Official D.C. United vs. Chicago Fire POST game thread (R)

[Cweedchop]

As per usual,

No Flames

No Trolls....


Halftime and DC are undeservedly up 2-1.. Two headed goals from Ivanov and Olsen give us the lead..

I don't like how this game is heading to be quite honest with you.. Chicago, with better finishing, could have 3 goals by now..

I hate to say it but the calming presence of Etcheverry on the ball could settle our side down but so far on the scoreboard it's aces up..

Nicky, yet again, with a crappy soft goal allowed.. Quaranta seems unwilling to make runs for Stoichkov.. Curtis is getting mugged every time he touches the ball but when Razov gets breathed on, they whistle a foul.... Ivanov is getting involved offensively and he should never play left back again, though Namoff is being triangled to death out there, most of that though is due to not much help from Quaranta...

United needs to tighten up defensively in the second half and hopefully we can spring Curtis or Esky for a counter attack goal and seal the 3 points.. Hell, I'll take a draw too...

One last thing.. Whoever does the camera work at Naperville ought to be drawn and quartered.. This is some of the worst camera work I have ever seen...

[Jose L. Couso]

I too was very nervous before the game.

Well Chicago scored 5 minutes into the game, and I thought to myself here we go again.

Great goal on the set piece by Ivanov on a nice cross by Hristo.

Excellent goal by BEN! Good cross by Hristo.

So far so good.

And the camera work is AWEFUL!

[Knave]

This is some of the worst camera work I've ever seen. They missed a damned goal! And what's with that zooming in and out crap. It's almost unwatchable.

And, yeah, we don't deserve to be up with the way we've been playing.

[dcuni_ted]

Sounds like a good game im happy that my virginia hero benny got a goal after a year of misery of no soccer for him. The injury saved us in an intresting way trhough if it wernt for the injury wed would have lost him forever.hope we can countinue this.

[Barbara]

This is torture.

[rayhbr]

when stewart and convey return who sits? what about etchy? maybe with 4 players(stewart,stoitchkov,etchy,eskandarian) they split time each match. It is getting further into the season and I understand about injuries and call ups but the united should soon figure out what is the best collection of players to use. ANYBODY CAN HELP WITH COMMENTS,FORMATIONS,OPINIONS?...........................................................P.S. I KNOW THIS IS OFF THE SUBJECT BUT DOES ANYBODY ELSE THINK EDDIE LEWIS SHOULD BE A CONSTANT STARTER FOR THE USMNT?

[fidlerre]

razov is such an idiot...

the red card on kovalenko was not warrented, maybe a yellow but certainly not a red.

[Dave Brother]

Originally posted by fidlerre
razov is such an idiot...

the red card on kovalenko was not warrented, maybe a yellow but certainly not a red.

Agreed, Dema's foul was at most a yellow.

[Barbara]

2-1 DC

You could knock me down with a feather.

[Cweedchop]

Big big win tonight...

Losing Dema for next Saturday is going to be very difficult to replace.. Maybe Stoichkov in midfield? Maybe not...

Much better second 45 and we should have sealed that win off to be quite honest.. Stoichkov had a bullet from 25 yards that Thornton had no chance on and it goes side netting.. I absolutely loved Hristo's distribution tonight..

How bout a big fat thumbs up for the defensive work of Quaranta in the second half.. Excellent work Tino..

Now we have to capitalize on this result by beating San Jose next weekend and bring us back to .500..

Just think, if not for another Rimando howler, it would have been another shutout against Chicago.. But then again, it was Hudson's fault for starting Rimando... :p

[superdave]

You gotta give Ray credit for getting the players' heads into the game. But around the 70th minute, when Curtis was getting all that space, the situation positively SCREAMED for Esky to come in for Hristo, get a counter goal, and win 3-1. I couldn't believe no sub.

Nelson played well. And there were some nice long passes, from Hristo and others. I think Prideaux almost sprung Curtis a time or two.

[Jose L. Couso]

Originally posted by BarbDett
This is torture.

I think you are understating it.

The fact that he did not use any subs (and we all know we can use 4) was making me very nervous, what with all the tired legs.

[BudWiser]

WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Big win.

W/out question Stoitchkov was "the man" tonight. There was little else. Again, our forwards are almost absent, as a defender and a midfielder score both goals

Back in the playoff hunt.......for now!

[scruggs45]

why did kovalenko get a red car? that is ridiculous...def a yellow but not a red...dc could use him next saturday...now if this team could only win at home....DCUNITED...the new ROAD WARRIORS!!!!

[Jose L. Couso]

Originally posted by Cweedchop
Big big win tonight...

Losing Dema for next Saturday is going to be very difficult to replace.. Maybe Stoichkov in midfield? Maybe not...

Much better second 45 and we should have sealed that win off to be quite honest.. Stoichkov had a bullet from 25 yards that Thornton had no chance on and it goes side netting.. I absolutely loved Hristo's distribution tonight..

How bout a big fat thumbs up for the defensive work of Quaranta in the second half.. Excellent work Tino..

Now we have to capitalize on this result by beating San Jose next weekend and bring us back to .500..

Just think, if not for another Rimando howler, it would have been another shutout against Chicago.. But then again, it was Hudson's fault for starting Rimando...

Big win indeed!

The second half was better than the first.

Santino was really hustling out there tonight.

DC United has a two road winning streak (like I predicted :D).

Most importantly, DC United is 1 point out out of a playoff spot! :)

[The Lieutenant]

Win the next game and I can fix my ************ing avatar.

[sch2383]

Random thoughts:

I think Dema's red will be appealed and the leauge will make it a yellow.

Where was Ben playing? He seemed to be playing forward, right mid and center mid. It was a good thing IMO, the 4-4-2 really frees him up.

Hristo and Ben were co-MotM for me

'Tino show me something tonight. He was playing in a position he was not familiar with and played well. He made some good defensive plays and showed why he is on the roster.

We need somebody with height big time.

And finally: We can't do anything on corners. We should just play them short and see what happens.

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by sch2383

I think Dema's red will be appealed and the leauge will make it a yellow.




No chance that gets overturned.. From watching the replay, it does look like Kovalenko throws a bit of a forearm into Razov and Hall did indicate after the play a forearm swinging motion, thus it's likely to conclude that he got tossed for that and not the tackle itself..

On another note, does anyone really think Curtis is going to score this season? Curtis had a golden opportunity going the full length of the field with only "concrete boots" Marsch to stop him and instead of dribbling past him right into the box, he sends a vintage Ali Curtis circa 2002 cross into the stands...

I think the next PK should go to Curtis just to get him off the snide.. Or Stewart, or Tino, or Namoff or............

[writered21]

Originally posted by superdave
You gotta give Ray credit for getting the players' heads into the game. But around the 70th minute, when Curtis was getting all that space, the situation positively SCREAMED for Esky to come in for Hristo, get a counter goal, and win 3-1. I couldn't believe no sub.

Nelson played well. And there were some nice long passes, from Hristo and others. I think Prideaux almost sprung Curtis a time or two.

SupahDave,

I was thinking the same thing, but in a way, I think we're both wrong. To be honest, I really, really, really wanted to see Hristo go 90. And I bet (this is mere conjecture) that after Hristo was unhappy over being pulled last week, Ray challenged him to contribute for 90 and I think Stoitchkov did that. Especially given the situation, for lack of a better word, around Etcheverry; it doesn't surprise me that Stoitchkov got a chance for a 90-minute run out. I think at some level, Ray needed to see if that was an option. And I'm not sure there was a dramatic dropoff in Hristo's play tonight as the minutes went on.

Dema's red was a joke. As was Chris Armas stepping on Namoff's ankle squarely in front of the linesman in stoppage time w/o a call. And for both teams, apparently the official had never heard of calling a foul for dangerous play with boots near the head.

Glad for Ivanov to get a goal (score one for the new baby!) ... Damn, Curtis is fast.

Tino wasn't spectacular, but in a way, it was a fantastic blue-collar effort and I think it will do wonders for him.

Rimando made a mistake, then learned his lesson, catching and punching and charging when appropriate. Thankfully, United didn't get caught when he maybe rolled out a bit far there on at that one play at the end.

I'm sure the Hudson bashers will continue their drum beat. Fine. But, the team has won two straight on the road now, deserved or not. When they lose, people talk about how "if this and if that, they would have won," and get quieted by those blaming everything from the defensive positioning to the flatness of the beer on Hudson. Now, United has won a couple where people can say, "Well, if this, and if that, we would've lost .."

Guess what. They won anyway. Points are points and these were 3 big ones. Time to try and get 3 more next week.

Ed

[Sanguine]

Originally posted by Cweedchop

Losing Dema for next Saturday is going to be very difficult to replace.. Maybe Stoichkov in midfield? Maybe not...


You'll probably see Etcheverry in the middle of the park, but maybe not since DCU have won the last two games he missed. I honestly think Tino's skill set fits best there, and I'd like to see him get a shot. He's more of a passer than a finisher. Could also go with Quintanilla in that role, but I think he's in the doghouse along with Etcheverry.

If you have Stoitchkov playing up top, it gives a coach a lot more flexibility as far as who he plays in the middle of the midfield, since he can so easily drop back and play the spot himself.