The defense is still very, very shaky. We were lucky that Montreal was so poor on the night in finishing their chances.
No. I was somewhere on the concourse when he came in, went to visit @fatbastard briefly, and when I sat down asked "who's that guy?" I hadn't even known he'd joined the team, let alone entered the game.
The highlights let me see what you all were saying about this being a 3-3 or 3-2 game. While I've come to fully expect that sort of faulty defense out of this year's team, my first thought in seeing Montreal's finishing was, "Wow, they're finishing like we used to."
Hamid also made some nice saves. I don't remember a ton of really great opportunities, although there were some. Normally Montreal scores a good amount. I guess the pressure was too much for them.
Montreal's finishing was poor in warm up and the supporters were letting them have it every time a ball ended up 20 rows up. The real coup was shutting down Piatti. Might have also been Ted Unkel's best game as a PRO ref. In spite of numerous innocuous clashes in the box and a modest amount of embellishment, he repeatedly failed to fall for it.
That was fun to watch. My DirecTV was acting up Saturday and I was unable to record the game. Too bad, that's a replay I would have enjoyed Still, I was there and was only looking away for one of the goals, so I'll take it Looking back, I forgot to include my prediction for the score. It's easy to say now, but I had meant to say the game would be 3-0, I just hadn't decided which team had which score at the time I still felt it could have gone either way about 15 minutes in. Glad it was us scoring. I sense a theme. When we played Jersey a sign said Bruce Springsteen was overrated Sign-maker(s?) correct on both counts, besides being funny. Can't wait to see which Canadian singer is picked for Toronto.
This was probably the game plan. Shut down Piatti, even if it means having to gamble and leave someone else open. Make the other guys beat you. For all the chances Montreal created, none really fell to Piatti. Except for one where he drew Hamid off his line, but Arriola tracked back to nick the ball away just in time. As for their second most dangerous player, Taider, he seemed to be mostly stuck trying to help out defending their left flank. Fisher and Arriola were terrorizing them on that flank. The old saying that sometimes the best defense is offense.
Something struck me yesterday as I was thinking about this match: never once did I have the DCU-is-up-by-2-we're-bound-to-blow-this-lead feeling hit me.
I nominate Neil Young. It was pretty nervy at 1-0, but things really went to shit for Montreal after the second goal.
Evidently the game was shown live in several countries in Latin America including FOX Sports in Colombia.
Alanis Morrisette and Anne Murray would both be funny; but if the goal is to piss off everyone from Toronto, and arguably everyone from Canada, then it's Gord Downie. But I don't recommend that since it's gratuitously mean, and since in the old days Toronto fans were tremendously supportive of our stadium efforts, even joining us on marches and so on.
I was an immediate fan of Acosta when we signed him - felt we could build the team around him and liked the way Olsen eventually re-arranged the team to give him freedom. Then I was an occasional critic when Acosta was failing to take the next step and his immaturity showed through and he would pout on the field and quit during games. These last 10 games or so has just been a joy to watch. He has taken a really big step.
I'm concerned about Mattocks. When the team was doing their holding hands thing / salute the supporters group he was standing at midfield. When it was over, he turned and sprinted to the locker room. He's NOT happy, and doesn't seem like he's just keeping his head down and working hard...
This league is brutal to domestic attackers (I know Mattocks is Jamaican, but he is a domestic product). Our salary structure incentivizes teams to spend mega bucks on a limited number of players, so naturally teams will throw that money at attackers. Bottom line is that even at 32, Rooney is much better than Mattocks. While Mattocks does have a career year in goal scoring, the difference is that Rooney has 7 assists while Mattocks has 0. Rooney can open up plays in ways that Mattocks can only dream of. IMO Darren should be happy to be part of a winning team, and he has to be realistic about the minutes he can get in today's MLS. Even with 10 goals, I don't see many other MLS teams that would give him the full time keys to the starting striker position. Portland and Vancouver certainly didn't. If he wants to start, he may have to go to a weaker club or a weaker league. If I'm Mattocks, I would be patient. Right now it's an unusual schedule where every game is at home. Next year Rooney will be 33, he'll have to play through the entire summer and this time with travel and games on turf. The team will need someone to pitch in a considerable amount of minutes to rotate with Rooney. The alternative is going somewhere like Scotland or Denmark and ending up like Kitchen and Hamid ...
I respectfully disagree. I don't think NDL will ever be a starter in this league. His technical skills are so bad - and he's every chance for years to improve - that this league has passed him by. I would like to see him traded and this issue can be tested, but to think he would start at DC in Fisher's absence at this point in this season is not going to happen. Arriola at right back and Stieber to right mid. It's that simple. These players have gelled and this may even be a step better than Fisher/Arriola combination.
Mattocks went from potentially a 20 goal season to averaging 9 mins a game (August on). . DC United picked up his option this year so I'm guessing he will be a FA in the off-season and won't be on the club next year anyways. Coming off a 20+ goal season gives you far more leverage in negotiations. Being happy to ride the bench won't do him much good when his agent is trying to negotiate his deal. Since he is probably out after this season him worrying about what might happen next year is a waste of his time. Timing is everything in life I suppose.
I dunno, man, if you look around the league, there are definitely outside mids and defenders starting who are of equal or lesser ability...And definitely few of those who are serviceable at left -and- right sides. NDL is quicker to get back defensively on offensive forays than many of them, he has better vision than many of them (though lacking the technical ability to deliver with good consistency and accuracy), and he makes good attacking runs and defensive positioning. Not great, not error-free, but, again, the list of top performers in this league in those regards isn't very big at all. Could we get better for the money? Yeah, but likely not with as much flexibility. You'd get a better pure defender, but not one who would be better as a wingback. You'd get a better attack-minded player, but then you lose some of the defensive competency. And, we're now in a position where we could use a better pure defender. It's a trade-off, and he is definitely expensive for a bench player, but over the past several years at RFK, we benefitted from having him, given the moneyball situation.
I would -love- to keep him...Hopefully United is in a position to consider his value as attacking depth and speed. I do <3 having Rooney, but Mattocks has a few more years of play left in him, and having some tutelage under Roo would be great, for him and us.
Yeah, while i find the folks who are inordinately sympathetic and concerned with Mattocks' well-being kinda grating...I have been perplexed by the insultingly small amount of minutes Ben has allotted him recently He's done reasonably well as a sub and probably deserved to start some weeks when we had 3 matches in 7-9 days In all honesty though good players raise their level and find ways onto the field when there's competition for spots and limited minutes (Segura, Moreno, Arriola)
I think they're totally different kinds of strikers. While Rooney can create for himself and others, Mattocks is just a poacher. I can't think of more than 1-2 times all year when Mattocks has had to take on and beat a defender to get a look at goal that was successful. He got a ball just across midfield the other night and I said, "nooooooooo here comes a turn over", and sure enough he turned it over. He's got virtually no business being with in 75 yards of his own team's goal. Oh yea ... NDL or Fisher? Who you got?