Rolfe needs to remain in the starting lineup even after Neill returns from suspension. He and Espindola have been our most clever and intelligent attackers.
I have a feeling that is the plan. Neal seems like more of a solid late game closer at this point. The guy we need when composure and general Soccer IQ are the most valuable assets.
I'm going to say that since that game our back line has achieved the modicum of competence that the FO envisioned when they were brought in. I'd be surprised if we're down 2-0 30 minutes in (and still dominated in possession even when down 2-0, which is rare), as we were in that one, and in so many games last year. In midfield and at forward we have some decent players, but maybe not enough of them to achieve fluidity. If Silva was healthy I would suggest going to a 4-5-1, with Arnaud and Kitchen behind him. Without that, I don't know, because Arnaud/Jeffrey/Kitchen isn't the same. That combo would probably win a lot of balls, but not keep possession or bring the ball forward after having won it. (Edit to add, since the name came up: we could think about using Rolfe there, and Neal on the left.)
There were a bunch of times last year where our defense played well (enough) and we lost or drew in a 0-0, 1-1, 1-0 or 2-1 result. It happened 19 times as a matter of fact. What killed us was the quality of our offense- which is still horrible, and in situations of sustained pressure, accidents happen (or a quality opportunity emerges for the opponent). That our defense was stout enough for us to snuff out an end-of-2012esque result against lower quality opponents is important (because it's likely the only chance we have of the playoffs), but now we get to see how stout we really are. Dallas, Portland, Columbus, Philly and then NE who was horrible, but we need to win that one more than any other.
I would not at all be surprised to see us do better, even at Columbus. We definitely look much better than the crap we saw in that first game. The Columbus game was worse than the 2nd half this past weekend.
Quality of opponent. Right now Portland and NY, despite the last year of success and despite decent enough players, are basically dogshite. Hell, there is a website for Portland and I imagine one for NY somewhere since they haven't won a game either: http://havethetimberswonamatchyet.com/
I'm not sure I would consider it a "fool's gold victory." New Jersey is winless and at the bottom of the table. On paper, they're supposed to be threatening, but they aren't really clicking so far. Could DC have lost that game? Absolutely. But I do think DC has improved to the point where they can beat bad teams at home and this win reflected that. As for "brutal," I'm on the fence. I'm not sure I agree that this team hasn't improved. I would argue that they're really showing signs of life, although they're still not capitalizing on their best play. If they can play like that more consistently every game, I could see DC being a threatening team before the season is out. That said, the bad is still really bad and if that doesn't get cleaned up or at least minimized, DC could wind up at the bottom of the table again. I think the "fool's gold" aspect is that fourth place standing and almost a point and a half per game. I don't expect that to hold in the near future, but I haven't really seen anyone claiming that it will.
This time last year Bill Hamid stood on his head to preserve a draw against RB in NY where we were so comprehensively outplayed it foreshadowed how bad DC would be. Saturday's performance was light years ahead of that. We may be the team we thought we would be last year, one that is in contention for the last playoff spot, but I don't see the win as fool's gold; it is a sign of improvement from where we've been.
I'm not a big fan of Franklin. He did a great job of watching Henry all game instead of marking him...
Well I figured that you might know the result of the game, if you were there, unless you were drunk as a skunk. And to be honest, the way the team has been playing up until recently (and even then there is some question), I can't blame anyone for getting bombed out in Lot 8 and not knowing the score. Sorry if I touched a nerve.