Pre-match: Toronto Maple Leafs v. D.C. United

I'd be surprised if a dollar of the sponsorship money is left after weekly expenses not covered by usual income are paid. Add progress payments for the stadium construction and what has to be exorbitant salaries (based on performance) to everyone drawing a check in the organization and there's nothing in the till.

RFK's glory days are totally a function of the glory brought to it by the teams who played there. If the stadium could speak for itself it would be happier with a fast but dignified death.t deserves better than the slow torture of DC United bringing such disgrace this season

 

Of course you can blame them.

 

might agree except that even average players and teams can get better and we don;t. obviously we need to invest but there is nothing special about our staff other then Benny bleeds our colors.

 

I'm not suggesting their were better options, just that this lineup would lose.

 

I must respectfully disagree. Hamid. The rest of the roster you are correct sir.

 

I blame Kasper and Ashton..................but you know that.

 

1. No one in their right minds buys a jersey with a keepers name on it
2. Hamid has peaked, he doesn't seem to be getting better or worse at any particular skill. This is good for his save potential and bad for the other 50% of his job, distribution.
3. Every game you worry he reinjures himself or decides to leave. Like Acosta, I think you have to believe they have one foot out the door if the right opportunity arises.
4. Hamid has proven that having a "A" keeper doesn't matter much when every other facet of your team is a "D" at best. You can get by with an "A" defense or an "A" offense and "D" at other roles but keeper doesn't turn the tide.

 

Didn't we spend a shit ton of money on Gallardo? Remember him? I'm not convinced more money is going to change things. If the players we have aren't engaged, that's on the coach.

Frankly, every time Olsen gets interviewed on TV, he says the same shit. I'm sure it's the same in the locker room. After a while the same speeches about grit and determination lose their ability to inspire. Maybe he just needs to start benching people and play loaners from Richmond.

 

I could have phrased it better.

 

1. Some people do, most don't you are correct
2. He has only improve slightly, IMHO, the last three years but he has improved. There are still flaws in his game but they are minor to me. His distribution is much better than it originally was. It is no longer a liability.
3. You do worry about his injury status. He tends to get hurt once a year.
4. He does need better players around him.

As an aside I think that has been part of Birbaum's problem this year. The quality of the defenders he has to play with have dragged down the level of his game. Look how much better he looks with the Nats.

 

But is it 50-50, 90-10, a more united like 0-0?

 

I've had the same thoughts. When you hear him speak, you have no idea which games it's for because it's the same thing after every game. The lack of cohesion, grit, determination, etc. is down to a lack of good tactical preparation as well as the team having tuned the coaching staff out. While the talent on this team is not great, a better coach could at least get some more respectable results out there. This is just plain crap.

 

I agree with here but how would DC United find a better coach? I've yet to see anyone explain this.

 

I'd imagine the same way the "could" find better players, but won't. They'd have to spend money. That's why DC won't.

 

Even if they were willing to spend more money do you think the current ownership/FO really knows the difference between a good manager and a bad one? My feeling is that this is Olsen's last but only chance would get DCU a better manager. DCU may end up with a worse one.

 

Olsen has a worse overall record and less awards than every DC United coach ever (let's exclude onalfo). Soehn and Nowak were both trashed on big yet gave us an MLS cup, two supporters shields and an open cup. Rongen got us a cup and shield and arena was arena. Olsen (barely) gave us an Open Cup and we played horribly and got lucky to do it.

We have to start from that position: that Olsen is the worst coach United has had and is among the worst coaches in the league from the last 5 years. Other coaches with better records than him were fired for far less. Its possible we could do worse, but there is evidence to suggest other teams have found decent form under new coaching. These aren't bankbreaking guys either.

 

Other teams have done better but none of these ownerships are going to be picking managers for DC United. With the exception of Olsen, all of the management changes were made under AEG. Back in the day complaining was made about AEG but I don't think anyone thinks that their day-to-day stewardship of teams is worse than our current ownership.

 

THANK YOU OH MERCIFUL GODS!! Someone who gets it!

 

Agreed. If you gave Manchester United to Olsen, they'd be fine. If you gave DC United to Mourinho, they'd be total shit.

Now I don't totally agree that Olsen doesn't get help from the FO. I think they've settled on a strategy that usually works out OK for them: staff the team with grizzled castoffs with a chip on their shoulder and a sprinkling of kids plus Hamid playing superman, get into the playoffs and go on a 4-game non-losing streak. It just didn't work out this season because both wings have been terrible and nobody can score a damn goal.

 

Tinder.

 

Olsen has his flaws. He has a poor record. However based upon this piss poor roster Conte, Sir Alex, nor Klopp would succeed. Hamid is the only player on this team that would take a starting job elsewhere in MLS. Psst in case you missed it when you start with poop you cannot call it chicken salad.

 

What's Tinder???


I'm 48 so I am not up on all these cool new things.