Thursday Night Futbol

Lots of stuff going on tonight, watching the Houston-New England MLS match along with the Portland-Silverbacks match on USL Live.

Thoughts:

• New England has been pretty impressive, even without their missing stars. The more I see this Dube kid, the more I like him.
  
• Tony Caig is possibly the worst goalkeeper in MLS. Great shot from Dube on the volley, but Caig looked surprised when the ball hit him in the chest.
  
• The 'Backs are struggling in the back. McIntosh was left for dead on Portland's first goal when Bobo misplayed a long ball.
  
• I thought the red card might've been a little harsh to Poltl of Portland. Anytime you throw an elbow up high like that though, you're putting the rest of your night on the line. I didn't catch it live at all.
  
• Portland made up for it with one of the best own goals I've seen in a while. I think it's rule #6, never go for a diving header on your own goal. Even more so when you could substitute "stumbling" for "diving"...
• I'm not sure which defender it was who was abused on Portland's second goal, but he just got out-muscled for the long ball off a 50 yard free kick.
  
• The Portland announcers really need to stop blaming McIntosh on the second Portland goal. That wasn't his ball. It was a 50 yard floater and a defender was all over the forward. It wasn't McIntosh's fault that the defender ended up on his back.
  
• I have liked Blake Camp in the middle of the field. The problem is, he's being bypassed too much. The 'Backs have the man advantage, I wish they'd use it more with possession rather than sending everything over the top.
  
• Halftime in Portland, 2-1 to the Timbers.
• I'm disappointed Houston didn't start the Argentine Carraccio, he looked promising early this season.
  
• Houston's fans have sounded great all night, as have the Portland fans. Always nice to hear the crowd on the broadcasts...
• Interesting that the Timbers used the MLS Sounders logo on their USL Live broadcast, I thought that the USL Sounders kept their usual logo?
  
• I'm going to have the Dale Dynamo song stuck in my head for the rest of the night, the trumpets are a nice touch.
• Wow, Houston just got a rather dubious PK. Caraccio went down, but it looked like the contact was outside the box. I have to disagree with Harksey, the scissors tackle is what got the foul called, even if Parkhurst did flick the ball.
  
• Reis just saved Stuart Holden to keep the Dynamo off the board. Too much stutter in the approach, Reis was all over that.
• I think the New England defense has set a record for the most blocked shots at the top of the box with 428.
  
• Houston puts up the goose egg at home, losing 2-0.
• Lancaster leaves in the 50th minute for Kirby. Is Lancaster hurt? Actually, maybe they're worried he'll pick up a second yellow card and wanted to play it safe. I'd rather see them go to 3 in the back and push the game a little here though.
  
• Well brilliant, Kirby picks up a yellow 2 minutes into his night...
• Kandji has found space out on the right after a switch, but can't connect on his crosses. He's looking dangerous though.
  
• Other than a Mexican league game with the chicas bonitas in the stands, I've never seen as many crowd shots as in this Portland broadcast.
• Knox and Rios are in for Toure and Camp. I assume this means they're going 3-5-2, with Hayes pushing up into the midfield on the left side and Knox going up top with McLaughlin.
  
• The long balls just aren't working, Portland knows what's coming.
• Wow, Portland got another red card. Kandji got his position, Scot Thompson ran through him and picked up his walking papers. Harsh call, mainly because he didn't leave his feet. The ref has been consistent and hasn't put up with anything tonight.
  
• Bolton finally gets a shot on Portland, it took forever to get one after they got the two man advantage.
  
• The 'Backs finally started looking for combinations instead of long balls. Rios sent McLaughlin through well, he cuts it back to Hayes who beats one defender and shoots, but Burse saves. Knox taps in the rebound to tie the game.
  
• That's about it, sub Mahaffey misses wide through a crowd in injury time, and Atlanta can't get the winner.
  
• 2-2 draw on the road is usually a good thing, but it stings a little when you had a two man advantage. Onto Minnesota...