I think the ref got guidance for that call from "upstairs" - but it might have just been the linesman, the producers hardly ever picked the right camera shot to be able to tell what was going on. Not a bad dive most of the time, but he anticipated Pines coming in behind him and there being some mild contact - Pines cut inside instead so the contact never came, but down he went anyway. Should have gotten a second yellow for complaining about the call Other than maybe taking too long on the ball before passing once or twice I thought Pines had a fantastic game, worthy of the #23. I thought Titi had a good game, disrupted well for where he was playing and kept the ball moving well, but I'm not smart enough to say he was positionally sound so maybe the critique above is correct. Wayne played with much more hustle than he did at home Sunday which helped the people around him play faster which kept Columbus on their heels. The last 30 minutes were brutal. Oddly we only ever had possession once Acosta and Rooney had both been subbed out - we didn't know what to do with the ball, but we had it long enough for the new expanded defense to get re-organized and catch their breath for the final barrage. Would have been the perfect ending had Arriola's shot gone in at the final whistle
Not a bad game. I like the 3-4-3, largely because Pines is better than Segura. The back 3 were solid. I wonder how long Brillant can go without a break, though. They still need to figure out what to do when the other team is smothering Acosta, though. I also wonder if there will be any squad rotation for the next game. I was happy that ESPN+ carried the Columbus feed. I like Dave Johnson, but I would rather hear the announcers who are at the stadium and can see what is going on, even if they are horrible (which they were).
I was able to watch on DirectKick, which had the Columbus feed. I turned it on about 3 minutes early and they were already running the pre-game so I may have been able to catch that as well, usually they don't turn the broadcast on until game-time. They also often cut the feed at game end, but this time they ran it until 10:30 so I got to see some post-game too. Mostly I was watching the Caps game by then but flipped back during commercials. A little after 10:00 (while on the other tuner watching hockey) I got a flashing message the the DC United game was blacked out in my area - I laughed and clicked OK to make the message go away. When I turned back to DK at the next stoppage, it was still showing me whatever was on FSOh after the post-game so the message was very useful - but they must have known something relating to game coverage happened at 10:05 when the programming switched. Thankfully it did not know enough to stop me from watching the game.
The @dcunited lineup the last time that they took home 3 points from Ohio.@devomct helping to secure a clean sheet while our Brazilian pair netted the goals. pic.twitter.com/Ij9ChynEY5— ScreamingEagles (@ScreamingEagles) April 25, 2019
The 3-4-3 is an interesting way to go on the road, but I think Jara is miscast as the right midfielder in the 4. I wonder if that lineup might work better with Stieber as one of the top 3 (ideally on the left), and Arriola as the right midfielder in the 4 instead. BUT, I think Olsen has lost all confidence in Stieber so we'll never see that.
I was rather shocked that Columbus technical staff had even less ideas than Chad Olsen. I was pleased that there was a ref who knew what cards were for. Most refs calling MLS games believe that cards in the pocket are for show only like handkerchiefs.
Titi has quality, but he's not a wingback. He really doesn't have much defensive positional sense as he was caught in no man's land a number times last night. If you are going to play some type of 3-5-2 or whatever, you need Arriola and Segura as the wingbacks because they both have much better defensive sense. Of course you lose Arriola's disruptive behavior by giving him more defensive responsibilities. I think Olsen tried last night to have some sort of "balance" in that he made Jara the right wingback to provide defense first and Titi as the left wingback for more offense. In other words, Jara would be used to cover Brillant's lack of pace and Olsen felt that Birnbaum could handle the extra pressure that would come from having Titi "trying" to play defense. It worked -- barely.
was asking about this 2nd half vs sunday's 2nd half - cause I have seen my 12yo's team play more exciting ball than either of those - notwithstanding the win of course.
At least you saw some good defense from DCU yesterday. There was really nothing good about the 2nd half Sunday.
I've never been a fan of these formations. Especially when our team was built in the offseason for a 4231 formation. We have ONE player injured at LB and we are struggling to fill the spot. Our solution the past 2 weeks has been to change formation, play 1st11 players out of position, even bench 1st11 players...all in an effort to somehow 'fix' the LB injury?! This makes no sense to me. You play your best formation, play your best players...in this case your best 10 players. Then you play the next best available player at LB. You then adjust your offensive/defensive tactics to provide assistance to mitigate this weakness. Reduce LB offensive overlap, have CB shade to LB side, DM shade to LB, etc etc. Many tactical options are available to help 'hide' your weak spot. What has Olsen been doing instead?? Plays 3 at the back (new formation), benches starters and plays Arriola out of position to try and cover. In one game we had 3 starters out of the 11 AND playing a new formation, with a 4th starter playing in a new position. 4 of our normal 11 missing or out of position?! DCU has poor depth to begin with. No wonder we look poor and are struggling in these games. Just terrible game management by Olsen imo. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater mentality. Frankly we don't have the depth to play 3 CBs across the back. We literally are playing our only 3 MLS quality players at CB. If one goes down we have nobody left. We are without Mora for another couple weeks at least based on reporting. What happens when we lose a CB to injury playing this 3 CB formation Ben? FFS Olsen... play a 4231, rotate Pines in with Brilliant and Birnbaum. Use whoever we can at LB (Ward, Robinson, Segura, McCann, etc) until Mora is healthy again.
I respectfully disagree... I didn't see very good defense. I saw very poor Cbus offense- and alot of last ditch defense that managed to keep the other team from scoring. Cbus has only scored like 8 goals in 9 games...they are not an offensive juggernaut. We played the same formation and crappy D against hapless Colorado and they put 2 goals past us. This 3 CB defense is not sustainable, against a team with offensive flair it will get exposed. The 1st half we played well however, we moved the ball quickly and played more like we did in the 1st month of the season- attacking with flair. Then we just stopped and sat back. I don't know if we were instructed to or if we got tired.
Internet Nuts: Olsen is too rigid and won't adjust his tactics or formations or play different players Also internet nuts: Why the hell is Olsen trying new formations and players
To be fair I was thinking of posting this. Even if not technically good, the defensive effort was no doubt more entertaining that Sunday's effort. Just like an acrobatic save is entertaining even if it was caused by the goalkeeper being out of position.
I thought we were pretty lucky all the crosses coming in from the right never produced anything. Regardless of formations and personnel, we tend to completely ignore anyone coming into the attacking third from their right (our left) until we pick them up inside the 18 - we just leave a huge gaping space out there. Sooner or later someone's gonna take advantage. (or, it's tactical brilliance, who knows)
I never wanted him to change formations... just rotate players to keep fresh and make timely subs. As far as rotating players- you always need to be careful how many you remove. Too many will disrupt team chemistry. In my opinion altering 4 of the 11 in addition to a new formation was too much change.
You also have to keep in mind fixture congestion - Sunday at home, midweek on the road, followed by Sunday also on the road. Sometimes a little rotation isn't the worst thing.
My biggest gripe about DCU defensively (ignoring formation changes) is that our DMs always sag too far off players. Our DMs are standing on the 18 and allow the offensive player 5-10yds of space beyond to receive, turn, and dribble into the space above the 18. The DMs are too concerned with trying to clog the middle, when they should be pushed out and closing space instead, not allowing attacking players time to pick out a pass or take an uncontested shot. Because this happens every game...they must be coached to do this. 2nd biggest gripe is our back line sits WAY too deep. When the ball moves forward or when attackers are trying to move down for a cross, our CBs are literally sitting on the 6 waiting for the cross. They need to step much further out (closer to the 18) to force the attackers to move out as well. This will help in several ways: doesn't allow attackers to sit in the box waiting for crosses, and gives Hamid a clear box to come and claim crosses. Again...this is done every game- so it must be coaching. Both defensive tactics are terrible. Watching top Europe football- even if you drop down a level and watch English Championship football, most sides never do this.
no worries- I agree with the roster rotation! I'm just not a fan of the formation. Personally I've never been a fan of the 3 CB stuff. I prefer teams to play wide and use wingers- personal preference. Given the fact DCU has only 3 MLS quality CBs... I would think Olsen would be leery to play a formation that uses 3 CBs. But no! Olsen is a rebel that likes to live on the edge!