I only saw the highlights, but it appeared to be a tutoring from Colorado and I'm curious to see what the possession rate was. Yes, Ben Olsen is badly missed, but quality teams find ways to overcome those problems, no? At any rate, Colorado outshot DCU 17 to 5 and from what I saw, the DC defense was all over the place in terms of man marking and/or closing down. The Tom Soehn well, Homer Simpson Deathwatch is in full progress right now.
I'm just not sure DC has that many good players right now. Looking at the starting lineup today compared to players at their position in MLS: K Wells: average Def Namoff: average Peralta: average Martinez: good RW Quaranta: below average Dmid Simms: average CM Dyachenko: below average Gallardo: excellent LW Burch: below average F Niell: below average Emilio: average (being generous on this one with his form this year) Not starting today: Fred: very good Moreno: average McTavish: below average Doe: below average
First of all, Quaranta is much better as a withdrawn forward than as a winger. It's been proven in the past that his value on the pitch is lost when he's left out on the wing. So that's a very harsh and unnecessary rating. Second, Burch is better as a defensive back than as a winger in the 3-5-2 currently being run. The rest of the player ratings are pretty accurate though.
Until today I wouldn't have agreed. This was the first game Gomez really took control of. And for everyone wondering what's wrong with DC, let's give Colorado some credit. They laid an egg against SJ, but other than that they dominated LA, had a pari of one goal losses on the road in KC and Chicago, and took care of the Revs on the road. They aren't great, but they aren't pushovers either.
Gallardo is the only player who would start for any team in MLS. Half of the rest of the regulars would start for half the teams in the league. The other half are totally replaceable. I think that's coming as a big surprise to some people. But maybe the level of MLS is better than a lot of DC fans thought.
Two matches this week went by without a single card shown. I wonder when the last time THAT happened was.
Quite a few players are being played out of their natural position and I think that is reflected in your post.
Announcers in Latin America always give people these nicknames, El Chino, El Ruso, El Negro, El Indio and sometimes the players are not of that ethnicity but may have a physical resemblance.
This was somewhat interesting last season so here I go again. General statistics here for the various referees along with totals thus far. Italicized names are those referees with a FIFA badge.
The league has clearly improved across the board. After a decade of trial/error and some blatant stupidity the sample of time/success is great enough now that most front offices know what works well...and what doesn't in the league. Next step is bigger first team rosters and a bit more money to spend on a few more impact/upper class type players. Let us hope the CBA gets done before a strike.
I'm shocked at Wells' play this year. I thought he was pretty good at NY and filled in nicely for Sala last year, but his indecisiveness is hurting DC. I don't know who lost confidence in whom: the keeper or the defenders.
He's playing exactly as he did in NY. Maybe it's a confidence issue, but if so, it's a permanent one.
Wow, a red card per game for Salazar and a PK per game for Toledo. Could be legit and just a byproduct of the games or teams they've called. Or, is it a statement about their reffing style?
Stats aside, my general impression has always been that Toledo is the toughest of the MLS refs (and the most card-happy), while Salazar (and Marrufo) are most likely to make radical decisions. Speaking of refs, I was surprised to see nothing in this thread about how bad Batko was in Houston-Chivas USA. Is it just me or is Geiger really pretty good?
The best refs are the ones that I can't put a face to the name, so I'd say he's pretty good this year.
You're right on--for my money, Geiger is, over the course of a season, the best. And Salazar is the worst. Salazar gave the single worst penalty I've ever seen in MLS in favor of the Galaxy against Colorado a couple years ago. And then he gave another one at RSL that was nearly as bad (vs. DC, I think).
I didn't get the clearest answer from the referee board, but from what I can tell he's taken up an administrative position within USSF and is doing some professional assessing (someone mentioned he assessed Shane Moody during the SJ-Dallas match last weekend). He may still be doing MISL. They tend to get a good number of referees that have retired from MLS work on those games (Noel Kenny and Kevin Terry come to mind immediately).