July 6, 2009
I would expect Darren Tilley to be pretty happy with how yesterday's game versus Austin worked out.
Getting the first league win at home was overdue.
Getting rest for guys like Brent Sancho, Andrew Gregor, Mike Ambersley, and Ty Harden, along with some game time for guys like Danny Earls, Tiger Fitzpatrick, Warren Ukah, and Scott Vallow was nice as well.
The one sore spot might be the reason behind the early sub that saw Chris Nurse leave the game in the 31st minute in favor of Nano Short at defensive midfield amd Darren Kenton hitting the turf with a leg ailment late.
But getting four second half goals from four different players, especially Ukah and Johnny Menyongar, had to be good news as the Rhinos hadn't scored in their two league home matches prior to yesterday.
Now it's on to the Open Cup Quarterfinals versus the Wilmington Hammerheads that have wins over the Richmond Kickers (USL-2), Carolina RailHawks (USL-1), and Chicago Fire (MLS) under their belts this season.
News & Notes:
- So much for my Johann Smith to the Rhinos dream. Mr. Smith is headed off to Croatia.
- The LA Galaxy appear to be in damage control mode even before The Beckham Experiment is released....
- I love this take on the Beckham saga!
- MLS needs Beckham? I think they only need Beckham if he is willing to give 100%. And I think that while there may be a bump, how much better would MLS be if Beckham cared and had been with the Galaxy since the start of the season?
- Thank goodness Robbie Rogers didn't play for the Crew last Tuesday! He lit up Grenada on Saturday night in the Gold Cup opener for the US.
- I get the argument, but what about Soccer Dads that want to raise Soccer Sons? I think there are ways to get both demographics involved. Maybe Timbers owner Merritt Paulson agrees?
- Could Julian De Guzman be Toronto's DP? If they are outbidding Espanyol and Hamburg.....
- I wonder how many conspiracy theorists will wonder if they did this on purpose to boost ticket sales?
- Charlie Davies to Sochaux makes sense, but Onyewu to Real Madrid? Gooch needs to play. That's why I'm hoping the Ajax rumor comes true!
- I guess Don Garber missed my take that MLS needs to become the best domestic league in this hemisphere....
- I can't wait to find out who FC New Tork's European partner is....
- The photos of Red Bull Arena are looking nice. That roof looks huge!
- It's not the off-season yet, but here is an interesting article on off-season strength training for soccer players.
- This is one messed up story. I hope they got the right guy, but I seriously doubt it.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
