“Victory is Just What the Doctor Ordered” – Miami FC beats up on Atlanta 3-0 at Tropical Park

The Blues seemed to have regained a good much of their swagger after dropping a nine game undefeated streak last Friday in Saputo Stadium, Montreal.  Starved for points in the USL-1 stadings after a poor first quarter of the season, Miami FC looked like a serious playoff contender last night, knocking off Atlanta 3-0 at home.

Head Coach Zinho was quoted after the game as saying:  “I am of course happy with the victory but more important is the timing of the win.  After a difficult loss which came after a nine-game unbeaten streak it was important to get a good result.  This victory showed the team is strong.” 

I think Zinho understands that his legacy as a first year coach is not going to be defined by the dismal first half of the season, but rather by how the team preforms in the final 10 game stretch.  Miami FC is now playing with a starting roster made up of only a handful of players who have been with the club since the beginning of the 2008 campaign.  The additions of Eric Brunner, Avery John, Leo Inacio, Ricardo Cavalcante, Bruno Menezes and Willie Sims have all come at varying times since the season opener on April 12th, and without a doubt this current Miami squad is stronger, more talented, and has far more depth than the team we saw back in April.

Now that all the correct pieces are in place, the true test of Zinho’s abilities to bring Miami a championship will be at stake.  Team chemistry and play execution were all on point Sunday night in Tropical Park Stadium, and I believe Zinho will prove for the long term he is the right man for the job.  Now lets take a look at whats at the Blue’s will be facing in their final 10 game stretch.

2008 Playoff Hunt

In the United Soccer Leagues First Division, only the top seven teams advance to the playoff tournament, with the Commissioner’s Cup winner (regular season champion) receiving a bye into the semi-finals.

I went digging through the USL-1 archives to try and figure out roughly how many points the #7 seeds in years past were needing in order to aqcuire their playoff birth, only to realize that effective as of this season schedules were extended from 28 games to 30, so computing an exact number to strive for was difficult.  However, under the 28 game schedule in the last three years with the USL-1 looking roughly as it does today, it has required an average of 38 points on the season.  Of course securing only 38 points in this season, with two additional games, would not be sufficient.

44.  44 is the number of points that Ive concluded will be sufficient enough to guarentee us a spot in the 2008 playoff brackets.  Of course who am i though? Im just a guy writing on a blog…….. for arguments sake though, lets look at the numbers.

With 10 games left on our plate, we would need to pick up 21 points in order to hit our goal of 44.  In order to achieve that standard, we would need to win at least 7 of the final 10 games.  Put in that perspective it may seem daunting to even the most optimistic of fans, but it may not be as improbable as one might think.

Of the final 10, six of those games are at home, two are against 2008 bottom-feeder Minnesota, and two are against an Atlanta squad that Miami seems to have already figured out how to beat.  With that thought, it is our job as fans make sure at least the home games are well faught, leaving only minimal work to do on the road.  The Blue’s needed to start winning yesterday; and yesterday they did.

Miami FC’s nine game undefeated streak comes to an end in Montreal

It was just that kind of a night. The kind of night where nothing seems to go your way no matter how much you try to change your luck. The Blue’s just could not seem to catch a break on Friday night against the Impact, and discontinued their undefeated streak by losing 3-1 in Montreal’s brand new Saputo Stadium in front of a crowd of 12,000+.

Early on in the match Miami earned itself a Penalty Kick when the Impact’s goalkeeper Matt Jordan tackled forward Sean Fraser inside the penalty box. At this point the Blue’s should have gone up 1-0, but Afonso, who is normally automatic, sent the PK sailing way over the cross bar. The shot looked like it would have been good if the goalposts were mounted on ten foot stilts.

In our team’s defense, I would like to suggest that maybe there is some paranormal meddling in the mix here. Miami FC has a lifetime record against the Montreal Impact of 0-4-4, it is the only team left in the USL-1 that we have never beaten. Watching Afonso miss that penalty kick so early in the match, I knew it was only a pretense of what was to come. My theory is that the Montreal front office has placed some sort of a curse on us, dooming us to play incompetently against the Canadian side these past three years.

The two sides will not meet again in the 2008 season, unless the improbable situation of both teams making it to the playoffs happens. The Blue’s are currently in eight place in the standings, with the Impact close behind in the tenth place spot.

Regardless of Friday’s results, our boys in blue will need to look ahead and focus on the task at hand. We have 11 regular season games left on our schedule and we’ve played an average of 2.7 games more than all other teams in the league, meaning we really only have about eight games left to pick up points.

As an example of how thirsty we are for wins, last place Minnesota is only three points behind us while having played three less games. Meaning if the season were to end today, they would have three chances to pick up a win and challenge us for our eight place spot.

I don’t want to sound the alarm just yet though, there is good news too. Currently we are only three points behind fourth-place Seattle, making a win at our next home game in Tropical Park Stadium that much more important.

We will face the Atlanta Silverbacks on Sunday, July 27 at 6pm (ET) and you can be damn sure that this team will not go down easy. The way I see it, 15 points in the next 11 games should be the minimum par set by head coach Zinho in order to guarantee a playoff birth.

Heres to our next undefeated streak and run for the 2008 USL-1 playoffs!!

Miami FC Still Undefeated- Defense bends but does not break.

The Blues secured one more point in the USL-1 standings last night with a 0-0 draw on the road against the Rochester Raging Rhinos. The tie counts towards a remarkable undefeated streak of 9 matches that traces back to May 26 of this year when they beat the Portland Timbers 2-0 in Portland.

Just to emphasize that again. Miami FC has not lost since May 26.

With that being said, it is glaringly obvious that there is still some fine tuning to be done before this team can become more of an inspiration to the soccer community in South Florida because simply avoiding loss is not a grand accomplishment within itself. Especially in the game of soccer.

The trio of Goalkeeper Josh Saunders and Defenders Eric Brunner and Avery John has certainly been a focal point in creating what has become a choke-hold defense for opponents; recording 10 shutouts on the season. The Blues have only played 18 games thus far; meaning Miami’s opponents scoring opportunities are about as common as a snow storm in Tropical Park Stadium. However, does a really good defense warrant championship hopes in July?

Personally, I hope so.

But…. goalscoring still remains an issue. Out of the 10 recorded shutouts, six of them were 0-0 draws, and that should be an enormous issue of concern for a team which holds the USL-1 leading point scorer in Brazilian hit-man Alex Afonso (thats Afonso, without an L).

First year midfielder Juan Pablo Galavis has showed some promise scoring two goals on the season, as has Sean Cameron who seems to be progressing, albeit slowly, from last years play. The same can be said for the Honduran nightmare Walter Ramirez, who has showed flashes of brilliance and outstanding athleticism this season.

Production is the key here though. We as fans know intimately the potential our boys in blue have, but scoring goals will be the final test. The season is far from over, and we are certainly on the upside of things, so lets keep hoping that this team that started at 1-6-2 will continue their undefeated streak well into the 2008 USL-1 playoffs. All the while figuring out how to score points with New England Patriots-like efficiency. (yea i know, wrong football reference. sorry about that)