Winning Ugly Is Still Winning, Right?

By: Jerry | March 27th, 2011

El Pescadito scores the game winner

Imagine that. The Union have their first ever winning streak. That allows me to play this video…

OK, so, technically, it’s not really a winning streak, but the Union have won two games in a row for the first time ever. That’s got to give a lot of Union fans a reason to hold their heads high and be proud. Be proud that the Union are tied with Real Salt Lake and Colorado for the best record in Major League Soccer. Unfortunately, that’s about where the comparisons end for the Union and those other two teams. Real Salt Lake is, arguably, the best team in MLS, and Colorado is just as deadly. On Saturday, Real Salt Lake handily beat the Galaxy, and Colorado took care of business against Chivas. The Union? Well, they won, but that’s really where the happiness ends.

The Union’s first half was really, honestly, quite boring. It reeked a lot of the second half against Houston, where they mustered very few chances, and seemed like they weren’t going to score at all for the rest of the game. Le Toux had a chance in front of goal, but the Whitecaps keeper kept it at bagels and donuts.

There was a lot of chippy play with a few cards brandished – then again, this is MLS where the refs pull out cards if you fart from the bench – and the match had the hallmarks of a goalless draw. Then, Eric Hassli had a major brain cramp, drew his second yellow card of the match, – both were on needless, stupid fouls – and was sent off with more than 30 minutes left. With Vancouver down to 10 men, they decided to bunker and try to play for the scoreless draw. That would eventually be their downfall as the Zolos would put more pressure on Vancouver’s defense, and get the game winner behind Carlos Ruiz’ first MLS goal in over 3 years.

Now, we must put things into perspective. The Union have played the Dynamo and the Whitecaps. They’re not exactly the human wrecking balls of the league. Don’t get me wrong. I’m uber happy that we have 6 points and two clean sheets after two games. I just can’t get overexcited at the teams we beat.

The Good

Carlos Ruiz got on the board in only his second Union game. He actually played really well. He had a nice setup to get Le Toux a crack on goal, and he was robbed of a goal on a bicycle kick by an outstanding save by Whitecaps keeper Joe Cannon. I think he’s going to be the most important player for the Union this season. He’s got that veteran presence and tremendous offensive skill that the Union need.

What more needs to be said about Faryd Mondragón? The guy has earned the Captain’s armband with his leadership, and his play isn’t too shabby either. He didn’t really see too much action after Hassli was tossed, but he still made 3 saves to earn his second consecutive shutout. As a side note, he is just a monster of a physical specimen, and looks so damn intimidating out there. If Faryd is looking for a job after his career is over, I recommend bodyguard or brutally honest television personality. I bet he can rip a phone book in half, and not the cheap and easy way, either.

Props to Piotr Nowak as well for the changes he made. Bringing on Torres and McInerney seemed to provide a big boost to the attack. Torres looked more than competent, and McInerney’s chance from outside the 18 was worth the effort. The Farfan for Mwanga swap was just to shore up the defense and ensure the 1-0 win. Overall, I’ve been very happy with what Nowak has done so far, especially with his changes. He’s mixed up the starting 11 a little bit for both games, and his changes that come on have benefited the team. Hopefully, he can keep up his good touchline form.

I like the third kit. It’s pretty nice in person, and translates well on TV. What I really like, though, is Mondragón’s bright green jersey that was surely visible from the Commodore Barry Bridge. The far end. Like, precisely when you cross into New Jersey. I hope he dons that thing for every game from here on out. I’d love to get a hold of one myself. I can wear it around the office. I think it would be a good look for me.

The Not-So-Good

Despite the Ruiz goal, this offense is still struggling. They didn’t seem to generate much until Hassli’s red, and then they turned on the juice. They shouldn’t be depending on opponents playing down a man and bunkering before they turn the heat on.

Le Toux has now gone two games without a goal, but he’s also had a touch of bad luck. He dinged the bar in the Houston game, and he was shut out on all 4 shots he took against the Whitecaps. He made the right play to get Ruiz the goal, and he’s still a great ball handler. And, although we’re not really panicking about this, we really want to see him dent the twine soon. It’ll be great for his confidence, and we really want to see that MVP form he had last year. He’s still a class act, and an awesome player, so we all want to see him rack up the goals again.

The team, as a whole, has got to do a better job of staying out of the book. 5 yellows in 2 games is not a good way to go about your business. It’s only a matter of time before these yellow cards start turning into red cards, and we know all too well the relationship between the Union and red cards.

The Bottom Line

Hey, the Union won. That’s great. They’re now 2-0-0 with 6 points, and stand atop the Eastern Conference for the first time ever. It’s great to be a Union fan right now. However, the toughest test of this season is coming up. They have a month of hellish matchups in April: at Galaxy, vs. Red Bulls, vs. Sounders, at Real Salt Lake, vs San Jose. These are not cakewalk matchups. Also, there’s a lot of travel in there. These 5 matchups will test the Union’s mettle, and provide an insight into whether the Zolos are contenders or pretenders. If they come away with at least 9 points from these 5 matches, I’d say that’s a pretty successful month, and should keep the Union near the top of the Eastern conference as the summer heat approaches.

Hey, at least the Union are tied for the best record in MLS. That’s something we can hang our hat on right now while we chomp at the bit for the Galaxy game this Saturday night.

Here’s the highlights of the game, if you missed it, and some photos from the game can be found here…

Next Union Game: Saturday, April 2 at 10:30 pm vs. LA Galaxy at Home Depot Center

By the way, I know that I’ve been derelict in my blogging duties since my internet at home is down and I’m working two jobs. Once the internet is back up and running (which should be around Friday), I hope to be posting more soon. Thanks, as always, to my loyal readers and followers on Twitter. I want to make this blog a spot you come to frequently for Union news, and jokes and fun. I do it all for you.

C’MON THE U!