Welcome back from the road, boys - now it's DC who come to town, surely not in the finest fettle. They're not toothless, but I can't see their forwards overwhelming our back four. Surely DC will bunker, and that will fall on Almiron to unlock their stacked banks of four . . .
I keep asking that same damned question and NO ONE will answer me. Bout to drive over to Uncle Arthur Blank's house and shout it at his windows . . .
Very VERY good question! I would LOVE to go to one or two. I'll even bring my cleats in case Tata needs a fifty two year old right back . . .
The fields are visible from the streets, albeit there's no safe staging area for doing this so be mindful of the traffic.
Weather on Sunday looks stormy - though I still find it hard to predict ATL weather this far in advance . . .
Yeah, there's been no news about Martinez since last week which affirmed he's not yet even training, which would suggest we're looking at the longer version of his rehab. That the team has managed well in his absences is probably encouraging the coaches to let him take the time needed to do this right rather than risk aggravating the matter with a rushed return.
Well. That sucked. I want to be angry at someone but to be honest I'm not sure I can. Experience as an Arsenal fan made me used to displays like this - You fall behind and then the opposing team clogs the defense/middle making it tough to get a clean shot. Atlanta proved profligate in front of goal and paid the price for just a couple lapses on defense. Carmona and Gressel were weak today, compared to what was needed. I'm not sure if it was the formation or the humidity... something left them wanting in the marking today and it proved costly. Maybe Acosta and DC are just that good in that part of their game, but Atlanta really looked poor in breaking up the central assault. What's worse, by the third goal Atlanta looked despondent, as if they didn't have a plan B. Almiron and Asad were also average (for them) today, and because of the left-heavy strategy Villalba was left adrift for large portions. Credit to DC. I'm not sure their approach works if they don't get that 1st own goal, and I still believe if they play this game 10 times Atlanta wins 6-7 times, but not today. Let's see if it's a lesson learned as everyone continues to adapt to MLS.
I would have taken you at left center back today. LGP was absolute garbage. The first DCU goal was just a gifted turnover by him in the defensive third. The second, he failed to step to the ball and just jogged along as the eventual goalscorer closed fifteen yards and centered himself in the field of play totally unopposed. The third goal he was only marginally at fault, but made no effort at all to get back and cover. Even his header save off the line in the final minutes was necessary because of his bonehead play seconds before. I basically just screamed at him from about the 20th minute on. I think he heard me after the second goal, too, when the crowd was quiet. After their second goal, our offense just quit making attacking runs altogether. Jones made one or two, mostly ineffectively, but that was about it. Villalba repeatedly just stood in Mears' way and expected Mears to pass him the ball. The fact that we got several relatively dangerous chances on Hamid's goal made it even more frustrating. If the midfielders and forwards had even been half trying it would have been 5-3 in Atlanta's favor. Very frustrating game this afternoon. The fact that it was hot as balls and that I had a 3 y/o with me didn't help at all.
depressing display. Full marks to DCU for being able to change their tactics. They came out playing us straight up and we quite literally could have had 5 in the opening 10 minutes. Great work by their keeper as well as their defense chasing down Kenwyn on his breakaway (I feel Martinez would have iced that, but oh well). When they went physical we completely wilted. They bodied us and all we did was whine to the ref. Unfortunately I hope this doesn't become the template for playing us, kicking us in the air, because it was not pleasant to watch aesthetically. To add to the list of disappointing players I thought Mears was utter rubbish.
The funny thing is I don't think Atlanta played THAT badly yesterday. It simply played out exactly against the team's strengths - Falling behind to a team that could effectively bottle the middle of the field. Especially on the narrow pitch at BDS. Seriously, if we lined up again today I'd still feel comfortable betting on a favorable ATL outcome because DC needed some good fortune to turn the game on its heels. That being said Atlanta definitely has some things to sort out. Presumably Jones was kept on the pitch to handle crosses considering the way DC was defending, and too his credit he did well enough early on to show this was a viable idea. The problem, then, was the failure to go to that well time and again as the rest of the attackers continued to try forcing through passes in a crowd or left weak passes adrift in tight confines. I'm not saying the team should've picked one approach but the aerial assault wasn't really attempted as the game wore on. Not in the final third, anyway. If they're dead set on trying to dribble/pass through the defense then take Jones off and make it work with Vasquez. I'm also thinking Atlanta needs to learn to do a much better job manning up to the principal playmaker of the other team. In hindsight I would've told Carmona to camp out in Acosta's shadow and never let the man have more than a square foot of space to play in. Not that the rest of the DC squad was poor, but he was clearly the difference maker in pushing Atlanta back and creating opportunities. DC had only 9 shots but 7 were on target, and Acosta was involved in 7 of those plays. Almiron also needs to stay more within the center of the pitch, I feel. I love his hustle and willingness to track back, but for the transitional play to work he must be within reach of the ball when we push forward, and when he's stuck out wide from chasing the last play down Atlanta struggles to retain and move the ball forward. Granted, they shouldn't be too dependent on the man, either, but it doesn't help if he's trying to do everything everywhere at the sometime expense of his main role.
Very much this. I can't tell you how many times the guy next to me and I were yelling to put a man on the ball. Never stepped up to take a foul. Never forced the dribbler to make a premature decision. Way too passive. Gave up way too much turf and were consequently destroyed on counters.
DC's style looked like the US National Team against Spain/Brazil/Belgium Etc. Defend and counter, and count on the keeper to stand on his head. Sometimes it works, especially when you have quality like Hamid, Le Toux and Acosta. DC played it's hand well. Well done Ben Olsen. Agree. They missed Larentowicz. He would have helped in the middle/back, both on the ball and as a calming influence. Most of these guys are very young and new to MLS and the lack of maturity showed. A few other thoughts: Kratz looked good when he came on for Gressel. He needs more minutes. McCann looked lost and two steps slow when he came on for Asad. It's a trend. Asad was yanked mere moments after his elbow & yellow. Was that sub already pending or was Tata pissed? I couldn't tell, but McCann for Asad doesn't seem like a sensible sub when down 2 and looking for energy and offense. I'll be surprised if Asad is not suspended, it was pretty blatant and more deserving of a straight red than his other one. After the final whistle, Tata gave Olsen a big, extended embrace. Was that a genuine moment or was it tactics? Build Olsen up, make him feel special instead of like the scrappy underdog, given that we play them again 2x? Next up are two tough road games. First we get David Villa on the glorified rec league field, then a strong Portland squad in a loud stadium on the other side of the country. The honeymoon is over, the grind is upon them. We are going to see what they are made of now.
Agreed. I suspect we'll see more of him going forward. Yep. As with Jones McCann is an able body but not an ideal fit for a Martino team, especially at the wages they're earning. Would not be surprised if he's gone next season, if not sooner. I suspect a combination of punishment/safety. Asad had taken a few hard tackles out there and was looking a little hot under the collar. Rather than risk him getting out of control have him sit on the bench and reflect. And in all honesty it's not like his play was a difference maker at the time. Pretty sure he's done that with a lot of them, but maybe they were just genuinely congratulating each other. Tata surely respected that Olsen did a solid job with his strategy and adjustments yesterday. Not sexy, but DC went away with 3 pts. That or he was planting a bug under Olsen's collar. Can't be sure.
I thought Asad was our best player yesterday. He was far from perfect, but he set up the goal, had a hand in several chances, and did well to win balls back. I agree that our strategy of putting low balls into the box was a bit weird given that we had Jones in the box. He's too slow to get onto the low ones, but could muscle his way to some floated crosses. Almiron has good hustle and some really nice moments, but he tries to do too much. His extreme left-footedness also takes away a lot of opportunities for him to pass or shoot. All in all, I don't think we played that bad. We dominated, but had bad moments in D and didn't finish our own chances. I kinda got annoyed by the people in my section who were bitching and moaning because we we losing. Bobby Dodd in the heat of summer is gonna be rough though. I hope we don't have any more 3PM games.
Why did we even name a MOTM? Hamid was the only candidate. We should've been up 3 nil early and then just pinged the ball for 80 minutes to an easy win. We throw numbers forward and that's our game plan and it's exciting, but DC countered really well so kudos to them. We're going to have games like this sometimes. When you play our style you have to convert a higher percentage of your chances than we were able to. And then also elbows someone in the face, again. I gave him the benefit of the doubt on the first one and thought it was a harsh red, but after the 2nd one yesterday? He'll be very lucky to not get suspended by the DisCo.