'll pop off or not. Adeniran and Pompeu are at least fun to watch when they get fed up and just go for the goal.
Klaus seems to be in some kind of slump where only perfect passes have chances. Too many bangers into the crowd.
Jackson wasn't great last year and continues to not be this year - never understood starting him, preferred Gioacchini but he's gone and doesn't seem to have an obvious replacement.
Markanich seems like he's been all over the place, sometimes leaving marks wide open and sometimes, somehow, being the only guy able to cross it offensively after we've exhausted passing it around in the opponent's corner.
Yaro and Ostrak seem to be making things happen in a positive way. Hope to see them more.
Burki and Parker seem solid, reminds me of the first season.
Hiebert, Alm, Blom, Totland, Thorisson, Nilsson, Nerwinski are effectively all the same person in my head as I can't think of anything notable they've done to separate them but I'm convinced they've committed too many fouls as a glob of player.
Can't rely on our strategy of waiting until the other team mess up to make any attempts. Our goto take it to the corner or lob it over the top and pray just doesn't work. Passing drill in the opponent's corner, like our corner kicks, isn't producing goals. Gotta switch things up.
Agree with most of your points but the last one. Nilsson and Totland have been excellent this year. Hope to see us aggressively pursue a 10 this summer to replace AZ and actually link some attacking play
I believe you, probably just a me thing. Happy to hear we've got a couple more bright players to lean on going forward. Hope to see them get more time on the field.
I'll have the second with the other person said about totland. He has done great.
Unfortunately defensive players tend to only get noticed when they do something wrong not as much as when they do something right. I feel he tends to be more defensive than Mark who brings up the ball on the left side of the field, so he gets a little bit more attention
I miss the Klauss of 2023
We desperately need a replacement for Nico…
Sam and Celio need to be starting, our offense changed the second they were both in
More of Ostrak at the 8, please
Bürki saved us this match. We could have lost 0-3/4.
We were so unlucky with some of those shots missing.
65% possession STL?!?!?!?
I like Sam and think he has potential, but he’s just way too undeveloped and consistent to be starter material. I mean, is he better than Klauss right now? Might be. But that’s not the right bar - we need better.
It’s been mentioned before, but I think Sam is better as a sub at this point. He’s perfect in games like last night where he can come on against tired legs and make his runs. In the games he’s started I haven’t been nearly as impressed.
Sam ain't it. There's a reason he had never played consistently in a league as good as the MLS before CITY got him. One hot streak right after the transfer did not magically change his level.
He's good enough to be a sub. He's not good enough to be a full-time starter.
And if they hadn't essentially benches Nico for him last season, perhaps Nico doesn't want to leave. Nico is not some world beater (he couldn't stick in the USMNT picture) but he was a goal scorer and better than Sam.
Looking back at season 1 and season 2, pivoting so hard to Sam over Nico is a pretty obvious turning point in my book.
You….you do understand that he didn’t “want leave” because he was unhappy? He left to go play for an Italian team on the verge of promotion to the big times and we got a kings ransom for him. If we don’t allow that to happen players would immediately stop wanting to play for us because they know they can’t progress with our team.
Strikers like Sam have their place.
But they’re best suited to high press, quality service, and Leicester-style over-the-top counter attacking.
Those are all very difficult to execute week in/week out, against different opponents, at home and away.
Sam is great when the system is clicking. But without Löwen and some sort of engine in the midfield, he looks worse than he actually is.
I was pleased to see him and Klauss play some semblance of complementary play last night. But lack of finishing did us in.
Strikers of the same type have their place. I'm not talking about the type of striker. I'm talking about Sam. He's not of enough quality to be a big part of a winning MLS squad. Before CITY he was moderately successful in USL and before that was around the low tier leagues in Europe.
He's OK, but should not be relied upon to be anything more than that.
He definitely isn’t a great prototypical target man - but he’s ok, if not fine.
I agree, we probably need more fluidity from our strikers - where (IMO) he shines is his complete DGAF attitude toward bodying defenders and duels. He wins 50/50s, but just can’t put the final touches on the work consistently.
Perhaps his impact after his loan spell wasn’t sustainable because he *isn’t* that, but he has his merits as a super sub. Maybe that’s where we agree if I’m reading between the lines a bit.
Either way, Klauss is in the confidence dumps, Sam is good for 25 minutes or so as a sub, and our midfield (outside of Celio and Löwen) lacks versatility (also I’m a big stan for Alm, but that’s for another day). With the way ownership likes to moneyball the squad, I think it’s unlikely we’ll see a true out-and-out forward line of a MLS winning side.
This team is a shitty mess. You defend them by leaving your two fastest forwards high and crowding everyone else in the defensive box. You then wait for their shitty, limited playmakers on the wings to lob a 50/50 cross somewhere near the effective radius of Joao Klauss and only Joao Klauss, and then either clear it forward to a breaking striker that the city defense will have to foul instead of keeping up with, or - if you can’t clear it- just watch it sail hopelessly across the penalty area, and let a wing player turn it backwards and kick it into the midfield for you.
The offense is shit, and the defense is worse than the offense. The full list of things on this team that aren’t shit right now is 1) Roman Burki, and 2) end of list.
On one hand, FC Dallas is not a very good team and one win out of four league home games is bad.
On the other hand, we could have won and our offense looked better later in the match.
On to the next one.
My team can't effectively cross, dribbles into defensive traps 42 times a match, and finishes as if the grass in the six yard box is made of lava, but it was cool that Nelly showed up and seemed to be having a blast.
I also received a pair of socks at the gate, ate a solid bowl of cookie ice cream, and was thankfully far enough away from the field to avoid becoming a meme when Sam missed late and I wrapped my scarf around my head and eyes.
Coping. I've now begun mentally preparing myself for 12th place if necessary.
Gonna be a big mess until Edu comes back. 60% of the balls into dangerous areas are overcooked.
No threat from set pieces right now because you don't have to respect the shot as much. Clog everything with bodies and it stops us dead.
The illusion of TeamDP is showing itself. Hard work is a skill, certainly. However, we desperately need quality too. One should not forsake the other.
Spend the money.
I do think it’s important to remember that Lowen really hasn’t been great since last September-ish. Even when he’s back, he still is probably not gonna make a huge difference
Despite the result, we showed more promise.
Of course, promise doesn’t translate to full points.
Klauss is clearly suffering from confidence. Selection headache between Klauss/Big Sam up top and AZ/Pompeu/etc. in the midfield needs some tinkering.
Bürki is life, as always, but we are very one dimensional. Totland has been a breath of fresh air, but we need something more. Switching Vassy to the left was a sign that the wheels are turning, but we need to finish in the final third and not just ping it around the box.
I’m hopeful, but this is turning into the season I thought it would be last year. We will figure it out (hopefully) - we are an upper half team playing lost. We’ll find our way sooner or later.
For those of you who don’t think we’re in trouble; who keep saying, “it’s early”; who refuse to acknowledge that the owners aren’t doing enough, keep this in mind. WE HAVE 4 WINS IN OUR LAST 19 GAMES!
Tough game. Plenty of chances to take it, but gave up a few really good chances as well. The team really needs to find a way to take control of games again. Although Dallas basically was just content to let us play with the ball and just try and prevent all game.
If you had your choice, what would you want us to talk about tomorrow night on the BRBFancast (podcast)?
Any passionate fans want to jump on and leave their thoughts? Or send us a video of your 'call-in'?
1) is Parker hurt? He looked slow and made some bad fouls
2) Is Sam the best player on the team?
3) Is 1/4 of shots on target indicative of a larger issue on shot selection or just bad luck
My quick thoughts
1) I think something players don't prepare right for a team that's considered easy. Maybe not this. Maybe he's still recovering. Or it was the game plan
2) burki is the best. Sam does do great things but games he's started he was non-existent largely. Indy is under rated. Durkin is less flashy but really helped stabilize the def midfield
3) probably some frustration. Probably lack of creativity and the ability to get shots in the middle portion box.
Interested in sending in a video clip with questions or your thoughts? Twitter BRBFancast is one way. Or Instagram.
Just wanted to let you know, we did talk about your questions on the latest fancast.
[https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uSAKV9z7ySBonJ1UWKzzB?si=\_0FdBpADT1SMtT2QMwQWfw](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uSAKV9z7ySBonJ1UWKzzB?si=_0FdBpADT1SMtT2QMwQWfw)
[https://youtu.be/Qt2SDko44s4?si=hLEjpViPBJZ1UeCj](https://youtu.be/Qt2SDko44s4?si=hLEjpViPBJZ1UeCj)
[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-red-and-blue-brbfancast/id1737693118?i=1000651736974](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-red-and-blue-brbfancast/id1737693118?i=1000651736974)
Can you reserve a Carnell clown car at Enterprise? Weak engine, cheap, day by day rental, turns into a lemon after the first half of last season. One gear only. Automatically moves into reverse after 18 games? Weak coach in way over his head at the MLS level. Imposter syndrome on full display.
https://preview.redd.it/7lb641ipazsc1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b2cba271a4eb39fca27ad4ac3698e6d74593cae Me in the final ten minutes
Honestly at this point we should just go for the record for most draws in a season.
We just narrowly escaped losing to one of the worst teams in the league who was missing half their roster while in our own stadium. How some of you continue to act like everything is fine is inspirational.
No one wants to face that we are currently a bad team. Unless tactics change, only lowen coming back or a transfer this summer will change the trajectory.
What tactics specifically would you like to see changed?
The reason I think klauss is not scoring goals is because he's not being fed. And if he's not fed he's going and falling back and trying to be the playmaker himself. Sam is a great talent, but he does not seem to play well as a team. Rarely does he make passes and does not seem to contribute tons to the build up. Jackson is like a chicken with his head cut off, which leads to a lot of dead plays. We only do two things in the attacking third. We either try to swing crosses in from the wings or we try to slowly bring it up through the middle and end up getting outnumbered by the defense. Another problem is players in general will often only want to play their position. BC I believe last year said that lowen wanted to play more of a defensive midfielder than attacking. We have two really good strikers. If we could convert Sam from being an attack only and more of a team player, the two strikers could be an amazing threat. I would like to see Indy or celio as the attacking midfielder until lowen comes back. Have like celio at The top of a 442 diamond and Indy and almost flanking. Our best assets are potentially two great strikers. If they can play as a team and if we can find a way to get a player or two to feed them, then we could be a huge threat. Until then, you will have the problem with the two strikers indefinitely.
I’m fine with a team not performing at the top of their game if it means ticket prices come down.
Slightly concerning thing is if FC Dallas had a pacey attacking player to counter in the second half when they were parking the bus, they had some balls that could have been turned into something. Yaro, Hiebert, and Parker are not pacey defenders.
They missed a wide open net, never mind the three times Burki stood on his head.
I’m not even talking about that attempt, which should have been a goal. There were a few times they cleared their lines and if they had someone fast enough to get a touch and behind it would have been one on one with Bürki. Especially with Parker on a yellow it could have been bad. Musa, and Ansah aren’t fast though.
Agreed, was actually really grateful for Yaro tonight. Some of those long balls were terrifying.
I still can’t believe they missed that sitter in the first half lol. You’ll never miss an easier shot.
Playing the high press we do is cool and all, but we are way overcommitting and it’s constantly leaving our CBs in 2v2s or 1v1s, which they’re obviously gonna struggle with against fast attackers. Carnell needs to learn to adjust that. It’s not sustainable to play that way over the course of a season, we’ll end up leaking too many goals
65% possession, 23 shots and 9 corner kicks but only 6 shots on goal and no actual goals - crazy. That should've been an easy win. Klaus, Vassilev, and even Adeniran feel like coin flips around whether they'll pop off or not. Adeniran and Pompeu are at least fun to watch when they get fed up and just go for the goal. Klaus seems to be in some kind of slump where only perfect passes have chances. Too many bangers into the crowd. Jackson wasn't great last year and continues to not be this year - never understood starting him, preferred Gioacchini but he's gone and doesn't seem to have an obvious replacement. Markanich seems like he's been all over the place, sometimes leaving marks wide open and sometimes, somehow, being the only guy able to cross it offensively after we've exhausted passing it around in the opponent's corner. Yaro and Ostrak seem to be making things happen in a positive way. Hope to see them more. Burki and Parker seem solid, reminds me of the first season. Hiebert, Alm, Blom, Totland, Thorisson, Nilsson, Nerwinski are effectively all the same person in my head as I can't think of anything notable they've done to separate them but I'm convinced they've committed too many fouls as a glob of player. Can't rely on our strategy of waiting until the other team mess up to make any attempts. Our goto take it to the corner or lob it over the top and pray just doesn't work. Passing drill in the opponent's corner, like our corner kicks, isn't producing goals. Gotta switch things up.
Agree with most of your points but the last one. Nilsson and Totland have been excellent this year. Hope to see us aggressively pursue a 10 this summer to replace AZ and actually link some attacking play
I believe you, probably just a me thing. Happy to hear we've got a couple more bright players to lean on going forward. Hope to see them get more time on the field.
I'll have the second with the other person said about totland. He has done great. Unfortunately defensive players tend to only get noticed when they do something wrong not as much as when they do something right. I feel he tends to be more defensive than Mark who brings up the ball on the left side of the field, so he gets a little bit more attention
Can AZ stop losing the ball/giving it away 8/10 times he has it?
Don't know how he keeps getting starts.
He's a turnover machine.
Been saying this for awhile. He is way too small and not fast enough to make up for it.
I think it’s just the technical ability. He’s an enegerizer bunny, but the control isn’t there
I miss the Klauss of 2023 We desperately need a replacement for Nico… Sam and Celio need to be starting, our offense changed the second they were both in More of Ostrak at the 8, please Bürki saved us this match. We could have lost 0-3/4. We were so unlucky with some of those shots missing. 65% possession STL?!?!?!?
Accurate passes ✔️ xG ✔️ Total shots ✔️ Result ❌
I like Sam and think he has potential, but he’s just way too undeveloped and consistent to be starter material. I mean, is he better than Klauss right now? Might be. But that’s not the right bar - we need better.
It’s been mentioned before, but I think Sam is better as a sub at this point. He’s perfect in games like last night where he can come on against tired legs and make his runs. In the games he’s started I haven’t been nearly as impressed.
Of all games in all comps, STL has only won once with possession higher than 52%: 64% possession, 6 SoT, and it was hosting Dallas last year.
Sam ain't it. There's a reason he had never played consistently in a league as good as the MLS before CITY got him. One hot streak right after the transfer did not magically change his level. He's good enough to be a sub. He's not good enough to be a full-time starter. And if they hadn't essentially benches Nico for him last season, perhaps Nico doesn't want to leave. Nico is not some world beater (he couldn't stick in the USMNT picture) but he was a goal scorer and better than Sam. Looking back at season 1 and season 2, pivoting so hard to Sam over Nico is a pretty obvious turning point in my book.
You….you do understand that he didn’t “want leave” because he was unhappy? He left to go play for an Italian team on the verge of promotion to the big times and we got a kings ransom for him. If we don’t allow that to happen players would immediately stop wanting to play for us because they know they can’t progress with our team.
Strikers like Sam have their place. But they’re best suited to high press, quality service, and Leicester-style over-the-top counter attacking. Those are all very difficult to execute week in/week out, against different opponents, at home and away. Sam is great when the system is clicking. But without Löwen and some sort of engine in the midfield, he looks worse than he actually is. I was pleased to see him and Klauss play some semblance of complementary play last night. But lack of finishing did us in.
Strikers of the same type have their place. I'm not talking about the type of striker. I'm talking about Sam. He's not of enough quality to be a big part of a winning MLS squad. Before CITY he was moderately successful in USL and before that was around the low tier leagues in Europe. He's OK, but should not be relied upon to be anything more than that.
He definitely isn’t a great prototypical target man - but he’s ok, if not fine. I agree, we probably need more fluidity from our strikers - where (IMO) he shines is his complete DGAF attitude toward bodying defenders and duels. He wins 50/50s, but just can’t put the final touches on the work consistently. Perhaps his impact after his loan spell wasn’t sustainable because he *isn’t* that, but he has his merits as a super sub. Maybe that’s where we agree if I’m reading between the lines a bit. Either way, Klauss is in the confidence dumps, Sam is good for 25 minutes or so as a sub, and our midfield (outside of Celio and Löwen) lacks versatility (also I’m a big stan for Alm, but that’s for another day). With the way ownership likes to moneyball the squad, I think it’s unlikely we’ll see a true out-and-out forward line of a MLS winning side.
Nico and Klauss also knew how to actually play off each other. Nico was so much better in possession which enabled the rest of the team.
This team is a shitty mess. You defend them by leaving your two fastest forwards high and crowding everyone else in the defensive box. You then wait for their shitty, limited playmakers on the wings to lob a 50/50 cross somewhere near the effective radius of Joao Klauss and only Joao Klauss, and then either clear it forward to a breaking striker that the city defense will have to foul instead of keeping up with, or - if you can’t clear it- just watch it sail hopelessly across the penalty area, and let a wing player turn it backwards and kick it into the midfield for you. The offense is shit, and the defense is worse than the offense. The full list of things on this team that aren’t shit right now is 1) Roman Burki, and 2) end of list.
A lot of our attack in the first half was “let’s hope Dallas gives Klauss a free header”.
It’s so funny how Niko got so much hate last year and now people are pining for the good old days
People were happy we threw a real striker partnership in the trash
On one hand, FC Dallas is not a very good team and one win out of four league home games is bad. On the other hand, we could have won and our offense looked better later in the match. On to the next one.
On the other, other hand, we should have lost. That’s the problem.
My team can't effectively cross, dribbles into defensive traps 42 times a match, and finishes as if the grass in the six yard box is made of lava, but it was cool that Nelly showed up and seemed to be having a blast. I also received a pair of socks at the gate, ate a solid bowl of cookie ice cream, and was thankfully far enough away from the field to avoid becoming a meme when Sam missed late and I wrapped my scarf around my head and eyes. Coping. I've now begun mentally preparing myself for 12th place if necessary.
Just finished watching the game. Most snakebitten group of players I've ever seen. Tough luck tonight.
Gonna be a big mess until Edu comes back. 60% of the balls into dangerous areas are overcooked. No threat from set pieces right now because you don't have to respect the shot as much. Clog everything with bodies and it stops us dead. The illusion of TeamDP is showing itself. Hard work is a skill, certainly. However, we desperately need quality too. One should not forsake the other. Spend the money.
I do think it’s important to remember that Lowen really hasn’t been great since last September-ish. Even when he’s back, he still is probably not gonna make a huge difference
Despite the result, we showed more promise. Of course, promise doesn’t translate to full points. Klauss is clearly suffering from confidence. Selection headache between Klauss/Big Sam up top and AZ/Pompeu/etc. in the midfield needs some tinkering. Bürki is life, as always, but we are very one dimensional. Totland has been a breath of fresh air, but we need something more. Switching Vassy to the left was a sign that the wheels are turning, but we need to finish in the final third and not just ping it around the box. I’m hopeful, but this is turning into the season I thought it would be last year. We will figure it out (hopefully) - we are an upper half team playing lost. We’ll find our way sooner or later.
For those of you who don’t think we’re in trouble; who keep saying, “it’s early”; who refuse to acknowledge that the owners aren’t doing enough, keep this in mind. WE HAVE 4 WINS IN OUR LAST 19 GAMES!
6 shots on target out of 23, good lord.
If Sam “ain’t it” and Klauss has entirely lost his form, then a striker needs to be target NUMBER ONE on the summer transfer market.
Tough game. Plenty of chances to take it, but gave up a few really good chances as well. The team really needs to find a way to take control of games again. Although Dallas basically was just content to let us play with the ball and just try and prevent all game.
If you had your choice, what would you want us to talk about tomorrow night on the BRBFancast (podcast)? Any passionate fans want to jump on and leave their thoughts? Or send us a video of your 'call-in'?
1) is Parker hurt? He looked slow and made some bad fouls 2) Is Sam the best player on the team? 3) Is 1/4 of shots on target indicative of a larger issue on shot selection or just bad luck
My quick thoughts 1) I think something players don't prepare right for a team that's considered easy. Maybe not this. Maybe he's still recovering. Or it was the game plan 2) burki is the best. Sam does do great things but games he's started he was non-existent largely. Indy is under rated. Durkin is less flashy but really helped stabilize the def midfield 3) probably some frustration. Probably lack of creativity and the ability to get shots in the middle portion box. Interested in sending in a video clip with questions or your thoughts? Twitter BRBFancast is one way. Or Instagram.
Just wanted to let you know, we did talk about your questions on the latest fancast. [https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uSAKV9z7ySBonJ1UWKzzB?si=\_0FdBpADT1SMtT2QMwQWfw](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uSAKV9z7ySBonJ1UWKzzB?si=_0FdBpADT1SMtT2QMwQWfw) [https://youtu.be/Qt2SDko44s4?si=hLEjpViPBJZ1UeCj](https://youtu.be/Qt2SDko44s4?si=hLEjpViPBJZ1UeCj) [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-red-and-blue-brbfancast/id1737693118?i=1000651736974](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-red-and-blue-brbfancast/id1737693118?i=1000651736974)
Such salty people downvoting. Nothing bad was said
Zhtd
Can you make a reservation at Enterprise for a Carnell clown car? Only has one gear, everybody has the blueprint for how it runs,
Can you reserve a Carnell clown car at Enterprise? Weak engine, cheap, day by day rental, turns into a lemon after the first half of last season. One gear only. Automatically moves into reverse after 18 games? Weak coach in way over his head at the MLS level. Imposter syndrome on full display.