http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/03/05/team-week-wk-1-stars-shine-opening-weekend No Crew players made the MLS Team of the Week for week 1, but Glauber, Gruenebaum, Higuain, and Williams all got Honorable Mention. Viana probably deserved at least an honorable mention too.
O'Rourke wasn't nearly as bad as many are saying he was. The Crew could just as easily have lost 3-0 as won 3-0.
Ugly openfield unforced giveaways that lead to scoring chances are hard to hide from, Paul. As for the score, while its often true that a couple breaks here and there can decide soccer matches, your posit requires a whopping six goal tu rnaround in the result, a contention that does not bear close examination.
Oh, come one. That's bullshit. The Crew were the dominant team and fully deserved the win. The Goats only had two shots on goal. Hard to imagine three goals coming out of that. And you can't call Higuain's goal a fluke. I'd argue William's, too, since the kids has a record of putting the ball on target only to have a goal snatched away due to a great save. Oduro's goal is directly related to Chivas pushing forward. Got it. But under no imaginable scenario can I envision a 3-0 Chivas win last weekend.
FWIW, I actually agree with the first half of this. His passing accuracy was 2nd or 3rd-best on the team, and he broke up a decent amount of plays. Sure, there was the one dead giveaway 25' out, but he busted his @$$ to get back there and help break up the play (which we've seen plenty of other players not do).
I'll give you the effort part, but he was balls for a majority of the match. And when you consider who else could have been on the pitch over O'Rourke, the purported standard for that position is much higher than the level that he played.
78% isn't exactly setting the world on fire (it's actually what we normally see at that position on this team, regardless of who's playing there), and he only completed 4 or 5 passes that actually went forward.
Fair... He actually had 15 passes that went forward (by my count from the Opta data, but granted it does depend on how you tally them), but I was mostly just trying to agree with OP that he really wasn't awful. He wasn't a game-changer, but he did what we put him in there to do - play some defense and be our resident thug for the evening. Legitimate side question: There seems to be some general dismay about DOR in these parts.. I'm really only basing my perception of DOR on the games I saw him play last year - did he do something at some point to piss people off, or do people just plain not like his game? (Or are they just bummed out when comparing him to Brian Carroll/who we "could" have?)
I think its more of the 'he's getting older and he's injury prone' + we've picked up players who are on paper better than he is.
That's about where I'm coming from, though I've heard his dad has tangled with some folks in the past, which also might be a cause. I have no problem keeping him around as a useful sub/occasional starter/locker room guy like Dunc was, though. Having a local player or two is always good, especially when you are trying to grow your gate and make inroads into the community. See Invincible for a great example of that.
I like Danny plenty, he's got a good personality doesn't mind if you talk to him about the Crew at concerts or whatever. As a player it's nice that he's a local guy and was undeniably an important cog in the championship team. I think he's good with the media; I think there are enough buckeyes on the radio once he hangs up his boots I'd love it if the Crew pressed for a Frankie and Danny hour on 97.1; I'd listen to them talk about the league everyday. I don't think he's good enough for the MLS level game in game out anymore. I've made no bones about it I think Chivas was garbage. I believe a better team would capitalize on Danny's mistakes and I would have no difficulty betting that those passing stats will get worse if he continues to play. For all the talk of their formation we easily dominated the midfield it won't be like that against other teams. If he keeps playing I hope he does well and I don't think he's worthless I just don't think he's the starting CM on an MLS Cup team.
As I've said in regards to DO before, he's Crew through and through: a Massive Champion, Columbus Native, class act, etc. But the game has passed him by in my opinion. He may still be able to be an adequate center back, but in the center of the field he doesn't bring enough attacking skill to the table to be out there. He can't turn with the ball, he doesn't make quick decisions. I'm glad he's finally healthy, but he still gets the yips when he crosses midfield. Is he ever going to make a trailing run and show up at the top of the box on a play? Is he ever going to hit a 50 yard switch to Gaven or Oduro? No, he's going to play Marshall and let him do it, giving the opposition time to settle back and mark up. Defensively he does all right. But when the 2 best chances the Goats had came as a direct result of Danny's play on offense, he defense doesn't really matter. If we're going to move forward with this 2 DM lineup we need to get more out of the spots than just a 3rd center back in disguise. Viana showed what can come from it. He was all over the field, his tackle and calm play afterward lead to the first goal. He didn't compromise offense for defense. He did both very well.
When looking at the Opta passing charts, I'm not counting everything past parallel to the end line. I'd consider anything in a 120° arc or so if he's facing perpendicular to the end line. Square passes can technically move forward on the y-axis and still essentially be a square pass. If we're going to look at Opta data, Viana actually lost possession in our half as much as O'Rourke. Danny's just happened to put us in more vulnerable situations. Defensively, Danny broke up 4 plays (1 tackle, 3 interceptions) to Viana's 9 (5 tackles, 4 interceptions.) I think his game has slipped since all the injury problems the last year+. Maybe he just needs more game action to get sharp, but he doesn't seem as aggressive as he used to be. Brian Carroll is looked back on through rose-colored glasses because everyone loves second-guessing the trade he was a part of. He was mediocre at best in 2009 and 2010 at a position where there are plenty of better players in this league.
You are seriously disecting the passing, thinking that a backward pass is a bad thing? Am I reading that correctly*? *Reading is hard for me.
No. NewEnglandClamChowder was using Danny's pass completion % to justify his opinion that he did alright. I was just pointing out that not all passes are created equal. Leon Britton leads the EPL in passing % every year, but that doesn't make him the best passer in England.
ha ha, like all goals are not created equal (eh? mendoza apologists!) got you. I see what you are saying. Yes pass completion should probably not be the only indication of how good a player played.
I'll agree with this. I would like to see if he can improve with more playing time and I do think he has value as a veteran player in the locker room. On a personal note, a good friend of mine coached him when he was in club ball so I have met him on a few occasions. Always gracious. I would like to see him stay with the organization much like Duncan and Frankie when his playing days are done.
I only have a few points from the match. 1 DO played bad. 2 Oduro is fast, would like to see him take on players more. 3. our back line is slow. when chivas was able to counter we got burned.