Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] I'm just back from the game, and I'll throw some random comments in here. I have to admit, however, that I didn't pay 100% attention as I was sidetracked by kids and friends. But..... The team started off great, and put on a passing clinic for the first 15 minutes or so. Everyone looked good, and Dyachenko showed some nice moves. But I also believe he was the one who kept the NY players onside when they scored, and I also think Rimando could have done better with that initial shot. That said, Rimando played great, and my only complaint was he still has trouble with those crosses. Ben came in for Rod and Jaime in for Mediate at about the 60 minute mark. I think Jaime has trouble coming off the bench, and from what I saw never really got into a groove. Ben was his usual self out there. Walker hustled all game. Esky was trying too hard to score, and didn't always do the right thing with the ball. He also had a few initial fast breaks but had problems with them and allowed the defenders to close. Our defense was great - in my opinion, namely Namoff. But I must say Namoff needs to watch himself. One time he went up for the ball, I think against Djorkaeff, and really threw an elbow. He got lucky no one (except Arena) saw it. From where I sat, it sure appeared Jamil earned a PK when he was tripped in the box, but it's hard to know for sure without the replay. No Adu and no Gomez on the bench. It was strange to see some DC United legends on the opposing bench - Arena, Williams, and Harkes. Nice night, pretty good game, and decent crowd for a USOC game. The supporters sections were awesome as always.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Initial reactions back from RFK... I was very pleased with the intensity many of our second teamers brought to this match. I was initially dismayed seeing effectively our reserve offense out there sans Gomez, Adu, Moreno, and Olsen, but the younger guys brought it today. Often their lower level of skill was apparent. But this match was won with grit, and we haven't seen many of those wins recently... The goals came from some known sources, but I was very pleased to see goals being created from some different sources. Mediate's nice cross and Dyachenko's aggressive header on the opener, Esky turning creater with a beautiful free kick service, and finally DAVID STOKES creating the last goal by continuing to pressure the Metro defenders. Carroll deserved the armband to start this one. He was marshalling the team in the first half like a true captain. Walker frustrates me to no end sometimes. In the first half he had a series of poor first touches and poor choices of positioning on plays that could have been dangerous chances. That being said, he continued to put himself in dangerous places all match, stretching the RB defense. Eventually he got his brace by being in those positions. Probably the best match starting he's had in a long time. The Red Bulls looked toothless. They got gifted their goal on a deflection and a perfect service from Nicky's punch right to Guevara. Arena's got a LONG way to go with this team. An odd tip of the cap to the RB travelling support. Some of them actually showed up and brought banners and drums to RFK on this Wednesday night. For such a sorry side, it's a rare show of support. The introduction of Olsen and Moreno really did add bite to our side. I would like to have seen Moreno bury that easy ball. I guess that's what Nowak meant by "cute" play! Still, there's the elusive two goal win we've been waiting for! On to the semis!
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Not sure whether or not you know this, but we've "ripped it off" too. I hear this chanted during some Mex. league games I've watched (Club America). Its OK...we've got plenty of other songs.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Just back from the game. We played them pretty evenly in the first half without Moreno, Gomez, Adu, Olsen, and Perkins. Carroll was very good (and was our captain), Dyachenko was excellent, Mediate was ok, Walker and Esky played far too slowly. 1-1 was a fair score at the half. Second half we came out with much more initiative, looked much better playing in combination, and closed down Djorkaeff much quicker -- his distribution and Wynne's runs down the right in the first half were the only things dangerous about the Red Bulls in the first half. The goal was a free kick from the right that Esky swung in, Boswell and RBNY Player X hit the ball at the same time, Meola misplayed it, it rebounded of Jamil, and he nodded it in. Odd goal, but we'll take it. From there, Nowak replaced Dyachenko (who, to reiterate, looked very good in tight spaces and orchestrating the attack) and Mediate with Olsen and Moreno. Walker moved out wide, Olsen played attacking midfield. And once we made those moves, the game was effectively over. We moved the ball well, and the Metros resorted to playing long stuff out of the back, but our defenders generally cleaned up easily. Stokes replaced Esky (???) and played wide on the right while Walker moved back up front. Stokes looked halfway decent, and was involved in the second goal, playing in combination with Olsen to play Walker through, beating the offside trap and Meola with ease. Other random notes... Altidor came on as a sub for RBNY. He's a big boy, and has excellent speed. Rimando needed to parry the ball wide and not up the middle on the RBNY goal. He put it back on Guevara's foot. Unacceptable. Walker does not play well when the defender doesn't allow him to go forward. His touches are suspect and he plays far too slowly in combination with the midfield. However, he scored twice, and absolutely has a nose for the goal when he runs on to balls played through. Esky tried hard, but basically stunk. He still doesn't want to shoot with his right foot and tries too hard to beat defenders on counters when using his teammates might be more effective. Like Walker, is at his best going to goal and not worrying about doing anything tricky and Moreno-like. Erpen kept his daily distribution error to something innocuous in the midfield, Boswell was composed in the back, and Namoff was fine. A couple times he let Buddle in behind him, but Boswell was there to help. Gros was quiet, but kept Henderson quiet as well. There is no better body language in MLS than Tony Meola's just-got-scored-on body language. And aside from fortuitous positioning on his goal, Guevara was atrocious. His free kicks all went out of bounds, and he let himself get closed down by Carroll and Simms all game. Booing him is one of life's simple pleasures.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Just back from the stadium. Few points here 1.) Very good match for the 60 some minutes I saw it for. 2.) I only saw 60 some minutes becuase I got thrown out after DC United went ahead.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Perfectly said! And thanks to everyone who was at the game who is serving as "eyes" for those of us that couldn't be there.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Uh... we're playing the winner of the Chicago-New England game in the semi. And the winner is [result]Chicago, most likely[/result].
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] I was behind the north goal shooting pictures. One of the coolest things of the night was when La Norte had a rare moment of silence sometime soon after the time Jamil scored his first goal. You could hear Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles singing Oooooh, U-ni-ted U-ni-ted U-ni-ted Vamos U-niiii-ted Then La Norte started singing along with them. Then the supporters to the right of La Norte started singing with them too. It sounded like most of the stadium was singing the same thing at the same time. It was beautiful.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Good game. Fun time. First time I've been back to RFK since June. I wonder if Arena is re-thinking his comments that DC is an average team without Gomez and Moreno. We played NY without Gomez or Adu at all, and with Moreno and Benny for only a half, and STILL beat them by two goals.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Maybe this is just an Arena-ism that I'm not familiar with, but I watched every guy who got subbed off for the red stools, and except for Dork-off, Bruce didn;t so much as nod toward them. Even if they had been playing crap ball, you'd think the head coach might've met them at the sidelines for an attaboy or 'you suck.' Arena looked like he could've cared less. On the other hand, Nowak and literally everyone on the bench greeted our subs coming off. Maybe it's nothing, but it seemed awfully strange to me. Maybe Arena really does think RBNY sucks (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] a few people in my section threw toilet paper on the field and i guess i looked suspecios so i took the heat.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Oh this is sweet... Houston wins and Colorado will probably beat L.A. That would mean we should probably beat Chicago and play Colorado again back at RFK haha REMATCH for the Open Cup Final!
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Come join us in La Norte and chuck TP to your heart's contentment. Bonus beers if you hit Hartmann.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] I have to disagree with those who said Rimando played well. I thought he was terrible. The goal was his fault, punching straight to Amado. He punched one earlier that I as well as those around me thought he should ahve caught with no problem--he punched it up the middle and a Bull's subsequent shot was saved by either Namoff or a scrambling Rimando. It seems he just maked bad decisions and has no control over his box. Granted this was his first match in a good while so maybe there was rust, but for me, he continues to make the same mistakes. Nick's distribution was bad as well, he had a couple goal kicks go out of bounds. All in all tonight was very good, was suprised by the size of the crowd. Big win if only prevent Red Bull from having a chance to win something.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Hey now...we still have to beat Chicago, in Chicago, first! With two games on the road we'll have to WIN the Open Cup. Other teams will not likely lose it to us.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] nice to score some goals and get a nice win with a rest for a few starters. Rimando was terrible! He didn't catch the damn ball a single time in the first half and his inability to catch the ball led directly to their goal. Makes you appreciate the simple things Perkins does well. Let's see if we can put it together again on Saturday.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Rimando's distribution was wretched as well. I lost count of how many he sent right out of bounds while trying to send it down the wing. At the risk of feline injury... I was in the stadium early and noticed Adu jogging around, but he wasn't wearing the warm-up jersey and appeared to be wearing running shoes not cleats. Never saw Gomito.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] [result] LA 0-1 Colorado, 26th Chicago 2-1 NE final Houston 3-0 Dallas, final[/result]
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Adu was not on the subs list. Add me to the list who thought that Rimando had a horrible game. Their goal was mostly his fault. He should've caught it. I'm glad it didn't matter.
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] Serious question, how much money a year do you spend on toliet paper?
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] I was surprised that Freddy wasn't given the keys or at least a seat on the subs bench. Maybe that sore foot again? But Dyachenko has been prepping for this role for some time and looked very composed out there. Was he the one who headed Mediate's great cross to Gros for the sliding finish on the first goal? The comments on Jamil are right on. His touch isn't the best, so he's not great with his back to the goal. But give him the ball on the run and he's money. By bagging a brace he has to be MOTM, but Namoff deserves some credit for what I thought was a great defensive game, and good involvement on the attack as well. Carroll, too (nice to see him with the armband.) Nicky's reflexes saved us now and then, but he seemed to spill or punch out a lot of balls I thought he could catch, including puching one right to Guevara's foot. (Maybe it's just that I am used to the half-foot taller Perkins, who probably could have caught some of the higher balls.) NY outshot us in the first half, with a 2 to 1 margin in shots on goal, but the second half was all DCU. I thought the substitutions were well thought out. Benny had his usual energy plus good distribution; Stokes did some good things in a new position; and Moreno did his clever footie games to maintain possession and draw defenders - but I thought he gave up on an excellent chance for a goal when he picked up a rebound just a couple of yards from Meola and basically passed it to him. Maybe he thought the match was in the bag and there was no need for more shots. Nickell came on just after Walker got #2, and hardly saw the ball. Roadkit is correct: Arena scarcely acknowledged the players subbing out, except for Djorkaeff. Maybe Arena knows that Red Bull management will soon be signing Zidane and Beckham to team up with Djork and he (Bruce) won't have to deal with those annoyingly poor American players any more. Peter, on the other hand, was full of attaboys for our guys coming off. Nice. We should be ready for LA and the return of Q to RFK!
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] I am not a fan of Nicky's game tonight, but I don't blame that goal on him. Many far better keepers have said that it is a hard ball to hold on to and that they tend to punch it away more than previous balls. And the strike was a rough one too. From my perspective it looked like Amado was offside anyway (not like those refs could make good calls to save their life), but if not I think it was more bad luck on Nicky's part than anything else. I want to know what happened to his distribution though. I don't think he got one kick to either stay in bounds or go anywhere near our guys I haven't been impressed with Rod to this point, but I really liked him tonight. Mediate looked ok, but he has had better games. Benny and Moreno were a major spark. I just wish Moreno would stop screwing around in the box and actually do something with the ball. -dave
Re: Official DC United vs NY Red Bulls USOC POST Match Thread [R] The last year I brought TP full time was 2004. I spent something like $200 buying from Costco. Sachin