early on in his career Hamid's distribution was the worst, that fact that we are still talking about it is not a good sign. He should be solid by now.
Was I the only one rolling their eyes and having a 'oh FFS' laugh when the lineups came out with Segura up top? Can we also PLEASE stop the news articles and press questions about Lucho leaving? His form has dropped off a cliff the past month. Tonight he was just terrible. It really makes me think his head is not here at DCU. I stopped counting at 6 pass attempts into a crowd that were easily intercepted by Montreal... these passes had ZERO chance of getting thru 3+ players to the DCU guy. News flash Lucho. Nobody will want you in Europe if you play like shit all season.
What will be our lineups going forward? Rooney will be back, but Arriola might be once again pressed into service as an emergency right fullback. On the basis of last night's match, I would rather see Stieber than Segura as his replacement at RW, leaving Segura as a sub who can be plugged in a number of places. As for left fullback, I think we should go with Robinson. In the absence of Odoi-Atsem, I think he is our fastest player, which helps balance out our rather slow central defenders. And speaking of central defenders: I thought Birnbaum was amazing in the air. I don't think he lost a duel all night. Some of it is height, but much of it is timing. I can't forget 5'10" Bryan Namoff, who started 195 games for us, never being beaten in the air.
Zoltan was poor last night. But the whole team was- so thats not picking on Z! The news report for Jara was a week or so- he might only miss 1 game (thank god). McCann might miss a couple weeks (2+ games?). Frankly, I would not start Z again- he was THAT invisible. He was fresh... yet cannot high press, cannot beat his man (like Titi), but can deliver a good cross and FK. Too many negatives for me. I don't think Olsen will do it... but I would play the kids. Baptism by fire. Put Titi and Arriola back to their normal spots and play Robinson-LB and Ward-RB. I would also seriously consider sitting one DM for Durkin... or putting Durkin on at 60min mark. Both DMs have been poor lately and need to recharge (especially Canhouse). However we are talking about Olsen... which means I expect to see the same 11 we normally have, with round pegs in square holes for the injured players- then alot of talk about needing GRIT and EFFORT while we are not at full strength. The lack of player rotation for this team will be our downfall this season.
I might go with Robinson as one of the backs on an emergency basis only because he's not a kid. I don't rate him highly, but he's been around and can deal with MLS. Ward is just too new and raw to throw into what would be a patchwork backline. Too many mistakes early on can be a career killer.
that's ok I am fine with starting trouble.....................Moreno is regressing towards deck chair as well of late.
No, ... you were not. I was more disturbed to see Acosta playing so far back more than anything. He seemed ridiculously terrified of going more than 3 feet past the half-way line, just constantly tossing the ball to his left or right team-mates in a side direction. He made a few last gasps towards the end to draw maybe some other players towards the last minutes but that was it far too little too late, and then he often got stripped. I have no idea what he was doing playing so far back, either he was told to do that or he just went brain dead. Segura was a disaster up front, and I just didn't see a plan put into action with that formation at all. Then of course we had emergency subs, and by that time it was too late. While it was probably never shown on tv, after Arriola and Birnbaum went to go for a ball off Montreal's corner kick they started arguing with each other on the field as the whistle blew to end the half. It was pretty obvious everybody was getting frustrated, and when I saw that I really figured there was no chance we were going to get an opportunity on net. Steiber I still think has a purpose, but he had 2 crosses he should have been on from Ariolla in the 1st half where he was too far away from anticipating the net. Had he been running harder and in better position anticipating those 2 plays he may have easily had 2 goal scoring opportunities. But then again it's not like he's fresh and ready... which begs the question... What was the team exactly "ready" for last game cause I sure didn't see it...
Would the Front Office be crazy enough to 'bring up' one of the USL team players for depth? Speaking of Loudoun United FC, I think its FO was cast by The CW network. Of course, I could be getting older.
You keep arguing this point no matter what. Too many days rest or too little. It doesn’t matter. Like HD it is obvious to everyone but you.
I always hating playing with pouty little b#tches. Acosta is nearing that territory. If Olsen and Kasper don't figure this out it will be the downfall of my hopes for this team
what tactical miracle would have pulled that match out? Placing our left midfielder on the right side. Having our d-mids only make square passes. Having our target forward play against the back shoulder of the second deepest defender. Please amaze me with this bit of tactical knowledge that only the posters here seem to have that Ben, Chad and I missed out on. I have explained my eyes only see as well as they do. HS, SD no difference. I fully understand the technical differences but I can't run to Walmart for new eyes.
Instructing our wingers to stay WIDE and on the sidelines would be a good start. Not allowing them to 'cut in'. Montreal was trying to play very compact and crowd the midfield. Then we have BOTH our wingers constantly cutting inside and crowding the midfield further. It was playing right into their hands. Stay wide, play wide- force Montreal to shift and open up. Every 'run' by a player doesn't have to be an overlap run by a FB. That was 90+% of the runs DCU made. Its all they know. Thats coaching and tactics. I learned those types of runs in travel team soccer before high school FFS. Not once do I remember seeing a DCU player from the midfield make a forward run (or diagonal runs) into space (dummy run)...forcing a Montreal player to follow- creating new space behind to be filled. The new space created is where the ball can be played- and now we have pulled Montreal out of shape. Those types of creative runs and play require footy IQ and coaching that we clearly lack. DCU play was very basic. Square balls, simple triangles, FB overlap runs. LAFC knew this...jumped those simple passes- countered and tore us apart. We show flashes of creativity and footy IQ when Rooney is on the pitch- because he is directing people where to go.
I'm not saying that would have won the match for us. But it might have given us more scoring opportunities... because we would have had more space to work with. Instead we were watching Lucho trying to thread passes through 3-4 Montreal players to our lone striker and having it picked off 10 times. Its clear Olsen only has a plan A. He doesn't have B or C in case A doesn't work.
I wondered why Stieber was on the right and Arriola on the left. Best I can figure, it was because McCann needs more help on defense than Jara. I would still rather see the two of them play in their natural positions, though.
Bingo. One of the reasons Arriola had such a poor game was that he was doing double duty -- always looking for McCann because clearly he had been instructed to, first, provide defensive cover. I also noted Moreno shifting over toward McCann's side when McCann ventured forward.
1) Outside backs make runs down the sideline. 2) Outside mids slide towards the middle. Thats what most clubs do.
While not a bad tactical adjustment it would have only helped marginally. There were way too many tired legs to make the passes needed to open up Montreal. Acosta showed little imagination and without Rooney he has to make the passes to unlock the door. Width would have unclogged the middle but there would have been no one taking advantage of that space you have created.
The usual Rooney/Acosta scenario has the two of them passing to each other frequently during a foray into the opponent's space, but Tuesday Segura, replacing Rooney, hardly ever touched the ball. Either he didn't show for it or Acosta didn't see him (or didn't trust him).
I agree. The tired legs compounded the problem against Montreal. Our lack of depth really hurts (along with sudden injuries), and Olsen's refusal to rotate players to keep the squad fresh will always be a problem. The schedule has been known for several months, rotation is needed to avoid tired legs. My thought about the width was to have midfielders making forward runs into the unclogged middle. But you are correct- if they have dead legs- those runs won't happen. Rotation?!? Fresh legs needed? Has Durkin taken a shit on Olsen's desk or something? WTF does he have to do to get minutes?! Frankly its embarrassing that he is not being rotated in at DM to give players a break. He should have been playing a full 90 on Tuesday imo... or at least a 30min sub to rest someone!
It seemed that no one seemed to get into space to receive a pass. I was doubtful that Rooney was directing all of this when he was on the field but after Tuesday I don't doubt as much. Since the ownership likes saving money so much why don't they fire Olsen, Ashton and the rest of the technical staff and make Rooney player-manager and let him bring in what cronies he wants to run practices?
I, too, am concerned about Durkin's lack of playing time. He turned down chances to go to Europe because he knew he wouldn't get minutes for some time. Now he is always in the 18 but rarely sees the field, because he is considered a Dmid and is slotted behind Canouse and Moreno. And even with injuries to our fullbacks he won't be in the mix because he is not considered a wide player. I'm concerned that Europe will look more attractive to him, especially after this year's under-20 WC.