If you are on Facebook, you might have seen the commendably solid posting by the DCU FO yesterday/today: a collection of video clips showing the rough-and-tumble history with the Laughing Cows: 'Goos going studs up, Jaime getting in people's faces, Ben's hat-trick goals, Esky's infamous drink-gag-spit, etc., etc. And then tonight, the coaching staff fields the "D" squad . . . What and where is the disconnect?
That first goal - 97 was just ball watching until after the pass was made. Then he tried as hard as he could to reach over to take the ball (and failed) but if he would have just taken a few easy steps instead of doing what we pay to do, no goal. There is just too much of that thing where guys don't know what to do when they don't have the ball. Painful to watch.
If our A-team is as bad as I expect them to be this year, we're going to regret conceding our best shot at a trophy. Not sure what Durkin did to play himself out of the starting line-up, but he was terrible tonight.
So 11 JR High School kids in DC United uniforms could not pull this one out............................really.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/05/10/dc-united-us-open-cup-new-york-red-bulls/ “It’s guys that haven’t played together,” Ashton said. “It’s basically one day of practice and they’re getting thrown out there, and I am putting them in a position probably to fail. It’s on me at the end of the day.”
It's really not instilling a sense of confidence, loyalty, or any of the things that make me want to support a sports team.
I've been going to DC United games for 25 years. Had a full season ticket package every year since 1999. I miss maybe 3 or 4 home games a year. I've seen it all. MLS regular season. MLS playoffs. US Open Cup. CONCACAF games. Sundamericana games. Superliga. Friendlies. Hell, I even bought a subscription to FLOsports. That performance last night was, by far, the most embarrassing display of "soccer" from any collection of players to ever where our shirt. Absolutely atrocious. Forget about the absurd lack of skill. No heart. Zero. The only two players on the field who looked like they kind of, sort of cared were Yow and Ku-di and that is being generous to them. The front office says Chad Ashton loves this club. Says he bleeds black and red. I say bullsh*t. No one who loves this club would ever countenance that display last night. Don't give me your excuses. Issue a full-blown apology.
Yes sir! All I'll say is they better play like mad men on Saturday. Saving all those guys for the league better mean something, because the Open Cup means something to me and a lot of other fans.
Like everyone else, I'm not surprised they played like they just met, b/c that was the case. But where's the quality? None of these guys showed they should be pushing for minutes. Yow is a big disappointment to me. He can't get it done in the opponent's half at all. I like his effort, and his little bag of tricks, but he doesn't scare one single defender in this league. Ku-Di has passed him by in my eyes. Durkin had an atrocious first half, better in his little time in the second. I worry about him, and Hopkins as well, because they are just too slow. Always stretching and contorting themselves to play the ball when under pressure, b/c slow feet don't give them the extra second they need in this league. We can all see it with Skundrich as well.
I think Djeffal is just better than Durkin. Djeffal has the highest passing completion percentage from the midfield players and, like Durkin, he tries ambitious passes frequently. The difference being Durkin is not great at it (68%) and Djeffal is much better (82%). Defensively, they are pretty equal statistically, but Djeffal even edges him out here. In my opinion, if you play Canouse and Durkin together, you can't possess the ball. There has to be someone there who can turn out of trouble and transition from defense to offense. Shockingly to me anyway, Durkin is dreadful at this. When he's facing his own goal, it's almost guaranteed to be a turnover and a dangerous one at that.
I thought Yow was our best player last night, perhaps along with Alfaro. But I guess that isn't saying much.
Ashton's comments don't even make sense on his own terms. In the Goff article he claims they're prioritizing MLS over US Open Cup, and that he couldn't play the same guys he did on Saturday, because it would endanger them. OK, I don't necessarily 100% agree with this logic, but it's approaching a coherent point -- -- that's completely undermined by his actual actions. Pines, who started against Houston, turned around and played a half against NYRB. Ku-DiPietro and Sargis, who didn't play Saturday, didn't get to play until the second half. Ashton's lineup didn't maximize the opportunity in other ways. Like, look, if you're going to prioritize the MLS season, then one excellent way of benefitting that campaign is to develop depth there. It's hard to believe the Loudoun scrubs are ever going to contribute to the first team, but Sargis and Ku-DiPietro certainly might. Other second-stringers for the first team certainly might. The only way this lineup made sense is if DC were purposefully trying to lose.
To: DC United Front Office From: adler@annoyed_supporters.com Ladies and Germs, Please be advised that the US Open Cup is the lowest-hanging piece of fruit there is to be plucked. Case in point: 2013. Sincerely, Adler
Yeah, but Rushton & Kasper put their butts on the line by saying this is a playoff-caliber roster. So, put two and two together, the idea is probably to see if Taxi can ride a hot finishing streak to hauling this team above the playoff line. Or you sign Bale and hope that works out. Because otherwise obviously Ashton's tactical and strategic acumen is not exactly highly impressive.
I thought Alfaro struggled and was off the pace but agree about Yow. But as you said, that isn't saying much.
I do think games like last night are good for spotting the chaff. For example, Kimarni Smith is 24 and takes up an international spot if he's with DC. It's clear to me he isn't an MLS level player, so leave him in Loudoun or move on. Sami Guediri has a nice left foot with no defensive chops at all. At best, he'll be 4th choice for any decent team in MLS. Azaad Liadi has no discernible physical advantage, while also looking like he's completely lost. Yow and KuDi have some quicks, Yow more than I initially gave him credit for. Both are head down players to some extent, they can clean that up with games. So they are separate from the above players in that there is something to work with. I'm anxious for Garay to get healthy and take over for Skundrich when it comes to center mid sub options. Skundrich is not a bad player, he's just can't do it at the MLS level, he's proving it every time he steps on the field.
I think bringing in Dunkin’ means Canouse is moving on after this season. IDK his contract status, but he will be traded/sold/allowed to leave on a free. Dunkin’ will be his replacement.
Could be, hadn't thought of that. Canouse is the better player, but getting pricey I suppose. Edit: Meant as reply to Griffin
FWIW, I at least have to give him credit for not ducking it. He could've spun some BS but he just told the truth. I realize this doesn't square with his previous statements, but I take his comments about prioritizing this game as just tactics -- can you imagine if he had come out this week and said "My plan is to call up a bunch of scrubs and let them kick the ball around for a day and then earn a paycheck playing in a "real" game." I was at the Nats game last night and saw a bunch of DCU fans on Metro after the game -- I hadn't checked the score but didn't need to. Lots of long faces.
There is not much to praise about this organization these days but an exception is the social media team. They are doing a great job during trying times. Great video montages, clever posts, cool behind-the-scenes pics and vids, etc. It's got to be a bit of a drag to put in all that effort and have a significant portion of the comments simply be "Fire Kasper!", "#LevienOut", "This team blows!", etc. Credit where it's due.
I get the opposite sense. Durkin was on the bench for Houston and was put in with the C team last night, so he doesn't seem on track to start against Ft. Lauderdale. When he came back, I was initially impressed by how much muscle he seems to have added, but he's looked slow, and not as positionally aware as Canouse. The FO made the move for him just before Djeffal emerged as a starter. It's way, way too early to write Durkin off, but his ties to DC and Belgium probably caused FO and Losada to bring him back when other teams likely wouldn't have even looked at a player from a lower-level team in the Belgian League (15th last year). No offense to my friends in Sint-Truiden, and yeah, here I am talking smack after the game DC played last night..