Ton of midweek games, and not much action today, so it's right time to start with results and look ahead.
Portland to win at odds 1.8 Bet365 L (0-0)
Seattle -0.25 at odds 2.77 Pinnacle HL (2-2)
Montreal +0.25 at odds 2.26 Pinnacle HW (2-2)
NYRB win at odds 3.23 (to win 1u) Pinnacle W (1-0)
LA win at odds 1.813 Pinnacle
Will post results and record update after LA game is finished.
NER strike again, and it's second time they escape with draw when I bet against them. Both games had same scenario and were one sided and dominated by Seattle/Portland. No mistake in this one, comparing it to other games clearly show that 1.8 odds were a gift. Hopefully odds on NER will be better after couple of positive results. No real strategy or desire to win for them, fading them in any road game (especially if odds stay the same) will be a great idea. But their nearest schedule is 5 of 6 at home, so will see what happens. As for Portland, they are still under radar (and hopefully will stay that way after this result) but if you look at their form, they could easily be on 5 game win streak. And they had a very tough schedule. They allowed last minute goal at SJ and couldn't score against NER, but those games were never in doubt for them. So they are in great shape and can do some damage. With many road games this month, they'll be my choice most of the time just because of odds. Next is against Dallas, which looked terrible in 2nd half against Vancouver. Dallas have been keeping many teams scoreless, but once every 3 games they collapse. This match up will be tough for them in my opinion. Maybe they'll get some ridiculous home odds, and Portland +1 will be at good price.
Next one up is Seattle. They've played their worst game of the season, but I still have to change my opinion about them. It was a copy of what happened with Columbus at Chicago not so long ago. Invisible monster chasing road team and force them to give away the ball in danger areas. The result of this are attacks with man/speed advantage against a team, that's playing number 2 and counter-attacking. I mean what the hell? So they look even worse than Columbus did, end first half with 37% possession and barely escaped couple of goals. Add to this their physical condition. They were moving twice slower, but they were the team coming of a bye week. And after they survived the storm in first half you think they come out more confident and calm in 2nd. Ofcourse not, they allowed 2 goals in 2 minutes. This was the first time they showed such a bad play, so it was unpleasant surprise. But last drop was their late game collapse with red cards. It summed it up like this:
Worst possible gameplan / Bad physical condition after week with no games / No adjustments at halftime / Players losing their sh*t and showing no discipline, that resulted in red cards. All the areas where coaching happens... So coaching might be a problem for this club. Maybe there's some stuff hapening behind the curtains, but I have no way of knowing it. But what they show on the field indicates some troubles in that area. Anyway they haven't show anything, and away at SKC will be a tough place to bounce back. Their may schedule is very tough, maybe it will wake them up. Philadelphia was nowhere near the odds, they couldn't take a win from opponent playing that bad. I doubt they will be overpriced at Chicago, but will be an interesting game to see. Will be tough for Phily to find emotional drive to play well in away game. And Chicago has been playing better at home.
Will make my NYRB @ Columbus short. As I thought, it was game of chances. Had a little luck with Crew missing penalty, but I will take luck and chances game at those odds anytime. NYRB is a very rare team, that play very confident away from home. So it's a good idea to back them at 3+ odds, they won't panic and won't be afraid of invisible monster, or collapse and give away possession for no reason. NYRB have Montreal at home in next one, they will be overpriced as hell. So can't really back them, even if their current form is very good. Columbus have Colorado in next one, so they will have a good shot of getting 3 points.
Montreal just couldn't resist to waste result. All those 2 against goalkeeper they missed bite them in the end, where SJ scored in last minutes again. Was lucky that first 10-15 minutes haven't resulted in SJ goal and Montreal got one. But at least my thinking was right, SJ went forward and tried their "mosh pit" tactics again, which allowed Montreal to play their favorite counter-attacking style. So with such big odds, this matchup was a nice opportunity. They survived the storm, played counter, scored 2 goals from nothing and wasted 2 or more 100% moments and got punished for not realising them. As for SJ I guess they're just walking the path of least resistance. All they try to do is overload box, and wait for ball to bounce right. It's their way of playing attacking style, because they understand they won't win anything with their defence. Problem is they don't have personel for their tactic. And by doing it they also improve opoonents defence, that just need to be composed, position themselves right and clear the ball. No need to run, tackle or watch offside line. Anyway SJ odds are insane, and with them playing like that game after game it's hard to see any value in them, especially in home games. They desperately need a win in next one against Toronto, but odds will be awful. Will think about that one, mabe Toronto and Chivas right now are autofade fade in road games.
