We did fairly well in the first half, with a lot of good ideas, but also with some continued limitations that aren’t likely to be fixed anytime soon. Then, in the second half we faded into meh.

• Montreal was well-organized defensively, but they chose to leave the center midfield area wide open, which gave us the space and time to generate several good sequences in the first half. The space and time were still there in the second half, but we were coming unwound and couldn’t do much with it.
• Others have commented that they thought Montreal did well in the attack, also. I found them flaccid and unthreatening, often bordering on uncaring; for this reason I consider their overall performance to be poor. *shrugs* Presumably Lesesne and Courtois could school me as to why I’m wrong about that in the film room.
• While they’re at it, they can also school me as to how Lesesne’s press is going to hold up against an opponent that can actually exploit it. Or perhaps Wilfried Nancy will school us all on that topic in two weeks’ time.
• Kijima continues to be a bright light, but he unsurprisingly has things to learn and improve upon. In style, though obvs not in class level, I am reminded of John McGinn: agile and forward-thinking, good at protecting the ball and using its momentum, able to play up and down the field, high motor. His combinations with teammates in the attacking zone are hit-or-miss, and we might find that he runs himself into the ground too easily… he tailed off considerably after halftime.
• Pirani and Enow were better than last week, but I still do not see how we can succeed with these two playing extensive minutes in crucial roles. Enow continues to demonstrate poor situational awareness, and Pirani… there’s no there, there.
• One thing that is pretty immediately clear about Joon’s style is: he’s the kind of keeper who focuses on knowing exactly where his posts are, and only goes after the shots that absolutely need saving. This will result in plenty of heart-in-mouth moments for the fans until we reach the point of trusting his judgment. He’s clearly much more comfortable than he was in his debut, not surprising but a good thing nonetheless.
• Lesesne seems to want the offense to work through combinatorials that our talent level just isn’t going to sustain. We don’t have the touch, technique, and quickness to convert all these triangular passes and one-touch layoffs into goals, nice though it is to see them try. Meanwhile, many opportunities to launch a player into space vertically were ignored. Our attack feels simultaneously sophisticated and one-dimensional.

Well, we’ve played 4 games against 4 weak teams. I’m disappointed that while undefeated, we have exactly 6 points. I think there’s a lot to like about this team. But finishing is dreadful. I think it was Doyle who pointed out that last year and so far this year, we’re among the league leaders in xG.