MLS Select Team vs. Real Madrid [R]

AreliusII · 08-22-2005, 04:32 PM

Pre-match quotes:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldFootballNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20050822:MTFH39325_2005-08-22_19-37-21_L22147375:1

Rover · 08-23-2005, 04:31 PM

Was that awful or what? I think 5-0 was kind.

I had my doubts about MLS jumping into this game, mainly because we just got done with a series of exhibition matches, Gold Cup, Open Cup games, and WCQ's (with more to come), and now we're headed into the playoff drive.

So instead of "testing our best" against a Real Madrid team a week away from playing games for real, we throw together a team that isn't all our best, send them to Europe, and a day after landing they're thrown to the Galacticos to toy with for 90 minutes. Again, nice of them to hold the score to 5-0 (or did I miss a goal or two?).

Not the best decision by MLSHQ, but there it is. Thankfully, I doubt anyone in Europe bothered to watch or cared about the result so it will be lost in stories about Woodgate getting on the field for the first time in, what, a year?

Maybe next time--if there is a next time--we can get them to play in the All Star Game for a change of pace.

clarette · 08-23-2005, 04:39 PM

I saw the first half, and it was pretty dire.

What can you really expect, though, from a "team" that's never really played together? And I love Justin Mapp dearly, but starting him against Real Madrid?

montgjules · 08-23-2005, 05:05 PM

That game was so painful to watch that I just had to turn it off after a while. Actually, I feel asleep on the couch around minute 46 (before the half). Then I tuned in again around minute 46 (second half) and had a hard time watching it. It was so painful to see them make an almost-promising drive up the field then get the ball stolen away with ease EVERY TIME. But at least it was nice to hear "Real" doing well. 🙂

montgjules · 08-23-2005, 05:06 PM

Oh, and it was nice to see Jason Kreis out there, although I only saw him once (like I said, it was too painful to watch it all). But they did talk about him for quite a while, which was cool.

Aero · 08-23-2005, 07:27 PM

The MLS team was simply outclassed, which shouldn't be surprising. If we had any of the players worthy of being on the same field as those guys, Real Madrid would be paying them big bucks to play for them. Beckham's salary alone could pay for every single player in the MLS. I think that they were also a little embarrassed at how "close" the game against the Galaxy was and wanted to show everyone that they were better than that.

There were some bright spots for MLS. Although I hate to admit it, Cunningham was by far the best player on the field for MLS. He was about the only one that even remotely looked dangerous when he had the ball. Joseph also looked pretty good and did his best to control the middle, but he just didn't get any help. Mapp was a waste of space out there. O'Brien had a few moments when he was actually playing his game, but overall looked very out of sync. Donovan and Moreno up front didn't do anything to scare anybody.

We just didn't have any cohesion at all and that just won't cut it against arguably the best team in the world. If Real Madrid entered the World Cup, I'd give them a really good shot of winning the whole thing. They have some of the best players from countries all around the world. MLS didn't really do all that well, but it really is to be expected. They had everything working against them in this game and the result isn't surprising to me.

Aerick · 08-23-2005, 07:54 PM

This was the first game I've ever seen Real Madrid play, and I was in awe. I agree, though that Cunningham did well. I also liked Hajduk, O'Brien (sorry Aero), and even Kreis got at least one shot on goal (more than most can say). It seems like our subs did better than the starters in most cases.

DadOf8 · 08-23-2005, 10:32 PM

Who's bright idea was it to put Douglas Sequeira in the game? There's a reason this guy's on the worst team in MLS, because he can't defend worth a darn. Real Madrid made the MLS Select team look like a bunch of amateurs. I will make three excuses for the MLS Select team, however: 1. They had to fly to Madrid and were tired. 2. MLS is in the middle of the season and almost every player on the team played last Saturday or Sunday then had to fly out to Madrid. 3. MLS Select has never played together before and Real Madrid has.

Still, I blame it mostly on the Chivas guy. 🙂

I should also mention that Jason Kreis had two great shots on goal, too bad that Garcia stopped them.

dysko · 08-23-2005, 11:09 PM

For those who want a recap...

DadOf8 · 08-23-2005, 11:14 PM

Here's what I thought:

http://realsaltlake.org/forums/showpost.php?p=34588&postcount=12