Our problem isn't Halsti. Our problem isn't Coria. Our problem is that Dallas generated 26 shots to our 6. That's not a typo. They had more than 4x as many shots as we did. They had 4x as many shots on target as we did. (8 to our 2). They had 3x as many shots off target (12 to our 4). They had six blocked shots to our zero. ZERO. How the ^*$% are we supposed to win a game, much less draw one, if we can't take a goddamn shot? Yeah, Coria's turnover sucked, but it wasn't our downfall. Kitchen was on the wrong side of the player on FCD's first goal, but that wasn't our downfall. Our downfall is that this team's only consistent tactic is "hope the defense holds and we get lucky on the other end." Ferchristssake we didn't even score our goal. We could get whomever you want as a forward but that's not going to help, because we can't unlock a midfield/defensive third to save our lives. We can't recognize good runs, we can't make use of space, we can't get the ball where we want it. All that speaks to our midfield tactics. Hell, I didn't even see much use of the ol' u12 triangles from midfield forward.
Halsti is a starter. He can not find s game in the closing stages. We shouldn't have bought him if not to start. Ben and the FO need to get on the same page with signings. If Ben isn't going to play your big money euro guy save the cash and get two or three MLS pine riders with bite who will play. Halsti's injury was not well timed but we aren't generating offense with Davy. James
I actually had to check the roster to see if there was another Jeffrey I couldn't remember. Jared has barely shown himself to be MLS bench quality to me. It did help me to read that comment with Olsen's voice in mind though.
I didn't find that particularly heartbreaking. Did Dallas really only have 26? I swear they had 25 with ten minutes to go and I thought they generated more. That was just - well, I think Dallas managed to confused the hell out of DC's defense. I mean, Kemp and DeLeon and Kitchen and Doyle got twisted and turned one v. one all night, but there were also far too many open Dallas players whom the defense lost track. I will say this, DC recovers defensively so quickly and then moves into the attack so comparatively slowly that it is mind-boggling. That was a poor performance. Kitchen looked bad, he was on the wrong side or a step behind all night. Aguilar didn't impress me. I'm thinking he has MLS journeyman written all over him. Signs of life, but never quite manages to do enough with what he's got. The offense looked . . . jesus. No one anticipates anyone else's runs. DC will execute a few give-and-goes in tight spaces around the 18, but when actually countering, the balls are never into space or to where a player will be, they are constantly to the player is, who then has to stop, slowing, if not killing, the attack. What few balls were played in anticipation of runs were mostly unrewarded (in defense of Doyle, and I never thought I would say this, he looked more intelligent than most of DC players out there. He seemed to at least know where runs should have been made). Can we also discuss that DC seems to have a semi-competent attack any time they go down a goal? It's not great, by any means, but after 75 minutes of doing #$%^ all, they go down a goal and then generate real chances. Before anyone says that's because teams allow DC more possession once they're in the lead, I'd say maybe, but the attack also becomes more penetrating and effective, DC does more with what it has, not just possesses the ball more in the attacking third. I actually didn't hate Halsti's performance. He certainly had a few bad giveaways, but I lump a lot of that up to his expecting players to move forward, to generate some sort of offense, to attempt to break the pressure on the defense, but when he looked up field, he had one, maybe two options, each covered by two guys. Regardless, what I did seem him do was attempt to maintain possession instead of high school clearancing every ball back to midfield so Dallas could restart their attack. It didn't always work and he picked some bad passes, but I actually thought he was a net plus when he came in.
I get the feeling that loss was the beginning of a downward slope towards mid table mediocrity where we belong.
I thought Dykstra had a good game. The goals were not really his fault and he had several nice saves. I thought Arrieta had a decent game; if he could have stayed onside he might have had a goal. The back line was pretty solid considering they were on their heels the entire game. The goals were pretty random, resulting from unlucky bounces. The problem was the midfield. Unable to hold possession and no attacking threat whatsoever. Doyle, DeLeon, Arnaud and Kitchen have a total of 4 goals and 7 assists all season. There is just nothing there for the other team to worry about. I would put Rolfe out wide and start Halsti and Coria over Doyle and Arnaud. Halsti and Coria at least look to move the ball upfield and attack the other team's goal. Yes, Rolfe is better in the middle, but you have to get your best 11 players on the field.
You repeated, almost word for word, what I've been chirping about on another United blog. The midfield is uninspired, but it doesn't have to be. The team needs to find a balance between defending and threatening. I often daydream about what I would do with this team if I was the coach. First off, I would anchor Halsti in front of the backline and turn Kitchen loose as a destroyer. Having said that, I would have Kitchen lean left to help Kemp, who I would absolutely play almost always. We know he struggles with defending, but he's been in the middle of an inordinate amount of United goals. You can mitigate his weakness by playing DeLeon in front of him for his defensive acumen and lean Kitchen that way when United doesn't have the ball. On the other side, I would flip the dynamic by having Coria play the mid, looking to attack and create, with steady Eddie Birnbaum behind him. Birnbaum is a smart player who will slow attacks from his side, as well as help in the middle as needed. Coria could then sneak central, using his left foot to shoot and pass and create, something DeLeon can't or won't do. Next season, I would get better players to man the flanks, but until then, I would seek some balance to the team to be a threat instead of a gutsy group that can outwork anybody as well as get outplayed by anybody.
I ain't sayin' you're wrong, but we did lose to a stoppage time goal, away, to the now league leaders. Fans of other top table teams might find that disappointing or heart-breaking, but understandable. That said, I'm not sure other fans of other top table teams would have watched their team spend 90 minutes looking like they were desperately trying to fend off a loss and feeling that it was just a matter of time before the other team scored.
And the one time when Arrieta had a chance for a breakaway Arnaud saw the opportunity too late... Ben has a woodie for Davie...
Well, technically if none of their shots go in we get a draw, which is part of the strategy. The other part is in trying to steal a goal by a chance counterattack. Bennaccio.
I respect that, but I feel we are lacking ideas for goal scoring opportunities. Every game it seems the opponent has increasingly figured out how to shut down our options. I am hoping Saborio might be a good way to expand our vision a bit.
My thoughts: 1. If we are not going to use Halsti, we need to trade or sell him and add a piece that will help this team going forward. 2. Injuries are killing us right now. Constantly shuffling the roster just to fill the holes contributed to dropping points late in matches. Every team goes through this period, it's our time. 3. Production up top. Hopefully Saborio is what the Dr. or Kasper ordered to get us putting up points again. Espindola is constantly missing games and Rolfe disappears for long stretches in matches. 4. Different playing style in away games. I understand the high Dallas heat had something to do with the tactics, but too often the squad goes into an ultra defensive mode when not in the hollow halls of RFK. 5. This game went downward once Korb went out with an injury and all Olsen could do was shuffle his pieces around to cover that attack. Thought Korb had a great first half.
I don't anymore because our roster is so frustrating it doesn't matter how you line them up there will be weaknesses. Maybe if you have a healthy in form Pontius it would open things up, but Pontius is not even on my radar … I like the idea of a 3 man/5 man hybrid backline ----------------------------------Hamid ----------------Opare-----------Boswell----------Birnbaum De Leon-----------------Kitchen-------Halsti---------------------Kemp ---------------------------------Espindola --------------------------Saborio---------Rolfe or the Chelsea 4-2-3-1 ----------------------------------Hamid Franklin-----------Boswell----------------Birnbaum----------Kemp ---------------------Kitchen---------------Halsti ----------De Leon--------------Espindola----------Rolfe ----------------------------------Saborio
Well, yes, but odds are not in our favour if we're allowing that many shots. To sleep...perchance to dream....
That's been my position on guys like Boskovic, Salihi and Halsti. Unless they're injured, they should be starting, unless and until they show that they're not an MLS-quality starter. Having a guy making near-DP money to sit on the bench makes no sense. Are there any players on the team who are a better choice to play Halsti's position?
Halsti has yet to put in even one good performance for this team. He was absolutely terrible last night in limited minutes. I understand that many on this forum have high expectations for the guy because he was born in Europe. But he hasn't actually done anything yet to warrant the raging boner this forum has for him. I hope he can put it all together someday but you guys need to lower your hopes tremendously.
The European pedigree doesn't do anything for me, one way or the other. Rather, it's his salary- he's one of the highest paid guys on the team. That, to me, indicates that someone inside the DCU organization (such as it is) felt that he was a worthwhile addition to the team, in a starting capacity. Without a clearly better option, he should be starting unless/until there's a higher quality replacement. The alternative is actually depressing to contemplate- that Halsti was signed without the team actually knowing what they wanted from him.
That applied to Eddie Johnson as well, so is not just "big money euro guy". Now some may argue that nobody could have predicted the final outcome, but he was riding the pine before and he did have a big attitude before coming here that the front office dismissed away.
I find it hard to believe that either he sucks or we didn't know what we were getting. We played Malmo twice in pre season and the team stated that's where they discovered him. If your staff get to see him in person and then scout him and you still screw it up, that's extremely poor.
I'm really not sure where we belong. It seemed like we were missing 5 or 6 players that could have been in the starting lineup or at least the 18 today. Hamid, Franklin, Pontius, Farfan, Espindola, Saborio... I'd say 4 are lock starters plus Pontius and Farfan. On any given day with our full roster, you'd probably have one of them start. I'll wait until we get a few of them back hopefully before I give up on this team. But the other night was frustrating to watch. Also, we've had 21 different lineups over the course of 22 games I think. Being on top of the East despite that is pretty amazing. But yeah we've just almost held on for the last two road losses.