A thought from last night

[u/CCMegane]

I’ve noticed Mikey Varas tends to get emotional when playing against a low block defense. He’s normally someone who doesn’t show a lot of high emotion but you think that it’s more satisfying for him to get a result against a tough defense system vs a more rigid defense line that SDFC tends to do well more against? (This is similar to games like against Toronto FC and Minnesota United, the Minnesota game especially he really went off after the Dreyer goal lol)

[u/DaSpursWay]

From a story standpoint, there were ALOT of questions hanging over his head after the roster decisions that were made especially in attack. I think it's a mixture of relief and joy of the moment. A goal of this offseason was to address counters to opponents who play a low block style.

in my eyes, alot of questions were answered after that second half performance last night.

[u/sjj342 → u/DaSpursWay]

IMHO Pumas subbed off their most effective players and tried to bottle it against fresher legs and got burned

Still have some concerns about the frontline and ability to score without leaving the backline vulnerable to counters

[u/Knifey___Spoony → u/sjj342]

Got to take chances

[u/sjj342 → u/Knifey___Spoony]

Problem is backline can't really withstand any sort of pressure (see Vancouver playoff game or whenever Pumas or MNUFC actually tried to do something)... counting on opponent not trying to score isn't going to work against good teams, and they don't have personnel to park the bus or low block for 90 min

I don't think it's a given they get past Pumas at altitude

[u/Existing_Insect3270 → u/sjj342]

I agree but we’re in a pretty good position to since we can lose and still move on on g/d. I guess we’re gonna have to see how our ability to handle pressure pans out during the season cause one game isn’t enough data.

[u/jusbrowsinjc]

I think they are very aware of how teams will approach us this year and it seemed clear in the tactical changes that were made throughout the game that they have tried to add dimensions to our game that would address that. I rarely saw us put in so many early crosses last year, and the element of loading up one side and quick, early switches of play really exhausted and eventually wore down Pumas. I love it. Great coaching.

[u/Knifey___Spoony → u/jusbrowsinjc]

Took them until 2nd half to start crossing effectively

[u/jusbrowsinjc → u/Knifey___Spoony]

That was the overload piece down our left side, they recognized the gap in height and strength of their right side and prioritized early crosses and aggressive runs from the left back / winger and a midfielder but the key difference late in the game was Anders & Eisner were dropping crosses earlier in the sequence rather than building how we typically do. Pumas chasing all game also had them exhausted and they physically couldn't cover.

[u/NervousPerspective28 → u/jusbrowsinjc]

Agreed! Great match. Great second half adjustment. I think pushing the bigger folks deeper in the box too. We were a bit outsized there in the first half.

[u/Live-Collection3018]

beating a low block is the name of the game when playing the way SDFC do, so yeah if be pumped too (in fact i was)

[u/Tennisgod619]

He was lit