@Winoman got his wish -- a goal and and PK. The return of Boswell and the defense looked much, much better. My son noted that Boswell had some poor clearances, which is correct, but the whole defense just looks so much more cohesive when he's there. His return was a major factor in this game. I'm afraid if Franklin had been out there, Pontius, Bedoya and Sapong would have had far more room to operate. Marcelo had a good game -- much better than the previous 3. Ortiz did fine. What was missing was anyone making a far post run or causing congestion in the penalty area. In the second half especially, there were a number of times DCU had the ball near the goal line and the player was looking for a pass into the middle and there was no DCU play there. Harkes in particular needs to learn to make the late run, or an alternate run if Ortiz (or Mullins) has peeled off. Anyway, much better. 3 points and it made the Jack Daniels go down easier this time.
Speaking of things run poorly, DC cops didn't block-off the right lane on Southbound DC-295, so Stadium traffic couldn't exit off of the Whitney Young Bridge. It took us almost an hour to get the hell out of Lot 8 after the game. If everything is working right, we're usually home ~9:45. Who dropped the ball, United or DCMPD?
Yep, noted that. At least the 295 traffic was so backed up that it was alternate merge getting on to 295. Not so bad for us, because I get off on 695 to drop my son off up in NW before going home to Virginia.
I'll take the 3 points, but with a massive grain of salt. Philly is just terrible, and other than maybe New England this is our easiest home conference game. We need to get better soon because teams like Toronto, Atlanta and NYCFC aren't going to let us off the hook as easy. The positives : like @griffin1108 said, the defense is just so much more natural and balanced with Boswell. It might not be the best backline in the league, but it's better than whatever Franklin was doing. De Leon is also starting to really grow on me at RB. He looked sharp, and I like the versatility of him moving up to right wing late in the game. Sarvas had a poor first half, but he really turned it around the second half. Best half of soccer from him all season. And my final positive note is Harkes. He's still making some rookie errors, but he's got great qualities. Comfortable on the ball and good defensive instincts. His ceiling might even be higher than Kitchen. Now for the negatives : Acosta, while certainly the most talented player on the field, is desperately lacking in tactical maturity. Way too much walking for my taste. I know he has it in him to move because he does it to win the ball back. I just wish he'd move more aggressively off the ball. So often he lays the ball off and doesn't move into space for the give and go. I thought Nyarko looked totally lost out there. Not sure how he didn't get subbed off. And I'm not convinced by Neagle being the center forward sub. There were at least two opportunities he could have tapped in if he only had the center forward's instinct to be in the right place at the right time. I'd almost prefer to see Kamara in this scenario.
Thank you, Curtin, for playing that lump Jay Simpson for 70 minutes. That was a big help. Boswell calmed things, made Sarvas more at ease, too. I like the idea of Franklin, but the reality wasn't what I hoped for. I was wrong about that one. I feel like United will only be holding on until summer when a couple of reinforcements are acquired. They need a better winger, Sam and Nyarko are just okay. Maybe Durkin is ready to step in then for Marcelo. It's a long season, so I'm still hopeful for good soccer at some point.
I have no idea why they didn't start Sapong. That was a massive gift. The first half was very nice. Both goals came from the high press and we also had other chances. The press allowed us to play with a high tempo and that helped neutralize their speed. Olsen took his foot off the gas to start the 2nd half. He stopped the high press and slowed down the pace considerably. That really allowed Philly to control possession in the 2nd half. Without Hamid, that's a 3-2 loss easily. If Sapong starts we lament Boswell's start. It was nice to see Pontius trip when he had a great chance in the box. He did that a lot for us. Dude has no balance.
Looks like Sarvas may be in for some DisCo love... From Goff: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...st-win-over-union-2-1/?utm_term=.6d76ffcea331
Huge blessing in disguise. Sarvas was horrible in the first half and passable in the 2nd half. Jeffrey or Durkin... you're up.
You know for a team that runs several passing drills in warm up United is piss poor at passing. The weight is more often than not off. The direction is poor often. Sad
Had a great time at the game last night. Highlights were seeing Earnie Stewart as we were going into the stadium and my niece becoming a DC fan via the atmosphere and action. She is now adamant that she go with me to the games in Atlanta and Orlando. She's also thrilled with her new DC merch, as am I with my sweatshirt. Pretty comfy for when that wind picked up in the second half. My notes on the game: -Hamid won this game for us. Early on, he had a few uncharacteristic bobbles, but his shot-stopping was superb. -We had way too many errant passes to Philly. It was ridiculous to see us just giving the ball away time and again. -Sarvas is the one player I want us to upgrade the most. He's not bad, but he is not going to last an entire season, and he is the weakest link in the midfield. -Boswell had his moments, but he made Birnbaum look a lot more confident on headers and challenges. -Acosta is feisty and not always in a good way. Lots of chippiness when he tries to defend. -Sons of Ben were loud for the first 20 minutes or so and then absolutely quiet for the rest of the game. Don't know if it was the scoreline or just exhausting themselves on the way into the stadium, but I was expecting more. -Supporters' side was loud the whole way through the game and filled up the other side of the stadium quite nicely. -It was cold and the wind didn't help matters. Add in rain from the previous day, and I wasn't surprised at the pace at the beginning of the game. -It was good to see Ortiz and Acosta score. Here's hoping they build up that dynamic even more while Mullins is out. -Already looking forward to my next DC game at the end of the month in Atlanta and hoping to be back in DC next year for the new stadium.
The slow uneven pitch makes for imprecise passing (for those who can pass) but some of these guys look like peglegged pirates kicking a cannonball around on a rolling deck.
Seriously, the pitch was dreadful. Watching the video replays from an angle different from my seat in the Mezz, it was even worse than it appeared in real time. The worst were the patches in the turf on the North end near the goal. One of Philly's shots required Hamid to short hop the ball like a baseball shortstop. Unacceptable. Seriously, DCU should withhold rent payments to Events DC until this gets fixed, otherwise it won't.
I echo an earlier poster's observation that we should keep an open competition for penalty taker. Marcelo's saved PK was underpowered and poorly placed. Acosta's successful PK last night was underpowered but well placed. Let's find someone who can place the ball with power.
Defense looked more organized with BB in there. Harkes looks like he belongs out there, though a long way from finished product. I liked Ortiz's work rate, and I bet Ben likes that about him, too - defense starts up top, right? Nyarko had an off night for him, Marcelo I though looked decent.
Hopefully, Marcelo has gotten himself suspended by the league and Benny will be forced to star Buescher, Jeffrey or Vincent in his spot.
Without Acosta and Hamid we are the worst team in the league. Having Boswell back helped solidify the defense. We need more talent in case we lose Acosta again. We don't have it.
I was happy with the win (obviously) and the organized start to the game. Most of the first half was pretty good by United. The second half was a disaster, especially the last 20 minutes. You cannot time-waste away an entire half (or even the last 20 minutes), you have to possess the ball, maybe even shoot and try to score (a novel approach to game management, I know). Ian Harkes had the single most glaring example of having an open shot at the top of the 18, but preferring to slow the play down and waste time passing it around - but of course giving the ball away for a counter-attack instead. Speaking of terrible passing ....... Has a team in the United States of any kind had passing drills since the early 80s - I know my high school team did, but we may have been the only one based on United's passing (and that by the USMNT) this month. So many cheap give-aways on seemingly simple passes. I can live with a clever thru pass getting intercepted by a hustling defender - but taking two touches in isolation then booting the ball 25 yards straight to a guy wearing the wrong-colored jersey - that I am seeing way too much of lately. Anyway, great to see people shooting the ball again, especially toward net
Bill looked like he was playing sick. I'm a bit worried about that left hammy. Even when he has an off game, Nyarko is one of the best players on the pitch for us. Marcello's a hunting/playmaking 6. Take the bad with the good, IMO. Vincent's more of a shield and is still incisive - I like that style. But with Marcello, you're going to get more counters. He'll be suspended, and I think we'll see Durkin. If Tissot gets recalled, count on it. We really do need to take more shots through traffic at the top of the box, especially given the size of their defenders. Harkes. In related news, we didn't have a corner until a good way into the second half. Sapong is the kind of nightmare that we have to solve to be successful. We didn't. Don't like seeing DeLeon ball watching at the back post, weekly. Teams are penciling themselves in for a goal from here. As much as I'd like to thank him for encouraging the youth of America to be in position to get the rebound, I wish he wouldn't. 3 points, baby!
Harkes had the ball bounce up nicely for him just outside the 18, but he chose to pass that one. It was frustrating. It was the same type of bounce that allowed his Dad to get the English goal of the year back in the day. I bet he wishes he had that back. I hope he learns from it.