Okay, so I know I'm jumping the gun, but... DC is now doing very well in the league standings. On Saturday we'll be going up against Dallas, who are the best of the west. Is anyone else worried about how we will compare to a good MLS team? Dallas has a history of playing well against us, and I'm getting nervous. Will we hold up? Or will we fold like a bad poker hand... Especially now, that everyone here is excited and thrilled by our recent romp in Jersey. If we don't perform well, there are going to be a lot of broken hearts and recriminations come Saturday night. Gah. It's worse for me, because I'm bringing 7 people (most of them football virgins) to the game on Saturday. I'm feeling a lot of pressure, and I'm honestly not sure how DC will hold up. --kravi
It's a league match in April. I hope United wins - they're certainly good enough to beat any other team in the league. But it's a league match in April. A win would be great and every point is precious, but a draw or a loss wouldn't be the end of the world.
While its good to get off to a fast start - there are three crucial sections of our schedule: 1) First five games - four home games to start the season and we need to get some points out of them. I think if anyone had said we would get even 10 points out of the first five games which included a road trip to NY and a trip from tough Houston you would be happy. We have ten now even before that fifth game. 2) World Cup time and three vs KC - Crucial stretch of three games against key Eastern team who will be missing some of their top players. Need to come out of here with some serious points. 3) Down the stretch they come - As always - whoever carries the momentum down the stretch is always a threat. DC in 2004 and NE in '05. As I think we already acheived #1, any points are icing. #2 and #3 and the focus now
Word! As a fan, I just take one game at a time and give 110% in my fandom. If we work together, we'll continue to get good results. It doesn't matter what I do as a fan individually, as long as the team wins. Sure, it was sweet to come up with "you have a bald spot" for Meola on Saturday, but there were other equally good off-the-cuffers that took us to victory. I'll fan anywhere and it's my job to be ready when called upon.
You know Marco, RDA, Harkes etc...will be in the locker room before the game. If THAT doesn't light a fire I don't know what will.
DING Its exactly why I am worried. Nice weather, the fact I am actually upbeat (and I am never upbeat), lots of love and expectations... And the simple fact/curse that if you bring a large number of people (especially new ones) to a game like this we are bound to lose ugly. It's practically as sure as the SI curse
Having watched Dallas for the last few weeks, they're a solid team, but not spectacular. Their 4-3-3 isn't working out all that well, and their defense has been suspect. Losing Gbandi for a week will hurt them more than they realize. That said, Dallas does represent the first significant challenge to DC (I guess you could count Houston, but without DeRosario they're toothless). They have talented players all over the field, but they are nowhere near as cohesive as DC has been over the past month. There's really not a whole lot to be worried about unless DC decides to have an off week (which Nowak certainly won't allow after last year's 2-0 loss).
Hey, alot of bad poker hands win the pot, you know. They are without Gbandi, but I can't decide if that is good or bad for us. Kenny Cooper is a legitimate goal-scoring beast, Bozilla will have his work cut out for sure. If Gomez this weekend has half the game Carroll did last weekend, we'll beat them like red-headed stepchildren (or would it be red-hooped stepchildren?)
It should be a very interesting game. Let's be honest here, DC's schedule so far has been pretty damn weak. They've played one good team so far in Houston, and as luck would have it United got to play them without potential MVP DeRosario. This pretty much rendered their attack impotent for the night as service to quality players like Ching was significantly decreased. In other words, being 3-0-1 is great, but lets not get ahead of ourselves thinking that this is the best United team ever after opening up with three games of four at home (almost four of four if you count the Swamp as RFK North), with two games against NY and one against Chivas.
As Nowak said as we finished off the free beer.... he was very unhappy with the losses at home we had last year and his #1 thing on his list was winning at home!... and something about hospitals and soft ice cream??? ~worm~
This ain't your papa's Chivas. It would be a mistake to refer to them as weak. And I would be worried if DC were not getting better every game. I feel pretty good about the way they are playing. Bring it on. If we can't give Dallas a little hell, then I want to know about it now.
1-2-0 with a win over Salt Lake? The game in control and an ugly late letdown against a below average Los Angeles side? Sounds a lot like the Chivas from last year. Obviously they've upgraded talent all over the field, but at this point right now they're still adjusting to their new coach and are still pretty far below most of the teams in MLS. I'm not saying they're going to be a doormat all season long, but at this point when comparing schedules, they have to be looked at as one of the worst teams in the league. Also, I never said I was worried. I think DC has a good team that is showing improvements. What I'm saying is that it's not like DC has been playing the upper echelon of MLS talent over the first month.
The same good Houston team that barely beat RSL at home? I think Houston is way over rated. I do agree with you that the opp has been weak.. But all of it. I want to see how we do against Chicago, NE, KC and Dallas Saturday. That will tell us just how good our team is this year.
The time between now and when the WC players get back is big for United. If we can use that time to capitalize on our Eastern rivals while they are missing key players (NE & KC), are on a long ass road trip (Chicago), and have yet to come together (Cow-town). Put up points now to give us some buffer room during the summer. When we have a schedule that looks like this: 06/28 - @ Kansas City Wizards 8:30 p.m. 07/04 - @ FC Dallas 6:00 p.m. 07/08 - @ Columbus Crew 7:30 p.m. 07/15 - Columbus Crew 7:30 p.m. 07/22 - @ Chicago Fire 8:30 p.m. 07/26 - @ New England Revolution 7:00 p.m. 07/29 - @ Real Salt Lake 9:00 p.m. ALL STAR BREAK
1. I think it's a little silly to refer to our schedule as "weak" at this point. Most MLS teams are inconsistent at this point of the season. I certainly don't think we're playing our best. I'd like to beat Dallas but a loss at this point isn't critical. In fact a win at this point doesn't mean much more than an additional 3 points. So I think there is nothing to be worried about other than we want DCU to always win the next game. Remember, TFKAM is the same side that shut us down at RFK last year. What the last match showed is we've developed a response to those tactics. You can argue chivas isn't good but they've improved. Arguments like that are kind of like saying "well, LA is the champ so that must be a heckuva match we'll have." Chivas has talent, a real coach now and came out with something to prove. TFKAM was handed 2 goals in the openner (sort of) and we stormed back. We're getting results, generally looking good on the field (absent the first half in game 1 against TFKAM) and now we've got a hot striker. 2. I actually think we provide an interesting test for Dallas. Boswell matches up against Cooper perhaps better than anyone else in MLS. Their attack will test us. Their wide play will certainly challenge our outside mids and give us a better sense of whether they're for real or we've just played weak outside mids. On the flip side, I'm very unimpressed by their GK, their backline is about as talented as our (less so actually) and with Gbandi out, thinner. 3. They tooled us at RFK early in the season. But we had a raw backline then and they would proceed to do a series of square passes when we got possession until they got the "okay" from the Dallas defenders that they'd had a chance to get 10 men behind the ball and get a sip of gatorade too. I'm not arguing we're on top of our game this year--we aren't. But last year we were in bad form going into that match. This year, we're better. 4. I really think the Dallas match is going to come down to which team does a better job imposing itself on the other team.
Don't worry dude. Last year I brought a first-timer to the Dallas game where we got our asses beat (Ruiz's bicycle kick). Hell, DC didn't even score a goal. My buddy had a blast. I told him that it was a bad game and I thought that he would've hated it. He wants to come back sometime.
Don't sweat it--remind them that this is a clash between the only two remaining undefeated teams in the league. Make sure everybody has plenty of beer. And then allow yourself to enjoy the game. Where are you sitting? Do you tailgate? Are your tickets on the loud side?
Isn't it nice to have a game in April that feels like it "matters?" Obviously it doesn't as has been rightly pointed out, but when you actually care about what it would "mean" if you lost, it's so much more compelling as a fan. As a Dallas fan, I'm really looking forward to the game and feel exactly like the original poster. I'm not sure if we'll be able to hold up against quality oppostion on the road. I'm most interested in seeing how a Dallas midfield that has to be described as a poor possession team will play against maybe the best midfield in the league. Obviously we'll be going over the top a lot and hoping that our forwards can continue to produce. It's too bad that Gbandi won't be playing. With a re-energized Vanney and the insertion of second-year man Drew Moor Saturday, the squad that we all rightly described as suspect since the beginning of the season put in the best performance I have seen out of them in years. You might actually see Alexander Yi in central defense with Vanney out wide like we finished the game Saturday. I like our chances. We've had a good record against DC and in RFK. Mainly I just want to see a high-intensity game with a lot of urgency and players playing like the result means something. I think we'll get that.
Worried? Worried!? This is DC United, undefeated and on top of the league, playing at home. The last time we had a start like this we won the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup. Worried, hah. Until proven otherwise, this team is unbeatable. I suggest you get on the bandwagon now, so as not to look like a johnny-come-lately.
Random thoughts: I do think our set of four games has provided comparatively weak opposition. But I also agree with JoeW that we're not yet at our best, either. At the same time, I was reasonably impressed with Dallas in the match against KC this past weekend. Their offense did seem to sputter a bit in the final third; but everyone here knows that Carlos Ruiz finds ways to score on us. I worry about who the referee will be, and whether he'll bite on one of the dives inside the box that Ruiz will unquestionably make at some point. I am glad we are playing with confidence; I worry about the possibility of overconfidence. I dunno whether the team Best XI stuff before the match will be fuel or a distraction. But I very much hope we kick ass for our returning heroes.