[superdave]

If DC had gotten 10 more points, and everything else had remained the same, DC would have won the Supporter's Shield.

I see this as both a positive and a negative. It's a positive in that while DC missed the playoffs, they're weren't THAT far from having the best record in the league. It's a very hopeful situation.

It's a negative because being so close might breed conservative decisionmaking. In particular, I'm referring to the Emilio situation. DC took off their DP at the end of the most vital game of the year, and it was the right decision. To me, that just screams out that he can't be our DP anymore.

But I think that for the sake of the next 2 seasons, DC has to be aggressive about dealing with Olsen, Gomez, Moreno, Szetela, Simms, etc. The club needs to be decisive about who should stay and who should go, not just muddle through with "let's start the players we're happy with this week."

Thoughts?

[fatbastard]

When you only have 40 points total, 10 points is a pretty large number.

The fact we only missed the playoffs due to a tiebreaker, having just as many points as the final team - that is what makes me worry that the FO will not think we are in very bad shape.

Now that is a good thing too, as it will possibly stop them from thinking things are as DIRE as you would think by reading this forum every day with all the panic and indignation about firing everyone who has ever worn the black and red

I think we're somewhere between "just fine" and "blow it all up" - the question is just exactly where ...... it's a fine line......

[MagpieFan]

Soccer is neither like horseshoes nor hand grenades.

[Lowecifer]

This just makes me more angry. It just demonstrates a fatal lack of focus by the team.

I wonder if we would have made the playoffs if the distraction of Real Madrid had not been in play....


Probably not.

[Bison1997]

Originally Posted by Lowecifer

This just makes me more angry. It just demonstrates a fatal lack of focus by the team.

I wonder if we would have made the playoffs if the distraction of Real Madrid had not been in play....


Probably not.

Two scoreless draws and a loss to san jose at RFK were what pissed me off. One more goal in any of those games...

[MattMathai]

Originally Posted by Lowecifer

I wonder if we would have made the playoffs if the distraction of Real Madrid had not been in play....

I don't think it matters. As a business, the RM match was a huge payday, maybe even making it possible for Chang to keep the team here longer.

[John L]

Originally Posted by Lowecifer

This just makes me more angry. It just demonstrates a fatal lack of focus by the team.

I wonder if we would have made the playoffs if the distraction of Real Madrid had not been in play....


Probably not.

I think the eight extra games for the CCL (2 qualifying plus 6 in group play) from late August through mid October that were more of a distraction then one game in August

[fatbastard]

Originally Posted by John L

I think the eight extra games for the CCL (2 qualifying plus 6 in group play) from late August through mid October that were more of a distraction then one game in August

For the team itself, I agree.
For the FO, the Madrids game was way too big of a distraction, imo.
However, the benefit may be as Matt stated above.....

[Lowecifer]

Originally Posted by John L

I think the eight extra games for the CCL (2 qualifying plus 6 in group play) from late August through mid October that were more of a distraction then one game in August

Probably so, but it was still the single most maddening thing the organization did this year, apart from the wewintrophies.com fiasco.

[Falc]

Real Madrid a distraction? Not really. Subbing in the 43rd minute, not recognizing that we did not have the right personnel to play the 3-5-2, playing Wallace in central midfield, playing Wallace on defense, having the keepers play musical chairs, playing Janicki as the sole central defender, moving Pontius from striker to wing midfielder to central midfielder all within the last 30 minutes of the second half, MLS referees, Ben's temper, taking players out of retirement, taking players out of USL-2, announcing a stadium deal in PG, announcing that the PG stadium deal fell through, announcing that one of the principal owners was bought out, the mayor of Baltimore asking for a feasability study to move the team to Charm City, BS posters going nuts about such a move, signing a promising player and then sitting him in the doghouse, visits to the doc in Germany, hashmarks on the field, $2 beers in the Cup final, wewintrophies.com, the millions of GM's/technical directors on BS posting the players to get, the formation to play and the people to fire, cockamany rules determing how teams from another conference with the same points advance to the playoffs.

I am sure I missed something. I don't think Real Madrid was a distraction that cost us the point we needed.