There are so MANY below average MLS players on this team do you honestly expect them to perform much better. Frankly, anything like 500 for this team would be punching above their weight. Still, you do make a valid point around teams like FC Dallas with limited budgets among the lowest in the league that is very competitive because they have a great academy and a coach that knows how to develop players.
I must say the Dallas debacle was a dramatic visual lesson in the value of inspired coaching. Dallas on the attack was a textbook example of how to break an opponent down. Sure, they have fine players, but I didn't see the outcome as strictly a result of there'uns being better than our'uns, To me, it was more a well oiled and superbly prepared machine rolling over a machine that is overdue for an overhaul.
Ben Olsen was a bit animated after tonight's #DCU loss. #dcunited #MLS pic.twitter.com/RWGqMDBbog— Uncle Steve (@streffsoccer) July 5, 2017
Gotta agree with Ben, good group, just need to be clinical on both ends. The squad is creating opportunities but just not finishing. I was happy they scored two goals. Quite happy. Befuddled by 4 they gave up, but we are playing the best in the west
Birnbaum is atrocious, top to bottom. His best attribute is his heading ability off OFFENSIVE set pieces. Not the best thing that you can say about a central defender. Though he has seemingly regressed on that end too. I never got all the professional love for his game. At his very best, he was never more than a serviceable CB who was dangerous on free kicks ... but for some reason we started building him up here as if he was national team material. Never. Saw. It.
no - we really are that bad. We are tactically naive. Players don't know how/when to make runs, the wings don't know how to overlap, the Dmids can't link to anyone other than Acosta because no one else shows for the ball, kemp can't cross to a dangerous spot and our first goal was a mis kick. james
Dallas didn't look that great in the first few minutes but did what United can't, they made small adjustments and from the equalizer on, began to dominate the play. Am I wrong or was Olsen actually teaching fundamentals to one of his players during the cool down break? OK for U-12's but these guys draw a nice salary and should know.
Last year he had good stretches where he deserved to be in the NT picture. He was calm on the ball, with decent positioning and enough speed and awareness to get a foot in on all but the fastest players. He didn't show any significant weakness in the air defensively, either. I think Boswell's ability to sniff out threats helped him, and I don't think he's adapted well to being the anchor of the back line. He just may not be as well suited to the distraction of the task. Frankly he's taken a lot of knocks in the last 1.5 years, mostly above the neck. I'm starting to wonder if it hasn't affected him subtly. He's letting guys get the drop on him that he wouldn't have in years past. Whatever the cause, hopefully he can learn some lessons and adapt. But I think you can say empirically, he's in a bad run of form, whether or not you think he was great before.
I've been waiting for that service into the box that gets played back to the top of the box and connect with Harkes' shot to finally pay off. Nice to see it connect.
Just looking at the replay it appeared that the way his foot was swinging he was intending to strike it differently and it came off the outside of his laces bending away from the goal. I yard further back and it goes wide. james
He side footed it, not the outside of the boot. Really was a remarkable shot to go in from that distance using that kind of technique. You can see him push the ball into the right corner. 100% intentional. Don't know how else to support my point.
You don't need to. To me it looks like a mis-hit to you it wasn't. The only person who knows is Harkes. james
I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from and make sure I'm not the one missing something. Your basis for calling it a mishit seems to be that he shanked it off the outside of his boot, which did not happen as the video shows he didn't use that part of his foot. The team sucks, the least we can do is give rare credit where it is due.
Whatever he had he's lost it. Sadly I doubt if there's anyone on staff here who have the chops to help him learn enough. He's got his life ahead of him I hope that he doesn't take one too many to the head and end up drooling in his soup. Thinking about getting hurt every time he steps on the field may be what's wrong.
I think there was intent in the deception. The way he opened his hips at the last second, it was like he was hitting a penalty shot. He knew where the lane was, and didn't give it away. The assist was spot on, and, as good assists do, it gave him time to execute.
You ever notice how many players regress under this coaching staff? Kemp, NDL, and Birnbaum all looked like bright prospects. Now, not so much. All three have regressed. There are probably others I am not thinking of. I'm telling you, the coach is the problem here.
I can't believe my ears... "We are not that bad", "We need... ", "They need..." NO DUDE! YOU NEED. TO QUIT AND GET THE F... OUT! TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY! And try to save yourself till you can, people will start forgetting about the Olsen on the field and will just remember the bench fiasco. It's already happening, save yourself till you can or you will be an ACCOMPLICE of all of this!
This is often the evidence that I think is the biggest indictment against the coaches. No matter what complaints you may have about the front office, one thing the coaches should control is making sure that young players are better in their 3rd and 4th years than their first year. For me the most damning evidence is Nick De Leon. His best season by far was his rookie season ... 6 goals and 4 assists. Can you imagine De Leon putting up numbers like that today? Kemp and Birnbaum seem to be following a similar trajectory. It's really hard to put your finger on one example of a player who has had a consistent upward development curve. Maybe Hamid, but he's so hard to gauge because he's one of the most injury prone keepers I've ever seen. Every time you think he can take that next step, he has to sit a game out. It's his 7th season and he's only reached 30 appearances once. You can make an argument that Kitchen and Najar were developing reasonably well, but both had pretty poor last seasons for the club.
Olsen is not directly responsible for this but he is at least partially responsible for the fact that DC United is constantly rotating defensive coaches.
Agreed that NDL has regressed. Birnbaum looks in terrible form - hopefully it's just that and not a full on regression, but he could be headed there. Kemp I completely disagree with. He was a liability his first couple seasons, now he is a fine, consistent MLS left back, who got a look at a January USA camp.