D.C. United vs. Atlanta United Audi Field - Washington D.C March 3 - 6:00 PM ET ESPN MLSsoccer.com preview (such as it is) here. AJC.com preview pending. Somewhere between the lingering glow of the MLS Cup triumph, the fog of off-season roster changes, and the red mist of dealing with CONCACAF Champions League refereeing, the MLS regular season has walked right up and demanded our attention. Barely 3 months removed from being crowned champions for last season it's time to lace up the boots and begin defending said crown. Wake up, footie fans! It's matchday! The Five Stripes march northward on Sunday to take on one of the likely contenders for the Eastern Conference as they visit Audi Field and Wayne Rooney's DC United. Having helped DCU climb from the basement into the playoffs last season, and seeing Acosta NOT complete a move to PSG, fans in The District are anxious to see what a full season of Wayne's World could bring! Especially given that Audi Field, butchered corner and all, has given the team a bona fide home that provided all the atmosphere and intimacy needed to help produce 11 wins in 15 games. DC fans will also know that their team is rested while Atlanta is coming off a mid-week match, so they'll see this as a prime chance to get 3-points off a key contender for this season. For DCU the script is simple - Everything is hinged on the attacking fervor of Moreno, Acosta, Arriola, and Rooney. What the Englishman lack in pace he has more than made up for with his positioning and, much to my surprise, a near perfect read of play for passing and setting up his teammates. Can he continue such displays for a full season in the States? Will MLS teams have figured something out to help counter his impact? Regardless of those answers DCU has shown in the preseason the intent to try to stick with and build upon that Plan A. Midfield addition Lucas Rodriguez should give the team even more attacking width, which would help Acosta find even more space to run off Rooney and keep the heads of opposing defenders on swivels. For Atlanta if the CCL matches are any indication the tools are there to pick up where the Five Stripes left off but so too are the defensive lapses that can cost a match. Atlanta routinely struggles against a successful high press, especially one with potent goal scorers, and while DCU did not exhibit that as their normal approach they may try it on Sunday in hopes of bull-rushing Atlanta. I've routinely touted Nagbe's ability to hold the ball and manage the game as key to helping the Stripes' defense under these scenarios, and suspect he and/or someone else must do this tomorrow to ensure DCU doesn't get to dictate the match. (a la TFC in last season's final regular season game.) If FdB sticks with a back 3 it's likely those 3 will need to stay back and offer next to nothing in support of the attack. The good news here is that Atlanta's attack got on track Thursday and should still remain a potent threat. What's not yet known is how Atlanta might shuffle the lineup with an eye toward Wednesday's match with Monterrey. Drop in Larentowicz for Remedi and Tito for Barco? Give Bello another shot? Odds are something will be done and/or subs will be used slightly earlier than expected to offer as much respite as possible. Oh yeah, it should be in the 40's and possibly raining during the match, too. Either Atlanta's CCL play helps their sharpness in a less-than-sexy 2-2 draw, or fatigue comes in and DCU wins 3-1. If I'm way off I blame it on being in early season form myself. Vamos Atlanta!
I am expecting a lot of lineup changes... Andrew Carlton gets a start. Is Bello healthy? If so play him, if not Shea gets another shot. Remdi, Barco, and Pity all sit to be ready for Wednesday's game in Monterrey. We have the depth to rest players and still earn points from this match.
Shaky first half... if Arriola played for the US how he does against Atlanta every time, he’d be starting in Europe somewhere.
I don’t think this 343 formation fits us. We don’t have good wide midfielders. I’d rather see us go with a 433.
I’d drop Shea and Ambrose back to Atlanta United 2 after that display and switch to a 433 which fits our team better anyways... My main group GK Guzan RWB Gressel, Escobar CB Parkhurst, Robinson CB LGP LWB Bello, Pogba DM Remedi, Larentowicz MF Nagbe, Gressel* AM Barco RW Villalba FW Martínez LW Pity ————Martínez————— —Pity——————-Villalba— ——-Barco——-Nagbe——— Bello——Remedi——Gressel ——Parkhurst—LGP———— —————Guzan—————- Tactics: *Keep our backline organized, with Remedi/Larentowicz shielding the backline. Bello and Gressel provide the wide outlet. *I like Robinson, and I like Parkhurst and LGP, but they don’t have to all start every game. We can rotate the three. *I don’t know if Pogba can play LB well or not (transfermarkt) says he can, but have not seen to tell if he can or not. That said, either Escobar or Gressel might have to learn to play on the left side if Bello isn’t up to snuff yet. *Barco is a midfielder, in my opinion. He doesn’t offer that lethal instinct we need in the final third to be a good striker, but he does move and circulate the ball well too. He’s also a pretty good tackler when he wants to be. If I’m DeBoer, I’m having a heart to heart with him and letting him know, he’s a midfielder. *That said, Barco and Nagbe are the bread and butter of bringing the ball up the field... with Nagbe dropping a little deeper when needed to find the game. Who subs in for them though? Haven’t figured that out yet. I guess Kratz or maybe Carleton (if he ever pulls his head out his ass). *Lastly, we let Pity-Villaba-Josef work their magic up top. We just need at least one ideal sub to come in... unfortunately, I’ve lost faith that man is Carleton... and I doubt Vasquez is too. Whereas I know Williams isn’t. And Wild and Gallagher are totally unproven. And Pereira could be a wild card. Common subs: Attackers: Carleton, Vasquez, Wild, Gallagher, Williams, Pereira (one of these guys needs to take their game to the next level) Midfielders: Kratz, Goslin, Asiedu (same here) Fullback: Ambrose (sort of an emergency fill in) Defender: Larentowicz*, Pogba* (other positions) Looking at this cohort: *We need a Gressel version on the left side.(McCann money?) *I’d trade one of our forwards for a young center back. My pick for that would be Romario Williams. *We need a quality back up attacker. Please God: let’s never see Shea nor that shitty 343 formation again.
Why does he play with 3 in back? You need fast players for that and more support from the midfield. ATL is gonna learn the hard way against Monterrey with that defense
Shea is an enigma. Played so well last Thursday and yet was truly horrid last night. Perhaps it was the slop of a field, but with his speed when pushing forward he needs to get by that first defender before attempting a cross. Time after time, he simply bounced his cross off the defender for a meaningless throw-in. Not sure what we do about that Wednesday night, as Bello seemed to have the same issue in his start against Herediano, but at least Bello doesn't get caught ball watching in the back. We need to figure out something on that left side.
I’m worried DeBoer has no idea what he’s doing. That line-up was so disjointed that it was one of the most obvious coaching blunders I can recall. In a sense, he placed all the emphasis on our weakest players (Shea and Ambrose) instead of looking to maximize on our strengths. I get it. He likes a 343 but when your wide midfielders disappear in a formation like that there’s nowhere to go. Multiple times our defense had no outlet pass to the wing because they were pressed too high; which caused our defenders to cover that space; and our center mids crumbled like a deck of cards leaving our spine unporotected. Every damn time, we just get out coached by Ben Olsen. If DC United were a better team that game should have got out of hand. For the love of God, DeBoer, forget the 343. It’s a hard formation to implement; especially when we don’t have the player pool to maximize it. This team is built for a 4123 formation all day long. We need him to hurry up and see that.
Guys, we lost on the road in horrible weather to a team that will probably be in in the mix for supporters shield if they stay healthy. And the two goals given were off a questionable corner and an uncharacteristic mistake from Guzan. It'll be fine. We lost to a worse team in worse fashion last year and things turned out ok. Yes, the wing play was awful. Both Shea and Ambrose were the weak links last night. But we'll have Gressel for the right, and I have to think either Bello or Shea will figure it out by midseason. Until Escobsr is back a four-man backline is out of the question. I love Julien, and he seems to be able to play anywhere, but I'd rather not have to play him at RB for an extended period of time. He's too valuable farther up field. It's been three games. Give it time.
A road game in bad weather after a Thursday game, with a lot of the same players on the field. Kind of glad I was in the swamp with the Army for this one. Plus, it's DC on the road, so kind of a tradition to lose that one. I'm not putting a whole lot of stock into that game. Atlanta clearly put all their practice and film hours into Herediano this week, and hopefully they're doing the same for Monterrey these next two weeks. That being said, I still expect to lose or draw against Monterrey on the road and win against the new kids at home next weekend. Maybe they'll prove me wrong and get a win in Mexico, but I'll happily take a 0-0 draw.
I am not panicking nor ready for FdB to abandon his tactics. I am just frustrated that I don't know which Brek Shea is going to so up... the stiff wooden hack from Sunday or the effect threat from last Thursday? If Bello isn't ready we need Brek to be productive. As for Sunday's loss... the game was played in a swamp during a winter monsoon and even Tata couldn't beat DC in DC with a team looking forward to a game in Mexico. I am going to file that one with last year's opening 4-0 loss to Houston. Now lets see if we can't get something out of tomorrow's match in Monterrey. A draw would be sweet, but a even an away goal in a close match would be good.
If the team is improvising in defense because of escobar then a line of 3 is not the way to go. Parkhurst doesnt have the speed nor pace for that. The back line is constantly exposed to the opponents attacks. Dc could easily scored a couple more goals and thats concerning considering who they are and the fact the goals came from set pieces and not game play. I guess we will see how well they do against monterrey
This formation is no different than what we played during the playoffs last season and I doubt any different than what Tata would be playing right now. Parkhurst doesn't need the speed when he playing as the last man back, his job is to read to run of play and cut off attacks. To be honest, that is his strength, not trying to chase do players much faster than he his. Our problems are with the wing players. Hopefully Gressel is a go tonight and Brek can play like he did Thursday.