Here is my full gamer from Minnesota United's 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union.
And now for some extra tidbits.
First of all, coach Adrian Heath said forward Christian Ramirez, who has been out with a hamstring injury since July 29, will "certainly" be on the bench come 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Vancouver Whitecaps.
"You want competition for places, and you know, we didn't feel as though it was worth risking Christian," Heath said of leaving the striker out Saturday. "He hasn't really had three or four days of continual heavy workload with the rest of the group. He's trained really hard today before the game. He should be fit and healthy for, he'll certainly be on the bench at the worst on Wednesday night."
Also, Francisco Calvo had some interesting thoughts after the match that I thought I'd share. First, he said the ball might have caused United's poor possession at the beginning of the match.
"To be honest, it's not an excuse, but I don't know, the ball, it's a little bit different," Calvo said. "I don't know if it was that or I don't know what happened with that. We lost like three balls and then we lost our confidence, like,10, 15 minutes. And that was weird."
Calvo is also a bit of a purist when it comes to the beautiful game, preferring a free-flowing match instead of stops for Video Assistant Referee calls.
"I'm not agreeing with that thing because the feelings of football ... it's not the same," Calvo said. "I mean, that's why the referees are there. If they make a mistake, they make a mistake. It's life, and they can make mistakes. ... In MLS, they want to use it. I can't do anything."
The team captain also commented on how left back is not his "best position," and Heath knows that. But he's just trying to fill in there until Marc Burch, who is nearing the end of his recovery from sports hernia surgery, can reclaim the spot. So it sounds like Calvo prefers to play as a left-side center back.
I should have called this blog "Fire takes with Francisco Calvo."
Anyway, check out my Facebook Live below (or click here) and watch me go on a rant against another "who cares?" commentator. Also, here is a video from Heath's postmatch presser.
