I'll open up this thread after the conclusion of tonight's match. Hou 2 - 0 DCU FT Same old same old for us in Houston.
It was a valiant effort for 80 minutes but we never looked like we were going to score. If Benny wanted to win he would have put someone on sooner to try. Tactics didn't work out. We got lucky more than a few times on our playoff run last season. One or two of these type of games and we wouldn't have made it. Who's up next? KC or RSL? Thx, Jay!
Not a big fan of the three defensive midfield lineup, it seems your telling your opponents "go ahead, take the ball and we might try to score later" Houston is going to be damn good and we don't have to face them down there again this season. That's about it for the good things in this match.
Went about as expected. If the offense is this anemic at home next week my concerns about the make up of this year's club will only grow.
Well it sucked like expected. The offense struggled and the defense did good for about 80 minutes. Toledo f'ing blows like he always has. Boswell, Moffat, and Clark are the three biggest thugs in MLS. The entire population of Houston can go f*ck themselves. We'll get 3 points next week home against RSL. Goodnight.
Olsen asked way too much of Pajoy. He ran a ton but did nothing with the ball. He was a black hole. DeLeon and Pontius seemed to be having an off night. Kitchen was frustrated early and I think that affected his play. MacDonald needs to play with more urgency, his slowness in the back is unacceptable. Riley was having a pretty good game until that OG. That was horrendous. Korb and Hamid both played great games. Thorrington was trying to do to much and kept losing the ball.
Good effort, but that was really, really bad. I thought we were significantly weaker in this game with almost all our starters against Houston than last year when we were playing a B team. Frankly, we didn't look like we would score against Houston in a hundred years. We were lucky this wasn't 4 or 5 to 0. Why the hell do we sign DPs that never play.
We forced Houston to grind it out at least. We will have to step up our possession game if we want to be a threat to win the cup instead of just a playoff team.Obviously Dero would have helped. . .
That's funny because I am fairly certain that is exactly what Olsen has asked of Pajoy since he drove down from Philly.
Pretty simple, Houston is much, much better. Saw it last year, no different tonight. Kitchen is trying to be a box to box mid, that was good to see. Got caught in possession a little too much, but isn't that the point of having Saragosa there? If he does lose the ball, it shouldn't kill you. Thorrington was a complete non-factor. Pajoy doesn't move the ball fast enough. Pontius's decision making wasn't great. DeLeon's touch wasn't there. McDonald had a tough game. I could see why Woolard was subbed. He was on a yellow and Garcia could eat him up with his pace. When Korb moved over, that threat was pretty much gone. DeLeon wasn't at his best, but notice Davis did nothing aside from set pieces. DeLeon never takes a break on the defensive end. The team seemed to have legs, they didn't tire much, great sign. If United wants to play this style, they have to be lethal with the few chances they do get, and they were far from that. United's sub had a negative impact (own goal), Houston's a positive (assist). Thanks again, DeRo!
None of our players really had a bad game. Certainly unlucky (Riley) or one or two bad moments (BMac). But for the most part they did what was aksed of them (for 80 minutes) and nothing more. It's the nothing more that killed us. Tactically we set up for a draw. Having spent two subs and not giving up a goal until the 80th or so really put us behind the 8ball. Will DeRo be able to be the spark, all season? Or can/will Ben manage his minutes so he's not wheezing up and down the pitch like we've seen so many ageing stars do. Thx, Jay!
Pajoy is a waste of time. He is not an offensive threat. The lineup was too conservative. We can't go on with Pajoy as the lone striker. There's no way Rafael or Ruiz or even Seaton could do worse. A truly disastrous start to the season. Ben was thoroughly out coached. I get the feeling March is going to be an ugly month for United. I can only hope losing will wake Ben up, but it probably won't.
Well, in the "there's a coincidence" category, United lost their opener last year without registering a shot on goal. Same thing happened tonight Just sayin'......
Excuse me a second: **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** We should be competiveiteve angainst Houston. But yet we do nothing, Not happyey against these bastARDS. ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If Pajoy is just going to be an upfield defender I'd rather Ben just put in a 5th defender...in defense where the other team actually has a chance to score. It's not like we ever showed any intent to score anyway. ZERO shots on goal.
I can't believe Toledo is a full-time ref. Absolutely handed Houston any 50/50 call and swallowed his whistle for DC unless a player was being trampled over. The scoreline flattered Houston, but I expected a loss or tie anyway. Pontius needs to make up his mind sooner if he wants to be effective. Thorrington was superfluous, but I get what Ben was going for, especially since Houston was also clogging the midfield. Onto next week...
Toledo was fine. The only call he really messed up was the penalty, and that ended up in United's favor because it should have been a red. He also didn't call a foul on Riley when Barnes was through on McDonald's brain fart, when he easily could have. United just got beat to 50/50's, time after time, nothing to do with the ref.
I said nothing about 50/50 balls; I said 50/50 calls, i.e. calls that could go either way. Houston got the benefit of the doubt nearly every single time, even when DC players were dropping like flies. Korb could have been red-carded, but it shouldn't have been a penalty. Barnes falling down was par for the course, and the ref had already made a dodgy PK call. Two would have been ridiculous by even league standards.