Hopefully the "can we make the playoffs" folks will go into hibernation after this. This is a squad with many holes. RB is "average" between Najar and OA, LB is a void, Guediri simply is not MLS quality -- just compare him to something we had -- Joseph Mora. Romo is a useful #2, but he really can't be faulted on any of the goals. On goal 3, Canouse simply stopped tracking Swiderski so he had an unmolested tap in. Rodriguez and Morrison are clearly upgrades, but it takes time to integrate them. Canouse will be moved during the winter now that Palsson is coming over. Next year's roster will have 6-7 new players at least.
The people we brought in are not better than what we let go, that is for sure. Would you rather than Arriola or Morrison? Djeffal/Hopkins or Kevin Paredes as a young prospect? Mora and Moreno look pretty enticing too considering what we’re running and might even be favorable to a Rodriguez. At most we moved laterally.
There’s something to be said for capitalizing on your chances. Orlando gave us a chance, and we took it, so yes — that’s a step forward. Dominated for 75 minutes is a wild overstatement. 45, certainly. The first 30 minutes of the second half were markedly better than you give credit for. We had several good opportunities to score and largely shut Orlando down. Definitely not good, but definitely something to build on. Charlotte has capitalized on their chances, and judging by the match stats, we never threatened, so at least two steps back. Maybe four. There’s not much to build from here. Again, I think we’ve got just enough to avoid the Spoon, but no way in hell are we getting even a sniff of the playoffs.
I guess we watched different games because last match the tone here and elsewhere was defeat until the final 15 minutes and even then not very good until we tied. Now in hindsight we were in it for considerable amounts of time? Sounds like rose colored glasses.
Whatever. The stats don’t back up your interpretation, but never let facts get in the way of your predetermined outcome, right?
I thought the first half was not bad. Second half, train wreck. Morrison….two games in and has shown little. I’ll give him the rest of the season, but so far I’m not seeing much.
The Yordy Renya shot before goal 2 really should have been caught or punched wider. Ditto for the 3rd Charlotte goal--if Romo couldn't handle a medium-hard header, he could have easily paried it out of bounds. Romo fumbled it more than anything and it just trickled out to Gaines. All three goals came off of balls Romo tried and failed to punch clear. Piling on: Yes, I would have taken Yordy Reyna in the DC starting lineup tonight, along with Mora.
I really believe Romo is better than he looks. The defense, either man marking, zonal or simply tracking runners is beyond poor. Romo is in a shooting gallery so he's simply reacting to shots from every direction. The center mids aren't shutting down advances in the middle and wide defenders just aren't very good. Birnbaum and BHI are average at best, and with a woeful supporting cast, they look worse. This playoff roster is so flawed that a winter tear down is the only thing to fix it. Of course Dave Kasper will still be there, so it's bound to be FUBARed.
Is Rooney training these guys? Is he the one who's telling them to pass it back and forth between the defenders & GK, or is it someone else? Why is there no coordinated attack, except that the GK boots a long ball down field after the defenders have passed it amongst themselves, then we lose possession? Why is our positioning so bad that we hardly ever have an open team-mate to pass to? Why is the defense continually out of position? Why do we ALWAYS let an opponent go unmarked in our box on their free-kick, and why is it always Canouse that does it?
Totally disagree with you. He is the key player in the midfield and the link to the frontline. Did you watch the previous match?
Yep, I did. His second half last game was better than his first half, but tonight I didn’t see much. I was expecting a more dynamic player who can provide better service pushing forward. I see a player that can square balls left and right, but has done little to move us forward. Maybe he needs Palsson to slot in behind him to provide cover. Like I said, it is early.
I'll have to rewatch the game (ugh) since i was half watching/half working late. But I'm not going to throw in the towel on Rodriguez and Morrison after two games. Not everybody can be Taxi and terrorize from day 1. Granted I'm fairly certain they won't pan out because it's Kasper and he's already found his blind nut for the next 3 years but I am willing to give them some time to gel and get into a rapport. But yes I would love to have Paredes and Arriola right about now. In a perfect world for every Paredes we'd sold we'd have 2 or 3 equally talented prospects ready to step in. Maybe in a few years down the road the academy will start producing at that kind of volume. Honestly we should be pretty happy with Hopkins, I think he has good potential and frankly he's in his first week with a professional manager not named Chad Ashton. I'm (perhaps naively) hopeful that Rooney will help him grow his game over the next few months and he'll come into his own. Then we'll sell him in the winter and repeat this conversation with the next young guy that steps in.
I watch too many MLS games. The gulf between DCU and probably 20 other teams is enormous. The speed of play. The skill level. An idea of what they want to do...
Mora was always a sentimental favorite of mine, and I used to think Reyna was potentially useful as well.
Mora had a sensational first match with DCU. The best slide-tackler I've ever seen. Was sorry to see him go. Reyna likewise.
I was meh about Reyna but Mora was the only DC United player at least in the past 15 years who didn't give me fear when he slide tackled.
Joseph Mora would be a dead lock starter for United now that we're running 4 in the back. Charlotte was smart to take him in the expansion draft.
Didn't get to see the game, so I had to catch the highlights. DC didn't have any until the last 15 minutes of the game, unless you count the first goal, which was comedy gold. The keeper's lucky Durkin didn't shoot it directly at him, or he'd be dead. I don't think I've ever seen anyone strike a ball that hard. I have no further insights, except, if I were Wayne, I'd be working on the defensive phases of play first. Hopefully that and general unfamiliarity accounts for what seems to have been a lackluster performance. EDIT: Oh, yeah. Moreno and Mora would fit in perfectly...now.
If I were Wayne, I would be checking on flights from Dulles back to London. Poor guy probably thought the players simply lacked motivation and direction. Didn't realize he was only a half right, they lack talent as well.