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Blown opportunity. Simple as that. We had chances, we blew them and now in very tough spot going into their place. I don't know whether to scream or sob, mainly just feel sick after that display.
wow what a game. i don't even know what to say. bad calls, stupid plays... what does our formation look like now without najar for wednesdays game. najar did not deserve the first yellow, at least not just from that play. but he has had a ton of little stuff all game long. so I consider his first yellow a result of all his other small fouls. his frustration and red card are unacceptable. I wouldn't even take him to harrison. let his ass watch the game on tv. stupid acts on the field have consequences.
Two own goals, a missed penalty kick by DC and a red card for Najar...I shall remember this as "Frankenmatch"
Ugh. . . we were the better team, I wish the ref just talked to Najar, i assume adrenaline/frustration turned a toss into a throw but it was incredibly stupid. Pajoy was a beast this game. I suspect we will see Russell for Najar and Santos for Boskovic on Wednesday.
We had a lot of bad passes all game many of them right to NY players. I thought Pajoy played a great game. A couple of questionable no calls from referee, including the apparent back pass.
I actually have a good feeling about this game. I now know United isn't overmatched. United played some good ball but three bad mistakes happened. The PK, Hamid and the big one, Najar. Yet, still a draw! NY didn't do too much, but they are always dangerous. I think United gave them very little. Pajoy continues to be a frustrating player to watch, if only he could score, if only. My guess is they'll put Korb on the right and Neal or Woolard if available and up to it, or last resort Chabala. All of them are preferable to Russell. It would change the team dynamic so drastically at this point with Russell offering nothing down the right, he's just too slow.
Despite the blocked PK . I feel for the most part, Ben Olsen is correct. NYRB is not so much a great "team" but more of a star players who link up at times. The Wed. game won't be easy. But NYRB had to make the most saves to keep it 1 - 1. Now if we could only pair Pajoy (who had a strong match by DCU standards) with another forward. Than we'd be really talking.
Well, what can I say? We blew it, simple as. We should of at least been aiming for a lead to take into NY next game but we end up with a 1-1 draw and a banned Najar. Some players performed well. I think Pontius was excellent tonight and was dangerous throughout constantly creating plays and drawing fouls. I though Najar up until the sending off combined really well with DeLeon down that right hand side. Pajoy did okay I guess, his finishing could of been better but his hold up play was alright tonight I thought. We seemed to lack an identity as we were stuck inbetween a short, built up passing game and a long ball up upfield. We didn't really attack with conviction throughout the game and lacked that killer instinct in attack. I.e if we had Salihi up there, some of those crosses, through balls or deflections that ended up dead could of been made into a goalscoring opportunity. Pajoy lacks that for me. He doesn't seem to fit into any position on a soccer field and that worries me. What we have to do now is to go into NY and devise a game plan, something that will suprise the Red bulls. As without Najar we don't have that player that can stretch the defense out wide and create plays from the right. We constantly play the same team over and over again and constantly play the same way. Teams, if they haven't already will latch onto this and devise their own strategy to counteract this. We should play with 2 up front next week, my first choices would be a Pajoy/Salihi or Santos/Salihi partnership. Let's get at New York and stop being so predictable. And maybe if all goes well, and with a bit of luck on our side we'll be looking at a nice win next week.
Olsen has to keep control of himself and his bench better. I think he contributed to the atmosphere of heated disrespect toward the officials. I thought Pajoy was seconds from a red, he was losing it about a play where he didn't even get fouled. He has to be the one telling his team to shut it and keep playing, to keep calm. The histrionics hurt the team today.
Shout out to the back four. Hamid rarely touched the ball; too bad it was rarely and not never. In the last two matches all the guys look to be on the same page. They are holding possession, making dangerous runs at the goal and contesting every shot; well done. DC was WAY better than the cows tonight. No Najar will absolutely change the tactics for Wednesday. Liked Olsen's comment after the match that he was proud of the guys. I was proud of the way DC attacked even down a man. Olsen also tweeked MLS FO about Wednesday's weather forecast. Vamos United!
I thought the only bad call was the non-back pass. And that was a REALLY bad call. DC had so, so many chances. Najar missed on an easy header. Pontius missed a PK. And on and on. Come Wednesday night, the number of DC's chances this match will either be a harbinger of the win at RBA, or something to be lamented over a long winter.
You mean the one who won every long ball against 2 NY defenders and held possession extremely well. Pajoy had a great game tonight and did all the little things right that help teams win games. He was the perfect point man for Pontius, Deleon and Boskovic to play off of. I'm sorry he didn't suddenly turn into Van Persie for you.
Just weird. As I said to my neighbor at half-time, you can't miss PK's in the playoffs. I'm going to give Hamid a pass on the own goal, he got nicked, lost his balance and made a meal of a simple play, it happens. I lost a great deal of respect for Andy Najar -- just ********ing dumb beyond belief. I agree, Pajoy was a beast, he just can't finish, never will, but he did play hold up extremely well and have the Pink Cows fits all game.
Let's get one thing out of the way ... Marrufo called about as perfect of a game you can expect from an MLS ref. My only beef was the Saragosa handball which proved to be inconsequential. Otherwise I'm proud of the guys. The back line was solid. Kitchen/Saragosa midfield continues to impress. Up front we were a little outnumbered. That's expected when both teams are playing defensive. We could criticize Ben for going conservative, but honestly this conservative style has us on an 8 game unbeaten streak. There's little reason to change now. We can go into NY with this same posture and I think we've got a shot. And lastly before people really start piling on Pontius, Hamid and Najar let's keep things in perspective. All 3 of those guys have played above their salaries several times this year, and all 3 have been game changers this year. All 3 are DC guys through and through. All 3 were playing their first playoff games ever. This is a learning experience for all 3. Let's not demonize or belittle these guys for mistakes that didn't even cost us the game.
The same Najar that was the only guy trying and playing soccer for all of 2010 and most of 2011? The same guy that got moved to a new position in 2012 and has absolutely owned it? Let's not exaggerate. He made a mistake. He knew it right away. He walked off the field without complaining. Najar is pure uncut class as a person and a soccer player.
Those 5 years out of the playoffs caught up with us. Chris hasn't had a pressure PK since he came into the league. Andy is just 19 years old. All in all not the worst result. Despite a couple of costly incidents of playoff jitters we dominated play and the game is still even. Yeah, we have to adjust to Andy's absence, but it's NY that has to figure out how to play us.
No demonizing here, all three are excusable to me. People miss penalties, at least the shot was on goal. Hamid should have punched, but really it's a fluky goal. Najar is 19 and let the moment get to him. You can't really say whether something cost the game or not after the fact, but a strong case could be made here. Pontius and Hamid were directly responsible for 2 goals. I don't care, though, both of those guys will come through in NY.
Bad calls? Let's not go there. We have to call a spade a spade. We missed plenty of good chances. That's on us. We let a howler of a goal be scored on us. That's on us. Andy Najar imploded and flipped the ball hard at a ref who was already in the act of showing him a yellow. That's on us. No excuses. The only "bad calls" were the ones that we made on finishing and keeping our composure.