154 Comments

Ya’ll. LA was just really good last night. We missed Ayala 100% sure, but the Galaxy looked like they were playing at 1.5 speed. 3/2 was an okay result considering that. And quit coming for Moreno. He’s a marvel and we should all enjoy him while he’s here before he gets snatched to a better league. RCTID

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Just about everyone had a bad night though Santi was ok to mediocre. He got the goal and he looked decent early on. Also a road match and not having Ayala is like bringing a pencil to a gunfight. Thanks Nashville for bangin him up. Anyway, hopefuly we can regroup and the all star break is coming up so maybe Neville can fix our back line - again.

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We really missed Ayala.

"....Neville can fix our back line - again." I don't think Neville actually fixed our backline. They had a couple of good games but if Neville knew why and how to replicate it, he wouldn't have tried the higher line he did tonight.

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Well "fix" to me just means trying to get them to play more disciplined and organized. Now maybe get Hummels or a cb of that ilk and then we can start talking about an actual fix. Fwiw, INeville bought some time with this win streak. Now we'll see how he finishes up. I don't think the knives have been fully withdrawn yet.

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"disciplined and organized." How much have we seen that at all this season though? The last match against RSL might have been our only 90+ minute performance on both sides of the ball. Maybe we had one other against Nashville. But what was the game state in both of those cases? I definitely thought the whole team played well against RSL. But did RSL also play somewhat poorly? They played cynically. They were disruptive. They missed some chances. It didn't seem like they were bad though.

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I just wish this stupid Leagues Cup thing wasn't in the way, because despite tonight, the team was heading in a fairly solid direction, playing reasonably well, and I would have loved to see some of that momentum continue. But now we get to wait until the Garber Money Grab is over.

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On the plus side, maybe we can bring some players in during the transfer window and actually get them somewhat acclimated before we play games that matter again?

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It's also a Ligamx money grab, too. And I hope thye don't get any dumb ideas any then think abou inviting "guest teams" a la Copa American and Gold Cup. But this league just can't seem to stop shooting itself in the foot and they were probably wiping drool from their mouths lafter last year's final. Maybe if Messi doesn't play then reality might hit.

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So Paredes goes hit-it-and-hope with a full minute of added time left when we could have built up properly, and then Kamal lets it run out for a corner as time is literally expiring and we’re fully at the ref’s mercy to play on. Amazing time management in opposite ways

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Well, Mora and Evander both had off-matches. Williamson regressed to his mean.

We weren't set up well for this one either. Not sure how much that had to do with individual errors. Probably both are factors.

We aren't organized and disciplined enough defensively, consistently. That's the major problem.

Attacking depth still an issue too.

Onward.

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Kamal Miller is such a dumbfuck… why the hell would you let the ball run out of play in the 99’.

My god we looked so much better while he was away.

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He knows how good we are at scoring corners /s

He had generally bad judgment in his limited minutes.

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Odds Neville starts him next match? After he's the guy Phil wanted from the Canmnt. Along with Max.

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He'll probably start him over Bravo, who was also bad this match. At least Neville can blame Kamal's performance on his recent absence.

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He always has bad judgement. I don’t understand him getting minutes. I know it’s not like we have a solid core of CBs or anything, but he is just such a waste of a roster spot. I’d rather see Eric out there getting bullied off the ball due to size than watch Kamal spend 5 full seconds standing still trying to pivot to his right to pass the ball a whole 7 feet.

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Neville brought him in for his left foot and distribution. It was a dumb decision that didn't sufficiently consider other factors. But we're stuck with him unless Neville really humbles himself, which I find hard to imagine.

None of our CBs fit what Neville's trying to do and he doesn't seem to realize that.

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That yellow is certainly reflective of the night we've had - which is a crappy one.

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Agree, but even with that, this was a winnable game. Maddening!

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I mean, LAG is first place in the west, second in the Supporters' Shield, and undefeated at home, so "winnable" may have been a bit optimistic, but the Timbers just weren't good enough tonight to even be competitive, outside of a couple moments of individual brilliance.

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You think they'd have gotten the message after a slew of Timbers were fined after RSL for getting in the ref's face post game

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Yeah - no discipline tonight. Not just in our play but also composure. And more yellows is not good since we have such little depth.

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Get a yellow after game ends. Good move

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Hope he does something good to prove me wrong in the next three minutes, but what is the point of a Nathan Fogaça? I'm sure Santi was gassed, but the dude is just....not good lol

Badly need a competent backup nine

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The point of Nathan: he's cheap. That's about it. Oh, he can come in for a few minutes here and there. And doesn't have a laundry list of injuries. Tha's it.

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IDK. I mean he has good feet, he's fast, good in the air. etc. He just needs minutes.

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I'm not sure that any of those three are really strengths, but even if they are....he doesn't actually DO anything productive.

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Well, he did have a game winning header recently. Besides how can you do anything productive in 10 minutes/game?

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He's scored four goals in three seasons (around 1200 minutes) and his one and only role is to come off the bench and help the Timbers score when they're pressing late in games. I get it's tough to produce in limited minutes.....but also taking your chance is how you get more time.

Regardless, my point is that good teams have backup strikers of a higher quality and the Timbers are lacking that Urruti-type dude. You want to feel confident that the guy is gonna be a threat, and Nathan simply isn't one.

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Fogaça just made a good clearance. For LAG.

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Nathan Fagaza...

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Nothin’ Focaccia

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Neville just have no idea what he’s doing…

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Fans are so fickle lmao

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I'm sold on him being motivational but it still seems like good vibes aren't enough.

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(Evander's been worse than Eryk tonight btw)

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And Araujo isn't doing all that great, either.

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I don't mind losing necessarily - just the way we are going down.

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Incredible goal! And now it’s 2-2….oh wait.

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Really excited about Moreno lately.

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Wow.

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holy crap that was nice Santi

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Odds Santi's on this team next season?

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100%. He's only been this consistently good for this season. If he keeps this up, he might be gone next summer or after next year though.

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He's had a great run of form lately

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If he keeps this up - transfer after the 2025 season. Or maybe the summer if he gets real hot and becomes somes and mvp candidate.

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Subbing evan would be a good call

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I have to say that if we weren't playing the Gals, I'd love to watch Puig and Pantsil as a neutral. Not sure about the rumor about Rus but one old player should be enough. Because the galay have been a train wreck the past few years so good for the conference to have one less sucky team.

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Our forward depth is still garbage.

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It seems to me that having three 10+ goal scorers before August means that's not actually as much of a concern as it would be in most seasons, particularly with the defensive needs this team has right now. Forward depth can be addressed this winter while bigger problems get solved first.

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I don't think it's an either/or.

I worry that our FO doesn't recognize the actual problems. We'll see.

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Jmo but if they take the 2 dp/$2 million gam route then that tells me they are going cheap and have no intention of actually trying to compete. Especially if they refuse to put actual effort into the acadmemy. That 2 mi monopoly money does buy you depth but in this league with Messi and soon Giroud - maybe eus - that's not enough. Gotta leverage all ytour resources and spend your own money. And I don't mean one big transfer per season.

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I've been a fan of the GAM route because Mora, Rodriguez, and Evander have been doing the business, and I don't see replacing Ayala or Chara with a DP. If Ayala is a 6, and we move Paredes and Williamson, I can see getting a DP 8. If our defense wasn't bad, Williamson could be good enough at 8. The strategy and tactics again aren't matching the personnel, in terms of skills, inclinations, and deficiencies.

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Problem is, we paid money for Evander and Rodriguez. And Evander broke the transfer record (for us, anyway). I think in mls 4.0 or whatever the gam route is not the best way to get quality depth. That is, depth that can actually compete. And if we're looking at moving Paredes and Williamson, we can also look at offloading Loria. But beyond tactics, again I think the FO is not using all our resources.

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Loria's contract is up this season unless his option is exercised.

A DP isn't depth at all. A DP is a starter. Where would we sign a DP if not 8? 6 only makes sense if Ayala isn't seen as Chara's successor, in which case we still need to move Paredes and/or Williamson because it pushes Ayala to 8.

We could sign a DP right winger, but Moreno is doing really well there and Antony may have more promise as his depth and replacement than Rodriguez'.

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Neville said it was our job o get Williamson to the national team. First of all, Eryk needs to not have matches like this one. His perfomrance isn't going to inspire the coaching staff to give him more pt. And no pt means no callup. Especially is he plays like crap when he gets the start.

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Too listless. Not that he's alone.

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He's a matchup-dependent luxury player at this point, and that's fine. I love Phil hyping up his dudes, but another national team shout after his spate of injuries was never gonna happen.

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I'm debating myself as to whether or not we can afford a luxury player. Everyone has off nights and right now just about everyone on the pitch is struggling but I now worry about what happens when Ayala gets hurt or just needs a break. He's fine as a rotation player but given that we have depth issues, him playing horribly doesn't help.

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He's so frustrating. Always 3 steps forward and 2 steps back.

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Araujo got rinsed on that Paintsil faint towards the ball before running in behind and the defense has been rough in general, but man this Galaxy front line with Puig behind them is fun as hell

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Yeah, both of these teams are pretty fun, in the potent attack/leaky defense kind of way.

Unfortunately, the Galaxy are just a slightly better version of that team than the Timbers.

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I mean, in general there's no shame in losing to the #1 team in the West and #2 in the league, but also this is pretty dire stuff from the Timbers in general for the most part.

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They're reverting to past form. Including too many inaccurate passes.

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Yeah, at some point it's okay when you're just outclassed. This is also a strategic and tactical failure though. I just don't know how much the players screwing up is just their own problems vs. systemic issues.

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As with most of this season, I think it's both. This team has a ceiling, for sure, and against legit good teams like this, we see it when the Timbers smash their heads against it repeatedly.

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Well, the Pantemis era is over. Welcome back Max!

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Just to be clear, nothing I said or think absolves the defenders of their shit play, and of course I don't think Pantemis was our biggest problem. The back line and midfielders are clearly the biggest problem with our defense. It's just that with Crepeau's recent absence and Pantemis's occasionally sparkling play, many commenters here have been claiming that Pantemis should be the first choice starter over Crepeau even when he's healthy and available. But there's a reason Crepeau is considered a top tier MLS keeper and Pantemis, though good, is a backup. I watched almost all the Canada games in the Copa America and Crepeau saved their ass many times against elite attackers. If Crepeau had started this game I doubt we would have let in more than 3 goals, and there's a good chance it would have been only two. Given the clear holes in our defending, it's important we have the best keeper available on the pitch to give us the best chance to survive the inevitable lapses in our often switched-off defense.

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Pants has had some very good moments filling in for Max. That's why I said good backup and why I'm glad we have him. But inconsistent. First goal he underestimates Paintsill's speed and leaves net wide open. They still might have scored, but he made it too easy. No blame for Puig goal. 3rd goal would have been tough to save but he misses it by yards.

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Pantemis didn't leave Riqui Puig completely unmarked for yards. Pantemis didn't fall asleep when Paintsil blew past him. He's definitely made some errors tonight, but let's not pretend this game is going south because Pantemis is the problem.

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Pants has had some good moments this match too. The team is poorly organized defensively. Either the players aren't doing what they're told, their told to do the wrong things, or a combo. This is what we saw the first half of the season.

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Pantemis needs to get better at tearing his defenders a new one

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Yes, but he's been partly or largely culpable on 2 of the goals. Good backup keeper, but clearly not #1 on a good team .

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Araujo and Williamson are having miserable games …

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Araujo having an awful game…

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I guss buying a new cb is a good start. How about buying some a new fb. Maybe two?

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That new CB isn't going to help soon. This is also more about how we're organized than just physical limitations

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How about subbing out Williamson for Paredes?

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Paredes probably isn't going to be much help scoring goals, if we just want to pack it in

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That was great work. Really happy to see Jona get one.

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Moreno should get a secondary assist on that one.

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I said prematch we needed to stop Puig. Well, we just failed to close him down. Why the heck does this team have so much trouble understanding how to deny attackers the necessaru space tp [ass pr shoot?

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Damn! We are kinda getting worked here

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Yeah Araujo playing fb is not good when he's a cb. This defense is once again out of position and not on the same page.

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Strong marking there Williamson...

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Eryk brotha that ain't how you defend Puig my guy!

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Fwiw, this isn't a good game for a Williamson start anyhow, though obviously no Ayala forced Phil's hand. The narrative is that he's lazy --and that may have some merit-- but his biggest issue is his physical mobility against a midfield like LA's that's so good on the turn.

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Well I do think injuries have certainly taken its toll. Also the lack of playing time. And the fact that his decisionmaking isn't his strong suit and sometimes wreaks havoc. Like tonight.

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He's not lazy. I think his workrate is pretty good. He's just kind of careless with spatial awareness.

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agree. Just kinda careless. He doesn't play with urgency.

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Could someone not leave Puig marked at the top of the box?

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Frustrating half, but Aabsolutely no one can convince me that goal was onside. If it was then please show who kept him on and where. That was RIDICULOUS.

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Is it just me? Or is anyone else missing Ayala? Passing needs to be better much less buildup play. And he defense. All I can say is with the type of performance he's having right now, Eryk is in no way anywhere on the Nats depth chart unless everyone - and I mean even a guy like Busio - drops dead.

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Oh yah. Ayala is key for the Timbers.

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OMG, Evander so lazy at times. Cheap turnover and then hangs his head and walks.

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He’s still sulking about getting carded. Hopefully he snaps out of it in the second half. He should have tied the game just before halftime so I’m afraid that he will be sulking about that as well now.

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Less lazy than Williamson….

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We shouldn't play a line that high until we can run an offside trap or have more speed in the back.

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Williamson showing why he is not a regular starter. And, after a one-off, reverting to the norm where Evander and Williamson in the starting CI is not a good combination

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Williamson has his pocket picked like that far too often

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Yeah, but that's another play where I'd like to see the replay- was he fouled or was it a clean steal?

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He hasn't earned the benefit of the double lol

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Was the dude not offside???

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Looked about half a foot offside...no replay. Sketchy af...

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Looked like more than that on the boob tube…

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How about a replay that shows whether it was offside or not?

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I thought he left early, but so what...

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Strong work there Bravo......

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Well, that was no good. Not Pantemis' fault but he was waaaaaaaay off his line and that made it super easy for LAG to take advantage of that defensive mess.

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Ouch. Defense on that goal was vintage Timbers.

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i swear i just saw an advert in the stadium that read "be a sperm donor". gawd, i love the west coast!

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I'd much rather that be LAG's shirt sponsor than the pyramid scheme they've had on there for I think their entire MLS history of shirt sponsorship.

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So what do you think of Directtv being San Diego's shirt sponsor? I'm actually curious if that's a good deal since cable is dying and as someone who's trying to cut the cord myself, hearing rumors that Directtv' is having trouble competing wven given they have a streaming option.

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I hadn't heard that. I have no real opinion about DirectTV, I'm one of those Old People who has never cut the cord so I've never really explored alternatives. All I know is my inlaws had DirectTV when they lived on the coast, but that's really my only exposure to it. But even if it's struggling, at least it's a legit business, unlike Herbalife.

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Passing accuracy in the attack could be much better.

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Moreno still looks hungry despite last week. Maybe Neville's comments about us getting a big offer in 12-18 months - hopefully from Europe - inspired him.

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Really one-sided broadcast...head to radio

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