FYI: Atlanta Silverbacks vs Virginia Beach Mariners on FSW Tonight! [ R?] With all the talk about Dante Washington and DC United I thought folks might be interested to know that tonight FSW will be broadcasting the match between Atlanta and Virginia Beach. Here's all the information ... Date: Today! June, 6 Time: 8:00pm EST (Live) Channel: Fox Sports World
Guess that just means that you guys won't bee actually SEEING him play anytime soon. I wish Mike Jeffries would have brought Dante back.
3-0 at halftime with MLS alums involved in all three goals. Former Dallas player (and Columbia, Md. native) Hamisi Amani-Dove assisted the first goal, Roy and Dante combine on the second and former Crew and Rev Rolando Aguilera (who turns out to be Jaime Moreno's cousin) scored the third. I swear, this Va. Beach team looks like it was modeled on the early DC United clubs. They play a possession style and vary their attack between going up the middle and attacking the flanks. Their forwards pressure the opposing backs and their own defenders push into the attack leaving a defense sometimes exposed for a good but not great goalkeeper. They have a Bolivian playmaking mid, a diminutive, pesky D-mid, two strong forwards and an active, athletic right mid and a wily veteran left mid. The only thing they don’t have that the early United teams had is a couple of dominant center backs but otherwise, it’s kinda weird how this Mariners club looks like a poor man’s version of United’s glory years. Hell, even Dave Johnson is doing the play-by-play.
Aguilera with another goal, assisted by Roy. If we play these guys in the Open Cup, it ought to be wide open.
Full time, 5-0. A few thoughts. Stokes is frikkin' big! But, he also seems to be pretty comfortable with the ball at his feet. He reminds me of a bigger Ryan Suarez, someone who can play wide right or centrally in a 4-4-2 or man-mark in a 3-5-2. Sometime soon, Ray needs to give him a go. Dante was dangerous all game long. I still have no doubt he could make United better. Lassiter was impressive and while he could likely still help an MLS team, where he is right now seems like the best fit for him at this stage in his career. Amani-Dove is a skilled right wing who works hard and plays D. If DCU wants to move Convey centrally (I know, a thread for another place) and they need Benny to play wide left, Amani-Dove could be a nice fit on the right. Aguilera, is a nice little playmaker. Probably too small to be an impact player in a physical league like MLS but he does have skill. Having said that, the players who intrigued me most tonight didn't factor in the scoring. A team like United that needs to upgrade at D-mid should take a long look at Jeff Bilyk. He's a Richie Williams clone and he plays like Richie did in 96-2000. He spent three years on the Fusion so this is someone Ray knows about. Either Ray thinks the kid can't help the club or the player has big contract demands but it seems very odd he's not being brought in for a look. The left mid, Jakob Fenger had a solid game. Nothing flashy but he combines well and plays solid D and stretches the game wide left. He's 32 and originally from Denmark. He's been here awhile so I don't know his Green Card status but if he has one, he could give the club some flexibility. Kevin Knott, the left back, was a lot like Brandon Prideaux. As long as the team has Prideaux, they likely don't need another one but if they ever trade Brandon or move him centrally or to the right, they should consider this guy. The announcers said he is only like 25.
Supporting A-League & below. I like the concept of the A-league and there seems to be good teams with professional front offices, however when you get into the D3/PDL sides, they are very bush league. I think that one of the challenges facing the A-league franchises is the actual A-league itself. The league office seems to lacking big time in comparision to the teams. Certainly it's great to see A-league on FSW, but have you ever tried to find the league's web site? Not as easy as ne would think! Many of these clubs do not think that it important to be run a a business first and that is why you have so many here today gone tomorrow teams in the "lower divisions". Makes it hard for me too get real excited about supporting my local smaller semi pro clubs. Share your thoughts?
Re: Supporting A-League & below. Uh.... www.USLsoccer.com I think it's pretty easy, but that's just me.
I only saw the first half, but.... I really liked Dante and Amani-Dove. Both looked like they could contribute to an MLS team. I liked how HAD helped out on defense a few times, yet got so far forward on the right. At times, it was a mirror image of the lopsided 3 forward setup the US used at the World Cup before DMB got hurt.
Dante didnt surprise me, he had flashes, but wasnt consistent enough for us to waste our time and cap space on.
Why? Why is an A League match being discussed on the DCU Forum? As I have said before I really like David Stokes on the outside of the back four where he can play with cover. The times he has gotten in trouble and had people question his ability has been when he has played centerback. VBM looked great and I hope they are that good but if you were Atlanta's GK Hancock I think you would be pretty pissed with the defending not happen out in front of the net last night.
Re: Supporting A-League & below. I support DCU over the VBM even though I'm only about an hour away from Va Beach and three away from DC. Its not the fact that they're in a lower division, its the fact that they'll never be in a higher one. If there was promotion/relegation, then I would probably support them. Not saying there should be promotion/relegation here, just my reasoning. I also found out about DC first so I follow them, but I also hope for good things to happen to the VBM and I always dream that they'll be an MLS club one day or at least have the potential to be one. Though I don't know which team I'd choose if they became an MLS team.
