Official DC United vs Chicago Fire POST Match Thread [R]

[andrewt14]

Easy- when 2 defenders are trailing the player possessing the ball, and he's the only member of the opposition attacking, for crying out loud, I don't care what your position is- If you're there to witness your teammate getting beat to the goal, you cover for him- SOCCER DEFENSE 101. HELLO!!! Or did you miss Convey and Stewart retreating back near the 20 yd line on the flanks to help strip possession from Chicago, and be there to re-start the attack?

I get what you're saying and I agree that Olsen should have done something, but it is hard to place the blame on him completely when he and Nelsen were both beside Ralph when he blew by--not much of a difference in terms of positioning so I would still think Olsen deferred thinking that Nelsen would tackle Ralph...whether that is weak like someone else said, you can decide.

[Lowecifer]

I just finished watching my tape and all I have to say is that this has got to be the all-time worst post-match thread in the history of the DC United Boards on Big Soccer.

[chazsoccer]

I was really rooting for you guys to win and I agree that subbing Freddy in as a mid would be better that taking Moreno (isn't it good to have him back?) or Eskardian off.

(P.S. - as a Burn fan I was especially dissapointed you guys let the fahr score a goal - let alone win...and then dear Dema didn't even get a card...disappointing all around) :(

Best of luck in all your games until June 26.

[snbdrenzo]

1) Put Bobby in the center (no more of this wing crap)
2) Make him captain
3) Let him do what he wants

DCU will be a better team when and if it becomes Bobby's team.

[Sandon Mibut]

I think one of the big problems, pardon the pun, is that size matters and DC is pretty small.

When you're down a goal late and you're lobbing balls into the 18, it is often difficult to have someone get on them when you're attackers are all 5-10 or smaller.

The team needs a physical presence at striker, a target forward, if you will. I don't think there's a coincidence between the inability to score on corner kicks and the lack of size. Instead, I think there's a direct correlation.

The thing that's annoying about this is that it ain't exactly a recent relevation. This was an issue for the team last year, too. Thiago Martins might be the answer - I was certainly in favor of signing him - but he's been hurt since the fall and we knew he'd been out a while. Why was there no effort made to bring in another target forward?

I think adding a big striker will go a long ways towards solving some of the teams woes, particularly when they need a goal late. Obviously Martins can play that role, but if he isn't gonna be ready till late June or July, that's gonna be a long wait.

[Sempuukyaku]

I think it would be in your team's best interest to start Adu in the 2nd half. He started in the 2nd half against L.A. and was terrific. He needs more playing time to be truly effective, simple as that. Hell, even Wynalda was shocked that Nowak didn't start Freddy for the 2nd half.


By the way, all this stuff about "we dominated the first half" and "we dominated possession" means diddly sh!t. Chicago 1, DC. 0.

That's all that matters. And apparently, your "veteran forwards" couldn't help with that result either.

[shawn12011]

this is coming from outside observer..not a DC fan

Personally, from watching this game, I do not see what many of you are complaining about concerning Freddy Adu. He played a couple of dead on long ball switches, set up Dema's chance with a little ball control, had an attempt on goal on long pass. Other than that, he had a few bad touches, which all player on the field for your team had today, and a yellow card. Figuring that the rest your "experienced veterans" couldnt score when given 71 minutes, it was right to bring out some new forwards and see if they could create something...sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesnt.

I also believe that Freddy has to be given more times on the field. The last time where he came in very early in the second half, he scores a goal(albiet it was lucky).

Anyways, its fun watching your team play this year figuring you're the only team they seem to be showing on ESPN2.

Undergroundfc


Freddy has shown flashes. However Freddy also is showing one glaring weakiness at this point. Now I don't know if this can be seen as easily from TV but at the stadium you can see it. His work rate is poor. Often when the ball is away from him he is standing next to another United player. Along with that thought he often does not show for the ball well, often because he is not starting from a good postion to be able to show for the ball. When it does come into his area and he can make a play he does well with it but there are times that it is still obvious he is 14 years old. He shows lots of the same negative traits "ball watching' that other 14 year olds I play pickup with show.



I don't understand how many of you (including Wynalda) can blame Olsen for the goal. To me it looked like he had faith in Nelsen, the defender, to actually you know defend/recover even after he got beat. Nelsen could've slid in, maybe fouled Ralph, in order to keep him from being in on goal with such relative ease.

Two points here.

- Nelson, despites the "ugly soccer" cries from the Payul Gardener's of the world, should have taken Ralph down.
- Olsen does need to step in as well and not assume the Nelson is going to take Ralph down. Both players share equal blame for that goal IMHO.


My MOTM was Shawn for his ASU #42 (Tillman) jersey.

No Pat Tillman is the MOTM but thanks for the nomination.

See there are reasons why guys like JH6 and I collect jersey's. You never know when they will come in
handy like yesterday. I am disappointed that ESPN was not sharp enough to see it behind the goal and
put two and two together. I was not looking to get my mug on camera I have got plenty of those shots but it would have been nice to have a shot of the jersey make it into the telecast.

[roadkit]

While we have only played four games so far this season, we're starting to exhibit a very bad trend:

Win at Home
Tie on the Road
Lose on the Road
Lose at Home

Somebody needs to figure out how to get that round ball into the net, period.

[MikeLastort2]

Great first half, with the exception of no scoring. And a stupid defensive breakdown gives the Fire their first goal of the season.

Add the hangover, and there's only one word to describe how I feel:

Yecch.

[scruggs45]

Great first half, with the exception of no scoring. And a stupid defensive breakdown gives the Fire their first goal of the season.

Add the hangover, and there's only one word to describe how I feel:

Yecch.

couldnt have said it better...ahh the hangover

[futbolrey]

Another thing to note is that the freedy adu is no longer going to sell out RFK stadium.

[MattR]

I too would like to see Freddy play more, but I would like to see him play with Moreno.

I would agree wholeheartedly. Adu needs to start. I know, there is a whole anti-Adu faction here that wants to win without Freddy, but let's face it, our forwards can't score. How many times do we need to see people sail a nice cross over the net before we realize Freddy deserves a chance? I'm thinking that Mr. Adu would have finished one of the 6 nice crosses I saw in that first half.

And it's not like we couldn't sub FOR him at the second half? If we're, say, down 1-0 and want some senior leadership.

[United20]

Convey has yet to impress me this season. The kid has a lot of talent, and will only get better but he has yet to pick-up this team. Thats a big burden to put on him, but he is the central mid who needs to take over. His finishing abilities are the same as the rest of the team - poor. So, it's not just him - it's the whole offense.

Nowak doesn't need to panic, but he does need to find new attacking combinations which means that Freddie should be given a chance at a full 90 minutes. Not saying this is the solution, but nothing else is working with these "veterans" (aka Moreno, Stewart).

[CHICO13]

I just finished watching my tape and all I have to say is that this has got to be the all-time worst post-match thread in the history of the DC United Boards on Big Soccer.
I just finished watching my tape and reading thru all the posts. As usual Mr. Lowe gets it right.....

[Cweedchop]

Convey has yet to impress me this season. The kid has a lot of talent, and will only get better but he has yet to pick-up this team. Thats a big burden to put on him, but he is the central mid who needs to take over. His finishing abilities are the same as the rest of the team - poor. So, it's not just him - it's the whole offense.

Nowak doesn't need to panic, but he does need to find new attacking combinations which means that Freddie should be given a chance at a full 90 minutes. Not saying this is the solution, but nothing else is working with these "veterans" (aka Moreno, Stewart).


If you weren't impressed with Convey yesterday, then there is no hope for you ever bieng impressed.. Convey's work on both ends of the field was tremendous and he set up teamates with glorious opportunities to score.. It's not Bobby's fault that he plays for the Gang that Can't Shoot Straight..

We all knew coming into this season that a lack of a first rate finisher would hurt us in some matches and today and arguably in LA it cost us points.. We have to push through this and keep attacking.. Once the heads start dropping by the players, then we could be in some serious trouble.. Unitl that happens though, this team will continue to fight.. I think it will get a lot worse next week as I see us staring at a 3 game losing streak with a tough game out in San Jose who is playing much better (despite losing last night) and is looking for a little payback from the opener as well..

The funny thing about this game can be described in two distinct and different ways:

1) Chicago and DC have both played 4 matches.. Chicago has scored one friggin' goal and they are ahead of us in the standings..

2) Already this season we have lost two matches in regulation but at times the soccer being played this season by United is some of the most engaging I have seen in at least 5 or 6 seasons, yet the dog crap team from last season only managed to lose 6 games in regulation for the entire season..

It's frustrating being a fan of this game.. Pure logic just doesn't apply....

[BuzzLives!]

Pardon my shizzy grammar, I stand corrected. NO ONE ON THIS TEAM CAN PUT THE BALL IN THE ONION BAG!!!! Did no one in the front office realize this in the off season? Or did they think 14 year old Freddy would pick up the slack. I like the Fabian Taylor idea. Or Eddie Gaven or the other young striker on the Metrotards. (I know, I know...now I need to work on my spelling!)

[JayRockers!]

To answer everyones questions about Freddy's PT, maybe he needed a little break from playing 89 minutes against Haiti midweek.

Olsen should have at least stuck in a leg at Andre 1000.

Jim Curtain: Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Jaqua would have seen Red if the ref's either saw the foul or were consistant (ie Dema match 1).

In the end, we were beaten by that A-League keeper Ring.

Thx,

Jay!

[Eismahn]

It's frustrating being a fan of this game.. Pure logic just doesn't apply....

Think if you removed Pure from that line, it would still apply. ;)

I agree with the statement regarding Convey's play- in my opinion, markedly improved from last week- better service into the box, good defensive effort when needed, finally we were able to see the team connect with him on some of his heartbreaking runs.

What I'm dying to see is for the team to take on his speed of play late in the game. You've heard it said from other team's fans- he scares the crap outta folks when he makes those 45-50 yard runs into the box. If we could just have someone else with the energy to create space, and release it to him, bet we'd begin to see improved finishing. Considering how many runs he makes without seeing the ball at his feet, vs how many times he takes possession near or into the box, I don't doubt frustration is blocking his development a tad at least. We know he can score, as well as assist, just waiting for the point damn to burst.

Olsen's play overall was great(still got a rocket-launching shot), and he deserves better than to be a lone scapegoat. In fact, the spot-on comment was that the entire backline and spectators from mid-field ALL failed to stop Ralph(yes, it was a 1 on 5 rush,6 counting Nick).

I keep hearing detractions about the veterans not producing, so why trust them late in games. Two points- Moreno started the first match, 1 goal(off a set piece from Stewart), 1 assist, earned himself MLS player of the week, for crying out loud. Cerritos subbed in 67th min 2nd match vs LA, scored his goal in the 68th minute.
Ok, 4 games in, those stats haven't changed, but we're only 4 games in.
Freddy got his goal 3rd game in a loosing effort, Esky got his on Jamie's 1st match assist.

Lack of answering goals as well as late defensive lapses are the reasons we haven't been more successful the past 3 matches. THAT's what's driving comments about starting Freddy, who when subbed in undeniably disrupts our consistancy up top, by his lack of providing better pressure to their back line. He's improving gradually, but getting him into the game with a full half might do better to kick-start his fitting-in.
Also, I've yet to hear a solid argument that any of the 4 forwards other than Alecko are good at providing us with a target at forward. True, Jaime's header could qualify him, but we've all seen his magic in juking defenders and having a great touch up top(c-Creative forward).Inserting 2 creative type forwards leaves us, as mentioned, without a target to bomb to when down late in the game, either from the back, or off set-pieces.
Personally, with set-pieces, corners in particular, I think it'll come down to a wider selection of options. Seems to me there should be more made available than 2 post options, given you stack at least 6 guys in the box. Also would be nice to see us more efficient in using the near post option, seeing most crosses sent there falling well short of the target. It seems the first game, the league took notice when Jaime's header went in, and now is defending him appropriately.

Oh, yeah, and given Alecko's situation, HE should be playing the full 90.

The defensive lapses are bringing conditioning into question, since we have consistently looked better in the first half, both at producing offense as well as maintaining shape and organization. It's not that we don't know how to play'em- maybe we forget, or maybe we tire. And the players we see noticably fatigued AREN'T the ones being subbed off, so naturally these decisions are being critiqued.

[Th4119]

Even though I am very hard on Freddy. (I used to play against him) I would say that this was his best game yet. He made one excellent play and even took someone down. He wasn't great, but he was finally finding his place out their.

Wow. Not even close. Aside from his opening game, this was by far his worst performance to date.

[SABuffalo786]

I'll say second worst. He was a little more dangerous than he was on opening day.