Ever since the Rooney signing Mattock's usual expression was a scowl. With that goal and Rooney's appreciation of it and congratulating him after the match I expect to see the occasional smile.
You could tell after the Fisher goal how much those guys like each other. Everyone seemed so happy for the guy it was pretty cool to see.
Have you ever considered meditation? I've found that when I'm incapable of adjusting my preconceived notions and prejudices to fit the facts, forcing myself to meditate has helped me out. Just a thought.
Went to the game last night and I cannot remember how much fun it was to watch DC United dismantle someone. The early parts of the match showed lots of possession, but little penetration (tips had to Ray Hudson). Then we saw the Portland goal and the response was great. Finally got some nice movement and passing in the final 3rd. The most impressive thing to me was Fisher -- even without his goal. He had a fantastic night and I'm surprised to be saying it. He made fewer mistakes than Rooney and also had the nicely taken goal. I will take Fisher out of my doghouse and enjoy the moment. Looking forward to the NE game on Sunday. After Rooney put the team up 3-1 the passing really skyrocketed. I'd like to see that sort of firm passing from beginning to end. All too often I see DCU pass softly which allows the defense a half second to react. Once the team got their confidence the passing was zippy and crisp.
Wins like this are pretty good for team chemistry. I'll reserve complete judgement on Rooney's mettle as captain until we see how he reacts after a painful loss, but that said, it's been a long time since United has had a leader on the field who's been able to pick the team up and carry them. In the past 100 minutes of soccer, Rooney has done exactly that, and it sure feels like he's growing into that role more with each game. The goals and assists are nice, but scoring hasn't been United's problem this season. To me, he's earning most of his money by stepping right into the leadership void this team clearly had – setting an example for his teammates of "this is how a world-class player does it" and then expecting them to play up to that level.
Don't get me wrong. I've openly admitted that I can disconnect the part of my brain that wants to nitpick and criticize poor play in order to enjoy this group. They are playing better than they have. I understand levels in quality are different so I don't judge MLS standards of performance the same as when I watch the WC or some Champions League match. The fact remains that DCU is not well coached. Objectively. I'm not being overly negative in saying so and wouldn't really have brought it up if shawn hadnt.
The team is more fun to watch and is winning (which matters more than style points for me). But I still spend large, significant passages of the game scratching my head at the decision making of the attacking players. I don't understand their lack of movement. Again, they are doing better than they used to...but I don't see them moving around, passing into space, or making the runs I see from other MLS sides (there are exceptions like Asad assist on Rooney's 1st goal yesterday). This matters to me because a better coached team has more likelihood of winning consistently regardless of circumstances or opponent. There are no downsides to playing better quality soccer.
At about 8:18pm or so (maybe 10 minutes into the game) we were taking a throw in along the far side from the TV cameras. It looked like the guy in the light blue/white top and hat was sitting there, slumped over to one side dead asleep. If you still have the game on tape or can access the ESPN+ replay, it's worth a look. Because as they never closed back in on him later in the game, you could still see his general profile not moving for quite a few minutes. Thx, Jay!
The weight you could see just coming off his shoulders as he celebrated that goal was exciting to see. It also could be extremely important. If we're gonna make the playoffs this season, Mattocks will need to score a few more goals for us. Rooney can't play 85 minutes every night in this kind of heat. I'm amazed at how well he's held up so far.
Well, those first 20 minutes or so were pretty soporific. I remember looking at the clock and thinking those were the longest 20 minutes I had experienced in quite some time. The quicker, one-touch passing has been a very nice addition to things. It's interesting how frequently they are passing it back and forth while positioned fairly close together like a training exercise. I don't recall them doing that B.R. Look at Acosta's reaction right after he passes to Fisher but before he scores. I laughed. At the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon - too many teams' ballboys think they are supposed to be part of the game and impact proceedings.
Sadly, this is pretty much par for the course at sporting events these days. The high-priced tickets go to corporations (or law firms, since this is DC) that can afford them, so you often get people in those seats got the tickets for free or because their kid likes that "Wade Rooney" guy and just end up playing with their phones for most of the game. You see the same behavior in the boxes at MLB games, too.
As I have said before with better players (see Wayne Rooney) Ben Olsen could get this team to win. I have always admitted that Olsen has his flaws. However with the crap roster he has had Sir Alex, Jose, Wenger nor Pep could have won very much. Olsen has a better roster now than he did at the start of last season and it is showing up in results. I am no longer allowed in the "Fire Olsen" thread (self banishment) so I chirped up here.
[ Some people are blessed with athleticism and leadership skills others work to hone them to a razor's edge. He's done both. He's making his detractors look foolish although some of them are purely self made and don't need his help.
OK gang, let's not get nasty or too confused. - Rooney has played great in a few games and his on field leadership has been noticeable. He's exceeded my expectations and is the first real leader we've had in some time. Very helpful. I hope it lasts. - The team is still poorly coached, whatever the pieces. Sir Alex is one of the reasons Rooney was so good -- I don't think Ben ever had the training or the tactical sense to make DCU (especially a bad group of players) good. Anyone saying that Ben did as well as anyone could have with what he had isn't watching the same team I've been watching. - We will need a lot more than Rooney to get to the next level. We're on a roll now but games in hand aren't the same as points in hand. Still have to win those games. - If the team actually gets good, the stadium will be way too small. DCU management has done an incredible job of dismantling its brand over the last decade. Its nice to think that someone outside of Lot 8 would be interested in the team. - Not seeing any value in insulting each other on this board. Please stop those of you that are doing that.
Then what is the coaches job? Selecting the players? Drilling them on technique? Winning? Ben has em winning but to give him full credit now and readily find excuses for him when they're less successful is a fallacy.
You know what else is a fallacy? Blaming the coach when they lose and failing to give him credit when they win.
Yeah, the Delta section behind home plate at Nat's Park always looks like a ghost town, even though the seats supposedly sell pretty well (at something like $300+ a pop). Companies buy those seats, but a lot of time people either don't use them or they're hanging out in the indoor club section networking. Like you said, that's just the nature of corporate sports today. As long as they're putting money in the team's pockets, nobody cares if people in those sections want to spend the entire game on their phone.
Ben is not the full impetus for this winning right now. But to suggest they are winning despite him is disingenuous and unfair. Rooney's knowledge and experience is making a difference. I will still stand, till my dying day, by my assertion that no one could have won anything with that collection of broken deck chairs that was DC United roster most of the last three years. This current roster still has holes, see Birnbaum wandering away from the Portland attacker who scored their lone goal last night.
I think that, for the last decade or so, the DC United organization has been a jury-rigged operation held together with duct tape and wishful thinking. As far as I can tell, there hasn't been a coherent organizational plan for the team as a whole. And that flows down the org chart to the coaching staff, whose mission during this time was to try and do the best they could with no money and no real support from a skeletal front office. So, in answer to your question, I'm not sure what Ben Olsen's job description really is. Is he supposed to focus on game-day, and leave most of the rest of the stuff to others? Is he more of a CEO, focusing on the big picture, while leaving things like training and tactics to underlings? Does Ben even know? Regardless of what happens on the field this year, the ownership needs to spend the off-season building a functional organization for the the team as a whole, from the top-down, if they want to be competitive in MLS for the long-term.
Actually, that's already underway. Chris Hull has been a really good hire. Getting rid of Tom Hunt seems like a really smart move. There's no transfer window or salary cap on improving the organization. They've started... they need to keep it going every day.
Truly sorry to celebrate against my former team @TimbersFC there’s absolutely no love lost but trust me when I said I needed that one— . (@DarrenMattocks) August 16, 2018