You've got to beat the teams that you're supposed to beat and, especially after an idiotic red card, we were DEFINITELY supposed to beat the Fire. Really like the interplay and understanding forming among Mullins/Nyarko/Acosta. Add in Sam, and that's a passable offensive four if the D tightens up. Hope Jeffery's okay. Hamid seems to be in a bit of a mini-slump (I think he'll want that first one back, combined with the bad positioning on a goal in the ... NYRB game?), but the two goals today we suffered came from the same idea: The 4-1-4-1 can leave a lot of room 25-30 yards from goal if the center mids don't retreat in time. R.
Nice game to mark my next to last home game -- I'll be in Italy on the 24th of September and don't return until the day before the final home game. You should beat a crappy team playing with 10 men, but some of this was just clinical. Even when it was 11 on 11, Chicago had no answer for Acosta whatsoever. DCU hasn't had someone who can control the middle of the field like this since Gomez v.1. He and Mullins have a very good sense of each other. Which brings me to Mullins -- I know why NYCFC moved him, he's no Villa, but that trade was the steal of the season. DCU hasn't had a forward who actually plays like a forward since Emilio. What is that? 5 goals since he came over? I guess Jeffrey was concussed or otherwise injured, otherwise I don't understand the first half sub. I thought Vincent did well in relief -- he does have a cannon of a shot and is a very "offensive" holding mid. He looks much better than early in the season. Nyarko had another professional game -- why did Chicago give him away? Sam was engaged, but often looked lost and just didn't seem to impact the game much. I though NDL would come on for him rather than Sarvas. You know it's a special night when NDL scores. Actually it was a well taken shot -- placed, not just blasted so it stayed in the solar system. It was nice to see his teammates all give him a hug and pat on the head, I'm sure that 0-0 stat line was weighing him down. Uncharacteristic Hamid bobble on Polster's shot. The second was a deflection -- nothing you can do. 3 points -- doesn't get better than that.
I'm sure some little shitheel village has a 12th division team that will keep those DCU fires burning.
This formation has had the desired effect, but with some major growing pains defensively. Franklin and Kemp push up at any available opportunity. United used to have two DMs, and one could slide over to fill the abandoned space. Now, it's just Marcelo, and he's not up to it. It's not his fault, he's not even a defensive mid to begin with. Some adjustment should be made (Vincent for Marcelo, Marcelo for Jeffrey?). Still, I'm liking the attack and the chances created. If Hamid can be Hamid, it may not matter what the other team does if United can score multiple goals a game. I'd like to see them drop 3 or 4 on Man City, Jr., keep it rolling.
Hamid : He knows that was a poor rebound. Otherwise he had a solid game. Boswell/Birnbaum : Birnbaum might be the most in form set piece target in the league right now. No comment on Boswell ... he just stays in his position and does the best he can for better or worse ... Franklin/Kemp : No comment on Kemp. Franklin was an interesting topic of discussion on this board regarding his being out of position a lot. Do you guys see how high up he plays? Those overlapping runs are a key part of our offense right now. No need to stop. Just need a midfielder to shift over and cover when he does it. I think Franklin is also finally figuring out that his aerial crosses are terrible and he needs to stop. Just keep delivering those low crisp balls in between the goalie and the center backs because now with Mullins we actually have someone making that run. Sarvas/Jeffrey/Vincent : Definitely the soft spot on the team. This needs to be a priority in the offseason. Jeffrey and Vincent are fine, but they're never going to be above average for their positions in this league. Sarvas is the best of the bunch, but Sarvas would be better off being the more advanced center mid with a physical presence behind him. Hey Perry, are you tired of Scotland yet? Nyarko/Sam : I disagree with the Sam criticism. I think he played well today and in general since he signed. His set piece delivery is solid and a big reason why Birnbaum is thriving in the box. As for Nyarko I don't know what to say. I made some pretty disparaging posts when we signed him, and I couldn't have been proven more wrong. Easily the best winger on the team. Acosta : He's so good that I'm afraid I'm getting too emotionally invested in the idea of having him back next year. Please Levien/Kasper ... put the money on the table. For a time I worried that even if we offer the money, maybe Acosta wouldn't want to play here. But the last few weeks he looks like he's actually enjoying himself a bit more. He's not being selfish, he's just happy to spray the ball around like a boss playmaker. With a full offseason he could conceivably put up Mauro Diaz/Diego Valeri/Ignacio Piatti type numbers. Mullins : As soon as I saw him put on the DC shirt I had a gut feeling that this is our star #9 that we haven't seen since Emilio 1.0 ... A few weeks ago I said that he could be our 10 goal scorer next season. At this point I say why not 15 ... When we signed him everyone was talking about his strength and speed, and I said the only thing you need to pay attention to is his finishing. Notice all 5 of his goals are one touch finishes. No dicking around, just get in position and put it on frame. That's what a goal scorer is all about.
There has been instruction to be careful regarding potential head injuries. I didn't understand why play didn't stop. Even well after the fact, play could have stopped. Jeffrey went to the sideline a few times after that. I assume the sub was for symptoms from that contact. I was a little upset the line didn't move up quicker on the first goal, but Bill owned it.
OK, so, having had to check my ticket, the program, the fans around me, the condition of the stadium ,and my phone GPS to ensure that I was, in fact, at a DC United game and not in some freaky bizarro-land (well, more bizarre than usual), I rather enjoyed that. Except the part where the bench-side AR doesn't really understand the rules. Also, I'm pretty sure NDL got his goal because everyone was like "Oh, it's NDL. He'll launch it into the stands." Also also, Franklin with an assist, even. Maybe it IS bizarro-land....
I just want to say: You're welcome. The first game in some time that I haven't watched, and we put a massive beatdown on the opponent. Had I watched, I'm sure we would've lost 2-0. Congrats to Mullin on single-handedly making a massive difference in our Goals For stat. Great job.
Unless you demolish a team, get a hat trick from your new forward and your #10 looks like a #10. And Nyarko finally does well again, like before his concussion. And Nick DeLeon gets his first goal in over a year. Then you have a few positive takeaways I guess Jeffrey might be hurt and Igbo sucks... so there are a couple of negatives for you.
I don't get this ... Are you referring to the red card incident? Whether you think that was a foul on Thiam or not, you can't deny that there was plenty of contact. 20 years ago that was considered a clean tackle. These days you see that called all the time when the defender comes from behind and through the player to get the ball. You have to touch the ball before you touch the player. Touching the ball and the player at the same time is a foul by today's standards. As for the PK last match that was a total foul too. Nyarko is as unDaviesesque as you can get. His penetrating dribbles are impressive and he draws a ton of contact and takes a beating most games.
I was also very confused by shammy's charlie davies post. Both were clear fouls to me. He maybe embellished the PK. On tonight's Thiam came in hard and hit him in the back as he tried to tackle the ball/Nyarko
Also, point of note: Thiam's red wasn't as a result of the tackle, it was as a result of his VC after the whistle.
Yes. Sorry if my post seemed to contradict that. I would not have been surprised by a yellow for the tackle, although I didn't see anything to indicate the ref was pulling one out before he threw the ball at the head of a guy who BTW, has a concussion issue.
Yeah, that's the strangest part of the whole thing....The ref wasn't going to issue a card, by all appearances. Didn't even reach for the pocket until Thiam threw the ball at Nyarko. So dunno what Thiam was thinking, or what his teammates were expecting to happen...
Also... Hey Guys, we won our rivalryweek game. Man, that DC-Chicago rivalry. It's so crazy, the Obamas don't know who to cheer for.
Watching the replay on csn Chicago. The fire announcers believe if you get the ball you can't foul the player.
I was watching and waiting for the card to come out and then Thiam went full dumbass. I was still surprised by no yellow though.
Yeah, they are the worst type of games, 3 pts & 6 goals! shammy singlehandedly provoked DC United into an offensive onslaught of historic proportions!
I was too, but Thiam maybe didn't give the ref a chance to pull it out. Or maybe he was reaching for his pocket, which prompted the throw at Nyarko's head. I'm just pissed that this is a guy on the ground with concussion issues. It's not like throwing a ball at some random player's legs. I'm interested to see if he gets any additional suspension.
Funny observation. When Acosta has the ball in the middle and is streaking forward everyone starts making penetrating runs. Nicky D had the ball in the same situation and it looked like NO ONE had any hope anything would come from it so no one made any runs. Saying that I hope this sparks his production, his energy works really well off the bench as a super sub.
It was strange in real time. From my vantage point it looked to be a hard foul. On replay from another angle, Thiam went through Nyarko to get the ball -- a foul, but nothing more. Then Thiam lost his shit and went all Jermaine Jones/Fabian Espindola and viciously threw the ball two handed at Nyarko's head. After his teammates finish kicking the crap out of him in the lockeroom, I would suspect the DisCo gives him an extra game to ponder his assholeishness.