Maicon was really bad. A lot of our guys couldn't trap the friggin' ball. Many, many bad decisions...passing left when they should pass right, holding the ball when they should be playing the ball, etc. Yet, we got 3. Kitchen had a big game. Sheanon Williams was MOTM. Wow, that guy did everything. It's a shame Nowak didn't stay another month, he probably would have traded him to us.
Playoff teams do that. Championship teams do it in the playoffs. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.
My bad. I figured since there were three people in the thread (myself included), it would go over better while those who weren't here at the time could have fun with it.
He was terrible in the Open Cup loss as well. And yes, a lot of bad first touches out there. Also, DeLeon may have recovered from his injury, but he still looks a little dazed from having run into the rookie wall, if you know what I mean.
The team just clicks better when Bosko is on the pitch. It's not only the free kicks, it's his touch and his vision. And DeRo plays better when Bosko is feeding him - and when the defense can't gang tackle him.
Absolutely about DeLeon -- I thought he was poor in the USOC game at the 'Plex and he didn't look any better today. A great deal of "headless chicken" running around. Neal is far less talented, but much more experienced and it showed. Woolard didn't look as harried once Neal came on for DeLeon. Also, once Santos sat, and DeRo moved up, Bosko actually ran the midfield very well and Philly started resorting to long ball -- like we did in the first half. An ugly win, but this game put me over the top on re-signing Boskovic. Once he entered, the entire game changed -- DCU kept possession and, again, his free kick led directly to a goal. DeRo in the middle couldn't maintain possession. The guy is really a forward who can play midfield, but he's much better as a forward.
From the Union forum: The key to the game was when Boskovic was subbed in. Not that Boskovic did anything but dive, but the move put DeRo up top. When he played forward, our defensive assignments got screwed up and Carroll couldn't cover him anymore. It was great coaching by Olsen.
We were terribly lucky to win. Philly was terrible -- just terrible -- and we were even worse. One good and two bads I want to single out for attention: Good: Boskovic. Not that he played well overall -- he played poorly overall. But everyone on the team played poorly overall; he simply had a chance to stand out, and took it. When he was subbed in, I thought "maybe we'll get a free kick and he'll send in a really dangerous ball, because that's where he's truly shone this year and nobody else on the team can do it." And that's exactly what happened. Good. Bad: Dwayne DeRosario. I've been watching this for several matches now, and I'm now sure of it: he just refuses to pass the ball to Hamdi Salihi. It doesn't matter how much more of a dangerous position Salihi is in: he's simply not going to do it. It doesn't matter the opponent or the circumstance or whether we're winning or losing or whether Salihi is scoring or not. He won't do it. Bad. Bad: Hamdi Salihi. Nobody who knows anything about the kind of player you are expects you to create goal-scoring chances with the ball at your feet. But if you've worked yourself into a dangerous place, and someone else on this team succeeds in getting you the ball there, you have to score. That's your one trick, and you have to do it. Tonight, you did a great job of getting open in a dangerous place, and (I think) Najar did a great job of getting you the ball there, and you had an open goalmouth as a target . . .and you headed the ball out. Bad.
I don't think it can be overstated how absolutely perfectly placed that free kick was. I kept thinking, "MacMath needs to come get that, but McDonald is there so he's unsure, but it's right in front of him, but there's too much traffic, etc, etc. It just underscores that the kick was in the perfect spot to keep the keeper guessing and rooted on his line, and yet it still got over everyone and onto the man at the back post (way to be there Pontius, goodonya). I'm going to rewatch the match at 1:30 coming up here, and try and pay attention to DeRo and Salihi. Seems hard to believe that DeRo won't pass to him if he's open, but the proof will be there in the replay. Hamid and the near post men of the match.
This match is yet another example why De Ro can not play a central midfield role in a classic 4-4-2. At this point of his career he needs space and time to be deadly, his decision making is too slow for a typical MLS midfield. On the other hand if you can get him the ball in the open field where he can turn and face the goal with a little time he is unstoppable. The only way I can see De Ro get that kind of time and space is in a withdrawn forward role where he can float freely. Having Branko behind him ensures that he will get smart service. And moving De Ro to the withdrawn forward role does not have to mean benching Pontius. I think Chris is due a stint back at left wing anyway, especially at home where we may want to play with a more attacking lineup. De Leon does fine defending, but he's been a black hole in our possession game for awhile now. It seems obvious that the rookie has hit the wall in attack and needs time off to raise his game back up.
Wow. Everyone was terrible except Hamid. Passes to no one. Some horrible marking. Lack of effort by several players. Given the quality of the opponent and our relative health I'd say this game was worse than the SKC game. But we won! I don't think there's much to argue about in regards to Bosko. He has finally found a role on the team he can excel at - set piece taker and keeping possession when we have a lead. If he's willing to sign a six month or one year contract at a reduced salary then paying him to do those two things is well worth it. I think at his age and with his recent injury history he'd be crazy to sign a short term contract so the question is whether you can afford to pay one of your top salaries on the team to a supersub for the next 2-3 years. If he plays 75-90 good minutes against a quality team then the question is much easier to answer, but the schedule and his fitness haven't allowed us the opportunity to see if he really can make us a championship team. Main concerns: DeLeon has lost something. Not sure what it is. Jakovic looked very disinterested. Russell looks like he aged about 3 years in his brief time away. Najar's individual play is improving but he has zero chemistry with DeRo.
I'm sure I've overstated my absolute in my frustration; but ever since the Colorado match, when Salihi scored on the putback of Boskovic' header -- but the goal could have come 10 seconds earlier in the play except DeRo wouldn't pass the ball, I've had these recurring moments of frustration with DeRo not passing to him. It seems like every match I see one or more squandered chances at goal where I'm going "pass, Pass, PASS!" and he doesn't pass Salihi the ball, even though Salihi's in a much more dangerous position. Yeah. Since he came back he has not been the player he was before he left. It terrifies me when I see he's gone forward; I immediately start thinking "you know, if we give up the ball, they can attack that side because he's not going to be able to get back in time to be involved in the defense."
