Saturday 7 PM They've lost 3 straight and are in last in the East We owe them one after last time at RFK Making my first trip to Philly so that should be enough to spur them on to victory
I know this is only the halfway point to the season, but I'm not a believer in mythical late season winning streaks that propel you from the bottom of the table into the playoffs. Just because it happens sometimes doesn't make it a thing. In reality the teams that make the playoffs tend to be in playoff positions for most of the season. So looking at the table we need to play with a sense of urgency. You lose here and we'll likely fall back down to last place again. You win and you likely leapfrog the Revs who have a tough game in Toronto. Now you're suddenly in 8th place with the playoff line within touching distance.
I expect Sam to start in place of Le Toux, and perhaps Jeffrey replacing 35 year-old Marcelo, but otherwise the same lineup as faced Atlanta, with newbie Brown replacing Ortiz at some point in the second half.
They are referring to this game as a "must win", hopefully we are seeing it the same way - or at least ready for their attitude. Always a scrappy, ugly, game of soccer between these two teams, so I expect a hard-fought 1-1 game, where if there is a positive light anywhere in the universe, we'll get a lucky deflection with 3 minutes left to make it 2-1 (or 1-2 for those of you who prefer the score to be listed home team first instead of important team first ) but 0-0 would not surprise me either. In other words, I have no damned idea.
i'd expect Odoi-Atsen for Korb, Korb's gone 90 last wednesday, saturday, wednesday. if he can play the hell yea but that's a lot of compacted minutes. is Franklin still alive?
We face a compacted schedule with Philly on Saturday; NE in the Open Cup on Wednesday, then MLS matches on the following Saturday and Wednesday. I would assume that Ben is more likely to play his "best 11" in the MLS matches and run out subs in the Open cup. But what does that really mean for us, with so many injured? Korb played 90' at left back against Christos, and 90' at right back thereafter. Marcelo went 90' against Christos, and 90' against Atlanta. I expect to see Odoi-Atsen and Robinson in the Cup match, with Korb resting, and perhaps Boswell gets a start as well. Buscher, who had two goals and an assist against Christos, will probably start against NE, resting Acosta. I don't think Brown is fit enough to go 90', so do you start Ortiz and hope, or do you slot in Neagle?
In a tv interview on the DCU website, Ben confirmed that there would be some "fresh faces" against Philly.
It sounds like Vincent, Franklin and DeLeon are available for selection. Anyone have inside info on their fitness?
Run out some subs. I don't like Philly, but I really like winning Open Cups. And since I've given up on reaching the playoffs this year, I want to go after the one title for which we're still in the running.
I disagree. The biggest thing this team lacks is morale. These moments when the players walk off the field feeling positive have been rare for us. When it happens you need to build on it immediately. Otherwise you lose in Philly and we're right back in last place feeling sorry for ourselves. 2013 was an anomaly. It's not a template on how to manage a season. Right now mathematically I actually give us better odds of making playoffs. We're actually only 4 points out of the last playoff spot. That's a two game winning streak and a little help from the teams ahead of us. And still plenty of time that gives us room for error. Remember that MLS's playoff line is pretty low. Mediocrity is good enough. Winning the Open Cup on the other hand requires a 4 game winning streak with no room for error. I wouldn't start sacrificing regular season games for the US Open Cup at least until the quarterfinals, or even semifinals.
Back to back wins would almost certainly put us back above the red line with 16 games to play. We are clearly doomed.
I didn't, I'm putting stock into being 4 points out of 6th with 18 games left. But by all means, put a TON of stock into 4 points being an insurmountable hill to climb over 18 games.
I generally agree with the sentiment about late season playoff runs, but if that run is due to the team coalescing and getting their shit together in the last half of the season, I'm fine with it. I'd rather see a late season run than running the table for the first half and collapsing into middling mediocrity for the last half.
As long as you're filling in your wish list how about a cheesesteak a birch beer and a pretzel for the Greek kid? Two in a row is like wishing for world peace but what the hey?
Looks like Hamid, Kemp, Birnbaum, Opare, Odoi Atsem, Jeffrey, Harkes, Neagle, Le Toux, Acosta and Ortiz Korb, Sarvas and Nyarko kept on the bench. I'm bummed about Neagle starting over Nyarko, but I understand with the congestion. I really wish Nyarko was fitter so he can absorb more minutes. After a guy scores his first goal in a long time it would be ideal to play him again to build momentum.
doop ... Where the hell was Kemp on that play? He was at least 10 yards out of position for no reason at all. He just got sucked upfield ball watching. That play developed off a restart in Philly's own half after the Ortiz yellow card. There was at least 30 seconds before the restart for all DC players to get into position. Inexcusable at this level. I'm honestly over Kemp. I'd rather have Korb and Odoi Atsem as my starting fullbacks.
Halftime. So disgusted by that goal. Stupid pointless yellow card foul by Ortiz. A harmless restart. The crosser just walks into our defensive third with all day to pick out a cross. Nobody anticipating the back post run. And even for Hamid that is a totally savable shot at near post. It's like a domino effect of shit. As for going forward, can anyone point to one single thing that Neagle has done in 45 minutes? Anything? We might as well be playing with 10 men. Le Toux not much better ... even sent a corner directly out of bounds. Harkes and Odoi Atsem are the only two guys who realize there's a game today. We need Nyarko and Brown ASAP.