Unitedmania: 15 Minutes Of Doom

[Cweedchop]

Mike Martin's latest...


http://unitedmania.matchnight.com/umindex.cfm?page=ARTICLE&show=2571

[Cweedchop]

What shock..

Mike Martin takes pot shots at Bobby Convey.. That goes right up there with the sun rising in the East..

It's amazing, Mike and I are really good friends and can talk for hours about the beautiful game but we will never see eye to eye when it comes to Bobby Convey..

God love ya Mikey...

[jackrock]

see, he said DC United won all 18 games when Benny scored. Is that true? I thought that they just hadn't LOST when he scored, they did tie some right?

[John_Harkes_6]

see, he said DC United won all 18 games when Benny scored. Is that true? I thought that they just hadn't LOST when he scored, they did tie some right?

Nope - 18-0-0 until last weeks game

[John_Harkes_6]

That was a horrible article from start to finish.

Ignoring the errors that Rimando made to cost us two points
Blaming Convey for playesr not tracking back on defense - which would fall on Ben or Carrolls shoulders
Failing to place blame on Stewart at all - I believe all three goals came against our right side which is Earnie's wing

[Cantankerous]

I have two problem's with Mike's analysis.


1) Regarding the goalkeeper:

First and foremost, when you decide to pull a goalie who has earned you 4 of a possible 6 points, given up only one goal from the run of play, and who has a solid resume in MLS, you better know for certain your new boy can actually win the game for you. Sadly, that did not happen as Winless Warren lost again and really single-handedly snatched defeat from the jaws of a reasonable tie, and that's if you discount his culpability on everything else.

I don't think Rimando was pulled because anyone felt that Warren was guaranteed to win. No sane manager on earth KNOWS a new player can win the game for you. I think Nick was pulled because he was hopelessly out of position on crosses all match long, and only LA's fumbling didn't make him pay for it. Why is it hard to believe that Warren might have actually done better than that in practice? I think it's fairly clear that Nick hasn't recovered fitness yet; he can barely get up off the ground.

Bolttom line; this game wasn't lost by the keeper.

2) Re: Nowak backing away from what he said before:


Nowak took this job and swayed the team to his point of view based on the idea that all roster moves will be earned and all decisions would be based on making sound soccer decisions first and foremost. Well, he's now backed away from that more than a few times.

This comment came about because Mike didn't like where certain players were on the field. How does a coach's tinkering with the lineup and formation show that he's backing away from what he said re: working hard in practice, etc.?

Bottom line here: Mike is overreacting.

I do agree with Mike that the midfield lost us this match in the sense that it did not support the back line as much as we've seen. That problem can be addressed.

To start waving the panic button (to mix metaphors :)) at this point is just silly.

[jeff_adams]

One point I think he should have expanded upon was the lack of passion from the Ex-Metros. Shouldn't Moreno have been motivated to stick it to Bob Bradley? Why was Petke so "reserved"?

Pope, Lisi and Zaidie all torched United at some point. They looked extra motivated.

[uniteo]

To address the staggering amount of 2nd guessing of Nowak here, I'm just going to borrow a reply posted by Kenntomasch on one of thos 'Adu must start' threads


Bottom line: [Nowak], who forgot his keys this morning, smacked himself lightly in the forehead for his absent-mindedness, and in that moment forgot more about soccer than you will ever know...

I'll trust his judgment for now.

[Lowecifer]

To start waving the panic button (to mix metaphors :)) at this point is just silly.

I'd hate to see where the white flag gets pushed!

[BudWiser]

Thanks for the article.


To start waving the panic button (to mix metaphors :)) at this point is just silly.

Please let us not lose to the Fire this weekend-I don't know if we will or not-but IF we do-watch the panic button get pushed.

[Cantankerous]

Please let us not lose to the Fire this weekend-I don't know if we will or not-but IF we do-watch the panic button get pushed.
Yeah, that's because we have more than our share of Chicken Littles running around squawking every time there's a bit of difficulty.

Sacrilege, I know, but I won't mind if we lose on Saturday if we play hard and play intelligently. It's OK to get beaten. It happens all the time. Win or lose, this team has shown me some real progress already this year. If we can keep any of this toughness going, we'll be fine.

But you're right. Lose on Saturday and watch the "Coach the Fire" signs come out again.

[BudWiser]

Yeah, that's because we have more than our share of Chicken Littles running around squawking every time there's a bit of difficulty[/b]

True, I haven't seen the Littles yet. I saw a lot of Pollyanna's though. The sun was out, DC United was shining, and was the best team in the league. It was a great 2 weeks. ;) :D

I thought sormun was a Little and then he predicted a win last week-what gives w/sormun these days??

[MikeLastort2]

I think the team is playing the best soccer they have since about 2000. The loss to Metro is not that big of a deal, apart from the fact that it was a loss to Metro. If we start playing a game that involved a crapload of square and back passes, and we completely give up the midfield, then we should push the white flag/wave the panic button. As it stands right now, Nowak is doing fantastically well, and Convey will develop into an outstanding center mid.

[RobertDajab]

I think the article only gets the conversation started. That being why was Dema taken out for Gros?

Yes Gros had an assist but Dema was the only player creating opportunites in the first half. Why did Nowak decide that Dema, more stronger & defensive minded, was no longer effective?

I don't understand though why he blames Bobby Convey for all the midfield. Our midfield has more players then just him. What about Olsen who looked tired or Carroll who wasn't tackling anybody?

[Barbara]

Is there a tendency of the Friends of Marco to not want a Marcoless midfield to succeed?

[vivaelbolivar]

no we want united's mid to be good even though marco is no longer there

Marco=DCUnited

[MikeLastort2]

Is there a tendency of the Friends of Marco to not want a Marcoless midfield to succeed?

http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/student/idioms/idioms/images/hit_nail_on_head.jpg

[Lowecifer]

Is there a tendency of the Friends of Marco to not want a Marcoless midfield to succeed?

Well, that's probably a bit harsh.

There may be a subconscious pleasure taken from it though. I'd add a Hudson-less bench to issues requiring a therapist's couch.

:)

[tmas]

[QUOTE=RobertDajab]I think the article only gets the conversation started. That being why was Dema taken out for Gros?

Yes Gros had an assist but Dema was the only player creating opportunites in the first half. Why did Nowak decide that Dema, more stronger & defensive minded, was no longer effective?
[QUOTE]

Because we needed goals.

[CHICO13]

I'm a friend of Marco and I want to see Convey AND DC United succeed. I think that all the pro-Convey crowd on this board is getting a taste of what the pro-Marco crowd got over the last few seasons and it isn't sitting well. So I would suggest to grow some thick skin if Convey doesn't raise the level of his game or prepare for all the crap that comes from posting on the DC forum on BigSoccer.