Official DC United vs Dallas Burn POST Match Thread [R]

[Knave]

DC United 3 :: 0 Dallas Burn

This, my friends, is why Eski must play.

No Flames - No Trolls

[Kenobi]

And why Stewart doesn't need to.

Granted it was late in the game and Dallas had been down a man for a while, but watching Moreno, Eski, and Freddy run through the defense at will was pretty nice to see. If they can get Gomez more involved in the game, I think this team is in a good position.

[Daniel le Rouge]

We were going to win this game regardless--but damn, that unjust red to Pareja really sucked the wind out of the game.

Dallas would have looked totally different for almost 10 more minutes until Valakari got himself jacked. The only reason it didn't happen is because Salazar blew it on Pareja.

The good news is that ... well ... we play good at home.

Things are really coming together for the Jaime-Freddy-Eski triangle. Want to see some more of that. What a game from Jaime!

[slowbutsure]

The first 65 minutes of this match were crap. There was no energy on the field for either team. It seemed like they were playing about 3/4 speed. There was no sprinting, no bursts of speed, no committed play at all. I thought it disgraceful and thank my lucky stars I didn't pay any money to attend the match.

MLS and its players need to give the fans a good product, that means the players have to go out and give their all while they are on the field. Plodding around aimlessly, making lazy passes, not running off the ball--that is not giving it your all. I turned to Orioles baseball at the half and found that more engaging than anything I saw in the first 45 minutes.

Dallas has every right to be unhappy with the red card. I could see a yellow but a straight red? Way too much.

Glad to see Esky and Freddy score; keep building the confidence.

[superdave]

At first, when Stone was saying "red," I assumed Valakari had picked up his 2nd yellow. Man, that was a tough, tough call. I'm gonna be a bit slow to bash the CR, and not just because his call benefited us. MLS referees err more by not cracking down than by cracking down too much. Let's hope the pendulum is coming to rest.

[vivaelbolivar]

if they can also stop playing footsi in the back they can stop potential heart attacks from occuring.

no seriously great game its good to see moreno passing and esky shooting.
nicky wasnt tested that much im sure he will pass the test.

what happened to gros seemed lost and gomez was ok to say the least. other than that great whoopin to dallas.

[Knave]

We were damned lucky today. Kovalenko head-butted Ronnie O'Brien in the first minute and could easily have been ejected. It was an idiotic and out of control thing for him to do. Had he been ejected it could have been a very different game.

[Th4119]

If you want the game in two sentences:

Nelsen is a rock.

Eskandarian is a difference maker.

Lots of good play from a variety of players today, and it was especially nice to see Moreno wake up after 45 minutes and get his game going with three assists after a dreadful beginning to the game.

Gros was not at his best defensively, which should have been a big hole on United's flank, but Dallas didn't seem to recognize this and would only go after it sporadically, failing to really try and get the most out of a possible huge exploitation.

It was a game of almost all of everyone's "favorites" today. Carroll, Stokes, Petke, and Rimando all got time today and have all been on a variety of sh!t lists here on these boards at different times in the season. Stokes didn't really play long enough to garner a rating either way, but the other three played at worst solidly in their games.

-Carroll did a good job breaking up attacks and looking for solid passes, going forward when possible which is all he needs to do.

-Rimando wasn't really tested at all, but you can say a lot of that goes to his and Nelsen's oragnaization within the back. The team really seems to listen to him better in the defensive third for whatever reason, and this was key to not giving up any half or second chances to Dallas today. Petke's improved play also can be at least somewhat attributed to this.

-Petke was solid today and even managed to put a decent shot on goal off of a corner kick, which is a lot better than a lot of United has been doing this year.

I could definitely see Stewart as more of a utility man once Gomez gets more comfortable in the offense. It's not that Stewart doesn't add anything to the team, I think he is helpful, but he can definitely shore up whatever needs to be fixed with his experience coming on around the hour mark.

Dema had a solid game on the wing today. I don't know if it's Ronnie O'brien just being flat out scared of him or what, but he's played like crap in both this game and the All-Star game at RFK when they were matched up individually against each other. Mental toughness is something that is key for any professional athlete, and it can be said that right now against DC, Dallas' best player is just afraid to do anything.

[Th4119]

At first, when Stone was saying "red," I assumed Valakari had picked up his 2nd yellow. Man, that was a tough, tough call. I'm gonna be a bit slow to bash the CR, and not just because his call benefited us. MLS referees err more by not cracking down than by cracking down too much. Let's hope the pendulum is coming to rest.

I think that had a lot to do with the fact that Rob Stone said it was Valakari originally in the challenge versus Olsen. Definitely a tough straight red, but what can you do?

[Kenobi]

-Petke was solid today and even managed to put a decent shot on goal off of a corner kick, which is a lot better than a lot of United has been doing this year.

Um, I hope you're not referring to the shot that went out for a throw-in. I wouldn't really call that decent.

[Th4119]

We were damned lucky today. Kovalenko head-butted Ronnie O'Brien in the first minute and could easily have been ejected. It was an idiotic and out of control thing for him to do. Had he been ejected it could have been a very different game.

There was no definitive camera angle showing Dema actually made contact, which would have warranted an ejection.

Considering Ronnie didn't even flinch, I'd say chances are Kovalenko didn't touch him, and it would have been a harsher ejection than Pareja's in the second half.

But that's for the ref thread isn't it?

[Th4119]

Um, I hope you're not referring to the shot that went out for a throw-in. I wouldn't really call that decent.

Um, I believe that was on the free kick where Reyes got burned and hacked Adu on the edge of the box.

I was referring to the driven ball that Petke put low and right to the side of the goalie on a corner kick, a very vulnerable spot for a goalie.

[Winoman]

We were damned lucky today. Kovalenko head-butted Ronnie O'Brien in the first minute and could easily have been ejected. It was an idiotic and out of control thing for him to do. Had he been ejected it could have been a very different game.

I was wondering if I was going crazy (don't answer that!), but I thought I saw that (attempted) head-butt, too. Dema's damn-lucky the refs were so crappy that neither the CR nor the AR saw it.

Dallas was most unfortunate to go down a man on Pareja's red-card. There was no foul there. Both he and Ben jumped for the header with arms extended for balance, and Ben got clobbered. Absolutely no intent, whatsoever. That should have been "play-on."

That totally impacted the outcome of the game. MLS needs to seriously upgrade the refs if they want the league to be taken seriously.

Also, if anyone needed a red card it was probably Valakari. I agree with Super Dave that when the red was shown, I thought Valakari had picked up his second yellow.

I'm glad DC got the 3 points, but I'm not glad the way it happened.

[sch2383]

Dema had a solid game on the wing today. I don't know if it's Ronnie O'brien just being flat out scared of him or what, but he's played like crap in both this game and the All-Star game at RFK when they were matched up individually against each other. Mental toughness is something that is key for any professional athlete, and it can be said that right now against DC, Dallas' best player is just afraid to do anything.


Only a fool ain't scared of a crazy man.

If we keep our home dominance, we should be in good shape for the playoffs.

[onefineesq]

DC United 3 :: 0 Dallas Burn

This, my friends, is why Eski must play.

No Flames - No Trolls

This, my friends, is why Eski must stop continually picking up a damn card in every match he plays! I'm glad he scored, but he finds a way to pick up a card continually, and ends up having to sit out. To this day, I still don't think i've fully forgiven him for that asinine red card he picked up at home against Columbus last year, which damn near cost us a playoff spot (not that it really mattered). Anyway, the man is having a good year, but please please please stop with the cards. Obviously, great game for Moreno. Dallas got absolutely jobbed by the ref though. It's unfortunate that had to happen. I hate to talk about refs, but he essentially put the result out of doubt.

[sch2383]

Anybody else notice Santino was listed as a sub today? I wonder if he is any closer?

[Allan Quatermain]

If you want the game in two sentences:

Nelsen is a rock....





Um, kinda, though he was shaky in parts. And let's not forget he blew a wide open goal when we were only up 1-0 ... even though last week he was able to shoot it in the net. Oh, that's right, last week it was shot into our net.

All in all, a pretty crappy game. I think Dema should have gotten a card for the tackle in the first minute. Then the headbutt? He should have been tossed. Dema Kovalenko is a bastard. What's he doing getting in Ronnie O'Brien's face after that tackle? Everyone who always got on Etcheverry's case for his temper should be screaming about Kovalenko. He's an embarassment.

As much as I dislike Oscar Pareja, that was one of the worst red cards I've ever seen. There should have been no foul called at all. He went straight up. Olsen, if anyone, was a bit reckless, flying through the air. It's unfortunate that he got the elbow in the head, and I am sure it hurt somewhat, but there was no foul at all.

That was the first thing I looked for on the tivo when I walked in from the game. It was funny to hear Wynalda claiming Olsen was acting, saying he should be embarassed for getting Pareja tossed off. Wynalda is a ********. It wasn't Olsen's fault for the bad call -- it was the ref's. Olsen legitimately took the elbow in the head ... it just wasn't a foul.

[uniteo]

How I know DC is better than last year

Forwards: 22 goals, 13 assists

(that's Esky, Jaime, Adu & Cerritos)

[Blacksheep]

This was a great win today, it's about time our defense put their bodies in front of the ball and stopped the plays before they ever developed. The defense either looked better or Dallas looked that bad. IMO, Dema took ROB completely out of his game plan in the first 2:00. He was never a threat from then on. This surely was not the same team that DC has faced the last 2 times.

Can't really say Rimando had a good game, he was never tested and really had no plays to make.

Good to have 3 points.

[elconejito]

just a few points about the match....

-absolutely boring match. other than the goals of course
-NO OFF BALL MOVEMENT. players with the ball had very few options other than a few off-ball runs by gomez early. but as wynalda predicted, they stopped by half-time. the pace didn't pick up until the subs came in.
-while i think gomez is gonna be a good starter for us, his lack of conditioning is very apparent. i dont think he touched a single ball after 55 minutes. the first sub should have been adu for gomez.
-speaking of which, its nice having the OPTION to bring in an offensive sub at some point in the game. we had a quietly fuming freddy chomping at the bit to get into the game, as opposed to some other games recently where all we have are defensive subs and thompson who, apparently, sucks....
-ref did a pretty decent job EXCEPT for the red card. Really bad call there, but i'll throw some more of my $0.02 on the ref thread
-dema on the wing sucks. like thamlin said, if ROB wasn't mentally taken out of the game in the 1st minute, this would be a different match. earnie (for all the bashing he recieves) would have done no worse guarding ROB and IMHO certainly would have been able to get into the attack more often. Dema in middle = Good. Dema on wing = Bad. when earnie comes back i say move dema back into the middle and brian goes to the bench....
-Nice game by brian carroll today. i think the break did him some good. hopefully he'll be back to the same carroll that we all (OK, most) loved at the beginning of the year
-good D by nellie, namoff, petke. nklecko and EJ barely had a sniff until late when there were offensive subs all over the place and some room opened up.
-jury is still out on rimando. he did well with the little opportunites he had, but i will withhold judgement until i see him tested a bit more.