In case you missed it... Lenny got leveled last night, some time early in the second half I think. This happened just off the ball and right in front of the ref. This should have resulted in a yellow or red card for DC, but the ref did nothing. Lenny was stunned 1) by the blow 2) by the resulting collision with the ground which was very hard and 3) by the fact that the ref didn't give a damn. Once the cobwebs cleared, you could seem him thinking about what to do, fighting his first instinct to get even. The rest is history. This is very encouraging.
FYI, the Quakes had been preparing Guvenisik to sub in (around the 75th minute, IIRC) I assume for Lenhart when Coralles was injured and they decided to send out Opara instead...
Amazing game. Go Quakes! Seemed like neither team cared much about playing defense. I was a little uncomfortable in the first half as DC appears to be playing a diamond midfield like RSL which the Quakes have struggled with in the past. With Moreno and Stevenson in the middle, we didn't have the pace and numbers to keep up with DC in the middle field. However, DC completely left the wings open and Chavez just abused DC all day. Really wanted him to score a goal which hit the cross bar! MOTM - Chavez. Lenhart a close second. Got to love some of his cross field passes late in the game. Sweet! I think that it actually hurt DC to score early. The Quakes seemed to wake up and after scoring the tieing goal just started to pour it on. While the third goal was lucky, it was fully deserved. While the Quakes never seemed to be threatened, I thought that a few players may some poor decisions later in the game. Corrales was caught going forward a few too many times. Busch was tentative on the third DC goal (should have been an easy save). Khari seemed gassed and wasn't providing much support. Credit to Frank to get Cronin and Baca rest going into a road game against Vancouver. Just a pleasure to watch this team at the moment, not only because of the results, but the way they are playing. They are living up to my BS Name. QuakeAttack!
Very cool. Thanks. As I've told a lot of the folks around me I'm now in the "asset" camp and I'm not going to bag on him. He's played really well for the last few games. As an aside, but kind of related, Mercury News always does a good photo round up after each game. Pictures for last night's game are notable for - the pre-game team photo - look at Lenhart and Wondo. LMAO. And then also for Lenhart with a full on shirt grab of a DCU player. And Morrow's first ever MLS goal. Check them out here: http://photos.mercurynews.com/2012/...in-eight-years-in-beating-dc-united/10129/#18
oooh that's funny and i thought chavez may have dyed his hair, this pic shows that he did for sure. whatever as it's still better than bmac's ridiculous mohawk.
I should probably read all the posts before commenting, but Frank seems to have adopted a balls to the wall attacking strategy. So, the Quakes are going to get burned by good players. But dam, if the team can score over two goals a game, we'll just outscore everyone.
Not really a big deal. Cronin for Khari in future games will solidify the midfield more. I think Khari did well enough though.
Also should point out that Joe Nuxoll at Centerline always does a photo show, too. Photo of the year in this one - of Lenny in mid-superman flying dive. Check it out: http://www.centerlinesoccer.com/photos-quakes-vs-dc-united/
On the steak dinnner question - Lenhart doesn't get a steak dinner if he stays yellow card free, he just promised he'd pay for a steak dinner for Yallop if he gets a yellow card in the 3 games (past 2 plus next 1). This was talked about by Yallop when he was ExtraTime radio on the mls site a week and a half ago. On the game, what an entertaining game to watch. When I saw the starting lineup, I figured that the Quakes were likely to get a goal or two but was worried that they might give up one or two as well - no true defensive mid and two smallish central defenders. But who could expect that offensive outburts - they scored 5, but could easily have had a few more. On the defensive end, I actually didn't think that the defense played that badly. The first goal was just an amazing shot by DeRo - Moreno did make a mistake and didn't track DeRo defensively, but still, you just have to tip your hat to DeRo on that. The second and third goals for DC were both ones I thought Busch should have stopped. The header beat Busch to the near post, that's a cardinal sin not to let someone do that. Yes, it came off a cross, but still, I think Busch should have covered the near post more. The third goal seemed that Busch had plenty of time to come off his line and get the cross before Salihi, but he was very slow reacting. I've seen posts on the DC boards about how they thought their team played even with the Quakes for the most part, because the Quakes third goal was lucky (it was, the DC defender kicked the ball away from the keeper), and Busch made an amazing save on DeRo's bike. But I think that's ignoring the fact that two of the DC goals probably should have been stopped by Busch (at least one of them), and the Quakes had several other good chances. I really thought the Quakes dominated the game until the last 15 minutes. Not sure if they ran out of gas, or if it was (more likely) just that DC had so many attackers on the field that they were going to create some chances. Just a great game to enjoy, and congrats to Wondo for hitting the 10 goal mark and leading the league! It's nice for Wondo to score two goals and not be the main story of the game - this team is really starting to be a very good attacking team.
Wow, great photo, including "Earthquakes" signage, ultras, and Wondo sign in the background. Should be a billboard! Frank's lineup was ridiculously weighted towards the offensive side of the ball. Chavez is the only midfielder who I would think of as a decent defender. But I guess he figured that DC was going to play similarly, and that the Quakes had a better goalkeeper and a better back line. Sure was entertaining anyway. DC's first goal was on the weak defensive central midfield - Moreno lost the ball on a tackle (doesn't happen often), Stephenson kind of tracked the runner, then went for the takeaway and whiffed, leaving DC with a great opportunity there that DeRo punished them for.
Statistically it was pretty even, in terms of possession (DC actually had more by a little bit), shots (I think DC had more by a little bit), corners, etc. but I think the Quakes had more dangerous attacks, and pretty much dominated the 1st half and the middle part of the 2nd half.
Yeah, I think the possession stat is misleading because of the last 15 minutes when the Quakes sat back. Maybe it's just because the Quakes scored so many goals and I'm overly optimistic, but I really thought the result was not in doubt after the Quakes went up 2-1. Even when DC scored to make it 3-2, I felt the Quakes had DC's number. I will say that Maicon Santos has a cannon of a shot, I never knew he had that power. Busch made a couple of nice saves in the first half off his shots, even though they were pretty much at Busch, they were so hard that it's not an easy save. DC is a good offensive team, and I think their defense is better than we saw as they were missing two of their central defenders.
The entertaining game makes the $1 hot dog taste better. MOTM is Chavez. His pace, skill and hustle is so effective. He just keeps running. Sometimes it is even comical when he strips the ball off the opponents and then runs circle around them. He is like an effective version of Quincy with a soccer brain. Hernandez is improving each game and getting more stable. This is critical as Bernardez is still recovering. DC's De Leon has potential. DeRo, while he is still a threat and everything goes through him in DC's attack, he seems to slow down quite a bit. DC's left back seems to right-footed and he defending is horrible. Good to see Hucks.
im excited for Sercan. I get the feeling that the moment he is put in, he is going to want to prove himself as worthy of a starting spot. I am damn excited for this team, and i am glad they are playing the way they are. there can always be improvements, but they will come in time.
great to hear that Huckerby was there. did anyone talk with him, how's he doing? watching the game at home later, he commented when we were a goal down that he was confident we were coming back... ...all class that guy.
Yes. I blame Stephenson for being too agreesive in the tackle and whiffing. When the ball is lost in that position, he needs to make sure the ball goes to the outside. Still, as stated, another great goal by DeRo. DC really flooded the center of the field with players. At times, this put a lot of pressure on the centerfield and our spacing. Towards the end of the game, our spacing was not good.
Rose-colored glasses. Quakes could have scored 10 times or more. Where they lucky when Lenhart hit the crossbar? Chavez, Ramiro, and Lenhart were all face to face with the keeper on seperate occasions. How many last-second clearances by DC prevented tap ins? Quake possession tended to be in and around the DC box. They just couldn't keep us out. DC possession was in midfield when we were trying to close out the game. DC didn't have any more real chances than Philly did, they were just more clinical (compare De Ro and Farfan's curlers, and consider the free header in the six Philly blasted wide.)