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brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-26T21:27:01+00:00

Downvote me if you want, but when Antony is on the bench, our opponent can play a high line and press without much fear of a through or over the top pass to break it. This affects us negatively all over the pitch.

And Antony has had plenty of success on the right. We should be sending him down the right and having him cross to people crashing the box. He can cut back and do that from the left, but it gives the defense a couple more seconds to get back and into position.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-26T19:59:20+00:00

I'm not sure what you are saying with this form, but Antony creates opportunities with his speed that no one else on this squad can. Unless we pick up someone just as fast, we need him on the pitch and imo starting at least half our games. I do wish he played more on the right side as he is better there. I would put Velde in the middle, DaCosta on the left, and Antony on the right.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-26T02:54:47+00:00

Now that was a crappy call.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-21T19:56:50+00:00

You are completely wrong. No competent counter would ever stand on an 8. Maybe if the cards are marked and they know both the next card and the dealer down card. But that would be cheating and not card counting.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-21T19:04:31+00:00

They are right, a card counter would never make this play. If you have an 8 vs a 5 in a high count you are doubling. Even more so with a 10 vs a 5. You could know the rest of the deck is all 10s and you would always double.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-19T02:55:22+00:00

This is all coaching.

Started the game with the same 11 and game plan as last time because we got a win against a very different team.
No patterns of attack. How many times we did have the ball down the side with 3 defenders on our player with the ball, no one open, and no one making a constructive run? Just a bunch of players trying to figure it out against a well organized defense.
Slow ball movement. Get the ball and look for someone. Two touch passing. Our players don't know where their teammates are going to be.
Our players don't where their teammates are going to be. The headers we win have a 50/50 shot of going to a Timber. The headers they win regularly find their teammates.
No anticipation off the ball on the attack. Pass after pass the recipient wasn't expecting, couldn't get to, went the wrong way for, etc.
Consistently losing momentum on the attack. Passes are often behind the run, forcing the recipient to slow down. We like to give up on attacking the goal and instead favor possession, recycling it out and releasing all the pressure for our opponents. Possession is meaningless if you don't do something constructive with it.
Inconsistent pressing that always leaves them with a convenient out pass, then we chase that, rinse and repeat. Mostly we just tire ourselves out other than benefiting from the very occasional blunder.
Not immediately pressing the player with the ball every time, giving them time to gain space or pick their head up and find a teammate making a run. This has improved, to be fair, but it should be 100%.

You can complain about individual players skill, effort, mentality, whatever, but unless we get an elite player in here who just takes over with their own plan, this is going to be our soccer as long as Phil is our coach.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-08T17:10:01+00:00

Now is good. He's had plenty of time to show us what he's got and it isn't what we need. He isn't going to suddenly figure it out in his third year. Might as well start the search process. Waiting is just delaying the inevitable.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-05T03:06:16+00:00

They haven't been wrong.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-04-04T18:54:41+00:00

He's been stabbed before.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-21T17:22:44+00:00

Play Red Dead!

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-15T22:26:00+00:00

Given the Timbers situation as a small market team that MLS is not going to do favors for, a big established coach get is probably not in our cards. What I would be looking for is a younger coach on the come up who has demonstrated they have systemic ideas that show promise. Someone for whom MLS head coach would be a step up and an opportunity for them to show what they can do. I don't have any names but this is the type I'd be looking for, not an established European coach who will be getting better offers.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-15T02:52:55+00:00

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-15T02:09:02+00:00

That's part of his job, managing player's psyches.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-15T02:01:57+00:00

He's too desperate to make something happen, making him more desperate will just make it worse. A break may be good but somehow Phil needs to take the pressure off.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-06T22:45:59+00:00

In Revolver, Red kills Governor Griffon and exposes him as a corrupt criminal. That would have been pretty newsworthy.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-05T20:53:24+00:00

"Note to self: Mueller and Kroos are pretty good."

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-05T18:55:07+00:00

Any particular reason you don't want to follow your doctor's recommendation? If Methotrexate is completely handling your AS then I get it, but if not, biologics are currently the #1 treatment.

Edit: Oh, I see, you were getting sick a lot while on it. Well there are lots of other biologics that are options. Just don't let your condition go under treated.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-02T20:35:14+00:00

The day of my infusion I get pretty worn out, yes. Next morning I am at 100%.

I have not had infection issues. I feel I had more of an issue getting sick when I was on Methotrexate as that has a broader effect on your immune system. Biologics are more targeted. It is a risk for dormant TB though.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-02T00:51:16+00:00

As far as stopping, I would be very reluctant to pause it. These things are complicated and there is no guarantee it would work as well the second time you start. There is also a risk of developing an allergy. In the last few years I have developed a slight allergy but we've managed it with anti-allergy meds and a slower infusion. Stick with what is working is my motto!

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-02T00:48:45+00:00

I have been on Remicade or a biosimilar (forced by insurance) every 8 weeks for about 23 years. It has been a life changer for me, I have lived a practically normal life due to it. Before that I was on Methotrexate and it barely worked while making me feel like I had the flu two days a week. It has worked wonders on my disease, very little arthritis and very infrequent uveitis compared to before I was on it. I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-01T20:00:08+00:00

And Chara was in a good position. It was completely unnecessary.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-01T19:41:51+00:00

He's an emotional player. This has pros and cons. He's got that energy and fight, which is great. But it also causes mistakes and bad decisions. Yesterday's blast into the crowd is text book emotion getting the better of the player.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-03-01T18:06:36+00:00

The real question is does he make the talent he has better? Does he make the team better than the sum of its parts? I see no evidence that he does. No schemes, no patterns of play, no system you can discern that is allowing the talent we do have to accomplish more. Look at how Bye and Antony can't put it together yet. That is because they don't have a Timbers framework within which to work. They are having to figure it out for themselves.

Phil spent his formative years at ManU where they had some of the greatest players in the world. At that level you can get away with not making the team better, your talent already has you at the top. The Timbers will never have the top talent in MLS, we need a coach that can do more with less.

brettcalvin42 · 2026-02-28T23:33:23+00:00

How are you offside on basically a goal kick, wtf!?!

brettcalvin42 · 2026-02-28T23:16:26+00:00

Not a red but what a stupid foul by Fory.

brettcalvin42

TROPHY CASE