That goal just before the half really hurt us. Onalfo just said that their plan was to go at Erpen. EEK!
Coaching was suspect as well. We clearly needed to shore up the defense after the first half--Soehn's move is to pull Erpen out and replace him with a midfielder, just so we can show off our shiny new Brazilian winger. And no other subs? Casal? DeRoux?
i feel like this was a fluke. sure, our D was bad, but we controlled possession for-the-most-part, we got good chances. they just made good runs, and that goal for johnson was just a bad play. that foul on emilio in the first half should have been a pk IMO. i'm so pissed i could punch a baby. that's right, punch a baby.
Hard to win a game when you gift the other team three goals. Aside from KC's fourth goal, I think you'd be hard pressed to say those would have happened under normal field conditions.
Erpen is dead to me, anyone who tries to defend the guy is a herb, period. Yes the guys has potential but seriously how many more goals is he gonna give up why the hell do we keep giving him a pass. Carroll needs to sit, Simms if healthy should start teh next game no questions asked. I gotta admit the first coupel of minutes Fred came on I really did start worrying he was gonna be a bust. Obviously as the game went on he got stronger, this guys gonna a player once he gets more minutes. Overall its sucks we lost but we didn't play poorly, some unlucky slips adn some poor giveaways gave up 4 goals. Our offense is fine, its just always gonna be hard to by totally full throttle when defenses are playing us with a lead. Soehn has a lot of work to do, some big decisions have ot be made on defense, Erpen shouldn't start anymore and its seriously time he starts thinking about four in the back. Question is who the hell will start in a 4 man backline.
Erpen undressed on first goal and I believe committed the turnover for Johnson's goal. He's a horror in first halves for some reason. It's nice to have so much creativity with Moreno, Gomez and Emilio, but far too often they bunch up at the top of the box and try to outdo each other with clever passes. Take some shots guys. More focus on defense and familiarity on offense will turn these results around.
Just an outsiders opinion: I thought the switch from Nowak to Soehn was a potential problem, not because I think Soehn was going to be bad, but because of the change in intesity. I thought when DC was on last year they were smothering the midfield, keeping teams hemmed in just trying to play. Then they wore out over the season, and teams were able to find the gaps between the outside mids and the backs. Without Nowak's intensity. I think its the same effect as the team being tired last year... its just not defensively sound in those outside gaps. As a result I think Soehn wil have to take amid out and put in a right back, switching to a 4-4-2 for the defensive issues to be solved. Maybe: Namoff - Erpen - Boswell - Gros Olsen - Carroll Fred - Gomez Emilio - Moreno or Namoff - Erpen - Boswell - McTavish Olsen Fred - Gomez - Gros Emilio - Moreno
I'm happy for the points I got from Gomez (my captain) and Emilio. My fantasy team is doing fine at least. Go DC it's not the end!
The result obviously sucks, however it was deserved. Much like Colorado, KC also took it to us. I am very impressed with the pre and post game interviews. TV presentation from what I have seen this year, has been head and shoulders above anything we have had in the past. Not perfect but much, much better. Two weeks in and MLS as a whole looks wonderful, I wish we could be looking as good. Great job to everyone at the stadium! Life sucks...congrats to KC.
I think the biggest thing, is that they're playing a 3-5-2, but the wings are pretty much worthless, why only go with 3 at the back, when you're getting crushed on the wings defensively, and going forward the only thing that seems to produce anything is through the middle? Is Soehn a slave to the system, or will he switch things up after being exposed two straight games?
From a coaching perspective do we have any strategy to beat the opponent? Or are we just counting on our "system" to crush them? We have not anticipated either Colorado or KC.
Kudos to the supporters. Despite the weather and the score, the singing and chanting could still be heard on the TV broadcast.
Don't understand how Soehn could bench Erpen and yet leave Carroll on the pitch. I believe this is the worst match I've seen him play.
Yeah, it may be time to go 4-4-2. With Fred looking so good and creative,maybe go with a box midfield, with Gros and Namoff providing occasional width: Namoff -- Boswell---Erpen---Gros Olsen-----------Carroll Fred---------Gomez Moreno-----------Emilio
If Onalfo can figure out where to attack, most of the other coaches can as well. (Probably not Ellinger though.)