Official DC United-NY Red Bulls USOC PRE Match & PBP/Live Thread [R]

[GUTuna]

Official D.C. United-NY Red Bulls US Open Cup PRE-Match Thread
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DC United vs NY Red Bulls
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Quarterfinal
RFK Stadium

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Let HATE WEEK Begin! We shall hate with great hating!

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- Stuff You Need To Know -

• Date & Time :: Wednesday 8/23 @ 7:30pm EST
• Television :: None
• Audio Webcast :: None
• Broadband Video Webcast :: MLSLive.tv
• PBP AIM Chatroom :: BigSoccerDCU

Season Ticket Holders Use "SPECIAL EVENT B" Tickets For The Match

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No Flames - No Trolls
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[GUTuna]

I'm impatient to talk about this one.

One thing is for sure, our recent string of draws will come to an end. Someone is going to win this one. Now the question is whether we'll snap out of our lethargic performances on Wednesday. On the positive side, against Columbus in the 4th round we played like we knew it was a knockout tournament and really went for the jugular early. On the negative side is the majority of our Open Cup history where United has seemed disinteresed in the competition and often crashed out to inferior sides.

I still maintain that the US Open Cup is what we need to try and retain a competitive edge through the rest of the dog days of summer. We may clinch a playoff berth this weekend, we're running away with the Eastern Conference, and Dallas is even faltering to allow us to stretch our Supporter's Shield lead. While our rhetoric has stayed steady, it's been clear this team has been losing its edge in the league. Enter the Open Cup, where every match counts and there's a trophy at the end. Hopefully Nowak uses this to simulate what we're going to face later in the season.

Plus we have a losing record to the Scum in the Open Cup (0-1). This will not stand!

[joehill]

any word on whether Christian's hamstring injury will keep him out of this?

[spidergoose]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that it wasn't so much an injury and that Gomito was just cramping up.

[ursula]

Well it's interesting.

I don't think that just because it''s a single elimination game the team will pull out a dominant performance. I mean the team will try to win but right now the edge is not there like it was when the team was fresher. I think eventually the team will come out of it's funk (something that it shares with practically every other team in the league right now).

However the team can put together a performance like it did in the previous round. But who''s gonna start? Is Gomez okay? I actually hope that he a) isn't hurt badly and b) Nowak rests him on the side of caution. I think a day as a-mid would energize Freddy:

---------Perkins
Namoff-Boswell--Erpen
---------Carroll
Mediate-Olsen--Gros
---------Adu
--Moreno--Eskandarian

If Gomez is out then is Mediate in? It's been awhile since we've had someone other than Fred and Josh on the wings so I'm not sure where we stand there. I'd rather not have Olsen there. It's best to put players where they do best.

What is interesting about this game is if the two coaches change their game plans at all since the last game against each other a week ago. I don't see Nowak changing anything strategically as I think the performance vs the Rapids was, on second looking, an improvement vs the previous one vs NY. Namoff will stabilize things in the back. But however I think Carroll especially, and Olsen too, will really focus on Guevara and Djorkaeff. If you saw the NY-C-bus game, those two were basically marked out of that game as the C-bus d-mids controlled them. Carroll and Olsen can do the same.

NY OTOH was really thrown for a loss vs C-bus. They had some cockiness after tying us but then C-bus outplayed them so after a week with two games all they came away with was 1 point and no goals scored: not a good week. Arena can only do so much with the lack of goal scoring. If a team concentrates on shutting down Youri and Amado then they are screwed.

So I don''t expect to see NY score in this game. Only C-bus and LA have scored less, and unlike LA NY hasn't done a think to improve their scoring. Perhaps 1 goal at best, but I doubt it. Their main hope is to do the Ch-town Lockdown again on us and the Rapids game showed that United is getting better at handling it. We haven't solved it yet but we are getting better. And since this game is not on artificial turf our passing will be better, so our countering will be surer. Although United isn't playing well, they are trying, they know there's a problem, and they will score and win. A bigger test waits on the weekend.

[spidergoose]

Oh, and...

http://www.chicotown.com/pics/silky_johnson-chappelle.jpg


hatehatehatehatehatehatehate

(ignore the political aspect of the picture, only linkable picture of silky johnson I could find)

[onefineesq]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that it wasn't so much an injury and that Gomito was just cramping up. Yeah, that would be good news. On another front though, if it was even an injury in the slightest, he needs to be on the bench. By the way, where did you get that comment from the NJSEA from?

[spidergoose]

He said it to me when DeKo and I were looking for this kid's backpack :p

Also, I don't buy Bruce's comments about resting some of their key players.

[DeKo21DCU]

He said it to me when DeKo and I were looking for this kid's backpack :p

Word for word, that's what the guy said.:D

[ursula]

Also, I don't buy Bruce's comments about resting some of their key players.

Why not?

I haven't known Arena to lie. He might get uncommunicative and/or sarcastic but that's different. All along he's been saying that making the playoffs is his #1 goal. If so it makes sense to rest his main players for an unimportant game.

[liverbird]

Why not?

I haven't known Arena to lie. He might get uncommunicative and/or sarcastic but that's different. All along he's been saying that making the playoffs is his #1 goal. If so it makes sense to rest his main players for an unimportant game THAT HE"S NOT LIKELY TO WIN ANYWAY.

Fixed your post. I am convinced Bruce has been taking lesson from Morinho. Every league needs an arrogant, sarcastic egomaniac. :D

[Sachin]

Kovalenko is suspended for this game.

Sachin

[GoDC]

My lineup

Rimando

Stokes Prideaux Wilson
JCarroll Simms
Moose Dyachenko Mediate
Nickel Walker

[BigKris]

Kovalenko is suspended for this game.

Sachin

How so? I would assume this would be for card(s) in previous USOC games but has Dema even appeared in a USOC game for NY this year? Is this a suspension hanging over him from his time with DC and the loss to Abbey and the Hoops?

[spidergoose]

He got a red card in his last US Open Cup game, last year with us against Dallas.

[ursula]

Fixed your post. I am convinced Bruce has been taking lesson from Morinho. Every league needs an arrogant, sarcastic egomaniac. :D


And you are reppped!

[SavannahFan]

You know...

I really hope the team puts a good effort into this game, and makes it the Aug. version of our last duo of games vs. the Pink Cows (a tie followed by a blowout)

I can think of nothing better to put us back in form, and to put the fear back into our MLS competition than another huge scorefest. When we killed em that time at Hoffa Park, it really set the tone for the first part of our season. A real good win this time would shake off the funk and give us focus towards winning the Triple Crown.

Plus, time and time again, what little hope that Metro fans get from whatever new BS they cling to in search of success, has been quashed by DC United. We have to keep the streak going, and let em know pretending to be DC United is not the same thing as being DC United...

[JeremyEritrea]

My lineup

Rimando

Stokes Prideaux Wilson
JCarroll Simms
Moose Dyachenko Mediate
Nickel Walker

My lineup

Perkins
Erpen Boswell Namoff
Olsen Carroll
Gros Gomez Adu
Moreno Eskandarian

[greenbill]

My lineup

Perkins
Erpen Boswell Namoff
Olsen Carroll
Gros Gomez Adu
Moreno Eskandarian
I'd be surprised if Nowak put out anything other than the best eleven for this game (as you've listed).

[liverbird]

My lineup

Perkins
Erpen Boswell Namoff
Olsen Carroll
Gros Gomez Adu
Moreno Eskandarian

You and me, Jeremy! Thats definitely my lineup -- win the game and kick some Pink Steers ass.