Pre/In/Post Match Thread:: DC United vs. Harbour View FC: 03.18.08

[joehill]

Not much to say other than what's already been posted, except that Martinez also looked great. So did Peralta, but I'm really impressed with Martinez so far. Could see him being up for defender of the year.

[uniteo]

these guys still need a few more games together...still hesitation in shooting and making runs. But they seem to be getting closer and a wonderful sign that when they had the chance to close the game out they put the hammer down.

Most tempting sight of the night? Gonzalo Martinez picking th eball up 40 yards from our goal and making a nice run deep into the HV box to get off a good shot.

Man of the Match? Harbor View's coach for switching to a high line on the offside trap when you have a guy like Gallardo who loves to make passes from way deep.

[BigKris]

1. Best moment of the game was not any of the five goals, but Gallardo's sick volley off the rebound of his free kick. THAT is some serious-ass talent.

2. Ladies and gentlemen, your DC united goal-scoring leader is Devon McTavish. Remember waaay back in the pre-season when we were worried about who was going to make up the goal production with Ben Olsen out?

3. Our central defenders are definitely a step up from last year. Even if the actual defending is a push, the Gonzalos (who are NOT brothers, by the way, in case you hadn't heard) are much more confident and capable on the ball. No more "oh, no I can't watch" moments when we come under pressure in the back.

[nobletea]

In front of the conference center, there are two places. The non-irish bar has less attitude.

Why not just take a turn down The BWP?

No car.

nobletea, anything's possible -- I went to a little sushi restaurant a few hours ago and they have La Liga and GolTv on!

Made a couple calls and took a stroll round the block for good measure but nothing convinced me it was worth the effort to go far.

Tried the web links (thanks for posting those) and they worked, so I decided to stay in and watch both DCU and Mount-Coppin from the comfort of my hotel room.

Looks like 'Tino is making an upclose visit with BB/SE....good stuff

I was impressed Tino didn't take the shot but setup the goal instead...

This is the only thing I was going to mention about this game. Here he is, come back to rise up like a phoenix in the place where it all went wrong, on the home field, in front of the hardcore supporters, getting his first minutes and when his first chance with the ball near the goal comes to him...

...he turns and lays it back calmly to an onrushing teammate who has already scored.

Not the first thing you always want a "forward" to do, but I'd like to think that speaks volumes about him. It would have been all too easy to fall into the temptation to take that moment and make it a personal exclamation point.

Geek alert. It's like when Vader is talking with Luke on the walkway on Endor. He's not back, but you sense it coming.

Here's to hoping Santino continues his Return.

Good win guys. It's about time we whipped on somebody.

[Crimson Scythe]

Does anyone know if there's highlights for tonight's game available somewhere?

[owendylan]

So I wasn't able to watch either game and my boy McTavish scores 3 goals WTF!! His dad is going to hear about this. . .

[Sachin]

So I wasn't able to watch either game and my boy McTavish scores 3 goals WTF!! His dad is going to hear about this. . .
We may have to take away your TV and ban you from RFK.

[zerkdave]

Watching game live takes.....

Fred: Man o da match. Seems a little silly to herald a nominative like FRED, but wow. This guy looks like he is on a mission. He was class today. He continues to play like this he will be MLS MVP. Don't care about the opponent. He seems faster, more determined and has got sick touch.

Namoff: Was MOTM #2 in my book. I thought he looked faster, better judgement and improved skill. He controlled his side and distributed and broke when he needed. Don't really remember a mistake.

McTavish: Not only goals but damn good touches.

Gonzalos: Great in central mids. I love that the Argentine Gonazlo seems to have taken the role of the gamer. He is has emerged as the leader of the back. You can tell the guy is just a plain gamer and winner. Colombian Gozalo kind of reminds me of Marvelle Wynne...with a bit more touch and tad less pace

Burch: didn't notice him much, but doesn't mean he didn't do well

Emilio: Picked up from last year. OK performance

Gallardo: This is the mystery. I think he is a way different player than Gomez. I think ole boys will have to be aware and TRUST to expend efforts to make runs. Gallardo reward that run. If this trust b/w him and teammates don't develop, he might be a bust. If trust does develop, Gallardo could shred......however,

I am afraid that Niell is a good sub not a starter. We need a burning FW and this team could be tough to beat. Still need that last signing....maybe it will happen?

Simms was exactly what we needed. Good touches and good footwork. I thought he was probably unheralded, but played a hell of a game. Excellent hustle

Santino: will be a decent addition. Got some JUSTIFIED confidence. Bowing down to the Barra helped. He's sorry.


All in all a good win, but looked a bit like Mexico vs. Haiti match. jamaica got broke down. Strange, but fun stuff

[JeremyEritrea]

That. Was. Teh. Awesome!!!

[wrightcor]

I just got home from the game and it was a pretty good performance tonight I must say. The first half wasn't the best but I have to agree that the team and especially Fred had an outstanding second half. Let's keep in up in round two.

[sch2383]

Clearly the McTavish at right mid move is a complete failure.

[JeremyEritrea]

Clearly the McTavish at right mid move is a complete failure.

Yeah, and Soehn is a terrible coach, and Emilio is lazy. :D

[onefineesq]

Wake me up when we are playing a team tougher than Harbour View. Good performance, but a weak opponent. The next round will give us a much better idea of what we have in this team. Having said that, I was very happy with the 2nd half performance. It was a good atmosphere at the game, even with a small crowd.

[JeremyEritrea]

Wake me up when we are playing a team tougher than Harbour View. Good performance, but a weak opponent. The next round will give us a much better idea of what we have in this team. Having said that, I was very happy with the 2nd half performance. It was a good atmosphere at the game, even with a small crowd.

We just won 6-1 on aggregate, and you're complaining?

Are you ever satisfied?

[onefineesq]

We just won 6-1 on aggregate, and you're complaining?

Are you ever satisfied? It's Harbour View. I didn't complain. I simply said that I will wait until we play a better opponent before I start piling on the platitudes. Or did you not read where i said "I was very happy with the 2nd half performance." Oh yeah, you did. It just didn't fit in with your bitching and moaning so you skipped it.

[liverbird]

Team in the first half looked like they'd never played together. Second half was much better. This is a team that will start a bit slowly and get better as the year develops. Maybe even be great by October. That would be something new. Gallardo is going to be great fun to watch. We may score off a corner or two as he strikes a great corner. Peralta was organizing the backline and I heard him shouting Go and Hold and away in English. Big boy who may score in dead ball situations. All in all a magic North American night at Estadio RFK.

[Leaky123]

OK, I don't have time to read through this whole thread, but I wanted to throw in my two cents anyway.

*clears throat*

It's going to be important not to get way overconfident after this match because it's difficult to judge how HVFC compares to your average MLS team, they were missing three significant players, and it's one game. Still though, considering we were missing our two biggest leaders, the team is probably still not completely on the same page with each other what with five new players on the field, and we are still getting into normal form and fitness, all I can say is, "Wow." Admit, all of you were predicting scores like this before the game were at least half kidding. I've gone from very apprehensive to very excited (cautious, but excited) in 90 minutes. Again, this must be taken with a grain of salt considering all of the variables mentioned above, but the most exciting thing about tonight for me was that absolutely everyone who stepped on the field for us played very well.

Some players who especially stood out for me (again, these are opinions based really on one game. I'm disregarding Game 1 since I believe and hope that tonight was much more indicative of the level of play we can expect):

Gallardo: Man, this guy is silky smooth and seriously talented. He instantly takes our possession game up a notch. He is not nearly as dynamic as Christian and probably will not score as many goals, but he does so many things much better than Christian that make the whole team a lot more dangerous. He's a pure distributor, always looking for the killer pass. And he's got a decent shot too :D

McTavish: So, if I'm understanding this right, he's now scored more goals in the last two games than he scored in the last 10 years of pro, college, and high school soccer. That's nuts. One thing I noticed is that the goals he scored were all exactly the kind of goals that Benny would score. Not flashy, just being smart and aggressive and making the right run at the right time. Honestly I was very disappointed when I saw him starting the first game in place of Quaranta or maybe Kirk; after all, you're going to get very little to no offense from Mr. McTavish, right? It would be crazy to expect him to keep up anywhere near this level of production, but if he can pop in even a few more goals this year, that would be fantastic.

The Flying Gonzalo Brothers (nickname not my invention, but I'm hoping it catches on): I've been very impressed so far. From what we've seen, they both appear to be faster, stronger, more confident and tactically superior to both Bobby and Vanney. Midway through the game I realized that I wasn't cringing every time one of our central defenders had the ball at his feet. And that made me smile. Oh, and is the sight of Martinez going the length of the field on an offensive foray something I should get used to seeing?

Fred: Fred was having fun out there man. Still tries to get a little too fancy sometimes, but he had a great game. I remember when he was on his breakaway near the end of the game thinking that there was no way in hell he was going to dish off to Emilio after being wide open and foolishly ignored by Emilio just minutes earlier.

Other Notables:

Niell: Wasn't great, but he is very quickly turning into one of my favorite players. The little guy is just 100% heart and courage. I love it.

Emilio: Still seemed very rusty for the first part of the game, but can't really call it a bad performance after two goals. I told my dad at halftime that all Emilio needed was one goal to get himself rolling. Scoring is like crack for him; he seems almost depressed when he's gone a couple games without scoring, and he looks like the happiest person in the world when he's celebrating a goal.

And Simms, Namoff, Burch, and Wells all did their jobs very well also. I'm a happy man right now.

[JeremyEritrea]

It's Harbour View. I didn't complain. I simply said that I will wait until we play a better opponent before I start piling on the platitudes.
What I saw out there tonight was a team that is still learning how to play together. If I was a coach or a fan of another MLS team, I'd be very afraid of how good DC United is going to be once they actually start to get used to each other.

[mcontento]

That is how you beat a banana republic team.

[JeremyEritrea]

That is how you beat a banana republic team.

My favorite chant of the night:

Boo!! Bad shot!!

Hooray BEER!!!!