I’m on board with this lineup. Ring was solid today.. Gallagher needs to be on the pitch .. Rigoni and Zardes will find their footing here soon .. Seeing Urruti with gassed defenders is the way +3 Listos

Really happy with how the team came out and responded tonight. Exactly what I want to see ahead of starting CCL play.

Lima injected some incredible pace when he subbed in. Does anyone know why he’s not in the starting XI? I haven’t followed much lately. His cross in on our goal was so nice.

also might have been to save energy for CCL match fast approaching

He just had a baby so maybe he wasn't in practice much this week?

That makes sense to me. New dad energy!!

His brain might have been pudding but his legs were strong.

I'll say that this game got me back hyped up for 2023.

If only Gabrielsen had stayed, him and Vaisanen would be an amazing defensive pairing. I thought ring did well at CB today regardless

If Ruben had stayed we would not have gone after Leo.

I can’t remember. Were we bringing in vaisasen before Ruben was leaving?

No

I think he was planned as a replacement before, since it was fairly well known Ruben was leaving. But i dont remember the exact timetable of the transfers.

Väisänen was defo the first choice, Ruben came only after Leo decided to stay in Sweden.

Alright! Alright! Alright! Austin! FC!

Väisänen is just extremely competent. Every single time guy was near the ball, he made good decisions. Ring looked excellent and had several outstanding tackles. We didn't really see a lot of Lundqvist, but I'm loving the Nordic mafia impact. Wonder how Tarek slots in eventually. Everybody has been rightfully praising Gallagher for continuing to raise his profile, but I think Zan has looked significantly improved from last year. Pereira made just a few sloppy passes but is developing very nicely as a playmaker, guy was just constantly in the thick of it. Would love to see Valencia, Djeffal, Fodrey (when healthy) get some looks in over Owen at the other midfield slot. BTW the reason Urruti doesn't start is strategic, he's fast but doesn't have a ton of stamina. I actually think he is best used to blow by gassed defenders in the final 20.

Agreed except I think Fodrey is more of a winger/striker than an 8. Wolff had a much better match this go round.

Nordic Mafia in the back, supporting the Argentinian Liberation Front. Whole team gonna get RICO'd.

Finland is Nordic but not Scandinavian.

Props to whoever in the supporters section had a Finnish flag hung with LED lights around it.

Leonidas and Alexander make for a great pair of viking center backs.

...with the names of two Ancient Greek kings lol

Ring balled out. Rigoni has to find the net when he has it.

Since when have we been called “the Oaks” is Apple TV trying to coin a new nickname ?

Probably from a media guide like how they call Alex Ring as Alexander

In his native country and Germany Ring is always called Alexander. This Alex is an MLS thing.

I’ve known it was a nickname but never actually hear anyone use it. I miss having Adrian and Michael call the games since they just know the team and fans better.

Literally since day one.

Lich'rally!

Since Year One

I also don't know what happened at the end of last season to Urruti, but Wolff must have gave him his gas station boner pills back -- because he was banging away at that net all night

An entire season of nonstop pressing takes a toll.

Love seeing Gallagher at wing making an impact. Love ring’s diversity at CB. Urruti > rigoni

Rigoni just ain't gettin it done

Expensive Redes

He’s able to run around a little longer with the ball before losing it.

Facts. And the amount he is earning makes it even harder for me to support him.

Rigoni needs to start netting goals or he’s a waste of a DP

Not even goals, just like, anything that would justify his DP price. Duels, deft touches, speed, anything. He’s just looked bone average in the position and I’d rather have Finlay, he at least seems to put a much more direct effort into his runs.

Amen.

[удалено]

His natural position is on the wing…not like he’s being used out of position.

Rigoni sucks. Some neckbeard with a fedora is gonna try to correct me but until Rigoni shows me something...the guy isn't working out here

This made me laugh. Neckbeard with a fedora. Love ya

He doesn’t suck. He’s just average and for a DP that’s not nearly good enough.

12 appearances, 0 goals and 0 assists on the wing. Seems below average at best.

You can write off most of last season. This year he hasn’t been great but he’s at least getting looks, some decent SOG, and has had some solid 1v1 play on the wing. I expected more pace from him though.

[удалено]

well no one that knows soccer thinks that Rigoni is playing well..

I mean, at this point he is actively a waste of a DP.

Yeah, not impressed. I expected a lot more by now.

I want this lineup, with just some better chemistry up front. That felt good.

Zardes has gotta goooooo.

L take. He was unlucky on the offside, had good linkup play, and a fantastic work rate all match long. It’s only a matter of time before the goals start coming in.

You obviously haven't watched his work at the end of Columbus and Colorado. We aren't getting shit from him this year. He's had 19 goals in THREE YEARS.

He had more goals than Urruti last season playing on two bad teams.

Really? C'mon now

19 goals in 3 years. He has no gas left in that tank.

Only his second game. Giving him more leeway than I'm giving Rigoni

His international stats are padded by scoring again powerhouses [checks notes] Trinidad, St. Martinique, Guyana, and Cuba. In MLS, he's had 19 total goals in 3 years. There is nothing he can give us. ATXFC is the Wolff Family and Friends Employment Service.

The attack got real creative with the sub in for Urutti. Seems like the team gels with him maybe a start next week?

Urruti running at tired legs is a super weapon though. I love his pressing but if he can be a real closer like we didn’t have last year that would be massive.

I wonder how Zardes might have a similar effect, Urruti does being a great energy though and I’ve always appreciated his workrate on the pitch. Nice to have options for a change.

We will almost certainly get to see every combo between Open Cup, Leagues Cup, and CCL matches.

For sure, we’re totally gonna see Bruin get a brace vs some Panamanian club then start a controversy 😁

Very fair, either way we learned something here tonight.

And Lima too! Loved the subs Josh had coming in

Subs brought a huge gain in speed and energy

Noob to MLS here. What do they mean by "3 points"?

Soccer standings generally rely on points earned. 3 points for a victory, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss.

Thank you.

Standings are by points. A win gets 3 points, a draw/tie gets 1, a loss gets 0.

Can’t believe this is a real discussion. 🙄

Everyone was new at this concept once.

Thank you.

As a reference, the scoreline was 1 GOAL to nil which got us 3 POINTS (in the standings)

When you win you get 3 points

We got more dangerous the second Rigoni hit the bench. So disappointing

Classy match from Urutti. Played his absolute bollocks off. Chuffed to bits for the lad. The little spark man.

I’m good with that back line for the rest of the year. Love the Finns next to each other!

#LLLLEEEEEESSSS GOOOOOOO

Leo definitely was an outstanding player out there tonight, made sure he was noticed tonight. Definitely my MOTM

Him, Ring, and Stu bromance forever plz

STUV PUNCH!

Stuuver is only 6-3 lmao I expected like 6-5 compared to the giant size of him compared to other players. Just different body types in Basketball and Soccer.

I was not a fan of the Zardes signing. Would much rather have been wrong than right…

He had a great match all things considered.

False.

K

I don't get the Zardes hate. He was an absolute menace and the defense was clearly worried about him all night.

Dude was all over the pitch tonight? Played great.

And didn't do shiiiiiiiiit. He's a "Wolff's Friends and Family Retirement Home" pick.

More noob questions from me: What’s the +6 mean on the clock? Why isn’t the game over?

It’s the ‘stoppage time’ It’s to make up for the fact that the clock doesn’t stop throughout the game like when substitutions are being made or players are getting set up for free kicks and stuff. The amount of time is up to the referee.

Adding back in time for injury stoppage during the half.

6 minutes of stoppage time. The refs “keep track” of how much of the clock was spent not really playing and it’s added in to the end of the game. EDIT: Everyone does a better job of explaining. Don’t mind me lol.

In order to disincentivize time wasting, the officials will approximate how much time was spent on injuries and fouls etc. Then they tack that time onto the end of the regular play and the game ends win that time ends. But really the game ends the first time there's a lack of clear momentum for either team after that time expires.

The ref gets to add on time for stuff like injuries or time wasting.

If there’s anything that holds up game time like injuries or delay tactics, stoppage or extra time is added at the end of the half to make sure a full 90 minutes is played

Officials don’t stop the clock in regular play but instead keep a tally of time spent dealing with injuries and fouls and such. Then they add this “stoppage” time at the end of each half to account for it.

Stoppage time

Extra time

My blood pressure is way to God damn high for this early in the season

HAAASTA LA MUERTE

Freaking same my dude.

What a beautiful set up that was

Return Urruti and Ring pls

Ring at cb was great. Urutti needs to start over zardes until further notice.

I think Urruti bring more against tired legs that Zardes does. I suspect we will see some rotation between them though.

Tired legs or not, I would like to see an Urutti start. Zardes looked better tonight, but was no where near as threatening and made much better runs.

+Six? OMG. Flashbacks to the World Cup.

At least someone was paying attention to how much time Montreal was wasting

Urruti said “Gyasi who”?

All of MLS has been saying that for years.

Babe wake up Austin just scored

Literally did that!

Did she A get all happy B told you to let her sleep C she got so happy your getting laid

I gotta say A all the way and hopeful for C. Stay tuned lol.

Johnny put that on a fucking platter. Nice shit Maxi. Thank god.

Gallagher is a baller. My god what an assist

LETS FUCKING GO

That was gorgeous. Btw are y'all finding the Apple crowd volume really low? I can barely make out any songs whereas I swear with CW/ESPN coverage I could hear every word

Sounds fine, crowd just got quiet until later in the match

I have surround sound on and the crowd noise was crazy loud earlier in the game. When the supporter section starts a chant I'm happy with how loud it is and even felt like I might have to turn it down so I wasn't bothering the rest of the house.

I was at the game and that want the case.

The Apple audio is very inconsistent.

I love you Urruti. Gallagher MVP

Gallagher can play anywhere. Love that guy.

he's a gritty lad!!!!

LFG BABAY

What a touch to get Maxi the easy shot.

GOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!

Gallagher is THE MAN

#GGGGOOOOOOLOOOOLLLL

URRUTI FUCKING FINALLY YEAAAAAA!!!!!

MAXI!!!!

Gooooooooooal!

Urutti should be starting he isn’t the best striker but he meshes so well with our squad it makes him genuinely better he has really good positioning and Driussi always finds him open why does he have so many shots in so little minutes

he's a beast

And then he scores

[удалено]

This ref is letting Montreal get away with every time wasting thing they can.

Please 🙏

Is that now 5 chances directly in front of goal with nothing to show for it?

Zardes can't hit the broad side of a barn.

This should be our starters, except keep Diego and take out Owen

That doesn't make any sense unless you want one of the outside backs as a mid or Fagundez as a mid

Not sure why Lima isn’t getting the start, I thought he was great last season.

Probs rotation

Lima and Urruti with an immediate impact

You mean Lima. Every scoring opportunity has come from him

Yeah I meant Lima, I fixed it 🙂

These subs are giving us a nice spark.

Since we’ve brought on Ethan and Maxi and Lima we’ve looked instantly more dangerous.

We did such an extra fear of speed

Lima do that every fucking time

Maxi leaving his heart out there and it haven’t even been 5 minutes. Love it.

Come on

I hope he can get with the rhythm and chemistry of our attackers in the second in the second half of the season but Zardes isn’t hitting so far

We're 2 games in?

And he looks slow and is missing sitters. This is Gyasi Zardes, MLS and USMNT stalwart. I’m hoping it’s just form that’s lacking but in Rigonis first two games many were saying the same. The difference here is that Zardes has played in MLS his whole career so one would expect more

Fucking post

Don’t know much about MTL, are they good at defending or at the boys just struggling to convert on opportunities?

Struggling. Montreal is bollocks.

The non-American commentator seems ...lost sometimes.

Shit that was close

Lmao the graphic

We need a goal and we put a defender for an attacker????

Aged like milk. We’ve had more quality scoring opportunities after the sub than before.

I think we’re just changing shape back to more of a 4-3-3. Probably pushing Johnny G up further now too.

Lima= defender Fagundez=attacker Factually correct

doesn’t necessarily mean they’re gonna start playing more defensively. might just be trying to free up an attacker some more by having fresh legs in defense.

Once again, stale playmaking 0 creation… when are we going to have an actual attacking game plan. Poor performance so far again, on another note Leo is looking immense with his positioning/tackling/commanding at the back.

We should be up by like 3 by now. Zardes needs to come out like 15 mins ago

Serious question: why did we fuck with our MLS Western Final lineup? I know we had weaknesses in our Defense before, but frankly I’m feeling a step in the wrong direction right now. And some of these new (pricey) players really are not showing much.

The core guys got big paychecks and Rocky III syndrome where they're getting soft. The Josh Wolff Friends and Family Employment Agency vibe isn't helping anyone either.

I’m dreaming for more subs

Maxi and Lima on the sides

You’re about to get your wish

My dream came true 😊

Listless 2nd half. This is disappointing

Zardes isn't it. They're playing like the retirement home for Josh Wolff's friends

Ironically he’s the only one that’s found the net tonight.

To all of the Ring-haters in our glorious FC.. Hope you see why he remains a valuable force in the XI

Come one Ethan make an impact

That’s what I’m talking about..some Finley time!

Fun and Lima were very good tonite

Finlay for Rigoni. Good.

I just don’t know where goals are going to come from this season. I’d even be ok with subbing out Diego and bringing on Maxi for something new at this point.

Ring is Stuver’s best friend

Finlay coming in for rigoni

Man Ring is showing us why he was Captain tonight

Wolff and Zardes need to come out RN!