Dallas Cup 2018

Great through ball from Chong but Burkart was called offside.
 
5 minutes of stoppage time, though we'll probably get some more given that Barlow's getting some treatment.
 
Full time. 2-2 between Tigres and United. Impressive comeback from the kids after going down 2-0, though we struggled without a proper striker up front. I can see why McKenna had Greenwood up there, but his movement wasn't reminiscent of a striker's. Bohui also didn't do much from the left wing.

The whole first half seemed more like an experiment from McKenna. Laird at centre back, Tanner at right back, Greenwood up front, Barlow in the midfield later on...I think we learned a lot about what the players need to work on to grow their game.
 
Boys have been pretty good I think. Both goals have been individual mistakes, which is not something I would worry about too much as it is learning process. More important for me is that in the field we have been better team, good on ball, had problems with their hard play but that is normal. Also comeback showing attitude, especially not celebrating second goal too much and running with the ball to continue and score third. Pretty good I think. A few real talents in the team.
 
Boys have been pretty good I think. Both goals have been individual mistakes, which is not something I would worry about too much as it is learning process. More important for me is that in the field we have been better team, good on ball, had problems with their hard play but that is normal. Also comeback showing attitude, especially not celebrating second goal too much and running with the ball to continue and score third. Pretty good I think. A few real talents in the team.
Agreed, we played it around very well at times too despite Tigres kicking us all over the place. I wish refereeing at that level could seriously improve to protect the lads a bit more, some of those tackles last night could've resulted in injury.
 
I was at the match yesterday and I thought I'd post a few of my thoughts.

First the referee crew from New Zealand really seemed to struggle with the pace and physicality of the game. Tigres was allowed to get away with everything short of murder.

The poor play in the first half I'm sure was nerves. There were 21,000 people in the stands watching, as well as it being nationally televised. The second half though they settled in incredibly well and showed the talent I've read so much about here on the forums.

Tahith Chong was incredible, he was frequently double teamed and still play went through him. He has incredible vision and play making skills and was great at getting open off the ball. At one point he had 4 defenders on him and they still couldn't get the ball off of him.

As special as Chong was though the lad who really stuck out was James Garner. He had one of the best CM performances I've seen at any level. He made some mistakes passing early on, but a lot of that was due to his CM partner Dylan Levitt. Levitt early on did a poor job making himself an option for a pass and was frequently in poor position. James had to make up at times for Levitt not tracking and at times was the only midfielder covering Tigres attackers and was fantastic. His passing, vision, off ball movement, tracking back, and stamina are all incredible. I'm incredibly excited about this lad.

Mason Greenwood didn't get the ball as much as Utd would have liked. Much of that was due to the Tigres high pressure any time United got the ball. But when he did he was very calm on it. I certainly saw glimpses of the hype, the step overs, pace, finishing, passing. He still has a ways to go, but he has potential to be a very good player.

Ethan laird was simply incredible, especially in the 2nd half when he was switched to RB. I'm very very excited about his potential as a first team right back. He looks the part and never seemed overwhelmed.

Brandon Williams reminds me a lot of Luke Shaw in his play. Hopefully he can keep that form going minus the injuries.

Aidan Barlow is an incredible dribbler. However his passing was frequently very off and his finishing is horrendous. Even in warm-up his shots either went up into the stands or was a weak shot into the corner that was easily handled by the keeper.

Hopefully that's helpful to someone. Thanks!
 
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@captcrunch227 good write up, especially about Laird, he's been catching a lot of eyes recently. We look like we have some genuine quality in full back in the youth system. Thought Barlow had a bit of an off game yesterday, Chong was again an absolute menace, surely can't be far away from a first team sub appearance.
 
Does anyone know when TFC III and Man. Utd. play against each other today? The Dallas Cup website states the kick-off time as 2 p.m.
 
the lad who really stuck out was James Garner. He had one of the best CM performances I've seen at any level. He made some mistakes passing early on, but a lot of that was due to his CM partner Dylan Levitt. Levitt early on did a poor job making himself an option for a pass and was frequently in poor position. James had to make up at times for Levitt not tracking and at times was the only midfielder covering Tigres attackers and was fantastic. His passing, vision, off ball movement, tracking back, and stamina are all incredible. I'm incredibly excited about this lad.
Ehh...let's not get ahead of ourselves with Garner. His composure and technique is definitely not bad, but I'd like to watch some more of his games before I get excited about him. His passing still seems a little underwhelming even though he did become more influential in the second half (mainly due to Laird pushing up and providing support to Chong to free him up).

I'm still hoping that he becomes a proper playmaking midfielder, but even then, we've had better young midfielders come through like Matty James
Brandon Williams reminds me a lot of Luke Shaw in his play. Hopefully he can keep that form going minus the injuries.
He actually looked poor to me. Hopefully it's down to nerves because he looked completely out of place.
Ethan laird was simply incredible, especially in the 2nd half when he was switched to RB. I'm very very excited about his potential as a first team right back. He looks the part and never seemed overwhelmed.
Yeah, I was very impressed with his defensive reading of the game from right back along with how dangerous he was going forward. He's one to definitely keep an eye on.
 
Think I've found it:



EDIT: stream's frozen.
 
There’s me thinking I could never have anything to do with Facebook again now I’m relying on the shifty turds to watch football. And they’re making a mess of it. Quelle surprise.
Whatever this HSV broadcasting service is is an absolute mess. Their streams are horrible.
 
Ehh...let's not get ahead of ourselves with Garner. His composure and technique is definitely not bad, but I'd like to watch some more of his games before I get excited about him. His passing still seems a little underwhelming even though he did become more influential in the second half (mainly due to Laird pushing up and providing support to Chong to free him up).

I'm still hoping that he becomes a proper playmaking midfielder, but even then, we've had better young midfielders come through like Matty James

He actually looked poor to me. Hopefully it's down to nerves because he looked completely out of place.

Yeah, I was very impressed with his defensive reading of the game from right back along with how dangerous he was going forward. He's one to definitely keep an eye on.

It definitely is hard to tell on Garner, it was just one game. But with the opposition he faced and since he was at times playing a solo midfield it was quite impressive. It's definitely wrong to hype him up this early, but it's equally as wrong to discount him because it's early. Fact is he put in a great shift when the deck was stacked against him. I'm eager to see how he develops

I disagree on Williams, considering everything I thought he looked great. Bohui was not tracking back at all and Laird was playing CB and he was caught out of position multiple times. Williams was in that horrible position of you can't go too far up to help the attack because the defense is shaky. Which in turn leaves huge gaps in the midfield and up the line. And Tigres took advantage of that, so it was usually Williams vs Tigres forward and midfielder and Bohui nowhere in sight. Which showed in the first half, we had trouble getting the ball from midfield to the forwards. But Kieran got it right in the second half
 
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Well, I guess we won't be seeing our match today, then. Are MUTV viewers able to watch the match?
 
Incredible effort from the boys being a man down for close to 75 minutes - to get 3 points.

Not yet familiar with our entire squad - but our #8 was easily MOTM for me. Chong came on in second half and lifted the side.

Good position to advance out of the group - but must have 3 points in the next match.

Again, match was way to big for the referee - absolutely shite and the sending off was not warranted.
 
Full time 2-2
Travelled to watch this one yesterday and the first half was a disaster. Totally outplayed by the mexican lads but it's like a different team came out in the second half as the manchester lads totally bossed it.
 
Good position to advance out of the group - but must have 3 points in the next match.
This was our last match of the group stages. Each group's winner goes through, and the best 2nd-placed side goes through as the wildcard. We might not yet make it out depending on how the other groups go.
 
Incredible effort from the boys being a man down for close to 75 minutes - to get 3 points.

Not yet familiar with our entire squad - but our #8 was easily MOTM for me. Chong came on in second half and lifted the side.

Good position to advance out of the group - but must have 3 points in the next match.

Again, match was way to big for the referee - absolutely shite and the sending off was not warranted.

#8 is James Garner. He was easily MOTM last night as well. This is a kid to watch
 
This was our last match of the group stages. Each group's winner goes through, and the best 2nd-placed side goes through as the wildcard. We might not yet make it out depending on how the other groups go.

3 groups games, then straight to semi finals. We play Japanese team in our last match. Most likely to come down to GD with Tigres to see who advances. We will have a good chance at the one “wild card” should we get 3 points.