Pre-match: DC vs. Revs 4/17

Is this what they call low-hanging fruit? Would it be just too easy to point out that sooner or later any neck would fail to support that gigantic head?

I thought I read that they had been down-graded/up-graded to PROBABLE

******** the Revultion, those negative playing, Duke loving evil **********.

I only saw one portion of a Revs game so far this year and they were horrible.
Without Twellman is it just speed we need to worry about, or do they have any threats other than Nyassi?

 

Agreed. NE is a lucky 2-0-1.

But we've been pretty bad, too--outplayed the last three games, outplayed both home games, and outplayed at the end of all four games.

We need to do better on the "soccer side," as Sohn calls it--we haven't played good soccer since the first half vs. Chicago--we need to do a better job of winning the midfield, and we need to not look like we're collectively sucking air after 70 minutes, or it's going to be pretty clear this team isn't properly fit and prepared--one of the most tangible things you can lay at the feet of the coaches.

Coach Tom cannot start Jaime, Christian, Ben and Fred, and until Fred is fully fit, he shouldn't start more than two of them. It may be time to see whether Gomez is more effective coming in after halftime.

And NE is probably starting their backup goalie. Our #1 better be better than their #2.

 

They are both probable as per Goff.

EDIT: Why won't that image go away in my quote?

 

they still play steve nicol hackjob soccer, its how new england has won over the nicol years

i want to say don't play stupid, but...i probably will have pulled all my hair out by the end of this game

 

We should start the fittest best XI, perhaps including all 4 players whose fitness you question above. Olsen and Moreno were rested last week. Gomez isn't going to get in better shape by not playing and Fred played more than 3/4 of the game in Salt Lake after his preseason hamstring injury. Each of these decisions is up to the coaches, training staff and players involved - just because we lost as usual in Salt Lake doesn't mean the training staff blew the game preparation.

We have an Open Cup play-in game next Wednesday. That'll be the time to rest the more experienced / older players.

I haven't seen New England this season but without Twellman they don't look too scary. Some fast Africans and a grizzled old Ralston trying to feed them the ball. Reis has missed a few games with a knee injury but I wonder if he won't be back by Friday (the Revs got the bye this past weekend so he's had an extra week to recover).

I expect a typical Steve Nicol game with Shalrie Joseph earning ample opportunities to earn the 2 red cards he's already gotten in this thread, maybe he can let Heaps have one of them if he's not too greedy.

Nyassi did have a great goal of the week against Dallas, but I like our chances with a 3-game goal streak Emilio and some gimpy old geezers like Moreno and Gomez over their relative inexperience in a scrappy game.

 

I like the football-lineups.com site to see how other teams have been lining up. Assuming the lineups were entered correctly this is how the Revs have played this season.

April 4, 2-1 win over Dallas:

http://www.football-lineups.com/match/44625/


March 28, 1-1 tie at New York:

http://www.football-lineups.com/match/44618/


March 21, 1-0 win at San Jose:

http://www.football-lineups.com/match/44614/

 

What options do we have for AMid if we don't want to start Gomez; Fred? Tino? Pontius? IMHO this is the biggest weakness on the team right now.

 

New England will most likely be playing some of their new African acquisitions. The young guns will probably try to prove a point to NE's coaching staff and will give it their heart.

Two questions:

1. I only make 4-5 games a year but is it possible to still join the Barra Brava?

2. If I am correct, arent we next in line in the allocation list? See it that Convey went to SJ and Berhalter went to LA - shouldnt DC be now looking at some US players to bring home - possibly Pearce who is has been demoted to reserves, Beasley to fill the Left side, or possible one of the Mexican playing Americans (Torres).

 

Yep. You can order your membership package online and pick it up at the tailgate. I also suggest preordering tickets at the same time if you don't have them already.

 

Certainly not Pontius, that is putting too much on a rookie. Fred was there last year and didn't impress. Maybe Tino, but probably Moreno or Olsen. I agree that DCU lacks a ready replacement for Gomez at CAM. However, that is a situation quite common in a salary capped league, you can't afford to have two quality CAM players and have one sit on the bench.

 

Good grief NO BEASLEY!! All we need is another guy on the field that only shows up for half of the game.

Torres would be excellent.

As for AMids - we've got Boyzzz, who is nutty fast, and isn't Jacobson a mid as well?

I liked how Doe played last year against NE when he scored the two goals. Boyzzz was being taken out by Smith, an ape of a defender. While Doe wasn't as fast as Smith, he showed some wicked technique to hold the ball, trip up Smith and Parkhurst, and shoot around them. Gleefully, Smith nor Parkhurst are no longer with the team.

So I wouldn't mind seeing Doe up top for this game along with Emillio.

 

I also thought Jacobsen was a backup for amid, but Tommy (so far) has only seemed to see him as a d-mid, so who knows.
But really, I see no reason why (other than injury so far) we wouldn't see Tino in that role. He did it pretty well last year, relatively He was getting better at it as the year progressed.

Hopefully Tino can start this game on a wing, but due to his earlier injury he may come in later, for either Wallace (who I hope does not play at all Friday), or for Gomez.

 

The only player we have on our roster right now who is a potential drop-in replacement for Christian is Tino. Other, less palatable, options are Benny and Fred. I thought Jacobsen was a defensive mid by training. If not, and he can play an a-mid role, great. Let him get his feet wet in Open Cup games etc. Tino is having a tough time staying healthy. Let's hope that when he comes back this time he can stay healthy, but sadly the record isn't good.

We are a pretty crippled team right now with Jaime, Christian, and Benny unable to go 90 on a consistent basis. This can't continue. We have some very tough decisions to make after this season is over - maybe before the season is over

 

For matches where we need to rest Gomez, I wonder if the right answer is not to backfill him one-for-one but to play a different formation/style. We don't have any other true #10 types, but we've got a number of guys (Gomez included, frankly) who are very good withdrawn forwards -- Jaime, 'Tino, Fred, Gomez, Pontius. A 4-2-3-1 formation would allow us to utilize our depth at this position and cover up for the fact that we don't have a true #10. the "3" in the formation can be any combination of the above 5 guys.

 

Then all we'd need to do was sign a forward who could be the "-1"

 

The problem is trying to find a drop-in replacement for Gomez, (which, quite frankly, Gomez is having a tough time with). If United holds a five man midfield I'd expect something more along the lines of 2004 pre-Gomez. Where Dema, Olsen, and BC shared the duties, but neither of them were slotted as the Attacking guy or Defensive guy.

With Gomez as the A-mid, the other two must take on more defensive stances to cover.

A Jacobsen/Pontius-Olsen-Simms midfield corps would just mean that there was a little more distance between the midfield and forwards, since the MF wouldn't be as advanced as Gomez.

 

I hate posting a bunch of conditions, but here goes...
IF it were a road match and IF we were ahead at the half, I wouldn't be surprised at Soehn rolling out the headless 4-4-2 with 2 dmids like we did last season.

But this is a home match, so I believe we'll see us lean on our best offensive options, similar to selecting the best fit XI.

Whether that means sticking to a 3-5-2 and focus on controlling midfield, or abandoning that philosophy in favor of getting flank play in a 4-4-2.....

I'd offer as motivation to our club that this far into the season, your rust should be knocked off. Time to sink your teeth into your collective efforts and get after it. Time to remember the taste of not having made the playoffs last year.. the only way to remove it is to get there this year. And you do that by getting the 3 points, especially at home.

Vamos United.
Vamanos.

 

Goff's article about Gomez is interesting. Soehn suggests that Gomez isn't game fit due to lack of playing time last year. Gomez seemed a little bit more involved against RSL. Hopefully he'll continue to get better each game.

I'm cautionsly optimistic that this team will get better each game.

Jaime, Q, and Fred should all improve with more minutes. With the right formation and coaching, the chemistry should improve with each game.

Emilio is already playing great ball. He seems more fit, his shielding has improved playing with his back to goal, and he is scoring goals.

Friday could be a a turning point with Fred, Q and Jaime available.

 

Jay Heaps is still a douche...

Other than that, I have no meaningful content.

OH! I know...I'm personally thinking we should go with the 4-4-2, given recent performances in defending wing play and crosses...If we had speedier wings, I'd be more comfortable with the 3-5-2. Right now, though, I don't think we could fill both wing positions with anyone who is fast enough and is comfortable on both offensive and defensive play, do we?

 

What does lack of playing time LAST YEAR have to do with game fitness THIS YEAR? IIRC, Christian has always had a fitness problem. He was always gassed from about the 70th minute on when he was with us last, and nothing has changed except (1) he's gassed earlier, and (2) he's not playing well even when NOT gassed. If he can't improve his play and his fitness, he should become a second-half sub. Not much point in starting him when he's not playing well and you know you must burn a sub to replace him, especially when you know you must burn a sub if Jaime starts and possibly the third for Ben. We are in a rather poor situation. That's why I look forward to the Cup match against Dallas next Wednesday, because I expect to see the pitch full of our younger players: Not just Wallace and Pontius, who have been playing regularly, but possibly Jacobsen, N'Silu, and Barklage.

 

Hopefully he'll remain on the bench, I don't think I can stand to see that stupid bunny hop goal dance again. (Where's the barfing icon?!)

 

Today's Goff article deserves more attention than it's getting. What Goff describes speaks volumes about DCU management's thinking. A player who is not fit would, on many teams, be told to go home and not come back until he was fit or put on a fitness program until he was. (Made to run endless miles every day instead of practicing with the team, for example.) In the meantime, he would ride the pines. On many teams, you have to earn your playing time. Yet, on DCU, Gomez is pencilled into the starting XI despite being both out of shape and ineffective. ( I don't buy the explanation, by the way, that it's all the fault of the nasty english coach in Colorado who made Christian sit out. Gomez was out of shape and ineffective most of the last two years.)

Moreover, the younger kids are criticized because they are not able/willing to adjust their games to suit Gomez's lack of fitness. "Guys, Christian makes ten times what you do. You need to carry him!" Is that what Soehn tells the troops? You begin to understand why the team struggles and good young players don't hang around. I think the term is "double standard."

I also don't buy the "we need Christian (and Jaime) to hold the ball" explanation either. First, neither one has been holding the ball much this year. Jaime has been a give-away machine. But more fundamentally, the point of the game is to put the ball in the net more than the other team does, not simply to possess the ball. Of course, you don't want to give away possession in your half or do so needlessly. But losing possession while you are attacking the other team's goal is no crime. Lots of successful teams attack every year chance they get and don't worry about how many passes they string together or don't try to keep away as soon as they go ahead. Now its' true that if Jaime and Christian are on the field, DCU's chances of winning the ball back are not so good, so turning the ball over seems worse. But without them on the pitch, DCU has players who can play good defense, can have good work rates, and could generate both offensive and defensive pressure. They may not be the most skilled or experienced players now, but given a chance they might become such players.