Actually, I saw Quaranta make a great run into space that Emilio rewarded by launching a shot right at the 'keeper's gut. What a clusterf*ck of a game. SJ had nothing in the first half. Then after the half, DCU fell asleep. Emilio became bad Emilio again, selfish, lacking touch and a great NBA quality pick on Moreno just as he was striding into what should have been the second DCU goal. Meanwhile, Tommy just sat on the bench like one of the cretins from Deliverance. Great Tommy, you're down a goal and you wait until the 76th minute to put in offensive subs. What did you think, that Burch would cough up the ball again and make it 3-1 so nothing was worth it anyway? BTW, if Burch is starting or eve on the roster next year, this team is missing the playoffs again. Great assist today Marc.
Glad I got a chance to pick up a Fire Soehn - Go DC United shirt today after the game. Was about the only reason it was worth it, other than our toddler having a blast in Lot 8.
I don't disagree, but it is the older players that should be showing leadership and getting on the young guys who don;t make runs off the ball -- or whatever it is they aren't doing.
Absolutely disagree--it's a new mentality. Going back to the end of the overtime era in MLS, from the start of 2004 to this month, United had lost a total of one game at RFK by giving up a late goal (after the 70th minute). We were tied 0-0 with KC in early '05, and Victorine scored against the run of play. We've now done it in two straight home MLS games. And we also managed to turn a 2nd half tie against Seattle in the Open Cup final into a loss, and a late home tie against Toluca into a loss. In the last month, that's four games at RFK where we've turned late ties into losses. You can forget everything else, and to me, you can fire the coach for that. Nowak's teams didn't lose games late, especially at home. Can't remember any United team that just turns it on and turns it off like this year's model. I'm in the opposite boot, Boatsy. I backed up Sohn from the suck start in '07 until two weeks ago, and now the task of balancing player minutes, injury recoveries and player egos seems beyond him. These four late home losses all reflect a real inability to manage games. It was obvious to everyone in the stadium that we needed a sub after we came out flat in the 2nd half.
So did Jakovic get hurt against Marathon? I understand he's still working his way back but he would have still been a better option than Simms. Being out roughly the same amount of time didn't stop Soehn from starting Burch. Every time Tino drags the ball back to cross with his right foot he's missed the runs from the rest of the team who think he might actually cross it with his left foot.
I mean, really, this was our 27th league game of the season. And there's been I don't know how many non-league games. If you don't know the right guys to put out there at this point in the season then you've got no business coaching the team. Just nuts.
That's a nice way to parse it; but that's not the same sort of thing as what I said. Recal our away loss in 2006 to RSL, the match where John Wilson gave up two penalty kicks late, resulting in a 2-1 loss for DC. Most people remember the PKs quite vividly, and forget that once we scored in that match, we dropped off our intensity and were *slapped around silly* for the rest of that match -- slapped around by one of the worst teams in the league, while we hadn't lost in almost three months. For most of the match, they *dominated* us. And they were absolutely terrible that year. From that point on, that season, we gave up leads over and over. The same thing happened when RSL came to town later that year -- we took a one goal lead from a shot by Adu, slacked off and let them get back in it, and had to settle for a draw in a match we should have owned. Then it happened again shortly after when we went to New England, and again at the end of the 2006 season when New England came down here. I remember these matches vividly. I still remember writered flinging his chair down at Kilroy's going "goddamit, it's not `First team to one wins!'" He was right. It was a problem then, just as it's a problem now. It sticks out more now because the team sucks more now. But we haven't had killer instinct in a long long time. In half our league losses in 2006, we scored first. Oh, sure, you're not going to get any argument from me about that. I'm simply saying that I wish we had the kind of team that, when it goes up on someone, puts its foot on the opposition's throat and finishes them off, rather than relaxing and thinking "phew, we got this one." And I claim we've been missing that mentality for a long time. That's not to let Tom Soehn off the hook *at all*. But I do think that people are getting obsessed with Soehn and missing all the other problems this team has. I can't imagine this team ever being great again with Tommy as the coach; but I also can't imagine a really good coach doing very much with this set of players. There's plenty of blame to go around.
I previously stated that over the last CCL match thru this one would determine our outlook on the season. I couldn't have been righter. We saw this same club that fairly well dominated a CCL match just a few days ago completely forget how they play soccer. The ship's going down, save the women and children, and the captains- ALL OF THEM- should go down with the ship. Any one incapable of identifying exactly how incredibly wrong this team went about preparing for this match needs to be shown the door. Since this can be boiled down to Sith-like absolute logic. Either you trained properly and set out tactics that got executed before playing Marathon, or the players got lucky. So how did your adjustments from them to San Jose result in such crappy form? My money's on the dumb luck being trump, which makes our coaches useless. I've said it before, and I'll say it again here- the only process going forward that makes sense is from management down. None of us can evaluate a potential new coach's system until he gets here. Moves made below new management before they can come in undermines them being there in the first place. Now, you don't expect an owner to bow out and sell his team, so... the next head responsible should roll. Now, I'm only critical of team ops, as opposed to say marketing, pr, etc. So for me, the top head to can is the GM. Bring the new one in with the understanding that the FO is cleaning house. SO - first get the new GM, who can then make the coaching hire, who can then hire assistants, trainers, evaluate on hand talent, get rid of what they don't want/can't use, and get ready for the draft. Given the time needed to execute that timeline, the decision should be made the day following the MLS Cup. The work needed to pull that trigger should be being done NOW. Any other way leads to Redskin-level mediocrity ass-hat-ic style management and accountability. The club's history deserves better, the fans sure as hell deserve better, the city deserves better.
Do you mean "we" in the "internet nuts" sense or "we" in the "Tom Soehn" sense? If it's the former, then yes. If it's the latter, then clearly not.
I knew I shouldn't have read the match report from the Post. TOM SOEHN, if you learn anything in this life it is never go full retard! "I have to re-evaluate my blend of players." No shit. Like you didn't see this show with San Jose round one at San Jose. I know I did when I was there, live in person. Same shit, different chorus. To stop our one touch, passy passy game they get super aggressive, hard foul, ********** foul, just plain do anything to break the game up and get some possession of their own. They beat us through hustle and aggression and if Soehn were watching two months ago in San Jose or watched San Jose at all this year he would have known how they were going to react.
Yeah, it looked even better on tape when I watched it after coming back from the match. But, San Jose got robbed on that header that went into the net but was mistaken call off for being offsides. Watching it on tape it was even worse than being at the game. The Earthquakes really took command of the match in the second half. We were lucky that we didn't lose 3-1 or 4-1. San Jose's second goal on the diving header on the crossbar rebound was the result of pure hustle.
Any time the team with the better athletes slows the game down or allows the opposition to slow the game down, they are leveling the playing field. Against a team like San Jose, particularly playing at home and even more because DCU needed the three points, the correct strategy was to attack, attack, attack. Call it kick and run, call it anything you want, but DCU needed to use its superior athleticism to put pressure on San Jose from the start of the game and keep it up for 90 minutes. Part two of the correct strategy was to keep Moreno and other superannuated, unfit players off the field. This was no game for dribbling around in circles and stopping every other minute to catch your breath. Never were the costs of keeping Moreno on the field more obvious than after he scored. DCU ended up playing in effect a 4-5-1 with Emilio isolated up top. Emilio offers some real strengths, but being a lone striker is not one of them. San Jose was free to push forward without worry because Emilio was not a threat by himself, Moreno was lost in midfield 10 yards behind the ball and the outside midfielders were under obvious instructions to stay home. Not for the first time this season, DCU was unable to punish the opposition for pushing forward because it had no ability to counterattack. And what did Tommy say at half -- bunker in and we'll win 1-0? You have to guess so. But, as others have said, the problem is not really on the coaching bench. It's in the front office. What other team does anyone know of that would improve simply by waiving the five highest paid players? Gomez has probably set some sort of world record by becoming the highest paid reserve on two different teams in consecutive years.
I wrote before the match that Pontius and Quaranta had to be on the field together. I got my wish, but Tommy separated them by the width of the field, and Tino spent most of the match trying to link up with Pontius by means of 50-yard crossfield passes. No, if they are both on the field at least one of them should be centrally located so they can link up with 10 yard passes! Why Tommy started our slowest forward combination (Jaime and Emilio) mystifies me.
A tangental question based on Hedbal's observation... my fiancee and I have been noticing that the team this season is devolving into 2 cliques, the old veteran and the young/rookies... its like Quaranta/Pontius/Wallace link up and Jaime/Emilio/Christian link up as "first" options. I'm think that not only is the team fustrated at form, but there is a ever so slight rift (not anything unprofessional) in think how the team should operate on the field considering that Tom is having huge trouble, IMO, in managing the locker room, basedo n our downhill performace over the past two seasons. Great start, poor finish (much like the team on the field).
they did fine in the first half (even dragging around a non-finishing forward who is like a ball and chain for 10 other guys). Did he not realize that DCU was being outplayed badly in the 2nd half? If not, THAT might be the problem. If so, why no sub? I get the feeling Soehn if getting a rep among rival coaches as someone who cannot/will notrespond to changes in tactics.
I waited to cool down/sober up before I posted (I think I did anyway) so here are my thoughts: I'd be shocked if Wicks isn't done for the year. The way his arm was dangling on the way down brought back memories of the linguine I had on Wednesday. Watching Kocik reminds me of those dreams we've all had where you show up to high school and realize that you forgot your pants. I contend that he looked promising in the USOC because he was playing against USL teams, like Harrisburg and the Red Bulls. He inspires roughly the same amount of confidence as a premature ejaculation. Attendance? I've never, ever seen the Loud Side that empty for a league game on a nice Fall day. Moreno had such a good first half. I know people will continue to moan about the team's over-reliance on the old farts but for two years running Moreno has been amongst our best players, as he was in the first 45 minutes yesterday. But he was clearly out of sorts by the 60th minute, maybe earlier. Where was Gomez? Or Fred? Sitting on the bench while the season drifted away. Senseless. Where the ******** was the passion? Thank you for your service, Tommy. Bye.
One other thing. I've felt since the Spring that Emilio is a liability. I thought he played well yesterday insofar as he was not trying to dribble or pass or create. We have other guys who can do that stuff better. I liked that he was shooting at every opportunity, even if they all missed. Having said that, this team goes as Emilio goes. You just can't win without a good goalscorer and Emilio hasn't been a good goalscorer for two years. We need better.
