My pick would be: Espindola, Rolfe Coria, Kitchen, Halsti, DeLeon Birnbaum, Opare, Boswell, Franklin Hamid I think this gets the best players on the field, and has balance. Birnbaum is good cover for Coria, DeLeon and Franklin should be expected to at least come out even in their matchup. The time has come for Halsti, and to a lesser extent, Coria. Kemp/Korb are weak links, Birnbaum can potentially shore that up, with the trade off being the left back is more stay at home but the left mid is the x factor attacker. What Pontius is supposed to do, but hopefully better. Silva, Arnaud, Aguilar, Pontius, Doyle, Korb. Kemp is the odd man out, Doyle as a winger is working for me. Arrieta has been a nice story, and the offsides are really getting on my nerves, but Silva needs minutes, he will be able to take the team further than Arrieta.
IIRC, when Halsti was at Malmo he originally was a CB and rode the pine a great deal. It was the move to midfield that got him noticed for the Finnish team and a Swedish league "best 11". At the MLS level, he would be an emergency fill in.
No I'm not saying USL starter is indistinguishable from MLS second-third string. I'm saying that, at best, USL starter is MLS second-third string. Given the change in the MLS players' CBA, I also don't think "starter" money in USL is any better than bench player money in MLS (I'm willing to accede there may be some exceptions -- but they have to be rare given the tiny stadia, generally meager attendance and lack of any media money for USL). Look at DCU's midfield bench: Coria, Aguilar, Farfan, Doyle and one of Rolfe/Pontius/DeLeon -- omitting any of the last three, those four reserves are far superior and have more upside than the Pittsburgh starters. For chrissakes, Kyle Porter became a scoring machine on loan in Richmond -- that alone should prove my point. Coria's played in Argentina and Spain, Farfan in Mexico, the only way any of those Pittsburgh players get to those places is if they buy a plane ticket. I agree that Martins was worth the flyer. However, when DCU picked him up he was 26 or 27 and a finished product. Doyle is only 23 and I honestly think he will improve, but he is played out of position at forward.
i think Arietta going the full 120 pretty much guarantees an Espindola/Rolfe partnership, which for my money is the best this team has to offer considering the absolutely putrid form of Silva at the moment. i'd love to see Halsti/Kitchen moving forward but I just don't see Olsen giving up on Arnaud even though he is also in a bad patch of form. big game on Sunday for some much needed confidence. a win would be huge, but at this point, I'd take a draw also..
I wasn't being critical of the Pittsburgh players when I said I don't think we'll be signing of their players, I meant that our squad is finally strong enough that we wouldn't see any of those guys as an upgrade to what we already have. Compare that with the year we signed Janicki (was that his name?), who went on to have probably the single worst game ever by a DCU center back. So yeah, I feel good about that.
I used to feel the same way about minor league players in the past, but we've never picked up a minor league guy who stuck with us for any length of time other than Clyde Simms. John Wilson was a very sound backup fullback for us. Ezra Hendrickson, when he filled in for Ryan Nelsen in 2004, was very scary. And, for me the memory of Ty Shipalane (sp?) goes a long way to dispel the hope that truly there are diamonds in the rough in the minor leagues just waiting to be discovered. No doubt there are good back ups to be found in the minor leagues, tho. * I completely forgot that the immortal LEWIS NEAL LEWIS NEAL was a minor league player when we picked him up from Orlando City SC.
I, too, would like to see Halsti in midfield vs. NE, but considering that he went 120' last night and Benny's love of Arnaud's competitiveness he will probably only be available as a sub. Too bad; I think we need some calmness in the middle. I worry about Arnaud's temper; like Espindola, he lights up regularly and it could cost us. He could well have been sent off vs. Orlando. Regardless (remember "irregardless?), he turns 35 in a few days and will need the occasional break.
Because of the USOC, right now we're in a very tough stretch or weekend-Wed-weekend-Wed games: We just played 120 last night on Wed. Saving Halsti (as either a CB or a DefMid) for next Wednesday at Chicago and then the following mid-week USOC game seems to be a pretty sound use of your quality depth. I'd prefer using him at DefMid. and let Birnbaum, Boswell and Opare rotate at CB as necessary.
I wasn't feeling too good going into OT. The commentators were annoying but they made a good point about DCU pushing for a third goal and playing a bit recklessly. Luckily it didn't come back to hurt us but a better team could have easily taken advantage of us playing long balls to Arrieta and losing possession. Coria is fun to watch.
At least Doyle has scored for DC United. And Doyle has half as many goals as Martins did in his entire MLS career. In 2/3 the games. Thx, Jay!
Ahh, the Gallardo/Boskovic Asterisk. Still doesn't explain 6 goals in 60+ MLS games. A pretty poor return for a striker of any age. Thx, Jay!
Kudos to Pittsburgh fans … they looked pretty pumped up. Lot of weird looking people in the stands though … Was not impressed with the Pittsburgh gene pool on display last night ...
You are referring to KDKA the oldest commercial radio station in the US which started broadcasting in November, 1920. The station has the K call letter because the station was founded before the Call Letter "standards" came into existence.
Similarly, in Omaha, Nebraska there is (was) a radio station with the call letters WOW, although Omaha is west of the Mississippi River.
Anarchy! Ks in the East and Ws in the West, next you'll be letting Coors across the Mississippi and then everything will go to hell in this country PS - Did they have Iron City at the stadium?
The summer after I got out of college, we decided to make a beer run from East Central Indiana to St. Louis to get some of what was ten considered to be fabled Coors Beer. Unfortunately, we learned that St. Louis wasn't within the territorial limits for Coors' then-standard of freshness, so we had to drive on to Kansas City to complete our mission.
I remember when Coors was finally made available outside of its home area. It had developed a cult following, and now all America could taste this fabled brew. Then I read a review by a "beer reviewer" which began: "Coors, a favorite beer of college sophomores and airline stewardesses, none of whom know anything about beer...."
IIRC, the Coors popularity thing started when word got out that it was Gerald Ford's favorite. Probably the only thing he ever popularized.