Wow, less than 4 hours til kickoff and no thread! United play the Sporks at Audi Field tonight. 1900 listed start time; kickoff closer to 1925 due to FS1 coverage. Vamos!
Finally! Arriola was having a hard time getting a pass to connect and did it himself this time. Great goal.
Hamid was huge when needed. Transitions were quick and purposeful. Players seem to know where to be and how to move to space. Left back is the starter going forward. What a beast. James
I miss the old days when I could come on this board after a win and read all the happy posts. I suspect a lot of the traffic is on twitter these days, but it’s too hard to filter through that mess.
Pedroso is so new he isn't even listed on the DCU website roster, but he looks to be a keeper. Fast, strong, puts in good crosses and defends well.
People are probably heading home, tired, wet (all of the above). Tomorrow is a workday for most. I enjoyed what I saw. James
I just got home. Good win. Wasn't pretty but I'll take the 3pts. We could have easily scored several more off set pieces. Numerous times KC was scrambling on the goaline after a corner or that Rooney FK.
We got home a little after 11:00. Just infuriating watching all the needless turnovers. Back and forth, pretty even, not a lot of continuity, then Arriola scored the screamer to steal the 3 points. We were sitting out in the open, in the top row in the corner, to the left of the supporters, as you look at them. It was pretty miserable, and got worse when the precip picked up around the 60 minute mark. We didn't buy any food, and sure didn't want an ice-cold beer! They would have made a fortune if they'd sold coffee or hot chocolate.
Lots of fans dressed as grey and black seats. I would expect real numbers - 11,000 not the 12,000 they report. Oh and don't try the "everyone was at the concessions/ party deck" with this one. It looked really bad on national TV.
I couldn't sell my tickets and watched from TV. Even though my seats are covered, I always manage to get really wet at Audi Field. It's just not fun. I did enjoy the game though. I really liked our patience in the attack. KC sat back and defended more than I would have guessed. I was very pleased with Lucho. He took care of the ball and waited until the final 3rd to try his tricks. None really succeeded, but at least he allowed the team to consolidate the attack into the final 3rd with regularity. I also liked our movement off the ball. We saw numerous passes to players who were on the run. Canouse also had several one touch passes that allowed us to open up the field when KC put in their midfield traps. Moreno had a few as well. Both guys did a brilliant job of finding our 3 attacking midfielders. The final 3rd play was mostly ho-hum. Defensively it appeared that we really tried to make them attack through the middle and that worked well. The new LB played ok and pushed forward into the attack a lot. I'm anxious for Pines to get well and play more. His speed is going to allow Canouse/Moreno to be more aggressive in the counter-press (which was also excellent all night). Our center mids are probably the most conservative when we counter press (and that was likely by design last night). Credit to the coaches (who I normally don't rate) as the game plan was excellent. The only real KC chances came from mistakes/slips.
I tell you what, those roof panels are so transparent they let the rain through Mostly fun game to watch. I like seeing the team transitioning on offense much faster again, their play seemed to have slowed the last month or so - but last night they were back to moving forward when we picked up the ball. Of course the lack of scoring after those offensive soirees got old after a while and you just knew KC would have one lucky shot that won (or later tied) the game. They came close but thankfully they suck at shooting the ball. That ball that squeaked past the post with 8 seconds left on the clock (when the clock should have run out 20 seconds earlier) sucked all the air out of my body - made it harder to scream with delight as it trickled over the endline Rodriguez is getting more comfortable and his quick movement is very helpful in making more space for others. I like the new guy, showed a lot of promise and was solid in his positiioning - seemed a little hesitant a few times, but you can't blame him for that, he's been here less than a Scaramucci. Nice to get a look at (and to clap for) Durkin before he heads off to the U-20 games. I always enjoy when Peter Vermes loses, I can't stand him - which is too bad, I don't feel otherwise bad about Kansas's team. Can we save cold rainy games for October though?
It really helped that almost all of KCs starting lineup was injured. They lack speed and dynamism. Everything was funneled through Russell. James
Is that their #7 - he was a whiny prick who dove and lost the ball a lot. Diving is generally a graceful thing so maybe there's a better name for that faking-being-fouled thing he kept doing whenever he'd lose the ball (usually to Canouse or Moreno)
Yep, that's KC's number 7. Their number 2 looked way too much like Michael Bradley. My mom didn't like him either - she called him an ass.
I agree with you guys. Overall, much better transition into the attack. SKC definitely read the scouting report and tried to clog the middle of the field to limit space for Lucho and Rooney. They were daring our flank players to beat them. It left lots of space out wide, and Jara and Pedroso (the latter less frequently) did a good job overloading the flanks with solid chemistry combining with Arriola and Titi. This lead to several good crosses. I think SKC was willing to take their chances there, as our #9 is 5 foot 9. Got to give the coaches credit for allowing Arriola the freedom to switch to the opposite wing. On the left, he was able to cut inside onto his shooting foot and it resulted in the goal. Also, have to acknowledge (once again) the soccer IQ of Rooney. Dropping back in to the midfield at times (and keeping it unpredictable) often lead to moments of numerical superiority in that part of the field. It made it easier to transition from defense to attack. In addition, when he was actually able to get the ball in those positions, his passing and decision making were excellent. Great team win. 3 points! Vamos!
Rooney's passes have been off the last few games, and I think its mostly attributed to fatigue. We CANNOT expect to have him play 90 min every game and not burn out or experience a drop in performance. Finding a suitable backup CF (and no i don't believe Amarikwa is the answer) has to be the number one priority for this team otherwise the team is going to suffer as the season wears on.
Two things happened this weekend ... I chastized my best U10 player for not using his left and the next day I did the same thing to Paul Arriola. There was an opportunity in the middle of the second half where he cut in from the right wing and had the opening to shoot but passed on it, made another move followed by a poor pass. At least Jordan Morris would have taken some ugly shot with the outside of his off foot in a similar situation.
What was face, what were you asking and what were the prices around your seats? I was out of town so I didn’t do my usual perusal of tickets before the game. People aren’t selling for what the market is willing to pay has been my experience, though. Thx, Jay!
I decided too late not to go to the game to get full credit for returning my tickets. So I put them up for sale at about 2/3 value, which was still above the FAM. They finally sold at 4 pm Sunday. Rain, Cold, Mothers Day, etc - all had impact on attendance.