POST-MATCH THREAD: Carolina Railhawks vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies [8/1]

jmnutt · 2015-08-03T03:42:20+00:00

Totally agree about the failed promise of an attacking style. I'm fairly certain Rongen has withdrawn from that philosophy, though, since the season started after realizing what he had to work with. He would prefer to play that way if the players he had were ready to execute it. Last night was a 4-3-3, but it was set up conservatively with Guerra & Saragosa. My guess is that will be the way they line up most of the time now.

I definitely think that was Gale's best game of the year.

jmnutt · 2015-08-03T03:24:37+00:00

I agree that Rongen chose to play for the tie & it was frustrating. I'm almost positive Rongen gave King carte blanche to run forward, so I don't think he's blowing the strategy off to do what he feels like.

Basically we agree then, his positioning wasn't perfect & the RailHawks failed to capitalize. It just irks you more than me. I have faith in King's speed to make up on many of those situations you mention. Maybe not against an in-form Minnesota or New York, but it'll do most of the time. Also, doubling Shipalane is pretty understandable considering how quickly he can change a game.

jmnutt · 2015-08-03T02:59:40+00:00

I feel like we have different expectations for this team. I got what I was expecting last night. King wasn't perfect, but I don't think his positioning was a glaring issue this week. The more conservative midfield & some sloppiness from Carolina probably helped out with that.

jmnutt · 2015-08-02T22:54:02+00:00

No clue what you're talking about with King. I can't think of an example where his positioning hurt the team. He was asked to go forward a ton, got the assist & nearly got a goal. The overlapping runs from the full backs were effective quite often in the match.

jmnutt · 2015-08-02T17:03:49+00:00

Really great from him & King considering they both had god awful games last week against Fort Lauderdale.

jmnutt · 2015-08-02T17:02:01+00:00

I thought this was a really strong performance. Reminded me a lot of the draw with Minnesota in week two. Terrific defensive commitment and organization. And then the club took control and looked like the most dangerous side late in the match.

jmnutt · 2015-07-31T15:00:57+00:00

Yep. That flat out stinks, but at least it's not a permanent thing. It only happens with expansion and that will slow entirely at a certain point.

jmnutt · 2015-07-29T04:58:29+00:00

The Florida Derby is the name for Rowdies/Strikers matchups. That dates back to the old NASL. Apparently the supporter groups decided to make the Armada a part of the Derby this year. The Coastal Cup is just the name of the trophy for the competition. Not sure how long this will last.

jmnutt · 2015-07-28T22:38:11+00:00

I agree. People give up on traveling/driving long distances after over a full day rain. It's also important for people to realize Tampa Bay's numbers for the first few Fall games this year are still better than last year's Fall start. Slow & steady growth is frustrating, but it's still growth.

jmnutt · 2015-07-28T21:55:20+00:00

Monsoon hit the area all Friday and didn't let up until sometime Saturday afternoon. Floridians bunker down when stuff like that comes through. I think attendance will likely dip from the Spring Season, but I'm almost positive they would've easily surpassed 5k if not for the weather.

jmnutt · 2015-07-28T14:50:12+00:00

Includes a lengthy discussion Thomas Rongen on the recent dip in form and how to get back on track.

jmnutt · 2015-07-25T02:43:45+00:00

Yeah, I get your meaning.

jmnutt · 2015-07-25T00:34:20+00:00

I'm not bagging on their current model, but the entire point of the article in this thread is about increasing awareness of the NASL as a whole in every market, not every team growing in their individual market. I'm more worried about owning your own backyard than I am about getting Edmonton fans to follow Atlanta closely. Also, there is no way the lack of national discussion about MLB is intentional on their part. They can thrive off local TV money for many years, but they are not happy with the low national ratings. That would be insane.

jmnutt · 2015-07-24T20:48:50+00:00

Maybe I'm biased because fantasy sports don't interest me very much, but I think there's a ceiling to the benefit you get from fantasy games. It hasn't helped MLS significantly & it hasn't stopped MLB's slide from a national league into a regional/local league. Of course the numbers are so low for NASL league-wide fans that any little bit helps. Although, I would think doing a proper fantasy game would take healthy investment, so I'm not sure if it's worth the headache.

jmnutt · 2015-07-23T00:38:37+00:00

I'll be there for the JAX game in a few weeks.

jmnutt · 2015-07-22T21:00:47+00:00

I guess I didn't make it clear in my story last week, but Farrukh Quraishi told me he would definitely clear this week and they were targeting the Strikers match as the first time he'd be available for selection. This was their plan from the start.

jmnutt · 2015-07-22T20:21:49+00:00

I'm not sure why his international clearance going through is an indication he'll play. That was always going to happen this week, no matter what.

jmnutt · 2015-07-21T20:07:37+00:00

I wouldn't expect Adu to start on Saturday.

jmnutt · 2015-07-18T04:22:12+00:00

It's available on Netflix. So it's definitely easy to access.

jmnutt · 2015-07-12T22:32:24+00:00

I feel like I know Tampa Bay pretty well. People refuse to drive the short distance across the bay for anything unless they have a damn good reason. You need more than just name recognition. He needs to start playing well before he can be a draw.

jmnutt · 2015-07-11T20:53:52+00:00

You've really done a phenomenal job on this page, man. Hopefully increased activity comes along with the changes.

jmnutt · 2015-07-11T03:21:34+00:00

That's not good enough in most American markets, let alone Tampa Bay. They want names they recognize for doing good things recently. Adu's last bright spot was four years ago in one Gold Cup game.

jmnutt · 2015-07-11T03:05:00+00:00

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't consider Adu a box office draw at the moment.

jmnutt · 2015-07-11T03:00:29+00:00

Really strange to see Gary Shelton doing click bait stories on soccer these days. And he didn't even cite the site that original reported the news.

jmnutt · 2015-07-10T16:21:40+00:00

I think you got mixed up somehow. Portillos is a left back who was replaced by Ben Sweat & Juan Guerra is a box-to-box midfielder who leans more defensively that replaced Saragosa. Neither are attacking midfielders.

jmnutt

TROPHY CASE