Reply to FearM9(pbp) oi vey; hey I'm always Happy when we're winning. This one sucks wind. Sounded like Schott's getting a little more aggressive up top! Was she outside mid again?
I thought we might lose this one due to the lack of WNTers, but I thought it would be because we couldn't score, not because we couldn't defend. First half very ugly, second half somewhat better. Loss of NTers made it hard to come back. Best example was one of the crosses Fear mentioned that sailed over Jacqui's head. If Abby's the target player on that, it's a goal.
Gabarra's an idiot. Since Jones has been here, our defense has been solidified. She's a good reason - but Siri has something to say about that improvement too. What does Jim do, puts his solid def MF as a fwd. Very talented player - but she hasn't scored yet (please, correct me if I'm wrong). I love her, but puh-lese, you have 100 forwards on this team, you can't find someone to play forward? Besides, Carolina's as tallest forward sets in the league. Why take one of your tallest players to defend this. Starting line-up. Regan Slittle, Moore, Grubb, Barr Jlittle (r outside midfield) news flash Moron, she's a fwd. Kelly G (L outside midfield) Zimny and Stoecker (holding mf) Who were the fwds, Jones and Lindsey. <Start Rant on L2> She's not a fwd. She's slow. I've seen enough of her. She isn't adding anything except her ape-like running style. <end rant> Stocker has really picked up her game. After her 1st year, I didn't think that she would ever learn to pass. Now if she could tutor moore, we might have something. Is Meinert fast? We need to improve our speed in the back. Problem is Jim wanted to play Zimny, but he didn't have a good spot to put her. I really like Kelly G. but she needs to give the ball up quicker.
They played like Unted. And that's not a compliment. Thanks to all the Crusaders who came out and joined us in La Norte. I would like to say that I wish more of us joined you guys, but I get the feeling we may not be welcome there. Sachin
What irks me is not the fact that we lost 5-2. That simply shows the tremendous impact that Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, and Siri Mullinix have on this team, and this league. That much should be obvious to anyone. What irks me is that what might be the team's largest crowd of the season had to watch them give up five goals while, by what may or may not be serendipity, the three players anyone might have heard of-- believe me, there are a lot of people on the DC United boards who think Abby Wambach will solve their scoring woes-- were hundreds of miles away playing an international friendly which drew a smaller crowd. It also certainly irks me that we were not allowed to hang Sachin's banners over a part of the WUSA decoration which had nothing whatsoever on it except blue paint. Although Katy Button told us in no uncertain terms that we weren't allowed to do it, I get the feeling that the decision might not have been entirely up to her, and had it been, things might have come out differently. I am finally starting to see the ways in which the League is pissing off some of the MLS fans who want to support the WUSA but feel like they aren't welcome. If the league goes under-- and I hope it doesn't-- it will not be our fault; it will be the fault of those who have alienated arguably the only people who can save the league at this point.
Courage end Freedom streak From the Washington Times. Includes good descriptions of the goals, which Fear was looking for.
Don't forget that this match is being reaired (hopefully in it's entirety) on Sunday morning at 10am EDT on CSN!!!!! ------- Brian Straus's write-up on the match in Sunday's Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4415-2003May17.html ----- From CNNSI.com: Abby's road Prankster Wambach looks to jump-start young U.S. women
Hey there, Sachin. It was fun sitting with La Norte. (I exchanged two Freedom full season tickets.) Not one of our better performances, unfortunately. The Freedom defended so poorly (especially in the 1st half). Stoecker's goal was sweet. Standing in the middle of the 1st row, right behind the goal, we got a good look at it. It was cool to watch Luckenbill come up short on that one. :-D Kelly's 2nd goal with the Freedom club was awesome.
Sheeesh Does anyone at US Soccer have ANY interest in growing the game??? Why would you play a COMPLETELY meaningless exhibition (I mean, we don't even know when or where the WWC will be) and take all the marquee players from a WUSA/MLS doubleheader that we already know is going to draw a huge crowd (at least by MLS/WUSA standards)? The WUSA suits may be just as dumb as the MLS suits (or the FIFA suits, while we're at it), but US Soccer and our idiot international program are certainly major contributors. And can we get Jimbo to at least stop *sounding* like a jackoff (there's no cure for stupid, but it can be made quieter). I mean, he IS responsible for coaching this team - when "11 players don't show up" isn't that why coaches get fired? grrr. (amen to the Jones up top thread, too!)
It was so nice to see a goal from the run of play. I'd nearly forgotten what that's like. I had a good time for the half I watched. I didn't think it would be possible, but my stomach was churning and I was incredibly upset to see our team go down like that. I'm wondering if it's my fault. Well.. There's no easy answer here. US Soccer grows their game through friendlies and international competitions. However, the WUSA grows their game through week-in, week-out competition. So US Soccer is certainly interested in growing their game, putting them in conflict with the WUSA. There's no FIFA schedule for women, but FIFA has ruled that national teams take priority over clubs, so there's not much the Freedom can do anytime US Soccer decides to schedule a one-off friendly in some god-forsaken city. Sachin
I was sitting behind the Freedom bench and noticed a blonde woman warming up with the other reserves during the game that i didn't recognize. Did we get a new player?
I thought the Freedom brought in two supplemental players for the game, Kate McFarlane as the backup goalkeeper and someone else whose name I can't track down now. The tall blonde was not McFarlane because I saw McFarlane participating in the GK warmups, and she's a not terribly tall brunette.
Joe - I agree and disagree with some of what you have to say here. I was at the game also. Here's my take. First, you do have to wonder what Gabarra was thinking putting Steffi up front as the lone forward. (You mention Lindsey playing forward, but she was an attacking midfielder.) Gabarra must have been thinking Steffi could fill Abby's shoes up there, but unless she's been practicing up there and has a forward's mentality, it just won't work, and that was evident Saturday. And, she was more needed in her regular spot. Second, you have a rookie goalie who got hammered early, made some bad decisions, and we paid for it. Giving up that easy early goal put a lot of pressure on the defense. Third, the defense did not have a good day, but that may have come partially from not having a lot of confidence in their goalie. This should easily have been at least a 2-2 or perhaps a 3-2 game. However, there was not good marking going on. Too many Courage players left open around the goal. Fourth, I thought LSquared played a lot better than apparently you did. She seemed to have more energy than most everyone else. There just weren't too many targets. Steffi may be tall, but unless she knows how to get in position then its wasted. You gotta remember that it is not all a midfielder's fault if a pass doesn't get to the forward. It is also the forward's responsibilty to move and get in position. BTW - it seemed to me LSquared was the one who kept the ball in play in order for Stoecker (alone in the midfield) to score. (Didn't she get an assist?) Honestly, I thought it was a bone-head move to replace her. She seemed on the verge of scoring when Gabarra pulled her. Oh yeah, her running style, she's run like that her whole career! And, she's a lot faster than you think she is. On Gabarra, you gotta wonder also what his coaching abilities are to fix things. When it obviously didn't work in the first half I was sure he would come out in the second with Steffi back in her old spot and perhaps Little up front. I also wondered if he'd change goalies, cause Erin just couldn't get it done. She looked scared. The New York game was much worse than this one, yet since it was a win Gabarra didn't say anything bad. They lose their first game and he reams the team, badly. His players are probably not too happy about that. Is that what you call a fairweather coach? You knew they were gonna lose one eventually. I still think they are a better team than the Courage. On to New York.
JoeSoccerFan: "<Start Rant on L2> She's not a fwd. She's slow. I've seen enough of her. She isn't adding anything except her ape-like running style. <end rant>" Wow, are you out of line! I was at the game, and L-Squared was instrumental in creating Stoecker's goal chance. Gabarra is a blamer and seemingly unable to assume his share of responsibility when the team loses! Frankly, the team looked worse in its home opener against NY (I was also there), but managed a win ... so all is forgiven?! His offensive schemes are without reason; we're lucky to be atop of the standings. This team has talent; there's little evidence the talent extends to the coaching corps. Accusing the team of not showing up is a cheap shot and shows a lack of requisite respect any coach should have for his team's heart! He has no class.
Aside from questions about Gabarra's ability to shift personnel/tactics as needed, he sure does tend to dress down the team in public. Some coaches ALWAYS take the blame for losses (Pat Farmer was the champ at this), some mix praise with specific criticism (Tom Sermanni comes to mind), but has Jim ever once acknowledged that he bears any responsibility for a poor Freedom performance? It's hard to imagine it's a motivator.
A couple of interesting things to note in this article. Point #3 about Carolina's losses haven't even been mentioned... http://onthesidelines.org/hindsight051903.htm
From CyberSoccerNews: Courage destroy Freedom and earn first win Carolina end Washington unbeaten streak at 14 by Katherine Minarik
Re: Re: 5/17 - Courage at Freedom POST MATCH [R] I agree with this and all the other posts regarding Gabarra's blame game. I don't think I've EVER heard him take the blame for any of his bone headed decisions when they don't somehow, by sheer will of the players to MAKE them work, work. As was well pointed out, there's more to being a forward than just playing up top. A prime example of this is Cindy Parlow. A lot of people rag on her, calling her a cherry picker, but you know what? That's what EVERY forward should be at times and have the mentality to do - know exactly where to be at the right time! You need to know how to position yourself to be able to make a key shot. This is both inate and LEARNED. Putting Steffi up there simply because she is big is pretty stupid if she has no idea how to "work" the position. Abby has learned how to do this VERY well, as was evidenced by her hat trick performance last week. Her last goal is a prime example of her being right where she needed to be at the right time. But it's something she learned! He does all kinds of stupid stuff but never takes the blame for it. He just says "the team didn't show up to play" or "they stunk up the field" or some other brilliant remark. He never says "I made a mistake in trying to do such and such. It just didn't work..." As far as I'm concerned this team wins in spite of him and NOT because of him. N~
Gabarra's "tactics" were disgracefully inept AND The entire team played like complete crap I agree completelt that Gabarra is notoriously bad at accepting responsibility (remember "snake bites," anyone?). The current situation is particularly egegrious, as no one but he could possibly be culpable for the crappy lineup and inept gameplan. (Giving Jimbo the benefit of the doubt here, I'm assuming the gameplan was "bring speed down the flanks and cross to Steffi's head," as opposed to "create a massive vacuum in midfield through which the Courage can swarm like raging Huns." Even so, it was inane.) As for someone's comment -- "L-Squared was instrumental in creating Stoecker's goal chance" -- I think that calling it a "goal chance" is optimistic at best. Don't get me wrong, it resulted in a beautiful goal. It was great to see. But seriously, is this what we're accepting as "goal chances" these days? Miracle lobs from 25 yards out? To my eyes, there was a remarkable dearth of any Freedom player creating goal chances for her teammates in this match. Half chances at best. As bad as we were against NY, I still think we played better in that match than here. The real test will be to see how the team bounces back from this loss (which really should have been much, much more lopsided).
we did not have mia abby siri isn't it clear that's why we lost? or am i the only one that thinks that? if any one of them is on the field it's at least a tie IMHO.
re: Ya know. If a coach intends on pointing his finger at the team, he had d@mn well better point the finger at himself too. and that I didn't see. So basically he seperated himself from the team. I got news for you Jimmy. as the coach you are appart of the team. you can not include yourself when the team wins...and remove yourself from the equation when the team fails. I wonder how your players feel right now that their own coach basically told them they stunk. They stunk because you did not utilize your bench properly, you took players out of roles in which they were comfortable, then you placed them in roles that they are not comfortable in. and expected your team to perform well. You consistantly fail to recognize your teams individual talents. and stick many in positions where you do not get the most bang for your buck. then you have the nerve to be sickened by their performance. Frankly this is nothing new. He has been doing this consistantly since year one. Case in point Mia hamm. goal scorer exstrodinaire, and assist artist, and what does jimmy do with her?...sticks her in the mid-feild. and where in the mid-feild does her put her?...on the flank. SMART, REALLY BRILLIANT COACHING You know what I think?...I think Jimmy you are d@mn lucky to have the team you do cause frankly with all the adversity you create for them they manage to still make you look good. They win despite you. Shows they have more charector then you do apparently. You don't see any of the players saying their coach stunk it up. and from what I have seen and your latest remarks.....they would be well within their rights to. I mean for God sakes Jimmy!? Steffi up top?! She has had numerous oppertunities to score since her joining the team, and she has scored not one single goal. Not one! but she is your choice to play forward. When you have Kelly G. And J. Little who have both demonstrated they can score. What were you thinking? And another thing!.................Na, just kidding