This was the same as the RedBalls game. The stream was excellent. Except for having to listen to the other teams announcers, it has been pretty decent.
First, I've got to say that I'm really happy to see this team on a four game unbeaten streak. I feel kind of bad for focusing on a negative in this post, but it's just so blatantly obvious. But, we have no excuse for not being on a four game winning streak. We should have beaten both Chicago before and Columbus today. After the game against the Fire where we gave up a late goal and had to settle for a tie, Ben Olsen said, "I feel like we should have walked out of here with a win." Today, he should be saying the same thing. And the cause is the same in both cases: in each game there was a basic failure by a player to understand that he should not abandon his defensive role when trying to preserve a one goal lead very late in the game. I yelled at Arnaud for his play in the Chicago game that cost us a win. "The dead horse I choose to continue to beat is: Why in the heck was he way upfield on this play with a one goal lead in the final ten minutes? Did he forget he was the left midfielder who shared the responsibility for the left side? Yes, Christian got burned. But Arnaud should have been there protecting that side as well." Today, all I have to do is copy and paste with a few changes: Why in the heck was Franklin way upfield on this play with a one goal lead in the final minute? Did he forget he was the right defender who was responsible for the right side? Yes, Bobby got burned. But Franklin should have been there protecting that side as well. Here's Franklin slowly jogging back from what's looks like a center forward's position as the ball is crossed into the right defensive position he is responsible for. Bobby has had to slide outside. And, ironically (at least compared to the Chicago game), it's Davy Arnaud hustling back on defense to try to prevent the goal. Don't believe me? Numbers don't lie. That's number 8, trying to block the shot. Where's Franklin? Still not even back to midfield at this point And just in case you don't believe that Franklin would be irresponsible enough to abandon his defensive position in the 90th minute with his team holding on to a one goal lead on the road against the Conference leaders... Again numbers don't lie. Here's number 5 in far upfield and out of position right in the middle of the opposition's D.
I'd have to see the entire play leading up to that last shot of Franklin to see if he had a good excuse for being so far upfield but either way the right winger (Caskey) needs to recognize that and slide back into position
When they didn't get the second, we knew they were in trouble. Still, Columbus scrambling to tie in the 90th minute, and it took a great goal to do so, it's huge progress. Columbus didn't have anything, except for a couple of wishful goal mouth scrambles. United played a road game and played it well until Columbus went three in the back, threw everyone forward and United finally wore down. They just got tired, Espindola could barely jog. EJ is the DP, yet that first half he was United's worst player by quite a bit. He was better second half, but this is disappointing to say the least. EJ has to score for this team to be able to make the playoffs, and he needs to put in some of the work Espindola does so Espindola has a little left in the tank at the end of the game. I agree with others, United were close to finishing this game off early second half. Defensively, it was so much better than last week, they've got to continue this way, this should be the standard. I know it sounds lame, but they are close. The passing still isn't there, but it's close. The finishing still isn't there, but it's close. The team's identity still isn't there, but it's close. Save for a few players (Kitchen, please look forward first, there's good stuff up there), the ideas are there. There were no ideas anywhere near this team for a very long time.
It's now being reported that Gonzalez and his reffing crew failed to answer a pool reporter question due to a technical error. They (Gonzalez and his crew) claim that the proper procedures were not followed and the form that is officially used was not posted in the referee locker room per league rules. A Crew staffer showed Gonzalez a copy of the question in it's correct form on his iPhone but he still refused to answer the question and scuttled out of town. Me thinks Mr. Gonzalez won't be doing MLS games much anymore this season. No consolation for United, but maybe other team won't suffer from his incompetence..
I think you mean Guzman. Guzman was the referee. Gonzalez was the player who committed the foul. (He's also the blindsider/actor from the previous weekend's San Jose match. If a match is called well, Columbus is going to regret having him around.)
Huh maybe DC Untied does not stink as badly as last year. Maybe DC Untied does not stink as badly as some seemed to think after the first two matches of the year. Maybe Ben Olsen does not need to be fired. Maybe Ben does has a tactical plan, one that can and will work. Huh, Go figure.
I'm evaluating Doyle based on Olsen putting him in to provide greater defensive pressure than EJ. Doyle wasn't there to score a goal, he was there to help hold possession and pressure the Columbus forwards. I thought he did that part competently. After watching Doyle play last year and this, it's apparent he isn't a starting forward in this league. He's smart, makes good runs but is Hamdi Salihi slow. However, he always will have utility as a third forward and first off the bench for possession and greater defensive pressure. Think of him as Pajoy with a brain.
Right now DCU is competent, but needs "something". Of course there is $300K in salary cap space currently being used a medical experiment for "hamstring doctors." If Pontius was healthy and in form or was replaced with another $300K quality player, DCU would be a top half of the table team. Not providing excuses, but in a salary capped league, having $300K wasted in a player who physically can't play is a deep hole to be in.
If you're intent is to focus on the team making progress, I mentioned pre-match that the defense was doing good, would be getting better, but it's more important right now, going forward, for this team to get it's offense figured out ASAP. Yes, this was nearly the same club that blanked us at home 3-0. So, yes, 1-1 at their place is a step forward, just not the one that will get us closer to consistently netting 3 points in matches. And that's a club I'll be rooting for- the one we ALL used to root for- the one that's not settled with getting ties. As to our defensive organization, mad props to Enzo Concina. What's sick is they're only going to get better at it. If only Inter Milan had an offensive leaning/minded coach they're willing to part with..... Nice class from Boswell's post-match interview- quotes have interviewer asking his opinion on team's not getting 2nd goal, he focused mostly on the defensive responsibilities, and acknowledged the team's collective need to improve without naming names. On not getting a second goal: I’m a center back. We pride ourselves on keeping zeros. We’ve done it the last two weeks and I thought this was going to be more of the same. I think we got a little disconnected. Obviously I want to see the video before I talk too much. It was a hell of a shot. It wasn’t necessarily a fluke play or a real dumb play that got it. It was a piece of brilliant play from them. We’ll look at it from an analytical point and say what could we have done when we have the ball going forward to make sure it doesn’t come right back down our throats. rest of quotes can be found here- http://www.dcunited.com/news/2014/04/post-match-quotes-april-19
I disagree. I don't want EJ to play like Espindola. Espindola is the closest thing we've had to C.Gomez since C.Gomez 2.0. EJ scores goals when coaches play him in a way that gets the most out of him. Having him be the hold-up and distribution guy is not playing him to his strengths. He is a one-dimensional player, we knew that prior to getting him. When you bring in a one dimensional player and play to his weaknesses that is what you get. Our midfield is getting stronger but Caskey and Doyle as the first options off of the bench is sad. Imagine a Benji Joya or a Munoz to replace Espindola/Rolfe and we could maintain our play. James
I agree -- but we've come a long way in the last month and a half -- getting a point on the road against the conference leader used to be something to be happy about. Next week we play the current league leader at home -- a win would say a lot about this team.
We played a good team that pounded us 3-0 a few weeks ago at home, we got a point on the road, and everyone is disappointed because we should have won - that's real progress! It seems to me like our improved play has coincided with Silva getting hurt and Arnaud moving to the central position. With Silva returning and Rolfe out (apparently), I fear Arnaud is going to get pushed out wide again (because he will be in the starting 11 somewhere). I just don't think the team played well when he was outside. I guess we'll see next week.
Oh and I do think there are things that need to be fixed. I was taking a potshot and the gloom and doom bunch from after the Toronto match.
Of which I was one. Then there were two consecutive matches where we were badly outplayed (imo) but somehow won. Then I watched that video of Ben Olsen flailing like a rookie shift manager at Chik-fil-a and I was ready to see a thrashing this week. I think Columbus's 1st half strategy of trying to send Oduro through over and over again was not the right approach for them BUT United's defense was extremely well organized so give them credit. You saw them drop into that 4-5-1 when they weren't in possession and they completely stymied Columbus and created bad giveaways which led to chances and a goal. They can get away with only getting 2-3 chances a game if they limit the opposition to 1-2. I've said before I'm fine with Catenaccio if that's the plan. If that defensive organization is down to Enzo, by god promote the man. I agree. I want to see that bank of 5 in the midfield every game. I fear we won't see that with Silva. I like him, but I think he and Espindola need to be depth for one another.
I was just thinking about this. Personally, I don't want to mess with the back 6, it's the one thing that is working right now. Instead of moving Arnaud wide and weakening the team with Silva/Kitchen in the middle, I would prefer to play Silva under EJ and move Espindola wide until Rolfe is back (assuming he's out next week). Espindola has shown he's willing to work, and playing at home means the team can afford to be a little more aggressive and ask questions of Dallas' wide players.
I don't think we disagree at all. I want EJ to get behind, and he's doing that from time to time. What he needs to do is get in better spots by moving his damn feet. In one instance, DeLeon worked his butt off to get to the end line and get in a great cross, while EJ is literally standing at the penalty spot. If he had made a hard run near post, a hard run anywhere, he could have created a chance, instead it's nothing, for no good reason whatsoever. It's also frustrating watching Espindola run back and forth across the field to pressure while EJ jogs around in the center cirtcle. Part of it is just in those players makeup, but if EJ can take responsibility for a small part of the field, it eases other players workload just enough to make a difference.
I don't see where the team was settled with getting a tie. In fact, it was the impetus to get the second goal and put the game away that left United exposed for the goal. Olsen even alluded to it post game, basically we had the chances to put it away and since we didn't it bit us. He's basically saying the plan was to play with a road mentality, not give anything away, and then make them pay when they got desperate. I love this on the road, frankly, and the fact that they couldn't execute doesn't say to me, abandon that plan. As far as the offense being 'a work in progress', a lot of it comes down to EJ's form. The fact that United is picking up points without him scoring is great. Beyond that, they still miss opportunities passing and aren't sharp enough in the final third. I have a hard time believing they will continue to struggle with this all season long, but I also believe that scoring goals will be this team's Achilles' heel all season long due to the fact the team is pretty short on talented attackers.
Agreed. This squad is starting to click. Looking forward to a goalfest when it does. Dear Ref, Today I learned a new word: DOGSO. That was a red card. EJ was one on one with the keeper, was he gonna score his first goal in a DCU jersey? We'll never know because got dragged down from behind by the last defender. I can't wait for the MLS Discipline Committee to hand out your punishment.
The team may be starting to click but it is obvious our defense has a plan and practices to execute it. Our positioning, movement, etc. was light years better than the beginning of the season. Offensively we seem to have no plan other than to rely on the instincts of the players. Nothing in the last few matches indicates any practiced plays, tactics, etc. Leaving the players to their own devices pretty much guarantees no offensive cohesion. James
I wouldn't hold my breath on a goalfest. Who exactly do you think is going to score those goals? This team is going to be involved in a lot of 1-0 and 1-1 games this season.
Oh thank God for the result! Just imagine if they didn't give up that last minute goal being a man up! Or the fact that they swished on not one, but two 2.v.1 attacks! THIS is the team I've come to expect over the last couple of years. Could anyone imagine the calamity of a 3-game winning streak would probably have BS.com'ers on this board? My God, they'd be thinking the "P"-word! Furthermore, they'd disavow any knowledge of incompetency displayed by DK, Olsen's and the owners. The end of the world would surely be next!