Where: Audi Field When: Saturday, August 6, 2022 @ 1930 TV: the usual suspects So how the mighty have fallen. A home match against our most hated rival and as of 11:00 AM, no thread about the game. None on the subReddit, nor on B&RU. Sheesh, I would have thought that with all the big name signings and the "playoff caliber roster", this place would be buzzing. Obligatory cannon fodder lineup Rebound Romo O-A, Pines, Birnbaum, Guediri Hopkins, Durkin, Canouse, Morrison Taxi, Berry Likely subs: Najar for O-A, Rodriguez for Morrison/Hopkins, Kamara for Berry or Taxi, OTC for Guediri. My wife and I are going, but if it's 3-0 NJ in the 65th minute, I think we may leave early. As Casey Stengel once said, "can't anyone here play this game?"
As the season is pretty shot, my expectations are low, and I'd just like to see some goals (for us), and the defense look like they have some clue as to what they are doing. Romo not giving up a rebound on every shot would be an unexpected bonus.
Rooney said that he wanted to make our team harder to play against. Instead, we continue to concede goals early in matches and the defense is a sieve. We could use an upgrade in talent in the back but, as others have mentioned, poor organization seems to be the main problem. I am trying to figure out whether this is a problem adapting to Rooney's system, or whether there is an inherent weakness in that system. This is most evident when we turn the ball over in the midfield, after our outside backs have pushed up the field. When this occurs, there are huge gaps on the defensive flanks. The central midfielders are left to decide whether to cover that space out wide (leaving space in the middle), or whether to move centrally (forcing one of the center backs to move out wide). Given how Rooney wants the team to play with the outside backs far upfield, this is a situation that is bound to occur several times a game. It needs to be discussed and rehearsed. There should be a clear plan for how to cover space in those moments. Players need to understand their responsibilities. Instead, it looks like players are running scared without a plan. There has been very little time to practice after the last game, but I will be looking for some signs of improvement in this area.
DCU lineup vs Red Bulls: Romo; Najar, Birnbaum, Alfaro, K Smith; Durkin, Djeffal, Morrison, Hopkins, Rodriguez; Berry.Subs: Kempin, Guediri, Pines, Skundrich, Canouse, Nyeman, Ku-DiPietro, Fountas, Kamara.#mls— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) August 6, 2022 Guess Taxi is at least a little hurt. We are gonna give up a lot of goals.
Our opponent did give up 5 to a Colorado team that had really struggled on the road the other night. So maybe this will be a 10-7 game FTRB
Interesting to see Alfaro starting over Pines. Rooney must not rate Pines very highly. I’m fine with that choice. His current form is scary.
Romo came out nicely to smother that near breakaway. They’re looking ok. Survived the first 20 minutes without conceding. Not much going forward, though.
Nice diagonal from Romo sparks a nice move from Smith on the flank. Good shot forces a save, but Birnbaum heads the ensuing corner into empty space for Red Bulls to clear. Some good stuff, but they need to maintain both quality and intensity on those set pieces. Red Bull’s out for blood. The key to winning is not to match their intensity, but raise our level so we exceed it.
Concur. You’d like to get him higher up the pitch, but the fullbacks in this system are supposed to bomb forward anyway, so it could be a good fit.
I thought we were shaky at first but started looking a lot better as the half went on. We didn't really create any chances but we were able to posses the ball for decent stretches, string some passes together and win the ball back when needed. I like Rodriguez a lot, he get's forward makes smart passes and is all over the field getting involved and winning challenges. Kimarni Smith is also looking comfortable in possession and gets the ball forward. Djeffal hasn't been amazing but he has looked decent and a lot more steady than in the last several games. If we can create a handful of chances in the second half I'm optimistic that we can win.
I like the wrinkle of dropping Morrison into the LB slot on the build out- it's confusing the RB pressure. I like it except for the fact that I'd rather have Morrison get on the ball waaay higher up the pitch, and it only rarely leads to actually building out. Which is to say it's pretty ineffectual offensively, but we are rarely losing the ball in our third and we're not constantly under pressure.