Match Day Thread The Official Match Day Thread - Sporting KC v Newcastle

Maaaaaan, it was far from intentionally trying to injure him.

SKC is not a dirty team. Roger Espinoza is simply clumsy sometimes. He's not a dirty player, but is known to make the occasional late challenge. He's a good guy, but just plain clumsy.

I saw it in person and it really was not a nasty tackle. Rather unlucky instead. Like it was said, Roger is known for being aggressive and can some sometimes end up being late. I've seen him have far later challenges.

As far as cringe inducing NUFC chants... didn't hear any. The Newcastle fans were silent from where I was sitting. We were trying to goad them into singing by saying we can't hear them over there, which usually works, but nothing. Mix of American fans and ex-pats from the sounds of the voices when I mosied over there.

Though if you do change your mind, you're always welcome in our Big Soccer forum.

That wasn't a banner. It was a small sign some idiot had. Does not represent our fanbase. All our banners were related to just the team, the same ones we had the last few games. They weren't even sitting in the supporter's section.

Not a "typical" American type banner either. For all you know, that person may not have even been American. We don't make mean/ nasty banners. Its not our style and we keep it that way.

As far as the game, KC was the more dangerous team at times, but thats not really saying much. Ben Arfa looked good, but his finishing let him down. Created a good chance and it went well well wide.

Demba Ba certainly wasn't in top form. He looked visibly frustrated a couple points as he was getting out muscled by a 20 year old Trinidad and Tobago kid we just signed. From the sounds of it, despite being told it, the players still weren't expecting the MLS players to be as athletic and physical as they are. MLS still lacks real technical skill, but is very athletic and very physical. Newcastle was certainly the more technical side, but their pre-season fitness showed. SKC took advantage of that and used their strength to win balls. As Jarnevic said, Newcastle's defense on crosses was poor at times. The speed of some our wingers was able to get some great crosses in and they were rarely knocked away. Thankfully for them, our guys often missed the ball as well.

The second half, SKC put in a mostly reserve side with a few starters. One of the midfielder was a 20 year old trialist, for example. It was a really young side. Central striker was a 18 year old making his professional debut, so I really wasn't expecting SKC to score. In the first half, Fabricio Coloccini looked tidy and is really what held off SKC. Probably the player that stood out the most to me. Was all over, trying to keep things tight and jumping in when teammates made mistakes. I was impressed by him.

I think this is what happened to Man Utd last year when we beat them 2-1 (Seattle fans are never going to live this down, btw. The typically smug bastards got demolished). They weren't expecting MLS players to be as fast and as physical as they are. Its a bit of a wake up call and I expect Newcastle is going to come out harder against Columbus. A fair warning, Columbus is a good defensive team, but their offense *normally* doesn't light the world on fire, But they've had their moments. I personally think they're a boring team. If Newcastle can break down their defense, I think they should do well against them. Don't let Columbus control the ball. Newcastle let KC control the ball way too much and as Jarnevic said, KC's passing wasn't even that fantastic. It was off.

Got any questions, let me know. If not, take it easy.

 

She supports West Ham and the O's, she thinks it's a hoot we've got Pardew and promised me if Nolan is a damp squid like Dyer she'll have my life.
There are lots of things she wont eat here, pease pudding being one of them, but when she told me about the pie and mash shops

 

Oh and in case you're bored and have nothing better to do, two photo albums from the game:

Soda Graphics

SKC's facebook game album