And part of that subpar performance was caused by DCU dictating the middle 60 minutes of the match. When is the last time we controlled the tempo of a game? And this side will only get better from here.
Listened to the PitchPass podcast today -- guest was Charlie Boehm talking about DC United and the changes made in the offseason as well as a discussion of Saturday's game. Worth the listen.
Agreed, but keep in mind it's the first game of the season, it might have been a little easier to catch the opponent off guard than it will be in May. And a 58% pass completion rate is bad even for this kind of playing style, and we got a bit lucky with two really quality strikes on low-percentage shots in the same game. We've got to get cleaner when we win the ball going forward. Hopefully getting the full XI together will help that happen.
Some tactical and fitness info in this Arriola Athletic Article... https://theathletic.com/2552990/2021/04/29/paul-arriola-usmnt-swansea-dc-united/
Full fitness required before return to training - different from before - he said he would already be back in training with other coaches. This is also why so many players are still out. Previously they would regain fitness with training/matches - Losada wants full fitness before game fitness because it leads to longer uptime and lessens re-injury. High press and transition to offense needs work as does offensive movement and decision making - what do you do once your press creates a turnover and you are on the offense - great teams can make three passes and have a shot on goal because the tactics are muscle memory. NE game was garbage on a garbage field against a garbage (fouling) team. Championship fields are shit - except Stoke. He wants to play for teams that want him going forward.
It was a QandA. Arriola was disappointed in the loan. He didn't feel like he got a chance. Still wants to go abroad, but will only go to a club that really wants him and will give him a shot. Pitches in the Championship suck. Losada demands a very high level of fitness and guys cannot return back to training until they are 100% ready. He'd be on the field if Olsen were coaching, but he's still a few weeks out. He's jazzed to be at DCU and looking forward to playing in the new system. I'm sure I forgot some other stuff... (edit) Moz beat me to it.
I think another take away is that, while understandable, he went on loan with stars in his eyes/unrealistic expectations/misimpression of his "position" which resulted in frustration and disappointment. At the same time, I think the comments posted to the article is well taken - opportunities to make his case were at every practice prior to the injury - not just in games. Players getting a cup of coffee in any sport need their agents or advisors get the player to understand they are not superstars - otherwise they wouldn't be getting just a cup of coffee.
I admire this principle, but we haven't even been able to field a full subs' bench, and MLS is still allowing 5 a match.
hopefully that new turf Spurs pawned off on Leeds will be replaced again as well. Levy ripped them off. He's a sneaky bastard.
Yep. It will be ripped out this summer and the whole thing replaced down to drainage, heating and hybrid pitch. Spurs purchase was only for the remainder of this season. It was a rip by off. Not sure the old set up wasn’t better.
Arriola looks to be back in training... Hey, @PaulArriola 👋 pic.twitter.com/R7ai0IxlxF— D.C. United (@dcunited) May 11, 2021
Goff reports DC has upgraded Loudoun United's Drew Skundrich to an MLS contract. It's TBD as to what the corresponding roster move on United's current roster will be to make room for Skundrich. D.C. United has upgraded Loudoun United's Drew Skundrich, 25, to an MLS contract, three sources said. He was with the first team in preseason. Another roster move seems necessary to accommodate him. #dcu #usl— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) May 12, 2021
Pablo Hernandez from Leeds is being released. While he's 36 years old, he still has a ton of gas left in the tank. He's been playing Bielsa ball for 3 years now so the tactics won't be strange. The guy is a passer in the mold of Etcheverry, but he's a two footed player. We could only get 2 years out of him and I'm not sure how he would handle the heat after so many years in England. I'd take a flyer because he'd be available for a salary in the 500-700Kish range. He's a good finisher than can play on the wing or in the middle of the field. He's a part owner of a Spanish 2nd Division team that he may go play for, but I hope we reach out.
Summer and fall will be very congested. Assuming you’re correct in your evaluation, staring every other game would be a good addition even if he’s subbed.
Tough, tough break for #DCU: multiple sources tell me that Edison Flores, who suffered a hamstring injury against Philly on Sunday, will miss a minimum of 4-6 weeks. Has already been dropped, naturally, from Peru's upcoming qualifiers.— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) May 25, 2021 This puts us in a position where we may be able to drop Perez into the Flores role and have Kamara/Smith/Anyone in front of him. I'd like to see if Perez can create, find space, and link up effectively in that role.
Losing Flores for 4-6 weeks is not a massive loss for DCU. He has done literally nothing in a year's worth of games. I haven't posted on here for ages but was going to post a week or two ago that Flores should be benched immediately so he wasn't injured and we thus jeopardized a potential sale this summer. Too late... Hopefully we can still move him. He is a TOTAL and complete bust. It's ok. It happens. Admit it and move on. Step 1 in rebuilding this team is selling Flores for whatever we can get and freeing up his $2 million salary for someone else. Perez is not the answer for anything. He is terrible. He has some flashy moves that never amount to anything because he is not fast enough to punish anyone he gets a half step on. There's a reason he was playing indoor and then dropped by LAFC... Last game we started Arriola and Mora as wingbacks, Canouse, Nyeman, Skundrich and then Flores and Perez up top. This line up frightens absolutely no one in MLS. The wingbacks are ok... Canouse is fine. Nyeman and Skundrich are terrible with zero creativity. Nyeman has been subbed off two weeks in a row at halftime because he was the worst player on the field. Flores is terrible. Perez is terrible. We have more of the ball in the other team's end that under Olsen, but we are no threat to score. In short, this team needs a MASSIVE rebuild. If I was Lucy, I'd be calling everyone in MLS and telling them damn near everyone on my team is available. And I'd be scouring the world to find a #10. GK. Seitz - played himself out of contention Kempin - has proved to be a good back up Hamid - not sure he will see any games under Losada. If you must be fully healthy, he'll never see the field. He is terribly injury prone... DEF Here we're not actually terrible. Hines-Ike - has been a good pick-up Brilliant - is a great back-up player / spot starter and seems like a good locker room presence Alfaro - a younger Brilliant. Good back up player. Plays too slow. Waits too long to move the ball. Birnbaum - hopefully he comes back at the level he was at before Mora - is a good value in this league, but not sure he has the offensive chops to play wingback in Losada's system. Najar - looks like a very good pick up if he can stay healthy Pines - should fit well in this system once healthy DeShields - ??? Greene - ??? Odoi-Atsem - nothing special. not terrible. Not sure how if he'll ever see the field in Losada's system MID Moreno - reasonably good MLS player Canouse - ditto Felipe - unknown after knee injury. Never really liked his game (too slow) but I'll give him this, he plays for the badge and I can respect him. Nyeman - I don't see what others are seeing but I'll admit maybe I'm missing it. He has been terrible the last two games however. Gressel - Gives this team something no one else does (except maybe Flores) in terms of set pieces. But he never seems to get to take the free kick at the top of the box. Don't know why... If you're not going to play Kamara (or maybe Smith), there's no point in putting him on the field other than set pieces because his crosses are wasted. There's no one there. Skundrich - a good MLS back-up / spot starter. Arriola - obviously our best player but he's a terrible finisher so I'd probably play him at the wing back spot because he can recover no problem. MIght be willing to put him in the middle a well. Asad - has fallen off the face of the earth. Probably just doesn't have enough energy for Losada's liking. But he would bring some creativity to the midfield which is sorely lacking right now. Paredes - the best of the homegrowns right now. He needs to learn that when he's playing on the left he needs to send crosses in. Too much cutting in and then can't do anything with no right foot. Should be on the field more. Yordy - who knows. Forwards Kamara - I know people on this board are hating on him right now but he is far and away the best forward we have right now. He and Gressel aren't on the same page yet but he's making actual runs that forwards should make. He is a professional whereas none of the others look like one. Perez - a couple of flashy moves and nothing else. Robertha - who knows. Smith - who knows Sorga - I had high hopes for him but he had a chance and did nothing. I will say I think it was the San Jose game Sorga earned a free kick at the top of the box in the second half and desperately wanted to take it and instead... Felipe who had just come on the field for the first time in a year insisted on taking it. Way to be a leader Felipe and give your young striker a chance to break the seal... Yow - yup, he's listed on the roster as a forward. I've watched this kid play since he was U9 and he's had a nose for goal his entire life. Would love to see him get a chance but he seems glued to the bench. Coach A couple of games in my first reaction was that Losada was the "Argentinian Klinsmann" - running players into the ground until they were injured, acting like a bull in a china shop telling everyone it's my way or the highway, and talking like a MBA guy using all sorts of fancy words about his tactics without actually saying anything at all. But in the last two games in particular he's made adjustments at halftime that impressed me, in particular this past week bringing in Kamara at half and moving Arriola into the middle to try and get creativity into the midfield and someone who could potentially do something with Gressel's crosses. That's what this team desperately needs - creativity in the middle of the park. Step 1 is getting rid of Flores and using that money on someone else.
There is a ton to take in here - some I agree with, some I don't. I'm going to start with what I think is the most basic requirements for the modern Euro soccer mentality (Which is what our coach has). Fitness. These men have to be fit. I understand that 10 years ago that Klinsi ruffled feathers with the divas of the USMNT suggesting that to be world class you had to have world class fitness. Those MLS guys could be 80% fit compared to their world counterparts but on an MLS pitch be the fittest on the field by far. MLS has moved forward since then. The top teams in this league have imported players who come with that fitness mentality so it shouldn't be so controversial. DC players were heavy and out of shape because there was no accountability from the organization. They were allowed to be lazy and it showed on the field. Losada wants fitness and will use that as a measuring stick more power to him. That level of accountability will benefit the youth players and the veterans alike. It seems like Arriola, Gressel, Felipe, and Brilliant have already benefitted from this. Moving on. Flores. We can lose him with no downside. He hasn't brought it yet and will likely move on unless there is a full 180. Disagree on Perez - he brings a workrate and ball control that many on the team don't have. With an actual striker he could be successful but right now he has to make his way out of 3 defenders because who else needs to be defended against. Never underestimate someone that can hold the ball. If we had players making runs and getting open and he still wasn't able to find them then we can evaluate his vision but we are static up top. Paul has quicker instincts but those are useless 30 yards from goal. As far as Kamara - I'm not sure he isn't in the same place as Flores. He doesn't run, press, or make space in the final third. He can't hold the ball up and distribute. He needs another top class striker to free up space for him and let him make that one back post run. We don't have that. Do we want to wait for it or say he isn't the guy for this system? Outside of the 6 he is useless. Nyeman is a box to box guy and disrupts plays all over the field. In our system that is gold. Now he needs to be able to take the next step and know what to do once he gets possession back. He may get there, he may not but his workrate is needed for the system. This team has an identity and the top players are coming back on the field. Those are positive things but we need someone else up top. I'm not sure if it is Robertha/Smith/Reyna but at the moment they aren't available. Based on availability you do need to start Kamara and see what he can bring from the start. I don't want Lucy out looking for MLS players not named Latif Blessing. I'm willing to give the scouting side the summer window to see what they can do.