1996 under Bruce Arena: I remember the chants of "¡Arena fuera!" after going 2-6 in the first eight games (2-4-2 if they allowed ties instead of having shootouts). Not that this team is the '96 team, or that Olsen is Arena, but United itself has a history of going from bad to good. They ended the inaugural season at 16-16. I don't know if we'll finish with 16 wins this season, but we may clear 48 points in 34 games.
I've said this several times before, but I think one way to unlock EJ is to give someone else the task of playing up top and receiving balls with his back to the goal. He's not at all bad at that, but his strength is running on to a through ball. Even though I like Arnaud, I would sit him for Doyle, and let Doyle play the front-runner, with EJ and Espindola being freed more often to face the goal. On paper, the formation would look like a 4-3-2-1, with Doyle up top; EJ and Espindola withdrawn, and a midfield of Rolfe, DeLeon and Kitchen. I realize that this is a lineup which could be overrun by a strong attacking squad, but it's a lineup that should be able to produce more than one goal per game.
I think it's terrible for DC to draw that against a primary rival on a beautiful Saturday evening. I am not surprised, but I think things are really dire when we're calling 12k a good attendance haha Should be a sellout, no matter what results are.
Wonder what the attendance would have been last night if you could still buy tickets for $18 like in 2007. My guess is 15k.
I'm not paying attention. I had no idea he started last week. That being said, I was obviously happy for the win, and thought I saw a team that was fighting for the ball and working hard, but still needs some work. Undefeated in 3 games. 7 Points out of 9. I'll take it.
Which part? That was filtered after the last major "upgrade." Scunthorpe is no longer censored though. Previously, that was censored due to a four letter word beginning with c in the name. Allegedly they were trying not to have .torrent files and material that may be pirated or illegal content on the board. I'm not a fan. It's a safe word.
My favorite line from a Bud Light commercial: "You're gonna need a safeword. And it shouldn't be 'more.'"
The Boswell header to set up the goal was the reason I had some enthusiasm for bringing him back. Despite decent size, Jakovic rarely contributed on set pieces. We are going to need to score on set pieces to scrape out some wins in the future. Still a long way to go to be a playoff team, but I have to admit Olsen has the team playing about as well as could be expected at the moment. The one obvious problem is making the most of EJ. I'm thinking that Olsen's problem isn't that he prefers grit over skill, but that he doesn't know how to best utilize his skillful players. EJ has a skillset that can be lethal or punchless. He won't score goals just because he's EJ; he needs to be put in positions to score. Yes, he's lazy at times and he probably should have one or two goals based on the few good chances he has had, but overall I'm not yet unhappy with him. He's clearly affecting the defenses and he seems to be trying to fit in with the way the team plays. But I'd rather see Ben try to design the team to fit EJ rather than motivate EJ to fit with the team.
It's a joke how it looks at code. If there is any formatting, it can get past the censor since there is code between the characters. It's a fucking joke. On the other hand, shit became an allowable word with the last update.
But at least this year we are beating the crappy teams, and that is progress. Re Willis, maybe getting regular games down in Richmond will help him get back in form. Great atmosphere in lot 8 and inside the stadium Saturday.
Not disagreeing, but if people had fun, maybe they will come back for another game. In the meantime, I kind of enjoy the elbow room and shorter beer lines.
It is nice being able to get directly into the metro, and catching the first train I see arrive, AFTER staying around to see Benny/players come over to the loud side, and usually having a piss before I leave for good.
I'd like to see much bigger crowds. Then they would open up more concession stands, Lot 8 would be really thumping, and the Lower Bowl would be filled in except for the deep corners.
Well, Chad Ashton and I agree on one thing, back post runs are awesome (and quite often rewarded). It amazes me that it's usually left uncared-about during corner kicks, etc. The ball goes there half of the time when it makes it past the first defender (which is about half the time total ) ... and usually just bounces out for a throw-in or goal kick. Perhaps Chad is not quite as useless as tits on a boar, as I had originally thought. Nah. Lucky suggestion. I make it every game
The disturbing thing here is not that Chad Ashton emphasized far post runs. Anyone who knows anything about anything knows about far post runs. The disturbing thing here is that such a reminder was apparently necessary to a group of professional players.
1Columbus Crew 10 2Toronto FC 9 3Sporting Kansas City 8 4D.C. United 7 5New England Revolution 7 6Philadelphia Union 7 7Houston Dynamo 6 8Chicago Fire 5 9New York Red Bulls 4 10Montreal Impact 3 It may be ephemeral but I don't care. PS. Chicago, Montreal, NY all winless!! Thanks, God.
Apparently it should be mentioned to professional players everywhere all the time, because you rarely see it, but when you do, it's usually dangerous. I figure it must be like the simple lay-up in b'ball - ignored because you're too busy trying to come up with something that'll get on SportsCenter instead of simply scoring an easy point or two. The last United player who made consistent back-post runs was Devon McTavish.
Come on, how many times have you seen DC United players (not named Salihi or Davies) regularly make far post runs in the past few years? They needed the reminder!