"I tell you what, we're excited," Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser said. "But we know we're going to have to be prepared. We made it to the finals, and the semifinals are the hardest games to play sometimes. But now anybody's got a shot—it's a fifty-fifty game. United needs to be prepared and focused but in no way shape or form should this be a 50/50 game. Just look at Charleston's team. If this Battery team takes it to United, then the players should turn in their paychecks. Half the team are second tier players that didn't make it in MLS. Charleston Battery Players Dusty Hudock, Kevin Nylen, Marco Reda (Tim Velten 56), Nelson Akwari, John Wilson (Chris Corcoran 58), Chris Williams, Stephen Armstrong, Osvaldo Alonso, Ian Fuller (Dominic Cianciarulo 75), Randi Patterson, Darren Spicer
Alternatively, you could say, "DCU needs to be focused, as over half the Battery have MLS experience." Either way, I'm sure Tommy and the boys will be going for the jugular in this game - locking up CCL berth and winning hardware is too important.
If they start thinking of Charleston as anything less than trouble... Just ask NYRB about Crystal Palace USA.
You know that some guys who are capable of being poorly-paid backups in MLS can make more money starting in USL1. Stephen Armstrong, for instance, was a competent MLS player for several seasons. He's hardly a "didn't make it in MLS" guy.
And Ian Fuller played for the Revs a bit earlier this decade if I remember correctly. Meridian has it exactly right. They need to approach this game with utmost seriousness. And given the benefits of winning it, I expect they will. perc
Question.... How much of the prize money will players on either team receive? My bet is that the Charleston players get more. Damn CBA!
I hope DCUnited win this game. It would be very sad to see a MLS team get beat by an USL team. No disrespect to USL or anything. Lets hope that DC dont start their reserve players and go full force in this game.
Don't forget Lazo Alavanja. A former DCU player who didn't play in the semi-final for the Battery because of a second yellow and red card in the game before, but he still scored a nice goal against FC Dallas, the MLS team he started out with. I'm sure Lazo will be ready for the Final.
Fortunately all our guys played for Barca, Inter or Juve last year. Our keeper could easily play 2 levels below the Battery and look at home. This is a big game and these die hards are coming charged up (horrible puns)we need to be really ready
Kind of odd, but Alavanja and Armstrong were two of the first three D.C. players I ever met--Lazo was doing a promo gig with Rimando at the Dupont Ben and Jerry's--very shy. Rimando goofed around and Lazo scooped ice cream. And I got to talk to Armstrong at a poorly attended post-9/11 benefit at some weird bar across from the U.S. Labor Department where he guest-bartended--very nice and talked about how much he was looking forward to playing for a full season after joining the team halfway through 2001. He told me to come back for a stronger second whiskey, and he meant it. I gave up on those meet-the-player deals after Bobby Convey pouted throughout a Friends of the Zoo event. Just as well that they sent him to the zoo--he would have made a crappy bartender.
WHOOO_HOOO!!!!!!!!!! Cup Final... say what you will about how you prioritize the USOC, its hardware and a bid for the CCL, its important, and i would pay dearly to be at RFK for this
Amen brother. Vide and Dyachenko starting just ain't gonna cut it. Let's hope Tommy treats this like the "real" game it REALLY is....
Dusty Hudock is the better of the two goalies And we have lost to the Battery in the USOC before, I saw it with my own eyes, it was awful. Awful. Mike Burke scored on us, we then bought him. Only several Guinni (Guinnesses?) from The Three Lions Pub made the night worthwhile And the great Battery fans. Can't wait. But if you guys think it will be easy to win this game, you are fooling yourselves.
I have got to wonder who Bobby will be rooting for in the final? He has been spotted in the stands at Battery games before and he is a former United player.
FYP. We better be ready. With the way DC has played so far this season, I take nothing for granted. I want some hardware. I know the players do too. I just wish the final wasn't the same night as the My Morning Jacket show at Constitution Hall.
hands down we need to win this. we are playing against a 2nd division team, if we don't win this 4-0 there are problems
Good grief for all the push back on this you'd think we were playing Man U. I am not saying that we don't take the opponent seriously, but I am saying we should be dictating the game from front to back. If Armstrong were any kind of player that should consistently start for an MLS team, or be one of the first couple of the bench, I guarantee you he would be snapped up by an MLS side. I would estimate that the first 13 players on MLS make more than Armstrong and probably the first 15. The only exception to that would be the developmental player that has an outstanding start and therefor plays for a while until his salary is renegotiated
I can't wait to spew my hate. It was not nearly as satisfying yelling at him at Blackbaud. Thanks for having the FO jack up the ticket prices! I'll settle for a 1-0 slow roller that bounces off 10 players and the ref heels it in for a DCU USOC championship.
We aren't playing Manchester United, but we are playing in a final and those are rarely easy. A lesser team doesn't have to beat you "best out of ten". All they have to do is beat you that night. Nobody cares if they throw a curveball at you tactically that wouldn't work if you played them again. They just need to get the result that night - they don't have to prove that they are better players. Back when I was coaching, I used to have to prepare my players to deal with fans' need to feel comfortable before a game. Sports is an entertainment industry and fans correctly want to enjoy themselves. Watching a professional team allows you to associate with a winner, regardless of whether or not you could accomplish the things that they accomplish on your own and that can be very fun. If the process is not enjoyable, it is not good entertainment, hence the desire to feel comfortable before a match even though it has absolutely no constructive purpose for anybody with any accountability in the process. Once the players understood this, they were able to interact with fans without being effected by their sometimes insistent need to feel comfortable before a big match. Sports aren't a field that you get into if feeling comfortable before a big match is what you care about. You relax AFTER the match. It doesn't mean that you lose confidence - just that you respect that an opponent can throw you all kinds of unexpected curveballs and will if they have enough time to prepare for it - in this case almost a month! I also found that the people that are the most insistent on feeling comfortable before a match are often the people that will rip you the worst if you lose the match. Losing made them uncomfortable and, because they have no accountability in the process, they don't care that their complete apathy as to the difficulty of winning an athletic contest, even against a lesser opponent, was in no way a help to anyone involved in the process. Feel free to insist that a Cup Final should not be a problem. Just don't take it personally when more aware fans than yourself correctly point out that Cup Finals are rarely easy. I would love nothing more than for this game to be easy and maybe it will be, there is just no constructive benefit to insisting that a cup final opponent shouldn't be a problem other than to make yourself feel comfortable.
I have that picture somewhere, heck I still have the bottle of JD he was carrying around with him at the draft. Ahhh the good ole days!