Man, such a fun game. I didn't know about Hamid, Korb, and Pontius being out until I was in the concourse heading to our seats. But credit to Ben, he still finds a way to field a competitive lineup even with all of the injuries and suspensions we've had to deal with. As others have said, Espindola came on and turned the game on it's head. Arrieta is quite dangerous in front of goal but he needs somebody to provide him with quality service. Doyle worked hard all game and I'm happy he finally scored. I thought NDL might even score this game, but he still was aggressive in going to goal and that's a good sign. It's exciting to think about what this team will look like once we are full strength.
I don't want to brag, but I can't help myself, because that role was exactly what I prescribed for him on here a few days ago.
This is interesting to think about, because at some point it's not luck that we're playing other team's reserves. There were times when we at the bottom and we basically ceded points to teams at the top because we were saving guys for the more likely, more winnable game coming later. Now we're on top, we undefeated in 20 straight at RFK, and it's unimaginable that other coaches are going to look at some of our games and save their players for the easier target. It feels totally bizarre to you and me, probably. We're still not used to this winning thing. But at some point, it's real, and it makes a difference. Winning begets winning.
Certainly the game was an outlier because the 3 goal outburst was a high for the season. I understand the points about rest and Chicago playing a mid-week game (as was DCU); however, Chicago's road trip is a 2 hour, one time zone trip and not cross country. Yallop was missing one regular on NT duty, the rest of the lineup changes were tactical and the "regulars" were available on the bench. Olsen, meanwhile really only had the "luxury" of resting Arnaud with Halsti. The rest of the changes were injury driven (Dykstra, Birnbaum, Aguilar). DCU's bench consisted of a rookie GK (Worra), a rookie Defender (Mishu), a little used DM (Jeffrey), a recently signed guy who hadn't played in 6 months (Coria) and 2 guys coming off long-term injuries (Espindola and Silva). DCU had a left back that had never played the position in MLS and a rookie in right midfield. That group only coughed up one goal to Chicago until Espindola replaced the rookie and Doyle moved into Aguilar's slot. After that, Chicago was on its heels. That is a damn impressive performance. In an after match quote Accam said DCU was the best team Chicago had faced all season.
This team plays like an injured animal. I'm afraid once were a healthy animal we won't have that bite anymore. I hope I'm wrong
I normally ignore the NDL hate on here, but this is an odd way of looking at it. NDL and Arrieta attempted a give-n-go exchange but Arrieta's touch allowed the defenseman to get a deflection, which happened to go right back to Arrieta. If the defenseman doesn't touch it, NDL has a clear shot on goal anyway. Maybe in your opinion the Fire would be better off with NDL taking that shot, but the defenseman played it as best as he could.
I didn't think Arrieta even touched it. I thought it went DeLeon > defender marking Arietta > defender marking DeLeon > Arietta > Back of the Net
Sorry, wet blanket post: I went to RFK last night and thoroughly enjoyed that game. But why were there only about 8k others there with me? (I know the official tally was 11-something, but come on. And anyway, I'll stipulate to 11k if that makes any difference). First place team, 20 games unbeaten at home, and yet... plenty of good seats available, as they say. So what is it? creaky RFK? too cloudy? too Wednesday? Olsenball gets points, but isn't exciting enough? 2004 - or 2007 - getting pretty small in the rear view mirror? smartphones? Fred Matthes really was the second coming of P.T. Barnum? every single other potential fan in the area is a Euro-snob (tm)? fear of raccoons? Obama? Bush? all of the above? I've been going to DCU games for 20 seasons now, and I can't remember this level of tepid support for a winning team. But maybe my memory is selective on this. Sorry for the Debbie Downer post. I'll feel better when the sun comes out. Tomorrow, I hear.
IMO: Wednesday sucks across the league. 7PM is hard to make, even harder if you're a casual and you don't want to try to leave work early because you care, but not THAT much. I had a much simpler time getting to the Orlando game a few weeks ago because it was at 8 since it was on ESPN. Lack of starpower on opponent (shouldn't matter, but it does) Euro "fans" - almost all of my friends like soccer, yet I only ever make it to RFK with my GF or brother, or end up standing with people I've met at the stadium. They don't say it's because Bennyball, it's just not Barcelona (or insert other glory team) Lack of marketing still - Getting better. The ticket/beer/whatever deals are bemoaned by most people here but it undeniably works. We pulled in a full house on a Wednesday v. Toronto last year due to mostly this. some of the issues i have noticed, could well be more.
Yep. I'd much rather bring him on to close out a game with a lead than Doyle... even though Doyle was pretty solid last night, especially in the 2nd half after he went out wide. Arnaud working hard for 15-30 minutes would be great for the team. Not that he shouldn't rotate some with Haltsi or play outside mid (depending on the matchups) sometimes as well. He could probably play at least another year effectively after this one in this role.
Well...don't I look like a moron. You're right that it's the defender's foot and not Arietta's that touches the NDL pass first.
Let's not forget a clueless schedule that puts three home games in the span of eight days. Casual fans will pick one, maybe two games to go to. They won't pick all three and the obvious loser is the Wednesday night match.
The RFK experience has gone downhill from last season. The beer selection is terrible outside the Champions Club. Last night it was hard to find a vendor on the Supporter Side that took credit cards and had something other than Tecate. Seemed like half the food vendors were closed as well. Meanwhile the 1st place Nats were at home, they have a better casual-fan experience, and a lot of their ticket prices are cheaper than United's.
Attendance certainly is a problem. Wednesdays -- especially before school is out are just a mess. As noted earlier, 3 games in a week means the casual fan isn't going to all 3, in other words the only folks there last were hard core who could get off work early enough to get to RFK. Hell, 2 STH's in my row weren't there last night for what I'm sure are good reasons. The weather also didn't help. I don't think its Bennyball. Let's be honest, how many "sophisticated" soccer fans are there in this region who ever go or have gone to RFK? The Eurosnobs will always hate MLS, there is nothing you can do about them (except bring their over-the-hill favorite players to MLS). (Aside -- Pirlo to MLS - ha ha ha. The guy is immobile, doesn't defend, and will get bulldozed by the Lawrentowicz's of the league. Big mistake, Andrea, don't do it.)
There was one secret Modelo station at the beginning of the season. They ran out against Philly. I could tolerate Tecate light. Tecate just sux. Thx, Jay!
It says everything about the fan experience when 8 month old Modello is the beer of choice at RFK...are you sure they aren't getting any back for Saturday?