Maren was great. Anton was great. Djé .... could use the time off.
But there's a lot to like in this one, and the team's continuing to adapt to a world without Hugo's pressing.
Look if you want to be an optimist about it: The Fire lost 7-2 in Nashville last year. 3-0 is better! Continue the trend line, and the Fire will lose next year by a -1 to -2 score, but will win the year after!
On rewatch: I still think Marko read Gregg like a book but it may have been rotation more than anything else that killed the team.
After the game, Gregg told us Sunday vs Revs will be "free pierogi night," so that's a thing now, I guess?
Is it weird that I don't mention that Josh Sargent scored a hatty? IDK I think it's a bit weird but let's be honest: he took advantage of every chance he was given, and the Fire really allowed some of those chances to come out of nowhere.
It's a lot. of. moves.
This should help make sense of them – and why they they were made.
New nickname for Maren, y'all.
The big takeaway: The Fire were able to make adaptations to what the Red Bulls were bringing, but it ultimately wasn't enough to overcome what the Red Bulls were doing.
But hey, reinforcements could be on the way?
Gotta love an ugly road win.
Also, David Poreba needs exactly 0 more media training. He gave great, honest, wonderfully human answers about a night that was a long time coming for the guy.
Bonus pic of Robert Lewandowski using telekinetic powers (or trying to) included.
Bonus: Gregg really doesn't like it when you say it's a "hostile" environment.
He said the atmosphere at SeatGeek was a "celebration" of the game.
(Also apologies in taking forever to get this out, mother-in-law's house flooded and dealing with that).
I'm not sure who this matters to, but Gregg called out Joe Chatz, who had the first question, for not asking about Robert Turdean with his Q.
Good win, and we're starting to see some new ideas ‒ though Gregg did caution not to assume we'll see the 4-3-3 on Sunday.
Hey, the Pole got two goals
No one seems to be happy.
It's still very early in the Lewandowski era, though.
There've been a ton of questions about where Cuypers's departure leaves the Fire. Here they are, answered as best as we can ahead of tomorrow's game against Inter Miami.
Update on Lewandowski's arrival, when he'll play, and the ticketing for the Fire's game against Vancouver.
On Thursday, I caught up with Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter and midfielder Sergio Oregel Jr.
Here's their takes on everything from Balogun's red card to their deep connections to the tournament