Well, after the long road trip that saw DC United take 11 points out of 14 games off of a 2-7-5 record, it's a good time to see what you all think about the team at this point into the season. When assigning your grade, definitely take into account the situation the team was placed in; however, this grade should only be for the product on the field. This is not the place for bitching about Audi Field, ownership, or the front office. This is solely about the product on the field. For me, personally, I think I'd give them a C. This would break down to a B on offense, and a D on defense. Positives include Mattocks outperforming what most any of us expected, the inspired Arriola to the middle move, and the overall contributions from the front 5. Negatives include defense, a penchant for bad red cards, some uninspired substitution decisions, and a team wide ability to have brain farts at the worst times. Points were left on the table, for sure. But United winning its games in hand actually puts them tied for a playoff spot, so not all hope is yet lost.
Some quick stats to this point. Goals for per game: 1.64 Goals against per game: 2.07 Points per game ("home"): 2 Points per game (away): 0.583 Points per game (overall): 0.785 Top goals: Mattocks (8); Asad (7); Stieber (3) Top assists: Acosta (7); Arriola (6); Stieber (4)
C is average and the average team makes the playoffs, no? I graded us a D, as it's going to be exceedingly difficult to qualify for the post season with the record we've amassed thus far. B on offense seems right, but our defense has failed.
I can certainly see where you're coming from with your assessment. I admit I am giving the schedule situation a decent amount of weight when giving the overall grade.
Agree with all this and voted C. Would’ve voted C- if I could due to all the awful goals conceded and points dropped.
A D. The two wins raise the score above F. The defense is a shambles and the coaching (Orlando against 10 men/Toronto up 3-0) has been borderline awful. The ultimate measure is record and points. The fact that the offense “might” grade out at a B is irrelevant to the final grade because the defense is F—— and what in reality were blown 6 points in Orlando and Toronto are below average results. That means a D is the best the team can obtain.
I also gave the team a score of D. I agree the offense is a low B or B- But the defense is a solid F. They have been atrocious. Coaching staff gets a D- or F for me as well. Goofy substitution patterns, poor tactics, dropping points from winning positions falls on coaching (Orlando/Toronto).
Went with a D due to the amount of points dropped and the quality of teams that have beaten us. Philly, Seattle and Toronto are down right terrible and we only managed to get 1 point in those three games. DC managed to get the first goal in each of those games and in the case of TFC, we scored the first three goals. Vs Orlando was a perfect situation to start the game off right but we managed to come away with a point after being up a goal and a man for an hour. We seem to play up or down to our competition.
They're part of DCU's troubles, one could easily assert. I gave them a C; playing on the road in MLS is difficult. Playing the first half of a season with all those weird long breaks between games, mixed with many games in a short period, is even harder. I do not really expect the new stadium to make a giant difference in how our games play out, but it will be nice(ish) for the team to get back to playing every weekend again. Maybe the crowd can help goad the team/defense into not nodding off and letting leads evaporate, but the past does not really support that hope. It sure can't hurt though Not subbing off your creative players every time you have said leads may have more of an effect This has been a DCU "Tradition" since 1999 (maybe longer) - it's enough to drive one nutty.
He's good at scoring, especially from odd angles. I wish he'd never take another corner kick, he's not good at those. And he's not good at getting into a defensive position after launching the opponent's counter-attack nearly every time he takes one either. But getting into good positions in the attacking third, and finishing, he's pretty good at. This year we seem to be lacking in execution of set-pieces. This may be real or my imagination.
Asad seems to husband his efforts. Sometimes he hustles back on D after a failed attack; other times he trots back when he should be sprinting. Arriola and Stieber, to name two, always seem to be hustling, which makes Asad look bad by comparison.
All good observations. I wonder, though, it he'll be the guy Rooney sends to the bench. Worth noting--I completely forgot to watch the Toronto game, where he had a brace.
The product on the field earned a D. Mattocks might be praised by Ben and might have surpassed fan expectations but I wanted enough quality at #9 to earn us a playoff spot. He hasn't helped DC reach that bar. The team, for all it's flaws, created TONS of chances...most were squandered by Mattocks and with better finishing our record would be about average.
A stat analysis on an xG basis doesn't bear out this POV at all. If you look at Mattock's difference between the goals per 96 min he's scoring and the expected goals per 96 based on where he's getting these shots off etc., it's 0. Were he squandering a bunch of chances you'd expect this number to be less than zero. See https://www.americansocceranalysis.com/player-xg-2018/
I agree with this. Mattocks hustles and runs his butt off, but he scuffs or otherwise misplays too many of his chances to be considered a quality finisher. Yes, sitting our leading scorer for newbie Rooney might seem like foolish optimism about Rooney's abilities these days, but Mattocks has clear flaws in his game.
I got into this with Mattocks with someone here a bit ago. Agreed that he is not finishing everything, but no 27 year old striker in this league is. He still has 8 goals in 13 games. If he had 13 in 13 games at 27, he probably shouldn't be in MLS. I just don't think that guy exists. Especially not s Mattocks is already at a career high. Regardless, I don't see how you can put the blame on Mattocks for us not being in a playoff spot. He's doing his job. We've dropped a ridiculous amount of points in games where we've scored 2 or more goals. That's why we're not in the playoffs. Also the fact that we've had an opportunity for 9-12 points less than some teams.
In the off-season it was “Mattocks won’t bd the 15 goal scorer we need”. Now that he has 8 goals with plenty games to play its “He should have way more goals than this” and “he doesn’t make smart runs”
In the off-season it was “Mattocks won’t bd the 15 goal scorer we need”. Now that he has 8 goals with plenty games to play its “He should have way more goals than this” and “he doesn’t make smart runs” He has an outside shot at 20 goals and still can’t make people happy.
I'll take a look at those stats. If you say "he scores the amount that he should" based on where he's getting the shots than my first instinct is to investigate where the better strikers in in the league are taking their shots from and why... Don't really need stats to tell me whether he's missing opportunities, i watch the games.
I assumed somebody would say this cause it appears that the goalposts have been moved. That was never really my standard though I said he and Mullins would not be enough firepower to succeed in todays MLS. I don't care if this is his career high...if he scored 25 and every other team had 9s who score 30-40 goals we'd still be in trouble. DC has gambled on him and it hasnt been a complete failure but Mattocks hasn't accomplished what I hoped for our striker. Mabye this is leaking into criticism of the FO for not setting higher standards of success, I dunno. I think the points we dropped were within our grasp if our finishing improved. That's all.