[stumbles across the game on TV] Oh hey, I'll watch this. [stares confusedly at the TV] What....am I watching? [sequence that allows the MetroStars to score a second goal] Our guys know which ones are on our team ... right?
All the tiki-taki passing looks nice, even if it leads nowhere (tonight). I'll take it, if we could just learn something long-term. [Insert cynical statement]
On the replay, Mora was marking someone else. Gressel was supposed to mark Long, but the team was lined up wrong: we were all behind our marks, as if we were all 7 feet tall, instead of in front of them.
On the one hand: Losing sucks, and losing to NY/NJ sucks more. On the other: That was possibly the most entertaining DCU match since the restart. It reminded us of our horrible finishing abilities (good god, that Gressel "shot" in the first half), and a couple of big brain farts on D (again, Gressel on the corner, and then Pines just kinda ducking and running at the ball on the second), but it looked like soccer. We just don't have a ton of talent healthy, and what we do have seems to be out of form RN. I don't know what happened to Kamara in China, but this version isn't showing me much. We can't pay what we're paying Gressel and get games like this out of him. But I liked Parades, and Rivas didn't look too bad out there (struck the hell out of that corner chance, even if it went pretty much right at the keeper). For now, as players recover, I'll take it.
Strange subbing. Kamara, not Rivas, should have come out for Sorga. Rivas was active and dangerous - Kamara wasn't. And Higuain needs either to start or come in much, much earlier.
I thought they played great until they ran out of gas. They played on the front foot, and played through the press consistently. A lot of guys showed well. The whole back line was strong, but Mora and COA were particularly strong in possession, a pleasant surprise. Pines is gaining experience and confidence, he's going to be a good one for a long time. But if you watched that game and didn't see Abu and Paredes as a huge difference in the middle, I don't know what to say. Abu is the bridge they haven't had, the Nagbe type. He's great on the ball, and his passing was other level at times. He's cemented in my starting 11. Paredes is a full on pro now, taking responsibility and not being shy. He realizes he's not out of place in MLS and it's so exciting to watch. They couldn't deal with him, only foul him. Rivas and Kamara has potential. Rivas looked like the finished product, still need to see a better Kamara. But finally, Gressell has targets and he will find them. I was frustrated by the result, more the fact that United can't seem to score, but I'll take some version of this team for the rest of the season and beyond. Please Ben, don't overreact in the other direction just because the result was bad, because the process is very, very good.
It's 100% true. 14 - @dcunited has failed to score in the first half of their last 14 matches (including playoffs), the longest run in @MLS since Chivas USA went 14 games without a first-half goal from July-September 2014. Tardy. pic.twitter.com/JksytKvtWN— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) September 12, 2020
I was actually encouraged by much of what I saw. Yes, after several shutouts our defense sprung some leaks, but we actually maintained possession and launched some attacks, something we hadn't done in our previous matches. Abu and Rivas showed well; Paredes doesn;t seem overmatched, and our late subs (HIguain and Asad) looked as if they could have contributed more had they had more playing time. Assuming he's fit, keep Rivas in for 90'; give Higuain much more time on the pitch; find a place for Asad, and maybe we can compete for a win.
I went to Segra Field instead. Low quality game but at least it was entertaining (and they tied 1-1 instead than losing).