So one week after all three had very good games and then played against one the top teams in MLS you are able to definitively reach this conclusion? I'd say that's a bit premature. And I thought De Leon looked quite good against Seattle. DCU did look a bit better with Pontius and Bosko, though.
Team didn't look in synch, but this was far better than the SKC game. A number of times DeRo or DeLeon or Cruz or Bosko got the ball with space and Seattle on their heels but never did the forwards make a dangerous run. To be fair, Alonso and Ianni played really well, but with our lack of speed up top we needed to at least see smart runs. Kitchen had a lot of bad passes but Ben seems to be grooming him to be the future of the club. Pontius is more comfortable at this level of play and with this team than DeLeon but I don't see how he has more upside or gives us a better chance to win. DeLeon's speed and creativity and confidence more than make up for his inexperience. Dudar always looks a bit casual back there, but that's not the worst thing in the world. Right now, without Najar and with less than 100% of Bosko and Pontius, I'm happy with being slightly outplayed by Seattle. There's plenty of room for improvement and the Eastern playoff teams aren't going to run away from us while we figure things out.
That's an interesting comment about the lack of dangerous runs by the forwards to open up space or put themselves in good situations. I also noticed that as the game became more spread out in the latter part of the 2nd half, particularly after Bosko and Pontius came in, it seemed we would have one counter after another that looked very promising only to fizzle out. In each case the midfielder carrying the ball was clearly looking for a run to space up top that just didn't happen.
I enjoyed this game quite a bit and thought we went toe to toe with a very good Seattle team. They were sharper than us in possession and slightly better organized IMO, but the net result was still an even game that either team could have won. I'm not a Coach Olsen fan (I am an Olsen player fan), but I think he's making the right choices by starting Cruz and DeLeon...they're two way players and give very little away when defending. While Najar and Pontius do slightly more for us in the offensive end (and really I think "slightly"...I'm not sure Deleon put a foot wrong the entire match in either end), neither of them defend as well as Cruz and Deleon, and frankly in the MLS you need two way players in midfield, particularly when you have players like DeRo or Bosko in there. Also thought the Pontius sub was excellent...good timing and almost produced a winner. Have to say that I'm a Willis fan...I like Hamid's upside but IMO Willis is steadier.
I'm not sure why you want to make wholesale changes to the team as they are starting to play together. This is a team that came out of preseason that did not have a first team being in sync due to lack of playing time together. I also don't understand why you want to drop Jakovic and Kitchen. I thought they had excellent games. I believe Jakovic is flat out a better and more effective player than McDonald and particularly when he finally has a partner to depend on. In Kitchen's case, I'm skeptical of all the hype, but he played one of his best games for United against a very tough midfield. Both DeLeon and Cruz have been wonderful additions to the team and are very much in the mix as starters. They have been a revelation so far this year. These two along with Najar and Pontius give United probably the best core of wing players in the League and they are all young. Boskovic needs to play and be on the field with the other DPs. He needs time to integrate and get into the flow and the time is now. He has to either show why he is a DP or he will be gone by mid year at the salary he is receiving. United is coming together. I am however, concerned about up top. Salihi still struggles and Santos is a crap shoot. I am hoping with Salihi its still a matter of adjusting to the play of MLS but each week that goes by without some production increases my concern. If there is one person to sit down a little to provide more options in keeping the DPs on the field together its Santos. In that situation you could move Pointius or DeRo up top as the second forward and bring Bosko onto the field. One thing I do like about this team (although still on paper - we need to see a little more than a 1-2-2 record but the trend is good) is that for the first time in ages, United seems to have some real depth. This is a team showing real promise. Hey we just took 4 of 6 points from Seattle and FC Dallas.
Two entertaining games in a row...how long had it been? Deleon blows my mind, at the end he was the only person out there running around at full speed. I like Cruz, Bosko looking more confident, I think Willis has the job. Salihi is just slow, I can see why he prefers to plant himself on a dangerous position and wait for the play to come to him. But I can now see how he and the team are coming closer to gelling. That strip from Pontius on Eddie Johnson was brilliant, my favorite moment of the match. Good crowd, great Seattle visiting representation.
MLS instituted that rule back shortly after WWII. Ever since that ship with all DPs from one team was sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic. Spielberg was going to make a movie about it, but then "Game of Their Lives" came out and he didn't want to compete in a crowded mid-century-soccer-story-movie market.
I quite agree about DeLeon. In one sequence he was the last man back to clear a ball out of the six. The kid is everywhere, has confidence to attack defenders on the dribble and is fast. I'm sure he will hit a rookie "wall" at some point, but right now, he's in the starting rotation in midfield. Quite frankly, Najar better up his game defensively or he will be the one coming on for DeLeon and not the reverse.
Crazy idea... what if you put Najar up top with Salihi. I mostly thought of this because what others were saying about how much defense Cruz and DeLeon play and that Najar isn't as good at it. We need him with the ball running at people. Santos looked like he was lost in the first half and looked exhausted in the second half. I know a lot of people have talked about Pontius up top (once he gets healthy), but I wonder if Najar might be an option there as well.
I think United has made it clear that the team from last week is here to stay. A lot of good play from the guys especially on that one-two sequence with pontius. I do feel we had the upper hand at times but a draw is fair and nothing to be ashamed of. Seattle should however be EMBARRASSED to call that their home team. I have never seen an MLS team act so shamefully. Green turds were dropping everywhere. I think they knew they wouldnt be able to get a win at RFK after a bit which is a great thing for us.
Interesting, because (not having seen last night's game) the one thing that has impressed me about Salihi from the first game is his movement off the ball and how he has opened up the field for his teammates. As a player without separation speed it is going to be just as important for him to create opening for others to run into as it will be for him to try and make the run that beats a defense by itself.
Interesting. I thought DeLeon, and especially Cruz, were our best players on the pitch by a very considerable margin last night. Cruz was incredible at holding possession with the ball at his feet; at times, it reminded me of vintage Christian Gomez. My only gripe about DeLeon last night is that the thing about his play I liked the most in the Dallas game was completely absent last night. In the Dallas match, he did a fantastic job of working the touchline. He stretched the field, which created opportunities for himself and for the players in the middle of the pitch. But last night both him and Cruz crunched into the middle . . .just like Pontiius and Najar always do, much to my constant extreme annoyance. The result: a congested midfield that's easy to defend. This happens so often, regardless of who the wingers are (Pontius, Najar, Cruz, DeLeon) that I can't help but think that it's what Ben Olsen wants; but I can't for the life of me imagine why. As for Boskovic -- coming into a match late like that, he should have injected some energy. So why did he seem so slow to me? That's not necessarily a criticism, mind; if you're always where you should be there's no need to run. But we had a couple of chances for offensive breakaways that died, in part, because he moved too slowly to contribute.
Very evenly played game. Both teams hit the post. This United team will make the playoffs. Salihi is going to have a breakout game in the next few weeks here. Yes he has no speed, but he hustles like crazy and can pull hard, accurate shots where very few other forwards in the league can (including the post last night- watch the replay, the angle the ball is coming from and the pace he still is able to put on the ball, under heavy pressure, was incredible to me). The next 2 weeks are crucial to getting points though. This team has shown it can hang with the better teams in the league. NE and Montreal should be winnable games. I'm very excited to see what can happen with Najar and Pontius coming on against tired defenders. I agree with the suggestion to put Najar up top if he does come on as a sub. Yes, he has zero post-up capability, but if Boskovic can put some of those balls over the top for him against the tired legs against NE/Montreal, he could have a field day.
Sorry to edit your senryu, but . . .if Burch had scored in that last flurry I would have laughed. So many people here and especially at the match were so determined to make the match be about Burch that it would have seemed fitting.
Trade Bosko now for either an AM or look for another DP. He has had enough time to acclimate. Between Salihi and Bosko there is not enough pace.
What pissed me off about Burch's comments wasn't the displeasure with being let go -- I get that part of it. The utterly classless part of his comments were the dumping on Woolard in the process.
Salihi isn't a speed merchant, but he makes intelligent runs that will only get better as he gets more familiar with his teammates. And he is excellent with the slip header; when he is facing away from the goal but heads it towards the goal in the path of a teammate. I want him on the field with Boskovic (who knows his tendencies) and DeRo. As for DeLeon, I hope to see a lot more of him, even with a healthy Pontius.
While I'm not exactly sure what a senryu is, I sort of agree. I always liked Burch. The funny thing to me is that he had a chance to drive the dagger in and failed. A propos.
I think it is rapidly becoming clear that this team relies upon its chemistry. I don't think any of the starters played badly, but they weren't connecting their passes and generally seemed off of each others' wavelength. After about 30 minutes of misplaced passes, they gave up on anticipating each other and one-touch passing and their speed of play slowed and they hit each other at the end of the runs instead of en route. As much as I didn't expect it, I would argue that DC began to "click" more after the introduction of Pontius and Boskovic. I'd also like to point out that there were a couple bad defensive breakdowns for which DC did not get punished. I have no opinion regarding Jakovic/MacDonald, but there is still room for improvement in the Jakovic-Dudar pairing.
To be a haiku, such a poem must include imagery of nature or the seasons. Senryu are poems which have a similar syllabic structure to haiku (no more than 17 syllables in English; neither haiku nor senryu have to be 5-7-5 specifically); but in contrast to haiku, senryu have a dark humor aspect and tend to be about the failings of human beings. So this might be a haiku: Memories of spring Green now lost in winter's grip DCU of old. While this is more of a senryu: Marc Burch had his chance Could have backed up his rude words. Ha ha ha ha ha.
Hmmm ... I didn't see my idea as wholesale changes. I don't think that McDonald, Najar and Saragosa have lost their starting spots due to bad form. They've all missed games due to outside circumstances. As far as McDonald goes, I think he was locking down the spot before the ban. He complements Dudar better than Jako IMO. Dudar and Jakovic together is maybe too much calmness in the back. McD gives you that range to chase things down go in on early challenges while Dudar falls back into more of a sweeper. Regarding Najar I do think he was in bad form before he left, but I think we was regaining that edge with Honduras. We all know what he can do. His ceiling is higher than Cruz or De Leon even though he's younger. He can change games on his own, and take on fullbacks 1v1. I just don't see any way to rationalize keeping this guy on the bench in the long term. And lastly Saragosa I think was one of the best players on the pitch in LA and Vancouver. There just has to be a way to get him time on the field again. Kitchen has a huge upside but I would bring him along a little slower because he still has a lot to learn in that position. He did fine agaiinst Dallas when the team was dominating, but in tighter games against SKC and Seattle the game was screaming out for a little more composure and presence in that area.