Additionally, the stadium will host a number of concerts. I am not sure if it was in the initial plan, but I know from RFK that it would have been hard to disguise that a stage had been on the playing field. Here are stadium configurations: http://mercedesbenzstadium.com/seating-charts/
During the broadcast, I heard that Ben Olsen is in his 9th year as head coach. Where did the time go? And, this makes him the longest tenured coach at DC.
He's been the longest tenured coach here for a while now: Ben Olsen: 7.5 seasons + this season Bruce Arena, Thomas Rongen, Peter Nowak, Tom Soehn: 3 seasons Ray Hudson: 2 seasons Curt Onalfo: 0.5 seasons
Yep, Ben was my temporary neighbor before I headed overseas for 6 years; been back for 18 months and he is still here
I'm starting a rumor: Emerson Hyndman to DCU. Now someone just needs to go whisper it into DK's ear while he's sleeping. There's got to be a creepo on this board who can make that happen.
On this board, I'd expects you could people with the technical skills to push alerts about Hyndman to DK's digital devices.
I long for the conversation that asks "and what ever happened to that Bob Olson guy who coached DC United?"
They do play a nice game that is enjoyable to watch. I would say that the quality of play has shot up in the last few years and it's painfully obvious DCU has not kept pace.
I just watched the whole match again. Not as bad as I thought it was. The first 40 minutes was like watching 22 straight males play spin the bottle. After that - after our outside backs switched sides - we started to play much better - not fluidly, but better. It's like doing that all of the sudden freed everyone up to play soccer instead of foosball. After the half, it seemed to me both Asad and Arriola were able to push higher, and that helped the team's shape, although they didn't do a whole lot to get the ball into the danger zone. Nicky's a good soccer player, but he doesn't seem to have the skills to play any particular position at an MLS level. He was desperately exposed for speed this game. It's too bad we don't have a futsal team. Incidentally, aside from a blocked cross in the 6, his passing was perfect on the left side of the field. Fisher was better on the right, and actually whipped in a surprisingly good cross. But he's still not very good combining and his positioning's not great. However, he has speed. So does OA, who now only really needs to figure out how to body up on a guy to take the RB spot, IMO. Stieber played higher than Segura and almost exclusively on the right side. He spent a lot of time chasing the ball. Despite that, he'd often get sucked back into our third of the field (chasing), and wasn't very open for quick distribution. He was obviously told to stay on the right side of the field when working the ball out. When Acosta came in, he ranged. Might have been a less predictable situation if Stieber had been allowed that freedom. Segura actually kept the ball circulating fairly well when he got it, and he got it a fair amount. He just didn't show for the ball, get the ball to our 10, or focus on chasing down bad guys. Moreno put in a good effort, but could have been more aggressive closing down his man on two of the goals. Sometimes that's the difference in the game, and it's the difference between Moreno and Canouse. Mattocks is the starter, for better or worse. He did some good work facing up. Had a few boneheaded plays along the way and missed some good opportunities that nevertheless weren't as easy as they looked. I don't see Mullins being more threatening, and Kelly is an unknown at this level. CBs didn't make me cry. Did their jobs, distributed well enough, didn't get caught out. Wish they'd push higher, and I wish Steve had been a little more aggressive on the first goal, but Brilliant reached for all he was worth, and still... that pass and run were inch perfect. Durkin is 10% baby giraffe right now - probably still growing. Smart player with good vision and touch. Brain farts still evident. At 18, the sky is the limit. I am over the moon that he's getting time and not looking out of place. Ousted - not much he could do on any of those. You know what, we've put together 70 minutes of decent play so far this season, plagued by a kind of awkward stiltedness, but somewhat effective nonetheless. If we have the better of Houston for 45 minutes next week, that'll be progress. Really need that win. Canouse and Mora coming in, Acosta coming back to full strength, figuring out the Steiber/Asad situation, RB and 8 position are all opportunities to improve the team that we can look forward to.
Good analysis though I don’t see things the same way. We aren’t good moving the ball between lines and our off the ball positioning is awful. Hopefully there is some improvement and we don’t lose back to back. James
@GumbyG Thanks for re-watching. That's a tough ask. Please also notice that when the 2nd half started, ATL withdrew their central midfield into far deeper roles. This allowed DCU to appear to hold the ball better in the middle of the field. ATL still pressured our outside players and countered/attacked on the outside with their mid fielders arriving late in the box. It was brilliant coaching by Tata and I certainly wouldn't credit DCU for any sort of improved play for that. Tata simply gave Ben a small taste of his own medicine, only he executed it far, far better.
Watching that game made my eyes burn. But then so does any game in Seattle. The artificial turf takes a long time to get used to. I don't care if we have a training field of it. It takes a long time to get used to the speed of the ball. You also need better and softer touches on the ball, since it tends to bounce away from you more.
I hope Stieber is not benched in favor of Acosta. I like them both on the pitch - together. And I think Mullins plays a smarter forward than Mattocks. I think he will put himself in better positions relative to his teammates.
This would be of use if DCU could play through its midfield but it is of limited use now. The only way DCU threatens is on counterattacks I don't see Mullins outrunning anyone.