Official DC United vs New England POST Match Thread [R]

[Th4119]

Oh, and ZackDCU...when you buy La Norte beers (remember Peter Wilt does it in Chicago), put me down for a soda cuz I'm under 21.


;)

[DigitalTron]

Just a thought, but did anybody else notice just how well Perez, Armstrong and other former-United players played tonight? It seems that our former-team can do no wrong. Goals all the time and dangerous chances even from defenders!

Argh ... our time will come again.

-Tron

[Soccachic14]

To me it looked like Villegas or Q2 was the best player out there in the 1st half, Convey had some great crosses. It was even in the 1st half but only New England got the goal. In the 2nd half DC dominanted it seemed to me. Olsen came in which seemed to inspire them. Convey, Reyes, Villegas, Olsen(when he was in), and Q2 seemed to work their hearts out but still no goals. Are they ever going to score again?!

[SoccerEsq]

Originally posted by Cweedchop
...Bitchie Williams...
I missed something. When did we start doing this sort of thing to our own guys in our own threads?

[Winoman]

WILL SOMEONE (ANYONE?) SHOOT THE BALL WHEN YOU'RE IN THE BOX? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE THEY PLAYED ONE TOUCH TOO MANY, FOR THE "PERFECT PASS", FOR THE "SCORER" TO WALK THE BALL INTO THE GOAL, UNTOUCHED?

SHOOT THE BALL, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE! YOU DON'T GET POINTS FOR PRETTY PASSING DISPLAYS IN THE BOX! GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU SHOOT THE BALL ON NET!

BTW, CAN YOU TELL THAT I'M UPSET? :(

Winoman

[Th4119]

Originally posted by Winoman
WILL SOMEONE (ANYONE?) SHOOT THE BALL WHEN YOU'RE IN THE BOX? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE THEY PLAYED ONE TOUCH TOO MANY, FOR THE "PERFECT PASS", FOR THE "SCORER" TO WALK THE BALL INTO THE GOAL, UNTOUCHED?

SHOOT THE BALL, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE! YOU DON'T GET POINTS FOR PRETTY PASSING DISPLAYS IN THE BOX! GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU SHOOT THE BALL ON NET!

BTW, CAN YOU TELL THAT I'M UPSET? :(

Winoman

If they did give you points for that, it wouldn't even be funny how much we'd blow teams out by. C'mon, 5 passes = 1 point right? 10? 20? We'd STILL win.

What about missed diving headers, what do we get for those? Ivan I know you know.

[geordienation]

A couple of things:

* I'm in for the group cry. Good lord, that was depressing.

* Ben Olsen hasn't played in 2 years and was the most dangerous thing on the field for United. That about sums things up.

* Quintinilla was excellent, but is it too much to ask for to sign one forward that has some size?

* Gazza in, Ivan out. That's a trade I'm willing to make right now.

* At least Ritchie shot the ball, something only a couple of others seemed capable of.

* What was up with Villegas' f-ing pigtails? I thought nothing could look worse than the corn row mullet he had, but WOW was I wrong.

* Ali Curtis -- you were fifth choice tonight behind 1) an ageing has-been who was subbed at halftime, 2) a 19-year-old who had never worn a United uniform before, 3) a guy who could only go 25 minutes after 3 ankle surgeries and 4) an out-of-position defender. Oh, and United's best forward wasn't available because of injury. Yeah, you're going to see a LOT of time the rest of the season.

* If you don't have a place to sit, come to La Norte. It's always entertaining.

That's enough. In two weeks the starting lineup will be:
Reyes-----Pope------Nelsen
Gazza -------- ABMOD
Olsen------ Etch-------Convey
Moreno-------Q2

Maybe then they'll be able to make a push for the playoffs.

[Th4119]

Originally posted by geordienation
A couple of things:

* I'm in for the group cry. Good lord, that was depressing.

* Ben Olsen hasn't played in 2 years and was the most dangerous thing on the field for United. That about sums things up.

* Quintinilla was excellent, but is it too much to ask for to sign one forward that has some size?

* Gazza in, Ivan out. That's a trade I'm willing to make right now.

* At least Ritchie shot the ball, something only a couple of others seemed capable of.

* What was up with Villegas' f-ing pigtails? I thought nothing could look worse than the corn row mullet he had, but WOW was I wrong.

* Ali Curtis -- you were fifth choice tonight behind 1) an ageing has-been who was subbed at halftime, 2) a 19-year-old who had never worn a United uniform before, 3) a guy who could only go 25 minutes after 3 ankle surgeries and 4) an out-of-position defender. Oh, and United's best forward wasn't available because of injury. Yeah, you're going to see a LOT of time the rest of the season.

* If you don't have a place to sit, come to La Norte. It's always entertaining.

That's enough. In two weeks the starting lineup will be:
Reyes-----Pope------Nelsen
Gazza -------- ABMOD
Olsen------ Etch-------Convey
Moreno-------Q2

Maybe then they'll be able to make a push for the playoffs.

geordie, I agree with everything you say here, especially Petter's hair. La Norte was a lot of fun tonight it was nice meeting you.

Oh, and don't think we're bad because Olsen was our best player. He was the best player on the field tonight when he was out there, bar none.

[crusader]

Ray, Ray, Ray. Have you ever seen a team in dead last with so many sacred cows: Etchevery, McKinley, Williams, Convey. Also, how about is 10th different system in as many games. Stay with a system and train it every week and you just may have a chance. The Revs have sucked but since Nicol has taken over it is a 4-4-2 with a flat back line, and a consistent system.. Certainly they have given goals and lost games but with Llamosa in the center of the backline they are 4-4. Without him 3-8. They have a chance late in the season when healthy because they ar beginning to understand the system. Certainly they gave up chances today and could have been destroyed, but when you are playing us, a team that can't score, force them to finish chances from long range (other than Olsen, and McKinley), sit in and defend, and counter.

Yeah, Convey did ok today, no complaints but, he doesn't finish. McKinley, Etch, and Williams are the #1, #2, and #3 reason this team is in the position they are in. Regardless if everyone is healthy. Whatever system we play, Etch goes wherever the hell he pleases and does no, I repeat no defending, Williams sits in and does nothing in attack (what are the records of the teams he has played on in the past 3 years.), he does nothing, repeat nothing in attack. It's like playing 5 against 4 in basketball. McKinley is criminal with his positional defending or willingness to help in the backline. When both of them actually got a chance today they failed miserabley.

Pope up top just shows that RH completely is pissing in the wind. With that move you pretty much said that Namoff, Alavanja, and Curtis should be cut tomorrow, even Chino although he came in it was as a defensive MF to help spray balls around. Instead of bringing one of those guys in particular Namoff or Curtis, guys with some athleticism, when down a goal for an awful Villegas, and moving Convey up top or putting Curtis there, you are saying you have no idea what to. I guarantee you he lost his team today with many. For those that will challenge that we couldn't score anyway so what is the harm in bringing Pope in up top for a cross or a restart in the air, then you might as well do that from the opening whistle. It is unfathomable that McKinley, Villegas, Williams, and Etchevery are on the field for a combined 330/360 minutes.

Anybody see the Fire game on ESPN2 today. Perez was excellent in a 3-0 win. Perez has had 3 practices with the Fire and he looked comfortable, controlled the left side and attacked at will. RH and Kasper couldn't develop a player if it fell in their lap. Can you imagine a Midfield with Etch, Gaza and Williams. It would be like a 3v1 keep away session for teams.

RH is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The ship is going down, and he is as much to blame as anybody and refuses to be held accountable. Can't wait to here who he blames today. I'm sure we will get the proverbial' "the lads played their f----- hearts out. I couldn't be more proud, we just couldn't finish our chances." yada, yada, yada.

[grumpydcu]

The despair has not been lifted but at least they seemed to being giving an honest effort.

Q2 looked good. It will be interesting to see him with a real forward partner (meaning not Lassiter).

Olsen was inspired but fizzled out as expected. Had several nice chances in his first fifteen minutes and changed the dynamics of the game (whatever that means). Can't wait to see him when he is in shape.

Convey played an excellent game again. Made several dashes up the sideline early in the game when Reyes got the ball, but it was always played to the middle. He stopped making that run. Later got service from the middle and made numerous good crosses.

The others played as expected for good or bad.

I don't know what rulebook the referee was using but there was reason to question an offside (when a goal was scored), a pull down in the area, and at least two hand balls. I will leave it to others to say if those were blown calls.

What was with the arm waving and shouting between Williams and Etch. in the second half?

What the f*** was Ray doing by putting Pope in at forward? Were Curtis and Ludwig sick, injured or in a coma? I know he wanted to play to his head (I think there was one oppurtunity) but the ball was at his feet numerous times and he had no clue what to do. If nothing else, he could have put him in the back and brought up Nelson, a proven goal scorer.

[ONE]

the silver lining (benny's return aside)...24,000+ attendance. none too shabby.

[Th4119]

Eddie Pope was and is a better forward than Ali Curtis and Dennis Ludwig. I think Ray was also using him to get the crowd into it after Benny had run out of gas.

[SoccerEsq]

If both Ben and Eddie could play why not start them both, go for the lead and then worry about defending it?

If we're desperate enough about our season to put Eddie in at forward in a one-goal game, the game is important enough not to wait until we are losing to put them in.

[Winoman]

Originally posted by Thamlin19
Eddie Pope was and is a better forward than Ali Curtis and Dennis Ludwig.

If what you say is true, that is pathetic. I wonder what Pele is doing now? We sure could use him up top, now. ;)

Winoman

[Th4119]

Originally posted by Winoman


If what you say is true, that is pathetic. I wonder what Pele is doing now? We sure could use him up top, now. ;)

Winoman

We all know him being better than Ludwig is true. Pope vs. Curtis is intruiging up front, but for the dynamic of the game, needing a big, experienced target in there to win balls for Quintanilla, I agree with the sub.

[Th4119]

My stomach hurts. I'm fairly sure tonight's game gave me an ulcer.

[Jose L. Couso]

This one really hurts.

Great atmosphere at RFK.

[big spaniel]

I can't believe how we're not scoring. We totally dominate and get nothing at all. Perhaps it's a consequence of not scoring first. A team gets one up on us, and they pack the box in tight against us. And with our fancy-Dan (hockey term I learned from Sid Abel in Detroit) style of play, passing where a shot would do, we walk right into their defense.

Positives were Ben and Bobby, definitely. Ryan also played well, and Richie wasn't too bad. As for Etch -- when was the last time United scored off of one of his corners? There are still too many pointless passes happening.

As for the Revs, Twellman is pretty good, but they have -- and showed -- little else.

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by Winoman
WILL SOMEONE (ANYONE?) SHOOT THE BALL WHEN YOU'RE IN THE BOX? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE THEY PLAYED ONE TOUCH TOO MANY, FOR THE "PERFECT PASS", FOR THE "SCORER" TO WALK THE BALL INTO THE GOAL, UNTOUCHED?

SHOOT THE BALL, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE! YOU DON'T GET POINTS FOR PRETTY PASSING DISPLAYS IN THE BOX! GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU SHOOT THE BALL ON NET!

BTW, CAN YOU TELL THAT I'M UPSET? :(

Winoman

Let me try and explain why this seems to happen so much (not shooting right away)..

At this level of play, the space afforded a player alone in the box is shut down almost immediately.. I'm not saying that the shot isn't there for the taking, it's just that these players are so fit and aware of the surroundings that they do just about anything to block a shot..

Ask Carlos Llamosa about the 3 or 4 shots he blocked tonight in just these types of situations,..

In most cases, from the stands, it appears to be a wide open shot at goal, where in reality, there is probably already a player in between the shooter and the goal.. Any player with a wide open shot will obviously take the shot.. I just don't think some us fans consider what is going on out there.. This isn't Rec League where the shots are a dime a dozen, this is the top flight...

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by crusader

Pope up top just shows that RH completely is pissing in the wind. Instead of bringing one of those guys in particular Namoff or Curtis, guys with some athleticism, when down a goal for an awful Villegas, and moving Convey up top or putting Curtis there, you are saying you have no idea what to.

I'll try and explain this tactic to the neophites as well..

I agreed 100% with the Pope move..

Let's review the facts..

1) NE was in a full fledged bunker mode, which if the USA vs Germany game tells you anything, speed at the forward position when playing against a bunkered defense is almost useless in that there is no dead space to run through, not to mention the shortened field with all the United field players inside the half way line

2) Ben Olsen was out of gas.. Understandable considering he hadn't played a game in over 18 months..

3) There was simply no better option available on the bench who could get their noggin on a ball thru a set play or a corner or a long downfield kick, which does happen quite often in desperate times against a bunker defense.. If you are going to sit there and tell me that Namoff or Curtis is a better option considering what United was up against, well then you are much more learned at the tactics of bunker breaking than I have seen in my 34 years of existence..

It's one thing if Pope comes on with 30 minutes left, he came on with 10 minutes to go and United desperately pressing forward...