Official DC United vs New England Revolution PRE Match & PBP Thread [R]

[Knave]

DC United vs New England Revolution

• Sunday, July 27, 6:30 EST •

• Live on CSN and Shootout
• DCUnited.com Match Preview - Including TV, Radio and Webcast Information (http://www.dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=main&cont_id=194847)
• DCUnited.com Media Notes: DC United • New England
• MLSNet Match Notes (http://www.mlsnet.com/games/03/tracker.php?gamename=07272003_DCNE&version=preview)
• English Webcast - WMET (http://www.wmet.kivex.com/)
• Other Webcasts (http://www.socceraudio.com/USA.htm)
• PBP Chat Information (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42696)

This post will be updated later in the week for corrections and additions.
Items in gray will be updated once available or confirmed.

No Flames • No Trolls

[Eben]

I think my TiVo is confused about the game against the Revs. I believe it is on Sunday July 27 at 6:30pm and that CSN is televising it live, but my TiVo thinks CSN is showing it at 11:00pm (and soccertv says the game is at 4:00pm). MLSnet, dcunited.com, and CSN's site all say 6:30pm. I can set a manual recording if I can confrim the date and time. Thanks for any help.

[OnTheEdge]

6:30pm is the correct time. I'd bet that the game was scheduled to air at 11pm before, but the Rev game was shifted from 4pm to 6:30pm. So Comcast decided to air the game live. I guess TiVo never updated its schedule!?

[Barbara]

DCUnited.com is an amazing repository of facts and figures....

http://dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=main&cont_id=193398

[Jose L. Couso]

They should outfit the Revolution in Celtic kits, that way DC United would think they were playing a European team! ;)

DC United-2
Revolution-1

[Diceson]

No Carlos Llamosa due to foul points, possibly no Rusty Pierce due to injury.

[revelation]

Tough game, points matter so much because of the conference thing and all - so I predict that DC United starts strong and then wilts under the pressure. I hope I'm very, very wrong and that you all laugh in my face the next time I see you, but I just don't see DC winning this game... :(

[GoDC]

I say we kick their ass and then get some chowdah.

[Sachin]

For everyone that's interested, there will be a viewing party at the Bistro Europa (www.bistro-europa.com) at 715 King St. in Old Town Alexandria.

There will be food and drink specials, including 35 cent chicken wings, all you can eat. And these are not the skimpy little wings you get at Summers. You actually get meat on the bones.

They are trying to establish themselves as another soccer-friendly place. I hope people in the area will come out to support them and DC United. I know several United staffers will be on hand to check out the place as well.

Thanks,

Sachin

[JoeW]

My take on the Revs is...let them get an early lead and you're in trouble. Get an early lead and they have to play outside of their system AND get exposed in the back (especially with Chuck Llamosa missing). So, the question is: can DCU grab a quick goal? Otherwise, I think NE will be more organized, stay compact and play their game better than DCU.

[Footer Phooter]

DC should win 2-0. Closer to the playoffs.

[Bill-DC]

This is a MUST win for United and I think the lads will come through with a 2-1 win.

[TCompton]

Well, every game from now on is a must win, but some games are more important than others. The good news is, as someone pointed out earlier; DC United is, in my opinion also, on an up swing, at least to the point that we are scoring goals now.

Before, our games were competitive, but we weren't finding the back of the net. Now, are games are still competitive, but we are finding the back of the net. This will lead us to more wins.

But, while at the beginning of the season, our defense was superb. They would keep our club in the game, even though our offense was quite impotent, as Ray implied. Unfortunately for us right now, is that in a few games over the last month, our defense has stumbled a little.

I think that part of this has to do with the fatigue of Ryan Nelsen. He may be our superman, but he is not made of steel. I hope that he manages to get out of playing in the All-Star game, which, by all accounts from our Mexican opponents will not be a "friendly" contest.

But, I think that DC has to be feeling pretty good after their performance against Blackburn, and I'd like to think that the confidence gained from that game, will carry us into the New England match with a bit of flare and flavor. DC should be looking to score quickly in this game (as was posted earlier) and should have the mindset to do so.

But here's the concern for me. Our Midfield, which use to be our strong play, has been far from that recently. Santino Quaranta (a new midfielder, considering his awful performances recently at forward), has lost his starting role on this team, and shouldn't see that much time, or at least until he gets his head back into the game. I attribute this to the Devin Barclay syndrome. The two of them are wastes of roster slots. At least Tino has shown promise in the past. Devin shouldn't even travel.

I would love for Stokes and/or Carroll to travel with the team this weekend. While I'm not sure what Carroll is capable of, he at least "needs" to see time to improve. Stokes is the same way, and while he wasn't perfect, he should good poise against strong opposition and is good defense to long balls. It would be nice to get him into the game late. Let's push his development as oppose to wait for it.

Up top, I'd really like to see a three-man front. Alecko earned himself a start in my opinion, but he is clearly better with Hristo as the go thru man. But Ali is still a starter, who tends to do more on his own. Both are assets that we should look to capitalize on.

So, I think an aggressive, 4-3-3 would probably work for me. But Hristo acting as a withdrawn forward… most likely on the left side.

---------------Rimando--------------

-Prideaux---Petke---Ivanov---Namoff-

---Olsen-------Nelsen-----Kovalenko-

---------------------Stoitchkov-----

---------Curtis---Eskandarian-------


I think we really need to use our subs from now on. Use ALL of them (we’re getting fatigue setting in). Sub out Nelsen if he’s slowing down and not holding his own. Put Kovalenko in Center Mid and (If we’re ahead in the game, put Stokes in late and move Namoff up to Left Wing or if it’s close game, put in Santino in for the Left Wing (even though I’m not thrilled with him). Hristo should be switched out for Marco. They really can do the same things, although Hristo is considerably better on one-touch shots and volleys. I don’t even know the last time Marco took a legitimate shot.

But whatever line-up Ray sees fit should be enough. I think that DC has a good shot at getting some points here. The team looked good on Wednesday and just has to improve off of that terrible performance from Saturday.

I’m thinking a 2-1 win, with two first half goals for United and a second have goal for the Revs.

Unfortunately I will not be able to watch this match :( as I will be on vacation and at my folks house, where no CSN exists. I’ll rely on the post game analysis for the summary.

(sorry for the long post)

[tmas]

So, I think an aggressive, 4-3-3 would probably work for me. But Hristo acting as a withdrawn forward… most likely on the left side.

---------------Rimando--------------

-Prideaux---Petke---Ivanov---Namoff-

---Olsen-------Nelsen-----Kovalenko-

---------------------Stoitchkov-----

---------Curtis---Eskandarian-------



where are stewart and convey they should be back for this game since the US got knocked out.

[GoDC]

As of now Stewart and Convey will be with the US for the 3rd place game on Saturday. No idea if they will catch a flight to NE after that but Bobby is supposed to be with the U20s next week.

[ursula]

Tim is right about the concerns about our midfield. Last time we played NE their midfield became more and more dominant as the game wore on and we were damn luck to escape with a tie. Because of that it's tempting to put a fifth mid on the field, another ball-winning one. Also because our mid is already challenged, I think it's safe to say that 1) no Etch and 2) Stoichkov will remain at forward, both for obvious reasons. Here is what I'd like to see, formation-wise:

---------------Rimando (not letting in more soft goals)
-------Prideaux---Petke----Namoff
----------Ivanov
----------------Nelsen
Olsen-------------------------Quaranta
----------Dema the Demolition Man
------Curtis------------Stoichkov

Wierd rationalizations:

- Q1 needs to play cautious and intelligent-like like he did so well vs the Fire- and not how Barclay did at the position last week vs San Jose. Make only selective runs. Look to help out on defense first. It does help us greatly that Ralston isn't playing.

- As I said above I'm concerned about our midfield and I've listed Ivanov as helping Nelsen at d-mid- and to allow Galin to use his offensive skills better. At first I though to put Namoff here but Namoff's a better defender and is doing quite well at covering behind Petke and Prideaux when needed. I see Tron's point that Ivanov is scary as a last line of defense.

-The key for DCU though is Kovalenko putting back some bite in the central midfield. With him there our defense improves a lot compared to last week.

-If Stewart and/or Convey don't play Saturday then they get penciled in to the lineup somehow.

[garbaggio]

Are we sure that Ralston is out? I've already forgotten what rumored injury may have kept him out of USA-Brazil.

[Th4119]

Will we be terribly out coached in this one? Will our team look stagnant for the first 30 minutes of the 2nd half because NE makes adjustments and we don't? Will Kamler score against us again? Will our road attendence be bumped up significantly because of the Juventus game before ours?

All this to be answered on Sunday.

That viewing party sounds good, Sachin. Thanks for the heads up.

[lkeniston]

As much as I love my Revs, I see it 3-0 for DC


Curtis, Dema x 2

[CrazyDCFan]

DC 2-0 Goals by Q and Ali....assists by Kovalenko and Eskadarian.