From my Metro perspective, I like this. For several seasons my hate for DC has been waning. After this season the hate is very healthy again. DC is the only MLS team I truly hate. Keep the hate alive.
I posted this in our thread, but I felt it needed to be here. BTW outstanding stadium wide banner "mad props to the Screaming Eagles and DCU. I became a fan when you hosted us in 2007, and have watched from the sidelines as you battle for your downtown stadium and brought back respectability to the 4 stars. The DCU banter the past week here has been class as well. You push the envelope of MLS to respect the culture of soccer, and you will always have my respect"
Not really. Questioning is healthy if there is perspective to it. I believe Ben and the team overachieved and I don't think this last run will be possible next year without a different formation and some player upgrades. This fall was us squeezing blood from a stone - now we need to use the stone to build a foundation for the next 5 years. James
Yes, it did. I watched my recording when I got home from the match until the kickoff and then erased it.
I don't post here much, but I just want to say I couldn't be more proud of this team. With just two full years as head coach, Ben has taken us from one of the worst teams in MLS to the Eastern Conference Finals. We were a blown call and one bad half away from hosting the MLS cup. It hurts that much more because we were so close, despite never expecting to make it this far in the first place. I am very excited for the following years as I believe that 5th star is just on the horizon. Vamos!
You're welcome. And huge thanks to you and the SG for choreographing the event. (I'm one of the "red" above the "T" in United.) Loved the energy yesterday, carried me the 300 miles I drove after the game to North Carolina.
I have admitted that I underestimated him, but I still think he's shown signs that he doesn't know how to build the best possible team with the players at his disposal. Freestyle had it right, IMHO--he overachieved with his decision to commit to a defensive approach, and that worked better than anybody had the right to expect; but it also set the ceiling lower than we ultimately needed. YMMV.
It's important to differentiate between Olsen the manager and Olsen the tactician ... Olsen the manager should get an A+ this year. He's gotten the most out of so many modest players like Korb, Woolard, Saragosa, Willis, Neal ... These are all players very mush on the low end of salaries. He's held the locker room together even when some big name players were being benched. Olsen also doesn't get flustered. He stays true to his formations. He stays true to his starters. And just in general he seems more confident and competent on the sideline. He also very much has his finger on the pulse of his team. He senses when things are going wrong. We saw so many times this year that Olsen makes a critical sub that pays off on the scoreboard Olsen the tactician on the other hand is a mixed bag. I do love the 4-5-1 adjustment. I think Olsen is bringing Kitchen along brilliantly. I think pushing Najar to RB was also brilliant. I also think the backline looks better coached than I've seen it in many years. It was also a shrewd move to bring Onstad in, and we see that paying off with Hamid's play. Where Olsen's tactics fall short a bit is in ideas in attack. I mean down the stretch we could not get any scoring production from the CF position even though we had 3 guys healthy and ready to go. You also see the limitation in how De Ro is used. Olsen could really not figure out how to play De Ro and in the end the tactic seems to just put De Ro somewhere near the box and hope something good happens. More limitations in not being able to figure out how to get the most out of Boskovic. There may be signs of progress in attack, even though our goal scoring down the stretch seems to suggest that our attack was actually going backwards. One sign of progress in finally having some possession in midfield with Kitchen/Saragosa. We seem to be improving in bringing the ball out of the back ... Jakovic especially is basically a CB playmaker. There's also improvement from the fullbacks overlapping into the attack. All great signs. It just seems like the final piece of the puzzle is figuring out what to do once we get near the box. Frankly Pajoy and Santos are not the answer and De Ro will not do it alone if there's no real weapons in front of him.
on bottom here (more coming as we go through ours) http://www.districtultras.com/media/photo-gallery/2012-2/ people posting in here as they find them http://www.facebook.com/groups/104956339550648/
You're absolutely right, and I should have been more fair. It's clear to me that Ben's a pretty damn good man-manager and created a great team spirit. My issues with him are as tactician--thanks again for spelling this out.
This is very un-BigSoccer behavior - someone should yellow-card you. The appropriate response would be to double-down on your criticism and call Boloni86 an idiot. Get your shit together, son!
A bunch of Dbag handsitter fans and bunch of primadonnas that make CRonaldo look like Messi. I live here and loathe that team. I've taught my 4 year old to say "I spit on Galaxy" whenever it is brought up. He can name every player from DC and Barcelona but doesn't know a single Galaxy player. After yesterday's game he thought we should try to get Puyol in defense. I'd take Pique but he's got a point. James
I mean, do we really want THESE GUYS to be celebrating? The masks are clearly for the benefit of those around them.