Post-match: United @ Crew 4?19/14

Discussion in 'D.C. United' started by bigredfutbol, Apr 19, 2014.

  1. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bullseye. Especially the second part.

    EJ was pretty good, not great, but pretty good flicking on headers. Espindola needs to run onto those.

    There are (and I honestly don't think I'm exaggerating here) probably 30 forwards in MLS who are better than EJ when it comes to playing as a target striker and having the ball played to his feet. His technique is average, but his decision making is terrible...he always makes a languid pass backward.

    Job One for the coaching staff is to get better play tactically from the strikers. Never play the ball to EJ's feet when his back is to the goal. Play the ball out in front of him. Get Espy and EJ on the same page. And create a sense of urgency in EJ. When he first played with the Sounders, he was taking guys on 1v1 fairly consistently and beating them, too. He is "settling" for what the defense gives him almost every time, and that's a problem.

    Conor Doyle is a #4 forward, even for a team aiming to come in 4th place in the East as their goal. DC needs to swing a deal for an upgrade at the #3 forward spot. He can't be the guy coming in late when everyone's healthy. That needs to be his job when 1 forward is hurt.
     
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  2. Red&Black

    Red&Black Member+

    Aug 30, 2001
    Lot 8
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Burkina Faso
    the owners still suck
     
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  3. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Repped.

    Not only is Pontius' salary dead cap space, we're so misusing Eddie Johnson that he's an average MLS forward but getting DP money. So that's alot of dead cap space too.
     
  4. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I know you're 80% joking, but the acronym is DOGSO, not DOG. It's denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity, not denial of an obvious goal.

    I expect that ref will get a 1 or 2 week vacation, which is as it should be. MLS refs need to be sanctioned for ******** ups like this, or else defenders will start to get the idea that's a good play, and scoring on a counter will become really hard.
     
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  5. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's what we said directly after the yellow was given. That it encourages defenders to make that play every time - I mean why would you not, it's a brilliant yellow card to take :rolleyes:
    But if it's a red? Not necessarily as brilliant :)
     
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  6. DCUSA

    DCUSA Member+

    Jan 14, 2006
    Virginia
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So is everyone still on board with the idea that the replacement referees can't hold the regular referees jock? I feel redeemed in my assertion that they are all pretty bad and the difference is negligible.
     
  7. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The difference is more than negligible, imo. One bad ref doesn't make the even worse refs look too much better :)

    Who knows, maybe with better pre-season preparations from refs who were not locked out of training for their jobs might have made this guy better able to pay proper attention ;) It's earlier in the season for the refs than it is for the players.
     
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  8. DCUSA

    DCUSA Member+

    Jan 14, 2006
    Virginia
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's your opinion, so there's not much I can say to that. How you can watch these refs and the replacement refs and say the replacements were far worse, I don't understand. It's not just one bad ref, they are making terrible decisions all over the league, especially regarding phantom penalties. Remember it was only last week Lewis Neal made two red card worthy tackles to no effect (and thank goodness). These aren't difficult decisions, imo, but they become so when the refs are ineffectual and just not good enough.

    Whatever, anyone who is a huge United fan and calls himself fat bastard is alright with me.
     
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  9. Red&Black

    Red&Black Member+

    Aug 30, 2001
    Lot 8
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Burkina Faso
    that's just because u haven't met him...
     
  10. JRHokie

    JRHokie Member+

    Aug 23, 2001
    Fairfax, VA
    My stream cut off and I couldn't watch the last 20 minutes or so. Also my TV and Xbox browser won't let me download the version of Flash to watch it on my TV. Really getting annoyed with this lack of real TV broadcast.
     
  11. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I watched it on TV just fine.
     
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  12. Red&Black

    Red&Black Member+

    Aug 30, 2001
    Lot 8
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Burkina Faso
    stream issues could indicate a prostrate problem
     
  13. John L

    John L Member+

    Sep 20, 2003
    Alexandria, VA
    I fall prostate before you
     
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  14. JRHokie

    JRHokie Member+

    Aug 23, 2001
    Fairfax, VA
    If an entire season of miserable failure didn't convince you that Ben is a lousy coach, why would a 4 game stretch convince anyone that he isn't terrible?

    We've improved significantly in one area: Defense. Is that due to Ben coming up with a new scheme or is it most likely due to the Italian defensive coach that was brought in? Seems pretty obvious. Who is responsible for bringing in the new defensive players? Ben or Kasper? If Kasper was reponsible for all the terrible players last year is he not responsible for bringing the new defensive players this year? I think they both need to go but you can't put all the blame on Kasper last year and give Ben credit for moves this year.

    We've gone from last in goals allowed last year to a tie for 5th so far this year. That shows great promise. Offensively, we are still anemic, 3rd last in goals, last in shots, 2nd last in shots on goal. We can't continue to live on scoring early then holding on for dear life. What will we do when the other team scores first? We have no answers.

    Ignoring stats, our offensive strategy is still just as clueless as it was last year. I won't recap what's in the News and Speculation thread but there are several posts in there that talk about how Ben still seems lost, or how we clearly are using EJ in the wrong role. I have seen nothing from the team this year that shows otherwise. If anything we've seen that maybe Enzo should be promoted to head coach because he clearly knows what he is doing.
     
  15. JRHokie

    JRHokie Member+

    Aug 23, 2001
    Fairfax, VA
    ;)
    I won't take this lying down
     
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  16. Funkfoot

    Funkfoot Member+

    May 18, 2002
    New Orleans, LA
    Giving up the equalizer in the 90th minute had me prostate with grief.
     
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  17. Winoman

    Winoman Drinkin' Wine Spo-De-O-De!

    Jul 26, 2000
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I hope you weren't with my physician, Dr. Ben Dover.
     
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  18. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Quite and interesting assessment. Sad that it is wrong but very well thought out and presented well.

    Jose Maurhino would have gotten 5 to 7 wins with last years squad. So yes I will treat the last four game run with more weight that last years aberration. This is not the NFL. A soccer attack is not coordinated by an offensive coordinator. It depends upon the creative feelings and talents of the players on the pitch. Last years attack was orchestrated by DeRosario who is well past his sell by date. This year Espindola is that creative force and much better at it.

    Oh and I could really give a rats azz what the people in the MLS N&A thread think.
     
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  19. DecadeOfDCU26

    DecadeOfDCU26 Member+

    May 2, 2007
    DC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Valid, but Benny is also mainly to blame for the abomination of a soccer team put together in 2013, that Jose would have gotten '5-7 wins with'. He wasn't able to convince Bosko to stay, he couldn't have tried any harded to get Salihi out, hell even Maicon Santos. Benny is to blame for the 4-2-3-Pajoy tactics.

    The one thing I don't blame him for is faith in Jakovic and McDonald, who ended the season very strong. Hard to predict they will both shit the bed at the same time.
     
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  20. John L

    John L Member+

    Sep 20, 2003
    Alexandria, VA
    There is NO excuse for not giving a Red Card. I don't care if this is your first game in 6 months of league play.

    There's no confusions due to the speed of play, or whether a player timed his run with the looping pass downfield. This was a straight, obvious Red Card foul. And right in front of the Ref.
     
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  21. DangSkippy

    DangSkippy Member+

    Apr 28, 2009
    MoCo Maryland
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Didn't someone try to track "karma" and test the theory that it all evens out in the end? How did that turn out, does anyone remember?

    You posted this without comment, but I'm sort of "meh" about the whole thing. Good teams don't leave the game in the ref's hands and DC certainly needn't've on Saturday. Improved or not, I still don't think DC is a "good" team at this point. The entire East looks pretty weak, but while I am expecting some of those teams to get some traction, I'm waiting for DC to fall apart.
    I'm not sure how much that impression has to do with reality, but it is how I am feeling. I can't shake the feeling that, despite how Olsen wants the team to play, this team was designed to score more goals. Franklin and Christian are suspect defensively, but look good going forward. DeLeon doesn't always track back and throws in rash challenges, but is energetic in the attack. Not that Pontius is playing anyway, but he was supposed to and he has a habit of losing the ball and walking back. I just don't see this as a 1-0 team. Improved defense or not, I can't see this team consistently posting shutouts. Until the attack really becomes more coherent, I think DC will remain inconsistent and drop slightly below the middle of the table.

    Of course, I have a long history of being wrong, but I had a lot of time to think today, because I didn't feel like working and my boss is on vacation, and that is pretty much what I settled upon.
     
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  22. Stan Collins

    Stan Collins Member+

    Feb 26, 1999
    Silver Spring, MD
    I look at that goal on two levels, one more or less technical, and one more or less tactical.

    On the technical level, I'm not very bothered by it. My opinion is that goal is out there for practically every team in practically every MLS game at one point or another during the 90 minutes of play, but most teams just don't convert it. The guy in Trapp's position doesn't see the ball; or his 45-yard diagonal is off by 2 feet, either going out of bounds (or at least forcing the guy to the corner or slowing down the play enough that the defense can get back into it); or the shot is off, almost every time.

    On the tactical level, it's pretty surprising that a team gets that caught out that late in a game when they're up 1-0 and up a man.
     
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  23. Q*bert Jones III

    Q*bert Jones III The People's Poet

    Feb 12, 2005
    Woodstock, NY
    Club:
    DC United
  24. MagpieFan

    MagpieFan Member+

    Apr 25, 2004
    Back in DC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    More like the headline writer read the article and came went with that because "Something I don't understand happened in a game I don't care about but someone decided it was newsworthy" didn't fit.
     

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