PBP: United Pisses on The Fire; Volume I

Ben's always been a fan of using spurned players to exact revenge on their old team. I expect Eliis will fill that RB hole.

 

We had a chance to use Arriola there against Montreal and we didn't. Maybe we make a late game offensive sub for Ellis...but I think he probably starts. Boring, right?

 

The Army Ten-Miler is Sunday. Here’s what you need to know about getting around the area. @dcunited #DCU kick off at 1:00, plan ahead! https://t.co/kFwFTQRjUV

— John Thomson (@JC_Thomson) October 6, 2018

Thx,

Jay!

 

3-1 for the Good Guys. We gotta keep winning. Philly and Montreal won last night. We have to keep pace.

 

Hamid; Arriola, Birnbaum, Brillant, Mora; Canouse, Moreno; Asad, Acosta, Segura, Rooney. (Arriola replaces injured Fisher at right back)

From Goff.

I

 

I just re watched the Acosta “foul” that took away the goal. It is a total BS call. The defender initiated contact and used his arm to hold Acosta back. Acosta then used his arm to knock off the defenders grasp. The defender dove to the ground. No way that was a foul.

 

First ten rows of the supporters section rooted to their seats in the crowd shot. Sad.

 

Segura not having his best match.

 

They both had their hands on each other. That should have been "play on - goal!"

 

Defense looked like it was going to collapse near the 60 minute mark, but managed to hang on. Nice comeback with goals by Senor Wayne.

 

Which was the call Elfath made in real time. It’s not like he missed it. He rejudged it. If we’re going to rely on VAR to make every call from the skies, why bother having a ref at all? Just put a guy out there who blows a whistle and points. Make all the calls from the Toronto War Room.

Thx,

Jay!

 

Great body positioning by Moreno to draw the penalty.

Love that we don’t give up when down.

 

Or a stern lecture with a time out. Not the way it's done in either instance

 

They were probably doing the chant where everyone sits then jumps up

 

JayRockers! criticizing the fans in attendance while at home. Sad!

 

Well that was .... interesting. Hotter than shit at AF, felt like July, can't imagine how the players coped. Rooney had his socks pulled down as far as legally possible by the end.

I understand putting Arriola at RB over Ellis. However, that led to a much more static DCU attack. It's Arriola's overlaps that really disrupt other teams' shapes. Today, Arriola sat back a great deal and it was Mora who provided width on the left. Both Asad and Segura tended to pinch in, allowing Chicago to jam the passing lanes in the middle. That was coupled with some less than energetic movement from any of Asad, Segura or Stieber. Canouse and Moreno were quite good, as usual, but the movement up top was less than stellar. Credit Señor Wayne for hustling to score the first goal and big props to Moreno to keep running and get body position on Kappelhoff to draw the PK.

I felt this was a trap game. It almost was, but in the end, a win, more pressure on Montreal and next Saturday is huge.

 

Philly isn't relevant anymore.

 

I assume Elfath didn't see the play in real time. Maybe seeing the replay now that I'm home will change my mind. I don't remember seeing the play on signal. I haven't seen the replay yet, but I did notice Acosta standing and using the open space to set up the goal. It was a really nice play by Senor Wayne to fake and then shoot in the exact right place. Too bad it was called back.

 

Did they get rid of the clear bag rule? When they do that, me and so many others will be filling those empty seats you see around you.

Thx,

Jay!

 

They coped by doing a lot of standing. I was in the shade, but it was pretty hot even there...
We were pretty lucky to walk out of there with three points. Acosta seemed tired both mentally and physically all game.
Good fight to get the full 3 points.
Chicago just kept a LOT of guys behind the ball, so they were tough to break down with so much heat.

 

It almost happened. Maybe the heat, maybe the time of the day, maybe some involuntary relaxation for playing an opponent who is out of hope (NOTE: and who has nothing to lose), but we did not play well today and if Fire had tied they wouldn't have stolen anything. Last season we would have lost this game. If we managed to win a game like this, it's a good sign.

 

This is the last 1PM game I am going to go to if it's not march or november. I was hoping for the sun to come after the game ended, but it came about 15 minutes in - I had it on my face the whole game and I still feel it.

 

Anyway, regardless of they were taken, these are 3 golden points. Next game we have Dallas, I honestly don't think we'll win it, but I thought the same about the game vs Atlanta, so we shall see. I will be not there unfortunately.

 

Montreal (+2 points above us) has 2 games left, home with TFC and away to NE (which is virtually eliminated). We can predict at least 4 points, maybe 6.

Columbus (which is 7 points above us, so in theory still reachable) plays away to Orlando and then home vs Minnesota. We can predict 6 points, worst case scenario 4.

So, it's important for us to make at least 8 points in the last 4 games to make almost sure Montreal is reachable even if they do six points, our GD at the moment is +6, their is -7, that is a pretty good gap, it doesn't make us sure 100% but almost.

To catch Columbus, we have to make at least 10 points, and hope that they don't make more than 3 (in this case at the moment the goal difference is still favorable to us), or we make 12 points and hope that they don't make more than 4. Either way, very difficult.