IT'S IN THE NET!!!! Kamara appears to be able to find space, still pissed we didn't start him (not that it probably would have mattered).
Holy hell, this is terrible. We fouled enough in the first half to stay even, and then we couldn't stay close enough to even foul. A couple of great finishes by NYRB, for sure, but still a very well-deserved win. By August, Taxi'll need titanium shins, since all defenses will have to do is hack him and make DC score with literally anyone else -- especially during the first 60 minutes when, inexplicitly, Kamara's on the bench. That's a 7-1 composite loss to your biggest rival over 18 days. I know he's a stop-gap, but someone's gotta at least be screaming at Ashton over the break (sorry, Chad -- it won't be fun).
United with the upset goal late to join Jersey on the scoreboard. Classy move by United to gift another consolation goal to Jersey.
Did we even have a shot on goal before the late Kamara consolation goal? Without Taxi or Najar, Gressel is the only player capable of creating anything. Flores was brought in to be a creator, but he just isn't good for this team or this league. In addition, there is no plan B. The bench is weak. Kamara is the only useful attacking player. We have no speed to play on the counter. So, that isn't an option. If our #9 could hold up the ball with his back to goal, he could be the fulcrum to launch attacks. Estrada's was horrible. I don't mean to be a d-ck, but he could barely trap a ball or complete a pass. Both Estrada and Robertha could be useful with the right players around them, but they need service. They cannot create for themselves or for others. The optimist in me says that there is hope that this team can at least be entertaining down the stretch. We need to keep Taxi and Najar healthy, and get a quality attacking player in the summer window who can push Flores to the bench.
Not sure where you get your optimism from? I feel we are heading to the bottom of the league with no escape hatch. I would say we are a good 3 or 4 players away from contending for a playoff spot. We are dreadful at every level. Extremely frustrating given it isn’t even June.
We fired Losada who was squeezing copper from this turd of a team. At points it was fun to watch and we competed. Now we don’t have that cohesion, don’t have the tactics, don’t have the coach, and less of the players (injury/trades). The FO said that we had the team and the coach let them down. Same team, different coach, everything is worse.
I agree. This team is at least 2-3 players from even being close to the quality of the 2020-2021 team, and that team missed the playoffs. However, I am hopeful that the team is building and not declining. I feel like this team was gutted last offseason. Key players and role players were lost, and they were either not replaced at all or they were replaced by inferior players. The most notable losses were Paredes and Arriola. In my mind, Taxi is the Arriola replacement. So far, this appears to be an upgrade. Time will tell. However, Brad Smith is no Paredes. So, AT MINIMUM, we need a quality attacker to play on the left to balance our attack. If we can do this, I think the team can compete. Additions may come too late to make the playoffs, but hopefully they will at least be fun to watch in the last 1/3 of the season. What I don't want to hear is any of that "we are happy with our group" BS of the past.
I just don't get why Kamara is not starting. Estrada is just not cutting the mustard, and Robertha hasn't shown much of anything. Flores should not be an attacking wing, or even on the pitch for that matter. I seriously would play Ted Ku-DiPietro over Flores, and let him get his feet wet. Sami Guediri (Loudoun FC) impressed me when he filled in for DC, and I would bring him up, and send Alfaro down. I am so sick and tired of DC making other teams (good or bad) look like Real Madrid. I'm disgusted.
It's got to be the simplest reason: The club wants to play it's costliest players, particularly internationals. I imagine since we got Taxi Kamara and his agent have been complaining quite a lot, and the team is not responsive to people who want to contribute and can contribute to the club if they are demanding. It's also pretty par for the course for us to increase a players salary and then just shut them out. Shades of 2012. For me, the next game is it, do or die. If we lose to the only team struggling more than we are in all of MLS, it's over. Yea, Kansas City is struggling too, but in the much more difficult West. If we were in the West we would be sitting on 0.5 ppg
Yeah, I figure the edict has come down that we're paying these guys big money so they need to be on the field no matter what. It's a shame that Bill is a shadow of his former self. He never used to give up juicy rebounds like that, did he? The defense and midfield obviously don't help, but he's not the savior anymore
It's kind of bonkers that "Hamid and hope" was seen as an admirable idea to begin with. What other team in the league and their fanbase would be satisfied with their keeper making acrobatic saves just to make the playoffs? It was stupid when I first heard it and I am glad it holds no basis in reality anymore.
I could live with other teams looking like Real Madrid if United looked like Liverpool. The losses would feel a lot better.
He’s always been a shot stopper. Rebounds happen. He’s never been a hands guy. Never. That’s why he never made it to the top and stayed there. When your team is roasted ass a shot stopper becomes Courtois.
eriF ehT hcaoC Is it any harder to hire a small plane to fly over the stadium these days than it was back in August 2001?
Maybe, but Kamara is making almost as much money as Flores, and much more than Estrada and Robetha. I'm pretty sure that we would find that a bunch of the younger players aren't ready, but at least we could use this year to figure that out, rather than waste it rolling Flores out every game. My guess is that Kamara is being punished for the red card thing, but starting Robetha over him has to be a sign that he is gone soon, which is a shame because he is one of the only players on the team with a nose for goal.
Estrada is trash. Can we ship him back to Toluca this week? Awful runs, terrible first touch, soft on the ball, and is a diver. Hamid is clearly not the same player, but can we not allow point-blank shots all the time? Even the best keepers will sometimes allow rebounds. I know isn’t a popular position on this board but for the amount of money Gressel makes he surely isn’t delivering. Perhaps if we had competent players around him he would play better, but right now he’s underperforming. I guess he’s the least of our worries…