says it all...Sam rushes to get the ball and bring it back while everyone else celebrates for a minute
We got a point on the road. I suppose I should be happy, but I think we just failed to capitalize on so many chances. Sam looked dangerous all game - I think he and Franklin have some good chemistry. Acosta was dangerous as well. Kemp looked good and very offensive minded. Afful got jobbed on that red card. I'm sure it will be overturned on appeal -- that would be a questionable yellow IMHO.
No wonder Sam was crying when he heard about the trade. This is an awful team with only a very few players with the skill and soccer IQ to do anything. That group is Sam, Acosta, Nyarko, Sarvas (sometimes), Sabo (sometimes) and Espy (sometimes). I know NDL was on the field and that he wore a DCU kit, I'm at a loss to explain anything else he did tonight. Jeffrey is depth, he's not a starter. He and Sarvas both can't push up high and leave Boswell and Birnbaum exposed. Columbus made it easy, but then DCU had no one clogging the middle, that will make everyone look like Pirlo. No playoffs this year. I also don't expect any more signings this transfer window. This is a cheap, largely untruthful operation. Sam was it, he's good, but not nearly enough to make a difference.
I don't know, I'm sure he did not mean to do anything harmful but he entered with both feet joined; most refs will give you a red card just for the intention. I don't think it will be overturned, maybe a one game only... Obviously, if you compare it to De Jong's fouls...
We actually took pretty good advantage of it. Probably that much possession and attack should have gotten us more dangerous shots.
Disagree with your overall thoughts. We have a great goalie and pretty well disciplined defense. Expect a lot of close games where our lack of attack and finishing mean we take lots of shots, but few good ones or don't even get off the shots. But we'll mercifully be in lots of games this year. 100% agree that Jeffrey is an adequate MLS backup for Sarvas' postion. Nothing at all more.
Yeah, Afful came in with both feet and cleats up, but it was at least into the ball. Marcelo came in with both feet cleats exposed too, and he went right over the ball into the man. Afful is the right word, either red card both or neither. That said, I am very impressed by this draw! Olsen came out offensive, stuck with it even a goal down, and when he could have closed up shop, he brought in more offense and kept the pressure. Granted he was a man up somewhere in there too, but he was clearly pushing for more offense and he got it. Well deserved draw, well if not for the red card, but perhaps DC would have squeaked that goal out anyway. (Hey, I said maybe!). Still, end result is Olsen got to see that going for it doesn't equal losing. I am cautiously optimistic about the future now.
I'm not as optimistic. This game follows a pattern that has defined our season from the beginning. This is our 8th goal from the bench compared to only 10 goals from the starting lineup. The good thing about that I guess is that the players off the bench are coming in with a good attitude. But that also tells you that our team is at it's best when it's reactive and not very good when it has to be proactive. Only 10 goals from starters suggests that our game plans going into games is poor. We're not imposing ourselves. We're not finding the right chemistry in the starting lineup. We're in the 2nd half of the season now. You would think that our starting hierarchy would be in place already but we're still constantly reshuffling the attack and just hoping that something sticks
When he subbed Nyarko for Jeffrey, I thought 'finally he gets it!!'. It took being up a man, but at least it was the right sub.
To be fair, we rarely if every have had this strong an attacking roster. Hope we can add neagle to the mix soon.
I think this thread VASTLY underestimates the value of having a DC United Broadcast team cover the road match FROM THE VENUE!!! For the first time since 2010- it was raw and unfinished in some areas, but when you find water in the desert..... you don't go complaining it's not San Pelligrino.
Yeah more like fizzy water. Good to see Devon being back sparked a draw apparently. Not sure what he was doing before that but there you go. And let's not forget it didn't help the graphics crew at all. I didn't watch the usually unwatchable preview show, so I assumed Espindola was starting given their lineup, but thankfully that was wrong. Then I was quite surprised to see Hector Jimenez coming on for Steve Clark until it was obvious that it was Mohammad Saeid coming off. All the Kamaras on the field made me miss the days of "Marino to Moreno" though. (RIP Gordon)
I watched on MLSlive since I was out of town. Columbus' broadcasters, despite being complete homers on quite a few plays/calls, had really done their research. They knew lots of tidbits (many of them relevant) about DC United. Pretty rare for MLS local announcers I think. Their production was ok. Didn't get to see Dave, Devon, and Lindsay LIVE from Columbus. I do like Lindsay better than their sideline reporter.
Nothing beats luck, an inept ref making calls in your favor, and a lousy opponent. Of course this is soccer, so United barely manages a draw. Ben was unble to coach his way to a last minute defeat so there's some solace to be had. Feel free to move this to the optimist section
The question is: Why are sideline reporters necessary? No other broadcasts of Soccer anywhere else seem to find it so vital.
Mike -- what the hell have you been drinking, I want some of that RIGHT NOW! I thought the game was rubbish. The first half consisted of DCU making nothing of numerous corner kicks and Sabo failing to take advantage of Acosta's dribbling skills. What other people may consider a composed defense was more Columbus being worse than DCU offensively. Kamara is a poacher who can't create and without Higuain, Columbus can't consistently create. I lost count of the number of time Tchani or Meram exploited the fact that Sarvas and Jeffrey were pushed up too high, running like headless chickens, to permit someone running down the middle to split Boswell and Birnbaum. I also started looking on milk cartons to find NDL, because he sure wasn't outside and didn't seem to give Kemp much support. The second half was worse. If Cedric was smarter/more skillful, he gets a goal or an assist on his breakaway with Kamara running free. The actual Columbus goal was too easy -- two killer passes that ate up half the field and Birnbaum ball watching as Kamara runs right to the only place Afful could place the ball. The tieing goal was simply the residue of Kamara doing the work that Sabo didn't do well earlier. He tried to chest and control Birnbaum's header and fortunately, his misplay bounced to Espy. Good for those two guys getting stuck in, but when you get double digit corners in a game, at least make the GK make one or two good saves. In the end, Columbus is worse than DCU - maybe. They were hard done by a very questionable red card and a bad bounce. I'm not optimistic at all. I think DCU played like they did last weekk against Philly, the difference being that Columbus could not punish the midfield indecision and ineptitude the way Philly did. YMMV.