1. Was Espindola trying to do a clever chip penalty kick? Perhaps he thought it shouldn't have been a pk and gave the keeper an easy one? Just curious why Espindola gave the thumbs up to the keeper after he had missed the shot. 2. I know it was not the regular field, but I would think this far into the season there wouldn't as many over-hit long passes as there were. Also, what was the deal with both teams doing so many long balls out of the back? It is like both teams somehow forgot they practice almost everyday.
The field was alternately too wet or less wet. Chris Rolfe described it to me in his interview. It was generally slower than normal MLS fields and it took some time for both teams to adjust. Olsen mentioned it as well in the press conference.
My feed of the game started getting wonky a couple minutes in to extra time. I went ahead and closed it thinking it was unlikely I'd miss anything in the last 30 seconds to a minute. Checked the final score a few minutes later to confirm that I hadn't missed anything. Came back this morning to read the write up and just found out about the PK. I'm actually glad I missed that. It would have killed me to watch that real-time.
Seeing as they've played there at least twice before, it wasn't the first time they've played at Fedex. However, I agree with you 100% about hoping it's the LAST time that they play there.
I won't dwell on the PK, Espy tried to be cheeky, Goff reports that Martin (through Onstad) read the shot. Jaime used to be the master of the chipped PK, when it works the 'keeper looks a fool, when it doesn't...... About the game: I thought Birnbaum was very solid. No real dropoff from Parke -- that is a very good thing. I don't know where Luis Silva fits with this team. He is good on the ball, but glacial in his thinking and pace and his defense is "meh." When Jeffrey replaced him, there was more energy, Arnaud had more cover and Jeffrey actually took a shot from distance that was Rolfeian in how quickly he got it off. Next time, I would use Martin in place of Silva and see what happens. EJ gets a great deal of stick, but he made a number of smart passes (a cross field to Cristian stands out) and does make the good runs. Problem is that no one can get him the ball consistently, so he's a bad fit for the team Olsen has out there. Right now, he's being used as a "Pajoy", albeit a "Pajoy" with a much better pedigree. I wish there were someone who could challenge NDL for starting time -- he's just so wildly inconsistent. If "live coverage" means sideline interviews of Chad Ashton, I'll take Dave and Santino in the studio anyday.
They tried to over-water it to keep it somewhat fast and they knew the Sun was just going to drink that water up quick.
Game was a complete mixed bag to watch- at face value, both sides got after it on both sides of the ball. However, stepping back from this a bit- both sides missed some regularly contributing starters, especially Columbus. Despite it being at Fedex, despite no Parke, Korb or Kitchen- the team played well, just not well enough to earn the win. This is becoming a recurring obstacle this team needs to overcome at some point this season. Namely, when the opportunity to capitalize on an opponent with something more than 3 points at stake- (this time 1st place in the East) United have to find a way to get the job done. Franklin performed as expected, good but leaving room for improvement as he regains form post-injury. Arguably the best showing came from Steve Birnbaum who showed remarkable poise in his first MLS match. I thought while he was solid defensively, we could have used that sparse distribution that Parke normally provides for us. But the focus this match wasn't on the starting rookie and for a defender- that's splendid. Nick DeLeon continues to improve, showing considerable grit and hustle. I just hope someone either gets him to hone his finishing skills or gets him a good luck charm, or both. This game's comments at half-time rang repeatedly about United finding the last ball, the last touch, etc.. Preston Burpo said it, Chad Ashton said it, and Ben Olsen was quoted post-halftime having said it. The major fodder for discussion post-match comes down to the following- Due to Kitchen's having to sit, Ben opted to start Silva as a AM in a diamond midfield. Eddie Johnson's form was on the upswing, making more aggressive runs than we've seen from him in awhile, and doing a great job finding space to run at Columbus defense just outside their goal box. His early injury came at what I'd call a crucial time of the match. But given he needed to be subbed, why oh why did we put Conor Doyle on? I'd have thought the 3rd best forward option was already on the field- Rolfe. His #1 replacement, and thus the sub for Eddie at that point- should have been Lewis Neal, who has the ability to interchange centrally or out-wide, and could have unlocked more of Silva's creativity. Instead- subs went Doyle for Johnson, Jeffrey for Silva, Neal for Rolfe. That sub progression showed no improvement on offense, (well, Neal a little- but he really only had Espy to help)in a game where 1 goal nets us 3 points and 1st place. All this had/has me thinking how much we miss having Pontius. Extra-time discussion- the ref had a howler of match. Unbalanced officiating is bad, but when it comes with little to no dialogue for the full course of a match- it's nearly unwatchable. Twice Columbus benefited from an injury whistle with DC on the ball, with no explanation from the ref as to his timing in making the call. The 2nd call is the one to file to the ref commitee- the injury occurred prior to a Columbus attack, which failed. After the turnover, after DC had the ball in Columbus' final 1/3, then the call was made. Olsen was understandably perplexed, but got no satisfaction from the 4th ref. What made things even more dramatic at that point- the drop ball that followed was then kicked to the DC sideline, just short of the corner, for a very deep throw in. Kudos to their coaches for immediately signaling their team to not apply pressure, or I think Ben would have lost his mind. I think I DID lose my mind when Espindola whiffed on the PK, and was shocked to see his choice of attack. And it's that play in a nutshell that displays the component this team is lacking at the moment, and will hopefully develop in the near future. You have to admit, a film reviewing just that PK would do a world of good to change a team's attitudes about finishing, no? The defense is becoming more and more reliable, and that's a good thing. But it's rapidly becoming past time for this team's coaches and players to figure out how to get all the offensive cogs working to where we score goals on a regular basis.
Earlier in the match they showed pressure after they benefited. I wanted to go on the field and clock people when they showed pressure on the deep throw in the instance you're referencing. Thankfully they backed off. The Spain-El Salvador game was a SUM event. United's ownership is part of SUM. Spain agreed to the game and the facility. United could have been part of the event from the beginning or they should have scheduled better to stay at RFK. No part of the game was Dan Snyder's fault. Although $40 parking sucks and it was a last minute addition, that's standard for FedEx events. The nearby Metro parking garages even have a $25 fee even on weekends for non-qualifying trips.
Watching the replay right now. The look of the stands is embarrassing. If I remember correctly the number of fans, especially on the far side is going to go down as the match goes on. Hopefully United has learned it's lesson here. Next time move their match to Sunday.
Not really. I'm pretty sure most sections on the 100 level were still kinda sorta looking at tickets.
U serious? I hope he starts Pajoying! Pajoy scored at a rate of 1 in 6 games. EJ is 1 in 12 now. So yeah Pajoy is twice as prolific.
Agree, of course there's some bitter taste left in our mouth, but I don't consider this game wasted points. If we're honest C'bus had their chances too and deserved one point as well
Anyway, f@ck Fed Ex, stadium too big, too much in the sun, annoying security and fascist cops. F@ck that.