1 collapse.. a setback.. 2 collapses.. a problem.. 3 collapses.. blame freddy..

[united9]

4 collapses.... might be a problem with the coach.. and this is something ive been saying since last year before the cup and after so don't accuse me of turning on him because of this game. can we at least start talking about putting some of the blame on the ALL ABOUT THE TEAM coach

and of course it's not all to blame on him, i'm not saying that.. but he is not and never was the savior he was made out to be. can people at least start conceding that? if he is the reason we marched to glory last year according to some of you.. then surely he must pick up blame for the 4!! debacles this year.. especially since the thing he is praised for most is preparation for games and intensity.

[galperin]

I blame Novak for this for sure.

[Th4119]

I blame Novak for this for sure.

Well, that's too bad because he's staying for 2006.

[Lowecifer]

I think there's plenty of blame to distribute to just about everyone in the organization after tonight, with the exception of Olsen, Kovalenko, and Carroll.


..and the supporters.

I blame Chicago for playing lights out as well.

[hannah8]

Freddy Adieu


Hannah

[neilgrossman]

I think there's plenty of blame to distribute to just about everyone in the organization after tonight, with the exception of Olsen, Kovalenko, and Carroll.

I don't blame Kovalenko for lack of effort, but part of the problem was the excessive playing time Nowak gave him. I don't understand playing Dema and sitting Gros.

[tallguy]

I think there's plenty of blame to distribute to just about everyone in the organization after tonight, with the exception of Olsen, Kovalenko, and Carroll.


..and the supporters.

I blame Chicago for playing lights out as well.

Yep. This post nails it exactly as far as yesterday's match, standing alone, is concerned. This morning, I'm feeling more disappointed by Christian Gomez getting himself red-carded out of the game than anything else -- while it would have been something of a miracle to come back from a 3-0 deficit against the Fire squad that showed up yesterday, there was no way DCU was going to do it a man down. Heck, Indiana just pulled out a tie after going down 3 zip to Maryland last Saturday night -- however improbable, it could have happened with 11 men on the pitch.

I really don't want to think much about the match this morning, but I'll go home and watch the tape tonight and think on it some then. Right now, I'd really have to go with Dema Kovalenko's post-game quote about United playing in four tournaments this year and now having s--- to show for it.

A major problem, if not the major problem, was that our starting 11 were just burned out -- too many games with too little rest. Another major problem is that other teams have figured us out. And, those are coaching issues plain and simple.

Although yesterday's match was an unimaginable disaster, somehow I don't feel as bad about it as I did about the 2003 playoff loss to Chicago. Go figure that . . .

[ursula]

A major problem, is not the major problem, was that our starting 11 were just burned out -- too many games with too little rest. Another major problem is that other teams have figured us out. And, those are coaching issues plain and simple.



I wholeheartedly agree with your burn-out thesis. The team has been "off" for a month now with not a decent 90 miniute performance that whole time. But I think that second part (other teams have figured us oiut) is because of the first (the burn ouit). If the team were fresh it wouldn't have mattered if the Fire had us figured out cause we'd be at them just as hard- much like the playoff game vs the Revs last year. Then, Nicol had United figured out too and the Revs threw everything at us. But we responded then- our attack was lively and creative and it kept out defense from collapsing. Not so yesterday or for the last month. When was the last time we saw Gomez with a decent cross? Moreno, Adu, Quaranta or any forward tying the opposing defense in knots? The wingers being threatening at all? The second half @ the metro- and Gomez was in the stands then so you'd have to go back further for him.

So if Nowak is back he needs to change how he burned out the players. he also needs to upgrade a few positions. The team needs a real striker. It also needs true wingers with crossing ability.

[superdave]

I wholeheartedly agree with your burn-out thesis. The team has been "off" for a month now with not a decent 90 miniute performance that whole time. But I think that second part (other teams have figured us oiut) is because of the first (the burn ouit). If the team were fresh it wouldn't have mattered if the Fire had us figured out cause we'd be at them just as hard- much like the playoff game vs the Revs last year. Then, Nicol had United figured out too and the Revs threw everything at us. But we responded then- our attack was lively and creative and it kept out defense from collapsing. Not so yesterday or for the last month. When was the last time we saw Gomez with a decent cross? Moreno, Adu, Quaranta or any forward tying the opposing defense in knots? The wingers being threatening at all? The second half @ the metro- and Gomez was in the stands then so you'd have to go back further for him.

So if Nowak is back he needs to change how he burned out the players. he also needs to upgrade a few positions. The team needs a real striker. It also needs true wingers with crossing ability.

Shorter version: Freddy was right. :eek: :D

[ursula]

Shorter version: Freddy was right. :eek: :D

Maybe we should transfer you according to FIFA guidelines! :)

Medium version: United put all it's creative eggs into two positions, a-mid and withdrawn forward then played two of those four players too much.

[dcuinvermont]

So if Nowak is back he needs to change how he burned out the players. he also needs to upgrade a few positions. The team needs a real striker. It also needs true wingers with crossing ability.

Well, we won't have 2 of the cup competitions to worry about, so the guys should be able to get some more rest.

It also strikes me ;) as odd that we've been saying we needs a real stricker for years and years. Except for last year I can hardly think of a year when we weren't saying this at the end.

[mcontento]

So if Nowak is back he needs to change how he burned out the players. he also needs to upgrade a few positions. The team needs a real striker. It also needs true wingers with crossing ability.

He also needs to work on how we play under pressure from the defense. If you look at how NY and Chicago played us these last few games it is very similar to how Pumas and Catolica got to us, PRESSURE THE BALL HANDLER. None of our guys was getting loads of space when receiving a pass like they did in the earlier part of the season, and they couldn't respond.

If Sarachan did his homework (and its obvious to me he did) he would have watched Pumas and U de C tapes to see what they did to beat us and it is all too clear. We are prone to making lazy passes and often don't have good first touches when under pressure. When you play a team like RSL who don't play solid team D then you get away with it. When a team is pressuring the passer, and all the recipients of the passes, we failed to expose them with good runs, fast distribution and ball handling in tight spaces. Aside from Moreno, Gomez and Adu, none of our guys were able to hold the ball or distribute it cleanly with any regularity when they were surrounded and even our stars were suspect yesterday.

I blame that on poor mental preparation for high pressure defenses which you have to coach (like how to beat a full court pressure in basketball). We don't have a young team that hasn't played together, we should have a faster mental game at this point.

[united9]

i was reading back my post and it looked like it could have just been discussing this one game.. for those that didn't get it i was referring to 4 different competition collapses.. not 4 goals in this game... the nice 5-0 2nd leg... the catolica collapse..... the open cup and now the playoffs..

its not like they are just losses to get over.. .each of them were dramatic HUGE, 30,000 feet nose dives.... tie the first leg.. down 5-0 2nd leg... up 2 goals with 15 min..... lose it completely.... up with 30 seconds to go in a cup... give it right away... tie the away leg of home and home... then down 4-0 at home..

something is seriously wrong for all of this to happen in 1 season.. its not just tired legs.. this happend from game 1 to the last game... NO MORE EXCUSES