I think that they were overwhelmed by the weather. I lived in Oregon for six years and I can report that there is no humidity in Western Oregon. Also, there are no outdoor swimming pools in Western Oregon. I think that physically they were just blown away in the second half.
I was there last week and actually attended a Timbers match. I think they were confused by the lack of man-buns in the stands and Tecate?
The selective memory is tragic. In the 60th minute he fed Mullins for a point-blank attempt that should have resulted in a goal as well. NDL's point blank attempt was on a rebound after he was crashing the goal to his left and the ball ended up to his right. One begets more criticism than the other. EDIT: Unless Mullins can't shoot at all with his right foot? Noticed he received ball on his right and took a pretty awkward shot with his left, while a one-timer would have had 60%+ of the net open to him?
I distracted them by cursing and slipped the caps in my pocket. Good analysis by Boloni. Some other random thoughts: We have been really lucky with Franklin and Kemp this year. Not only is their play pretty solid, but they have stayed healthy. With Korb out (now officially for the rest of the year), I don't even know who is second string, because they have not been needed. We do look better with NDL not starting. I don't dislike the guy, I just wish he was better. If we could get our attacking players to score some more goals, we could be a pretty decent team. You may call me a dreamer... All things considered, a good night out at the park - other than feeling bloated all niught from drinking so much water.
NDL -- 0 goals and 0 assists, the criticism is justified. He's got a motor, he's fit, he tries hard -- he's just not very good for a midfield player. I do think his best position, and probably a career saving move would be to right back. He actually could wreak havoc on the overlap as his skill set is better than Franklin's, though still not up to par for a wing midfield player.
I rather like the idea of DeLeon as one of our first guys off the bench. He has played all the midfield positions. He seems like he would have the skillset necessary to play outside back. If we were protecting a lead you can even throw him in as the high-pressure, non-scoring forward that Ben seems to like. Obviously if his career is going to continue he needs to score and assist from time to time, but for now he gives the illusion of depth on the bench thanks to his versatility. I was certain we made a mistake not adding any outside backs in the off-season. Glad to see that has mostly not been a problem. Mullins does a lot of things right. If he can just get his finishing consistent he might indeed be starter quality. We've done a decent job in the last few years of plugging holes with solid role players. It's felt for a while that we just needed to find our Javier Morales or Federico Higuain, a reasonably priced SA midfielder to provide the creative spark that unlocks defenses for our pretty good role players. Acosta over the last three games has been that type of player and the team has responded with 5 goals and a lot of chances.
QFT. His only mistake was when he took an extra touch on Nicky's cross and wasn't able to toe-poke it into the net (he still earned a corner). Simply one-timing the ball was the better decision. I like the way he plays. For one thing, he is a forward who plays, well, forward. Midfielders pretty much know where to look for him, whereas Espindola could be anywhere on the pitch. And, despite what some have said, Mullins isn't slow.
Yesterday it was the best game we played for a long, long time... I think since the first NYRB match in May... We all know who was missing yesterday... concidence?
His play last night was not bad and not nearly the worst on the pitch as some would make it out to be. His positioning was good, and he would have had a better opportunity than the point blank play (angles matter!), if he was hit with a pass 2 seconds earlier. I'm surprised he's earning $235k this season...that seems high. I expect if DC United doesn't sign him in the offseason he'll be making $100-125k somewhere else. A very serviceable player that would improve if Olsen wasn't the coach.
His play in 3/4 of the field is good, if a little timid. The only issue I have is tends to be too static, Jeffrey is much more proactive. But he can run circles around Jeffrey, and plays great defense without fouling. But the 18 is his kryptonite. Acosta puts him through and his shot/chip is so wayward it goes out for a throw. He chest traps at the top of the 18, and falls backward. The gulf in technique between him and Sam seems insurmountable. It's not like he hasn't had plenty of chances, he is simply inept.
It was good to see DC united beat the defending MLS champs, and get into playoff position as a result. The team looked good taking the game to the Timbers, they need to do that from here on out. Luciano Acosta is the most talented player on DC United since Christian Gomez, and he seems to be getting into the groove now.
I pull myself out of that "people" - never said a word about Ashton, neither positive nor negative. I do not have any meanings to judge his work, so I won't. But I'd like to see what he can do for a few more games...
He subbed both wings and the forward, which was by the book. That's a good thing. Theoretically, DeLeon helps batten down the hatches while Sabo and Lamar can run at tired legs. Jeffrey, Sarvas, and especially Acosta made that possible by being warriors. Short of a third goal, they finished it off cleanly.
Correct. The only question left was Sabo or Igbo. Ashton made the right call because he needed a calming presence and someone who could play hold up at forward. Those subs were possible because the rest of midfield completely dominated Portland. Acosta was going full speed in second half extra time. Right now, the guy is on fire, I hope he's coming into his own, he has the ability to be something special.
Also, Nyarko is still easing back from an injury. And he's more of an offensive threat than defensive presence. So bringing NDL on at the midpoint of the half was smart.
Fun night, even with the high temps that made for a slightly more subdued tailgate time. It was nice to stroll into the stadium a bit late and be ahead 1-0 instead of behind by 2 Thankfully I set the DVR correctly accounting for the shift in game time and was able to see that first goal when I got home. Well, I guess I could have set it incorrectly and still seen the first goal, but I got the whole game and post-game We got halfway to the gate and realized we had forgotten to bring our free bottle of water up, so I had to get a vodka&lemonade inside to provide for hydration Acosta is really looking like he feels this is his team and he's getting into a nice groove, his movement in midfield without the ball is really improving (and he's almost always fun to watch with the ball), if someone can teach Mullins how not to have such a heavy touch, those two could really get a good partnership going; they seem to anticipate each others moves pretty well, but one of them is a markedly better passes than the other - though that deft looping pass to Acosta was a nice thru-ball with the path to Acosta on the ground blocked by too many Timber feet. Had a great view of that goal from section 232 that was unmatched by the TV coverage. Jeffrey is really coming into his own lately, it's fun to see someone developing. Every few games he loses his mind and slides in on too many tackles, but hopefully that calms down as he really provides good cover for Luci to stroll around and get in better positions to support other players. I'm still fairly unimpressed with Sam. I was a little pissed to see on TV yesterday watching the replay that they had a little thing for Davy Arnaud's retirement - they seem to have forgotten to tell anyone about that so I missed it. They seem to forget to tell people about a lot of things lately.
Arnaud was heavily involved with skill and conditioning drills for two players (Kamara? and somebody else) from about 5:00 to 6:30. I say Kamara, because he looked like he was still in a bit of rehab.
I need that team to show up more often. There were a few things I didn't get (like Kemp and Franklin switching sides now and again, or why we see our biggest threats being quick plays through the opposition but still we tend towards slow buildup instead), but they were mostly fun to watch. Sure, NDL had two crap plays, but in his defense neither were particularly easy balls to deal with. The falling backwards chest trap looked like had the PTFC defender on his back suddenly move, rather than challenge for the ball, especially. His streaking run that had the cross just miss him is the kind of play that kept their back line wary, and though he still does strange things in the final 3rd, he's always available as an outlet everywhere else. Acosta, though, man...He's well on his way to becoming an on-field general, and one that everyone listens to, to boot. They're playing it where he directs it be played, and seem to run where he wants them to run, more and more. I don't think I've seen a team work around that sort of direction since Gomez.
The other thing I'm seeing, more and more, are his teammates looking for him, rather than just booting the ball up field. And Acosta always seems to make himself available for the simple pass. That reminds me a lot of Marco. I didn't think of Acosta as a traditional # 10, but I think he is assuming that role because he realizes the team needs that direction. Credit to him. asitis
Two things. 1. I've thought of Acosta as that #10 from Day 1. He is / can be the "straw that stirs the drink" and from the very beginning I thought it was obvious he needed to be pushed back into midfield where he could see more of the ball. Not tooting my own horn (plenty of others were saying the same thing), but I mention this because... 2. I think the "credit" here belongs not to Acosta but to Olsen (and even Kasper) who (finally) recognized what they had in Acosta, put in place a system organized around him, and even made personnel changes that make total sense. With his 4-1-4-1 or whatever you want to call it Olsen found a way to keep the defensive cover he craves while putting Acosta in a position to float around the field and make stuff happen. Our tactical approach is clearly to get him the ball as much as possible(yes, it is reminiscent of Marco). With the change in our tactical approach, we jettisoned Espindola who didn't fit this new team at all (they gave him a run at the winger spot but it clearly wasn't working), went out and got Mullins who is a young, good option for this formation, and picked up some wingers in Sam and Igboananike. The way this team is playing now is night and day compared to earlier in the year. Olsen gets a lot of crap on these boards but I think he totally deserves to get praise for the tactical adjustment we've made. Acosta should get credit for being a joy to watch when put in a system designed to help him succeed...
Yes. Despite the poor finishing, this team has been a lot more entertaining than last year. I do wish we could bring in some more young players, though. It's discouraging when we get somebody like Sam and Olsen says "He has a couple of good years left in him."
We did: Acosta Kamara Igboananike Mullins Buescher Vincent Robinson (sort of... he was already on the roster) Martin is also on the roster, just always seems to be injured I also like the Durkin signing for the future even though he's not with the team yet and may not be for a while. And we dropped Espindola and Halsti. Yes we brought in Sam and Neagle and Nyarko. None of them are young, but they certainly aren't over the hill. The only older guy I can think of that we brought in recently is Sarvas, and he's filling his role adequately. I think we're getting adequately younger. You can assume Rolfe won't be back next year. We transitioned from Dykstra as a backup to Worra (and with Horton maybe in the wings?)