Rooney: “I wish I had eleven (subs.) … It was a statement to the team that I didn’t like the first half at all. We didn’t show the fight or composure or intensity that I wanted.”— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) May 28, 2023
I hate 3/4 speed United, like I don’t enjoy watching it. Toronto so obviously wanted it more, DC played almost smugly. Pines motm for DC, at least he is playing hard.
I'm not happy we lost, I watched that entire hot mess hoping we took a result of a bad club. You're just more upset about it because it validates the argument against Rooney further.
Nah, I’m not upset for that or any other reason. I’m disappointed that DC played flat and disinterested. Shit happens, though, it’s one road loss no big deal.
Ok I feel roughly the same. Onto the next match which is a must win against a rival for the playoffs.
If you want to sub out the entire squad, the problem is you and your management to not prepare the team. You obviously didn't think this team (Toronto) was going to come in aggressive and hard. You then give the opposition manager a lifeline with a knee jerk first half mass substition. This was a winnable match and yet our manager is upset and is sitting in his chair observing. Maybe he becomes a great manager in the future but right now for DC he isn't good.
Najar barely defends but he’s got to be out there. He almost doubles our scoring chances it seems. Santos, my lord, was immobile. We’ve seen this before and he’s bounced back so I don’t know.
Maybe find something else in your life that sparks joy. We can discuss the game, the (lack of) effort, etc. but we don't seem to find joy in the losses like you do.
So, I was surprised yesterday when my nephew told me he played tennis with Jacob Greene on Friday. "He's not going to Toronto?" "Nope, and he's pissed." That meant USL lifer Samake and the Human Stautue aka Pedro Santos as left wingbacks. Didn't feel good about it and then the halftime graphic showed that over half of Toronto's attacks came down that side. I think Rooney can tactically figure things out well, but his analysis of player quality is just so uneven. He sees something in Samake that I've never seen. To me, he's small, slow and offers no offensive skill whatsoever. Santos has no wheels, he should be the guy that comes in late, helps settle the game and calms things down -- he just can't mark anyone with pace. That yellow card "tackle" last night was embarrassing. That was a beer league "I'm beat, ******** it, trip the guy" type of move. That first half was just poor. O'Brien had his worst match since arriving, Klich couldn't/didn't get involved. TKDP just ran around. At this point he is a second half kitchen sink sub, he is not a like for like with Taxi. Both are smallish, but Taxi is a bit quicker, cleaner and smarter with and without the ball. I also thought Palsson was poor, he didn't step once and allowed Toronto to play over Samake that created a dangerous chance. Just overall very poor -- Toronto played with their backs to the wall and DCU didn't respond. It takes more.
What has Greene done poorly to be behind a USL guy? I don’t hate on Samake, he’s alright for depth, but Greene has stacked good matches one after the other. Sure, he’s not much threat offensively, but neither are Santos and Samake, let’s be real. I don’t get it because I thought Greene had shown well this season.
His only sin seems to have been a clean finish that Ruan would miss 10 times out of 10. I agree that Rooney’s player selection is often baffling. Greene is the most obvious case. Would love to hear his justification.
I agree with your assessment of O'Brien and Ku-Dipietro. I felt like Klich tried to make up for their bad play and as a result was all over the pitch but frequently not in the right position. Plus a couple of his passes deserved finishes but DC didn't bring their shooting boots. (Yes, my bias is showing in a Klich pass to no one vs. an O'Brien pass to no one.) Based on what I could see on TV, Rooney and his assistants spent most of the match observing from the bench. This is something that I have complained about before in terms of in game management. His response to lack of success on the pitch seems to be to get into his head and let the players sort it out for themselves. I am clearly not a fan of this approach.
I give you the point on Klich. You could see Benteke working his ass off to absolutely no effect because TKDP was making the wrong run and neither Durkin nor Samake was making any. I also thought Pines was fully invested. Williams looked shaky at times, but I chalk that up to Palsson being very poor and Williams had to keep his head on a swivel to see if he had to make an emergency move. Maybe some of this was due to fixture congestion over that last several weeks, but they had a full week off before this match. One final thing -- some people didn't like the Tommy Soehn 42nd minute subs. I didn't mind that at all. That was sending a message. Now some say that gave Bradley the opportunity to make adjustments for those subs during half time. Really, someone as clueless as Ted Lasso would have known that Rooney would be putting at least Taxi and Najar into the match at some point and would have prepared that week. The mind******** move from Rooney would have replaced TKDP with Hurtado and Durkin with Asad, that might have baffled Cheatin' Bob.
The ignore list is your friend I very much disagree with revelation, I think Rooney is doing a good job, and also improving. However. I think his assessments of Durkin and Greene are very wrong, I think Durkin is mediocre in central midfield and diabolical as a wingback, and I really like Greene, especially opposite of Najar. Greene is so good on defense that the other players can skew right and allow Najar all kinds of freedom to attack.
The one thing on which I do agree with Rooney is that 11 subs were necessary. That first half was dire. Make the switch at the 35’ if you’re going to pull a first half triple sub, though. Do it when there’s an opportunity to impact the game positively. A minute into stoppage is hardly the time. This is a setback, no question. But that’s all it is. The team came out complacently, and if this result shakes them out of the belief that they can coast, then good. Next game is critical. How do they respond?
There are elements of good management that I see but in the end, I judge good managers by results and player improvement. I'm seeing a mixed bag in both departments. I would be curious to understand what pushes you to the "He is a good manager side"? Clearly, DC is playing better as a team and has a plan. However, as many of us agree, the player personnel decisions are down right baffling. I don't want to sound like I'm all negative all the time (my fixation on a certain English player aside), I like the dialogue and hearing other people's perspectives and what they view as critical for managerial success.
You answer your own question here. They look like they have a plan. Given the injuries to Najar and Taxi, I think the results are good.