Choose your own adventure! 1) Pick a headline: - The 2017 Major League Soccer season is upon us. - It is time. - Once again into the breach. - We. Together. 2) Pick a narrative: - Handball United are a bunch o' @#$%ing @#$%s. - A final fairwell to the raccoons inhabiting the locker rooms at that dump called RFK. - Does anyone even notice or care that it's been 13 years since DC won MLS Cup? - Astonishingly, SKC and DCU go into Saturday's match exactly equal on every statistical category imaginable. Inconceivable! 3) Pick a reason why we'll lose: - PV lost the plot 4 years ago. - Damn referees. - Just got unlucky. - We suck. 4) Pick a reason why we'll win: - We're so much deeper this year. - Thanks, referees! - Just got lucky. - We're awesome. 5) Pick a condiment(s) for your bratwurst: - Ketchup - Mustard - Relish - Sauerkraut 6) Judge everyone who uses the wrong condiment(s) in (5) 7) ??? 8) Profit!
when that joke first appeared on south park was right about the time when i stopped watching south park. i wanna say it was around 98 or 99. i don't really know why i stopped; it's not because i didn't find it funny anymore ... but i always kinda feel like it's beneath me or something. that's a terrible explanation, though, because i still watch shows like family guy and american dad, and much of their humor is about as low-bar as it gets. but about the game, i have no idea. i'm finding it hard to ignore the thrashing that our "depth" took against new england in preseason. actually, i'm not sure if i've really seen any tremendous signs of encouragement from anything done in preseason. now, that's probably not fair as i haven't paid a whole lot of attention to it. i figured, though, if there was anything really noteworthy or anyone really standing out, i'd have heard about it through one of the channels. in theory, i like having more youth and more speed, but i'm entirely unconvinced that these new players are for real. i guess my missouri is showing. they need to show me.
I think the only good thing coming out of this game is that SKC will never have to play another game in RFK stadium again.
Dwyer's availability is in question, he apparently had a born bruise that the team was worried was a break.
This is my takeaway from preaseason. We can all debate the lack of merit to assign a preseason, but I still wanted to see (or hear) of more individual splashiness. Don't really care about the preaseason W/L record.
I'm almost exactly the same. I think I've watched about 6 complete episodes of South Park in my life. I just never got into it at all. Love Family Guy, though.
Yeah. Really disappointed Jimmy is back on the forward line. I thought he finally found a home at fullback. He's never inspired attacking confidence in me. Much less than other options, fo sho.
so did i miss it (i ff through some of the dead ball and dull bits) or did we not make even one substitution? surely we could've given the ghanaian wonderkid 10-15 min right? he couldn't have been less effective (or more selfish) than medranda. i thought ilie was very composed (except for the dumb foul right outside our box) and looks like we may have something there. gerso was alright, though he certainly faded in the second half. he completely lacked any sort of end product, though. it really felt like we dominated the game, so i'm disappointed we didn't find a way to nick a goal somewhere and get the three points. at the same time, i'm fine with a draw on the road in the first game, as we didn't look much like conceding (with the exception of besler's brain shutting off for a moment at the beginning there). great save (and 2nd save) on the pk by melia, too.
1. Ilie. It's only one game.........but he looked calm and fantastic. 2. Gerso. He's a threat without a finish. But at least a threat. Again, upgrade. 3. Medranda. Poor first half, better (but still below average) second. He's improved over 2 years. But we aren't winning the league with him up top. 4. Zusi. The old frame looked serviceable at FB. 5. Besler and Opara..........not inspiring confidence; but it's early. 6. Dom. Still can't link with anyone. And that ain't changing. Ever. So keep poaching, Dom. Pulled out a draw in a game we controlled but should have lost. On a what appeared to be a high school field somewhere in Jersey.
Nope, no subs, although Saad was up ready when the whistle blew Agree on Gerso, looked good, but completely lacked the final ball, whether it was a cross, pass, shot, or dribble, just didn't execute at the end.
All these ^ things for me. The Ilie - Benny partnership may be the harbinger of our season. For today, the duo almost made Benny look a little like the new guy. Hes such a better passer forward, if Ilie can break up play like Mustivar, we might have something. Haircut aside, I liked the new com tonight. He seemed soccer honest in what he saw - which felt refreshing. And bonus, he seemed to keep Bukatey on topic, which betters the broadcast. FSKC needs to call and dispense their replays quicker tho.
Gerso was a bright spot, but needs to work on finishing plays. DC looked atrocious, to be honest. All kinds of sloppy clearances and nothing dangerous going forward....
Yeah, pretty much my read as well. Ilie is a huge addition, finally makes the midfield feel solid again. Feilhaber + Espinoza + Ilie is a winning combo, the question is, how many games are we going to see all three of them play? Besler didn't look great for the first 20 or 30, but he did get better as the game went on and the second half looked solid. Same as the end of last season, I think Besler-Opara is our best CB pairing. I'd love to see EPB work his way into a starting role, though. Zusi at RB works. He definitely gives us more attacking out of the back, and he's always been good at getting back and breaking up plays. There were a few times when he dribbled out of the back with the pose of someone who'd been playing there their entire career. I feel like we can be burned there, but all in all it's a good positional change. Honestly, I'd be more comfortable with Medranda at LB than Sinovic. I love Seth, but even when he's not having a bad day he feels like he's lost a step and is at best, non-detrimental. Would love to see Medranda get moved back and Blessing get a start up top. Melia looking pretty sharp again early on. That PK double save was great, especially that second save. One strategical concern I had last night: with all the width we had in our squad, we sure did try to play down the middle a lot...
I was thrilled to get a point from that match. A PK save (and the follow-up shot) and saves off the line by Medranda and Dwyer. Hamid made a nice save on Benny's FK. Otherwise, we didn't seem to challenge him much.
We had a couple hard shots from Dom and Medranda, but either right at Hamid or off target. I really like what I saw from both Ilie and Gerso. Again, only one game, but Ilie was so cool, calm, and collected. Looked like there wasn't anything that could phase him. Made making the simple one-touch pass look so easy and efficient. Gerso - I really liked that he had a nose for the box. He was always looking to drive forward. He did make some pretty crosses as well. No results yet, but it's still early. From the passing I saw between him and Benny, I think the two of them are going to combine on a bunch of goals this year. I really like having Zusi at RB. I don't care what his salary is or if he's a DP or not, that is a great fit for him at this point. He's very good defensively, and is obviously so comfortable driving forward up the line and joining the attack. I feel like that side of the field is a lot more dangerous with Zusi back instead of SAS or definitely Juliao. Overall I was encouraged by the overall play. We looked like a strong possession team with some ideas on how to break the opponent down, just didn't get it done yesterday. I do want to see what Blessing can bring instead of Medranda though. Next game, I hope Medranda starts for Seth and Blessing on right wing. I like Matt Lawrence. Good insights and what seemed like neutral, non-homerish commentary. Bukaty either needs to shut up completely, or just stick to the pbp on the field. Don't give us long expository conversations about video instant replay, why Gerso and Ilie have their first names on their shirts, opinions about PKs and trying to make them "controversial", or anything else other than describing the actual play on the field. Please.