http://screencast.com/t/bNUd7BcaY Central players should stay in the central part of the field. http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2012-03-10-dc-v-kc/chalkboard
He had a couple shaky grabs, but he also cleanly scooped up several one-hooping screamers. That's not easy. Hamid was pretty good...at least compared to his teammates.
WOLFF, dadgumit, WOLFF. Sorry, but I swear I've been correcting that spelling since 2003 on these boards. I mean, he's on your team now, for pete's sake.
What game did you watch. The center midfield pairing of Boskovic and Kitchen were very poor. Boskovic didn't create and Kitchen constantly gave the ball away and was run over in midfield. Pontius was a non entity on the wing and Najar tried to do too much. The midfield had so little service to the forwards that we went 80 minutes without a shot on goal. The bright spot was the back line and keeper. Constantly under pressure they kept DC in a game that could easily been a one sided score for KC.
An ugly disappointing start to the season. As others have mentioned, I had high hopes for this team at least on paper. The defense was actually pretty good. Hamid had a good not great game and looked more comfortable in his box than last year. The pairing of Jakovic and McDonald were very solid and was Robbie Russel's play out wide. Woolard on the left struggled from the opening kickoff. He was constantly being beaten and had trouble connecting with the midfield and playing out of the back. I had high hopes for the midfield. That evaporated 15 to 20 minutes into the game. I keep hearing about Perry Kitchen being a great leader and a competitor in midfield. I don't see it. He was completely over run at times and looked every bit a college player among pros. He gave away lots of balls, seemed out of position all too often, did not make himself available to the back line and did not combine with Boskovic. Boskovic was ineffective. He seemed overmatched in midfield. It was almost like he was playing 1 on 3 all through the game. Consequently, he provided no service to the forwards. Out on the wings Pointius was ineffective and had little impact on the game. I can't remember a game where Pontius was so disengage and did not put his imprint on the game's flow. Najar tried way too much. He provided some nice dribbling exhibitions but to little effect and was out of synch with his teammates. Another major disappointment had to be the play of DeRo. Show me the money. DeRo has made a point with his prior clubs about pay for performance. Last night he had as much impact as a bench player and should be paid accordingly. I kept waiting for DeRo to put his hands on the game and drag United into the game but it never happened. Salihi was a forward without service up top. He had a couple of opportunities to make a difference. He didn't. I just didn't see a whole lot from all three of our "DP" and very, very little value for money. As for Olsen's coaching decisions, I'm scratching my head. I get it that Boskovic was ineffective in the middle, but why bring in Wolff in the AM position and leave DeRo up top. I would have moved DeRo back into the midfield and had Wolff play as a forward. Ben's changes had little impact on the game so I really didn't see much "depth". Finally, what the **** is going on with Parking Lot 8. Is RFK/United seriously trying to dis engage the fan base. What a mess? One lane outbound, are you serious. While one game does not a season make. This was a very disappointing outing. The League is progressing rapidly and United seems as if its being left behind. The difference in quality of KCs young players and United's conglomeration was in stark contrast that was not reflected in the final score.
Even my novice guest commented on this...too much thinking, too much trying to make the big show of it...and always it ended poorly. Here's where a coach and/or a more seasoned team mate can make a difference and get him settled down. Now that it's the morning after and I have seen some of the other matches on MLS Live (which is excellent compared to MDL imho)....I worry about our franchise. The energy in MLS--stadia, attendance, buzz, future--seems to be everywhere else. DC increasingly seems to be a vestige of the past.
This also. Since 2007, we've been always playing last year's season. I think this has to do with our quixotic quest for the "creative" center midfielder. Get a short passing - high energy dude in there to just cut it up.
We had no midfield. You can't win against a decent team with no midfield. Boskovic: Maybe he'll play well for us this season. I hope like hell he'll play well for us this season. But, since he came to DC, I have yet to see a single match that makes me think that'll happen. Yes, I know, Germantown last year; but like I said before in response to what seems to me bizarre confidence in him: this year's Sporting KC first team >>> last year's New England reserves. Kitchen: we are asking a lot from him. It wasn't at all clear going into this season that he was up to the challenge. Well, this was just one game, and the first game at that; so it still isn't clear. But he *has* to play a lot better. A lot better. Overall: my biggest complaints are about coaching. Our team did not look like they were on the same page. They looked much less organized and integrated than KC did. And nowhere was this more clear than on the goal. I didn't expect to win -- to anyone who's been paying attention for the last 15 months, KC is a better team than we are. But I expected us to look better than *that*. A few other thoughts: When KC scored, I heard a number of people around me saying "same old DC." I heard the same words elsewhere in the stadium afterwards. This is your legacy, KP/DK: you have completely changed what people think of when they think of DC. Every time this organization puts in a lot of effort to get people into the stadium, they subsequently shit the bed. Why would the casual fan go?
For those of you who don't have Direct Kick - get it, its the best $79 you will spend. Direct Kick by showing all MLS games gives you a real sense as to how MLS is doing. United, Chivas USA and New England from a broad perspective are the bottom of the League. The rest of the league is leaving these three clubs far behind. Its sobering to realize that despite a pretty large crowd for United of 16,300 this is significantly below a League average of 17,869 and a median of 17,639 and at a time when expectations the average could be over 18,000 this year. And this type of difference is not just in the crowds its in many other facets as well. Another season ticket holder behind me just came back from Seattle and talked about the massive difference in media coverage given to the Sounders verses DC. Yes I know its the Sounders, but they are not the only ones with really massive followings and a major presence in their markets. Contrast this with last night's game and its whole environment and I am worried about DC's future and that our FO is out of touch with how much the League has changed and is changing just year to year to keep competitive.
I love Benny to death but I don't think he is the coach for DCU. I think this game proves it. His heart is in the right place and I think he has some good ideas but I think we need a seasoned coach to come in and work with the players. There is a lot of talent on the field and you can't tell except for Hamid. What has Hamid been doing - playing with the national team under one of the best keepers in the world and getting some quality coaching. Even with a lack of talent, a decent coach can teach players to run plays and work as a team. That would at least make the games less frustrating to watch. Oh and enough with the passing the ball back all the time. I had seriously flashbacks to 2010.
The benefit of having a stat sheet post game. United won 45.1% of "Duals Won" leaving SKC with the remaining 54.9% - that is a pretty big gap and I too noticed the alarming number of headers to no one. I know I'm going to sound like a PollyAnna but you have to be patient with this group until they can get significant time together, particularly against opponents like SKC who didn't make drastic changes to their roster. Had this performance come off against a New England or Columbus or a Montreal, yes, I'd be highly cheesed off, but SKC is hands down the best team in the East and it showed. Having Hamid and Kitchen not playing (and Najar after next week) won't help the situation. This team will most likely lose next week (the Galaxy lost a late lead and certainly won't lose two in a row at home to start the season) and more people will come on this board asking for players to be sent back to their homelands and for coaches to pick up their pink slips. It's the nature of impatient fandom. This team very well might not play winning soccer until late April or early May. Just let them work their way through the process.
My God people, it was one game. Yeah, it was bad, it was disorganized and it was toothless. Doesn't mean every match will be like this. Sincerely, PollyAnna
As my neighbor was leaving the stadium he said, "well it's a long season." I replied, "they sure have been for the past few years."
I want to agree with this, but it's hard. Yes, we made big changes to our roster; but the only real differences between last night's lineup and a typical lineup at the end of last season were Salihi, Boskovic and Russell. That's not huge, especially when Boskovic has been with us since 2010. I agree with this.
Back again for another round... Considering how much I have seen in the past years, it was a bit easier not to leave the stadium as disappointed in the past. KC owned us, and if this ended in a nil nil draw which I was hoping, I would have been ecstatic. Instead we let our guard down at the last minute. THings I will agree with that have already been said. We don't look like we are gelling, I wasn't impressed with Bosko, Salihi looked a bit slow, in fact lots of the players had bad games that night. Stop putting DeRo in a striker/semi striker position. In comparison to the past I actually think our defense played mostly solidly, otherwise this KC team (which also seems to be filled with giants), would have got more goals, they looked real solid. Thank god we have Jakovic back at least, and Russell did alright sans two mistakes of coughing the ball up, I was worried about how well he would play but he held up. Our defense was not a problem. We really didn't look like a team that was ready, or even knew our assignments, lots of rust out there, and the midfield just didn't grove. I am also a little worried about the field conditions there, I saw lots of players (both sides) getting their feet grabbed by the turf (a real bad one seemed to hit DeRo which negated a possible scoring break). Liking how Hamid is evolving. I'll taking this result with a good bit of salt, the scoreline reflects our effort unlike a good handful of the past games from last season. We need to get better or we are in serious trouble. How much are we paying Santos now??? That was just terrible.
I'm siding with Cweedchop (or maybe my heart just isn't in it anymore) but I'm not too worked up about this loss. I recall this team winning their home game last year and that didn't mean much in the end. I doubt Najar, Pontius, and DeRo will play as poorly on a regular basis (or possibly again). I think both Hamid and Salihi did very well. When Salihi was on the ball he did very skillful, positive plays (e.g. earning corners, holding the ball). Boskovic did a few skillful things but was otherwise absent from the match, in fact there were several times when he was standing in front of the back 4 when the play was up-field that it reminded me of Gallardo and that scared me a bit. I really hope Boskovic turns good but if he doesn't I least I'll get the self-satisfaction of calling everyone out that talked him up like the second coming - it was the Open Cup NE reserve team (and their first team was worst in the league). My biggest concern in Olsen. Pontius isn't ready to play 90 minutes or start so I was shocked when Boskovic was pulled. I would have thought that pulling Pontius would allow Boskovic out on the left wing (putting either Rozeboom in CM with Kitchen to get a hold of that midfield or bring Santos in put him up top with Salihi and drop DeRo back to playmaker in midfield).
I thought the subs were the right players, but the formation that resulted made no sense. Cruz for Pontius was a no-brainer, but probably could have taken place about 10 minutes earlier. Pontius is not 100% fit and looked gassed much earlier. Bosko, who was largely invisible, is coming off ACL which requires a very long rehab to 100%. At that point I thought Wolff would pair with Salihi and DeRo would drop back. Wolff was just lost in midfield and didn't help maintain possession. Santos for Salihi also made sense. Santos had a good free kick and a howler when he had a good look at Nielsen. I'm hoping that was rust and not Ngwenya 2.0.
Pollyanna - I can't wait to hear Mike on this... I think you are making some assumptions that I'm not sure I agree with. For one that KC is "hands down the best team in the east". KC is a good team but I think NY, Philly, Houston and Toronto are good teams that can all challenge KC. (As a side note: On top of that the West probably has 4 teams better than anyone in the East. Compared to the West, the East looks like MLS division 2). I was not sold on Kitchen last year and I see the same thing this year, but more exposed based on his more "visible" position. If Kitchen does not improve by leaps and bounds, I suspect he will lose his starting slot in the next month or two. I'm also extremely disappointed in the play of Boskovic and Pontius. If they do not come round, this season is going to tank very quickly because it is all predicated on a strong midfield that is dictating the flow of play. I did not see that last night at all. For now, you can put me in the Sky is Falling camp.... with you know who.
Boskovic hadn't played in a meaningful game for a much longer period of time than Pontius. I was not the least bit surprised that Olsen's first two subs were for the two guys who were seeing action for the first time since suffering serious injuries last year. Just what was Santos doing on the goal? He set up a brilliant pick to take Woolard out of the play and then just stood there marking air. Perhaps I'll chalk that one up to chemistry issues, too.
Does anybody know when the United home opener is? I was stuck watch a repeat from the end of last season last night.
New here, seems like a great forum with lots of good information and analysis. Have to admit I long for the days when DCU kept the ball (or attempted to) for long stretches and was, for the most part, a joy to watch...win or lose. I realize the MLS has changed dramatically but frankly I don't see value in DCU's current set up...coaching, management, ownership...seems as if there's enough talent to present a solid product to the fan base, but it just isn't happening. I agree its only one game, and DCU may yet make the playoffs and have a winning season, but if the soccer looks anything remotely like it did last night, then I'm going to find something else to do with my time and money...its just hard to watch! I also read the post match comments and they sounded exactly like they did for the last 3 years...whether its Onalfo, or Olsen...unfortunately its a professional league and you don't get points for effort. IMO had we played some decent soccer (or attempted to) and lost 0-2, I'd be happier this morning. KC is a tough group to play against...they're disruptive, athletic and punishing in their approach, but that doesn't account for the lack of a coherent game plan and set up.
This absolutely sums it up. United ran into a tough agressive defensive team that pressures the ball all over the field. That's the reason they couldn't string two passes together. For everyone that's bashing the team and individual players, not giving SKC their props is shortsighted and unfair. They were hands down the better team on the field and United looked like a bunch of players that were playing a significant game for the first time together.....which they were.
What I think is different from the last few years is that there is far more talent on the field; they just didn't play well. I doubt this is the style they'll maintain for the year - I hope they are more possession and flair but I don't think they have the personell (e.g. RSL, Seattle); but I'm certain that longball BS will come to an end.
This was the game I saw too. Kitchen has a lot of learning to do or Ben will need to make sure there's always Bosko, Najar, or Pontius holding back to help.