yes, but thats really down to the player convincing the trainers he is good enough to still play. Maybe they shouldnt have taken his word for it and maybe they didnt see how he got hit. He should have been more honest with himself and them and not tried to tough it out. also, I cant recall ever hearing about such an injury before - is it pretty rare?
In less disturbing news, and I hope HI recovers quickly, I stumbled upon this little blast from the past gem. How different are our comments today! D.C. United rewind New coach, better effort, improved synchronization, a catastrophic defensive misstep, same awful finishing, and of course, another defeat. Are we nearing the bottom of this freefall yet? Maybe not. With the 1-0 defeat at New England, United set the club record for scoreless performances in a season with its 13th empty display. And D.C. accomplished it in just 19 matches. The last time someone other than 17-year-old Andy Najar scored in MLS play? Adam Cristman against Seattle two months ago. Poor Ben Olsen. The club icon shouldn't have to oversee this disaster created by others. Club owner Will Chang, who authorized the dismissal of coach Curt Onalfo while leaving the rest of the rotting operation in place, watched from the elite field-level seats at Gillette Stadium. In the locker room afterward, I approached him for a quick interview. He didn't want to talk. What did designated player Branko Boskovic, the culprit on the goal, think of the match? "I don't know, I don't know what to say. ... I don't really have anything to say. I don't know what to say." First-time scorer Pat Phelan, marked (sort of) by Boskovic, described the goal this way: "I started in an offside position and came back onside. When my man didn't follow me, I was in the middle of the [penalty area] and just had to deflect it one way or the other. I just had to not mess it up, really." A United-related note: Luciano Emilio, who had been seeking a new MLS destination after being cut by DCU in July, told me that he plans to sign a short-term contract with Uruguayan club Danubio on Tuesday. My match report is available here. Video highlights, if you dare: My heart almost stopped when I saw the word "Emilio." I thought you were going to tell us he was coming back again. Luci's a class act and a half and I love him to death for that 2007 season, but his time is passed and it's time to move on. Unrelated, but interesting, note: the last time we didn't suck was 2007, when we won the SS and lost to the Fire because some hack ref called Christian Gomez offside on what would have been the series-tying goal (with no away goal decider). I'm sorry, but I still refuse to believe it was offsides, and refuse to look at any replay that suggests otherwise. Anyway, the following season, we signed a sponsorship deal with Volkswagon, and every since we removed the three stripes for that VW logo, we've been downright terrible. Anyone else we should go back to the classic United, Adidas Three Stripes across the chest, look? Not only is it more appeasing to the eye, but we also didn't suck while wearing it! Posted by: kdiff813 | August 8, 2010 12:42 AM | Report abuse We had just yelled at the TV, "Just shoot the ball!" when they showed Benny saying "Shoot the &$!&*@$ ball!" Gotta love that about him. I don't think he'll be one to mince words and will definitely push these guys. It was, however, as frustrating as ever to see them take it to the 18 so many times, just to back it back out and reset. If you don't shoot, you can't score. Posted by: HarkesyRules | August 9, 2010 2:28 PM | Report abuse Goal celebration?? What we need is a Scapegoat of the Match hazing ritual, where the designated scapegoat has something humiliating done to him. You could borrow plenty of ideas from Silent Library. Or maybe the Tim Tebow haircut the full page of comments can be found here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/08/dc_united_rewind_5.html
According to this article https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl...e-alabama-dolphins/151foz4amwcqr1uiss48f4ha2x (it's a good read), it took Tua almost a year for his surgery and rehab, to recover to the point he could play in an NFL game. Years before, Bo Jackson had the same injury, and never played again. Here's hoping for a complete and speedy recovery, Brendan!
I remember watching the play when Jackson was injured. Looked like a "nothing", but that was the end of his career. Mark Bavaro of the NYG had a similar injury and kept playing, but he suffered that bone necrosis that ended Jackson's career as well. I hope BHI has a full recovery and no lasting problems.
Crap. D.C. United loses another starter for significant time: forward Adrien Perez, surgery for broken foot, out about three months. Details to come ... #dcu #mls— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) July 22, 2021
This may push us to be a little more aggressive in the summer transfer window. One can hope Ms. Rushford has been putting together a list.
Arriola, Asad, Flores, Yow, Reyna. If she is making a list, I hope she's checking it twice to make sure everyone on it is better than at least 4 of those players.
The summer transfer window is now - in fact it's half over. There is only two weeks left. Secondary Transfer Window: Wed., July 7 – Thurs., August 5, 2021 All in-season trades between MLS clubs must take place within these transfer windows. To bring guys in I'm almost certain we have to move some people to free up roster spots. I would consider moving: Gressel - He is not a natural fit for Losada's system. Too slow and lumbering. And he almost certainly has value in MLS. We would probably have to eat some of his salary for this year and maybe next depending on if his contract is guaranteed. I understand we would miss his crossing but he's one of the few players we have who others might be interested in. Felipe - Has value in this league. And we generally have plenty of guys for his position. Reyna - If nothing else it would free up an international slot. Someone in MLS might take a flyer on him. Flores - I would be doing everything I could to unload him, even at a massive discount from the $5 million we spent. If nothing else we need to free up the DP spot for someone who can have a DP impact. Kamara - I like Kamara and think he is a "professional" finisher who is doing well with the minutes he's been given, but he probably has value around the league. Depending on what we got back it could be worth it. Asad - doesn't really fit Losada's system. Not enough energy/wheels. If he could turn himself into a workhorse energizer bunny he could really thrive in Losada's system but not sure I see that happening. I suspect some other MLS team would be interested in him.
Tend to agree with those choices except -- Felipe is on a much cheaper contract than when he was acquired and he is valuable depth. Canouse is hurt and Nyeman is regressing. Moreno will need a break and Skundrich is just returning from injury. Flores is simply too expensive to move within MLS, hopefully some LigaMX chump decides he's worth it. Asad might be useful in someone's system, but he's not worth much as trade value. Gressel is grossly overpaid, so moving him would require eating part of his salary, so I'm not sure what that gets you.
Gressel - cannot disagree more. He's 4th in the league in key passes and far and away the best on the roster at that. I think he's good in transition on both sides of the ball, and is our leader in minutes played, so you know Losada values him. Felipe - ya, I'd be fine with this, but right now we've got Moreno and Nyeman, an injured Canouse and Skundrich, who has trouble receiving passes at speed. Reyna - Agree here, but it sounds like we would owe Vancouver if we got rid of him before season's end. Flores - will have more value once he's played for a few months again, and he hasn't played with a functional group in this system. Also, we just likely lost Perez for the rest of the season. And in terms of the Peruvian community, I think getting rid of both Reyna and Flores would be a major bummer and generally bad business. Kamara - really? He's our leading scorer and he's played less than half our games, and he moves better off the ball than any of our forwards - he's a complete player, as CFs go. He's finally coming good and _now_ you want to dump him? Asad - you're right here. He's fine as a backup in this system, but he's not a natural fit. So really, Asad - I'd move now if we can. Reyna - I'd move depending on the upside, and definitely at season's end. Felipe - I'd move if we were bringing in a strong 8 to compete for minutes in the same window. Flores - nobody's going to buy him right now. Consider it at season's end, but when it comes to Peruvians on the roster, I prefer to keep Flores. Otherwise just to clear space, I'd put DeShields, Smith and Skundrich on LU contracts.
I wouldn't dump Gressel. I suppose you could move Najar forward to Gressel's spot, but he's too valuable where he is. Gressel is a pretty reliable provider for our attackers (such as they are).
Well that isn't the way it works in MLS. All three are on MLS contracts. DCU has 31 players under contract. Smith (along with Sorga) are loaned to Loudoun currently, but roster rules only allow you to open up one spot that way. Both those guys are loaned to free up international spots. Hines-Ike is on the injured list and now Perez will likely end up there too. Their status would create an opportunity to bring in replacements but remember when those guys came back from injury a decision would have to be made. The roster freeze date is September 15 so you either leave them on the roster hoping they come back or they end up on the season ending injury list. Someone really needs to go permanently if we are to bring someone in during this window.
Definitely. They need someone to plop at the top of that list to seriously improve the team. Otherwise, don't bother.
Sorry if I wasn't clear: I'm recommending a 'permanent' transfer-window trade for those three. I think at this point and for the near future, they're USL-CL quality players. I'm not sure about USL-CL windows, but Transfermarkt shows teams adding players as recently as yesterday.
I haven't been a fan but I have to agree. Gressel is slower than most, but he knows it and plays within himself. I feel like he's played some really nice passes but hasn't been rewarded. I'm hoping Kamara, Robertha, or someone new can build some chemistry with him, and soon. I also think it would help to get Gressel forward more, so he's starting closer to goal rather than having to get there, I want him to already be near a good spot for crosses. I'm not sure how to do that, but I'm not against him moving up to a wing. He's basically be free to stay on the touchline when we have the ball, and that's an option opponents would have to honor. It could have a nice knock on effect as far as opening up some space in the middle.
Your desire to use Gressel in a more forward position simply amplifies the concern that his lack of pace limits him as a player. He's not replacing Arriola, Kamara or Robertha as part of a front 3 due to his lack of pace and inconsistent finishing. He's playing wingback because that's the only place to slot him in Losada's formation. However, compare his play with that of Paredes who is faster and much more dynamic. Gressel was a good fit in Tata's system, he's not in Losada's and he carries a very high price tag to be a square peg. He probably has value in some other system and DK should be exploring getting some value for him.
If Gressel is such a bad fit for Losada's system, why does he play so much and why does he lap the team (twice!) for key passes? People here keep asking for someone to get people the ball in places to shoot, Gressel is the only one doing so consistently, and you still want him gone.
Gressel is a great ball striker. His lack of pace means he's not able to track faster players and I really haven't seen him turn a defender in the final third. Instead, his go to is to pump an accurate cross into the box. However, I've slso noticed that most defenders know this "book" on him and notice the number of blocked cross attempts you see. The defender can commit to that because he knows Gressel can't use a turn of pace to round him into the 18. Gressel isn't a bad player, but he's not worth 700K of whatever DCU is paying him. I don't want him gone or benched, but seriously DK and Rushton should entertain any serious offer for Gressel and find a pacier player for that wingback slot.
It would definitely be a tweak to the system. I think it mitigates his lack of pace because he would be asked to stay on the touch line, and he wouldn't have defensive responsibilities other than pressing. Having Gressel as a wing would be a great opportunity to use Najar as the wingback behind him. Or Arriola when he comes back. Or COA gets a run out. I guess I'd just like to keep options open. When Gressel was in Atlanta, he wasn't tasked defensively, he played his role to great success. Maybe it can be replicated here.
In Atlanta, Gressel could make quick passes to quick attackers on a fast rubber field. We have a grass field and not-so-quick attackers.
Julian Gressel 2018 MLS Season Highlights (4 goals, 13 assists) - YouTube These highlights show Gressel often playing high as a wing. I believe this is where he can do his work, it's much harder for him when his starting position is at the wingback. Of course there's no Josef Martinez on this team, but strangely enough, Martinez may be thinking, 'dag, there's no Julian Gressel on this team!'
On artificial turf, which is basically rubber, the ball continues to bounce hard and fast. On grass and the dirt underneath, the ball slows down. When walking on artificial turf it seems soft and cushiony, but its actually springy and the ball bounces at speed. When ground crews water the field, they are actually watering the sand the grass is growing on. This compacts the sand and makes the field firmer. Grass fields have sand to promote drainage and so the grass can regrow and recover quicker from heavy play.