The thing is, he's a perfect counterexample to those who were claiming that the reason many of us didn't like Ruiz was because he'd scored a lot of goals against DCU in the past. Rolfe also scored a fair number on us -- if not as large a number, definitely more painful because they tended to knock us out of the playoffs or the USOC or whatever -- but my distaste for him wasn't because I think of him as an awful person like I think of Ruiz. I'm happy to have Rolfe scoring goals for us rather than someone else.
Rolfe seemed very motivated when he was brought on. He may of had a few bad giveaways, but it seems like he wants to prove himself, as well as still has something in the tank.
It's funny, but I don't remember a lot of giveaways and bad passes by Rolfe, save for one which was headed in the right direction but was cut off. I did see him strip a Rev of the ball and also clear a ball off our goal line. I admit I am and have been an admirer, so maybe I've conveniently forgotten the bad moments. As for his wing play, Ben said that Rolfe hadn't played much on the wing since returning from Denmark. And as for Chad Ashton, I like the snark (I want him gone), but I think he still holds the all time record for assists at UNC. What's Big Soccer without clashing opinions?
Speaking of which there was a group of young men all dressed inUNC warmups sitting in the last 3 rows of section 129. I can only assume it was their Mens soccer team. Did they have a match in town this weekend?
I just realized why Chad Ashton coaches forwards to play with their back to the net. They're supposed to be back passing anyway so…
3 points! I must admit I was skeptical about the Rolfe acquisition (mainly because the FO is acquiring veteran players who are past their sell by date), but I must admit he was one of the few people in a DC United who knew what he was doing out there.
I'm a STH who rarely misses games but I stayed home sick & watched on tv. I may have to reconsider going to RFK.
disclaimer: I just got back from an alcohol-soaked wedding weekend in Charleston so I neither watched the game nor read this whole thread, so my opinions could be both wrong and redundant BUT: I watched the highlights and it seemed like NE had all the best chances, narrowly missed converting them, and DC won on fluky nonsense. This win feels like fool's gold, color me unconvinced.
Sene and Bunbury probably both should have scored. But, so should have EJ. Still, it was a game worth watching and the win feels soooo good.
Highlights must be deceiving. Nobody really had any good chances. Sene had a couple but that's it. Of course one of those goes in and it's a different game ... not really sure if we have the chops to break a bunker. But by the 2nd half NE was essentially shut down. They posed no real threat even at 1-0 That own goal really changed the game. We definitely got lucky. But you have to give credit to Neal for getting into a good space on the wing and delivering a cross. You don't get lucky bounces like that unless you get the ball in the box.
Hard to judge progress since NE seems to be our worst opponent thus far, but just about everyone seemed to have their best match of the season (a low bar to be sure). Although NE created a few chances they weren't a result of the sort of miscommunication and out of position defense we saw earlier this year. I expect our defense is going to be made to look silly by skilled players from time to time (see Christian last week) but given their years of experience I also expect them to generally make the basic plays and win most balls in the box and keep some shape. Espindola was great. The midfield, though mostly lacking in creativity, was at least moving off the ball and not giving away possession too cheaply. Again, rather low expectations but a step up from some previous Olsen teams. EJ seemed more involved and did a bit more work until the last 10 minutes or so when he seemed to tire and was subbed. He's very hard to read, though. Is he trying to do too much in order to get on the USMNT? Does he not care too much now that he's gotten his payday? Is his timing just not in synch with his teammates? Is he frustrated at not scoring? It reminds me a little bit of when Henry first entered the league and wasn't scoring at all but kept trying to setup teammates or hold possession. Obviously the two aren't comparable as players, but it's a similar situation where it's hard to tell if this is just a soccer issue that can be fixed or a personality issue that will fester. Even though that point blank shot didn't go in, it was good to see him make that run and take that shot since that's the type of play that will be most helpful to us.
How he was named MOTM, I'll never know. And I saw a replay of it on the ESPNFC show. It was indeed Christian's cross that lead to Goncalves' OG.
Sene getting on the end of Dykstra's parry, Bunbury from the Christian horror pass, and Fagundez's bicycle attempt looked like the best chances to me. But you're right, highlights can't tell the whole tale. I had a friend record it so I'll watch it at some point. Edit: Franklin should have had a nice chance when EJ fed him in the 18. I'm a fan of Franklin's game overall but he has to shoot there.
It was great to get a win, I'm still basking in it. But ...... What in the hell is wrong with Bill Hamid? I heard a foot injury casually mentioned on the broadcast. Do they go into any detail on DCU.com? Is it something we'll need to bring Big Joe Willis out of banishment in the confederate capital as backup next week? Was Hamid the back-up against NE? Who's slotted to play next weekend against Jersey?
Interesting. I think I have made it into the stadium before kickoff like 5 times since 1997 when I started tailgating
This scares me, because this is what everyone was afraid of when bringing in EJ. He doesn't have any intensity to his game, and there's a lot riding on him scoring goals. In our first game against the Crew, he was casually jogging around, falling over and appealing for fouls, and generally looking lost. I thought maybe it was just jitters, but it hasn't got any better. In the following games, it was the same story. He lacks intensity and focus. His touch is slow, and he can't seem to stay on his feet to save his life.