http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/firstXI0311.html With all due respect to the learned Jeff Bradley, who has been kind enough to return each and every e-mail I have ever sent him, picking United to finish last based on 45 minutes of preseason action is a little iffy to me.. How on Earth can he pick a Metrostars team without any midfield whatsoever and a front line of injury prone yet talented attackers to finish ahead of a team that beat them 3 out of 4 times last season with an even worse roster than this seasons? Not to mention a pretty soft defense (even with Pope) and zippy depth to speak of.. I'm sure Jeff will get plenty of hate-riden emails on behalf of United fans, but realistically, if I had witnessed the first half of yesterdays match, I might have made the same prediction..
What bugs me is that people are no longer picking DC because there are too many questions surrounding the team. Apparently if you have questions you are going to do poorly. I think this team has a much larger upside than San Jose or Chicago.
He admitted that he was now defending picks he made some time ago for Soccer Jr. (see him bailing out of his Colorado pick for ninth), so his United pick wasn't actually based at all on the KC game... it was made without seeing our last two dismal efforts!
He'll get no hate mail from me. Well, I don't send that kind of stuff, but even if I did I sure wouldn't send any to Jeff Bradley. I'm glad he's writing for us, and I'm even happier that he's picking us to finish dead last. Why? Because if there is one thing that helps a team its being overlooked by the opposition. That's just fine for me. It worked pretty well for the Fusion during the start of their golden season. Another thing this type of article does is challenge the players to disprove it. I think Ray's assembled a cast of characters that have too much pride to fold in the face of adversity. I expect them to get angry and play with a chip on their shoulders. I'm hoping that KC is thinking about that 50 demolition scrimmage they had and takes us lightly. Then when Stewart & Co. turn it on, they'll be vulnerable and shocked. Let's face it, while Hudson has been here the Crew and Wizards have played quite well against DC United. I'm not shocked that they beat us. The fact that they crushed us just adds fuel to the fire ... hopefully. Thanks Jeff, in most leagues where there is parity, the team generally picked to finish last goes on a tear. Hopefully it works for us. -Tron
Thanks for the link Cweedchop. Jeff Bradley is a good writer and he has fun doing what he does, that is what make his articles enjoyable to read. Realisticly he is not too off the mark. Of course things will change as the season progresses, e.g. the dreaded injuries, team chemistry, etc. As Tron so rightfully says, this last finish pick by an MLS expert should at the very least motivate DC United. I hope from the bottom of my heart that DC United will gel as a team and prove him wrong. We shall see.
what the hell happened to you jose? you used to be the biggest optimist on these boards. anyway, i think jeff bradley knows nothing about football (which doesn't necessarily make him a bad writer, he knows a lot about MLS, just nothing about football) and couldn't make a decent prediction whether he watch 10 minutes or 10 hours of a team's play. still, given the rough parity in the league and our rather clownish last three years, if i were making league predictions i might do so myself. i still say that in the end we will be a team (especially after we actually get a real dmid once the nelsen experiment fails yet again) whose sum will be greater than its parts and we will finish in the top half of the table, however much glory that will bring in a 10 team league. we have good players, guys who know how to win and can succeed in the MLS. i really think that what we need to focus on a few things-consistency and focus on the road, concentrating at the end of halves and games, i don't know how many goals we gave up in the last 5 or 10 minutes of the half or game last year, but it was a lot, and i think most especially, faster play through the midfield and a quicker transition to offense. unless ivan played beside williams, we couldn't get our offense started and etch's insistence on trying to hold the ball to pick out players killed our ball movement forward.
Two Words: Fitness Organization Apparently we've got neither. Ol' J&B might be right about this after all. Sadly.
True that. I know it is only preseason, but it is hard for me to fathom losing 5-0 with a team full of talent (and some of that talent was on the field). I also believe that at the end of the year the predicted finishes will be very different (as I alluded to in my previous post). The hard part for me to understand is that DC United has had 3 losing seasons and everyone on the team should be fighting for their lives, not rolling over and dying (yes, I know it is only the preseason...). DC United cannot afford to start off slowly, as it will be a very difficult up-hill battle. They need to work hard every game, make the other teams earn their wins, and most importantly not get blown-out of games. I still think this team has a lot of talent and should make the playoffs. Losing 5-0, even if it is a preseason game, is unacceptable.
Bingo! For the last three years at least, I think we've all been complaining about DC's lack of fitness/being prone to injuries. Jaime was the perfect example and it looks like the tradition continues, in spades! And for a "freeflowing offense" to work well, everyone needs to be able to act (and react) to what everyone else is doing - without thinking. Our team is going to need a lot more time to develop & interact offensively before they ever get to that point. IMHO, it's going to be a looooong first-half of the season. Winoman
My biggest concern for this year is RH losing the lockeroom so to speak. I think last year the rah rah stuff, and the fun quotes were a breath of fresh air from the Rongen years. Although they struggled, defensively they made improvements, and battled down to the last game or two for a playoff spot. They need to capitalize on the "new look" very quickly, as probably every starter is at least a 3 year or more pro in this league. Alecko excluded. Even our reserves have been in the league for a couple of years. I know Tino and Convey are still teenagers, but the hype needs to meet expectations. I think if DC gets off to a bad start it does not bode well for RH or the future, and the players may be on their own agenda. It is now his team, his fingerprints are all over it, and the players were handpicked. There won't be a starter that he hasn't brought in himself, or genuinely wanted to keep from previous years. If they don't make the playoffs does he come back in 2004? If they are out of the hunt at mid-season do they make a change? That said I think when everybody is healthy they are "middle of the table" this year, and will be a dangerous team late.
I'm with DigitalTron here, I'm glad that we're picked to finish last. We have absolutely nothing to lose... and that might just be the problem. If MLS had enough... well, everything, then we would definitely be facing relegation. I worry that our players think they have it made... playing professional soccer in the US. Part of me wants to say "I don't care what type of potential you have! If you can't win, you get take your potential with you as you walk out the door!" I'm too much of a fan to turn away from them, but they have to do something to earn our presence at their matches. Just winning the home games doesn't cut it. I want to be proud of the team I support, not ashamed. Also, DC United will not get a new stadium if they can't prove they deserve one. Only championship teams can make that statement.
yea, he must be smoking crack, he picked chicago and san jose to finish higher then most teams. I love how he never mentions that san jose barely has a defense, no dominant forward, no goalkeeper (conway broke his ankle) and he expects them to finish high.
To Jeff and all the people worried: It was a couple of pre-season scrimmages relax A team with 13 new players out of 26 and to that several of them dinged up right now. San Jose is going to have to use any warm body they can find in goal. The Metrostars have no identity plus Jaime and Mathis will be lucky to play together from 5-10 games because of injury and Nats call-ups. Chicago is one or two injurys away from starting a mediocre A-League lineup. Here is my considered prediction (based on my 28 years as a player/ref/coach in soccer, so there Jeff ) : 1. LA 2. Columbus 3. Colorado 4. Dallas 5. D.C. United 6. New England 7. Kansas City 8. Chicago 9. Metrostars 10. San Jose
We have a much better chance of finishing last than finishing first. I think the expectations for this team by folks on the board are way to high.
I think we have assembled a much better team than last year. I also think that their expectations as well as ours are high. I view that as a positive. The doom and gloom on this board after a couple of meaningless scrimmages is astounding. Get rid of Marco, fire the coach,fire the trainer, get a fire extinguisher..... Sheesh, get a grip people. And more important....get behind your team. Rant Over(Mad drumming ensues)
Go Chico!!! And in addition, why do we care what JB predicts?? MLS has proven to be very unpredictable over the last 3 years and I expect this year to be the same. We may be good, may be bad, but I am pretty sure we will be entertaining.
....everybody's got 'em. Hope he's wrong. I like them being the underdog though. Everyone thought the Minnesota Twins were dead meat last year in baseball and they won their division and a round in the playoffs. Here's hoping United can do the same.
While pre-season friendlies are not very insightful nor will they dictate how the team will play in a month, (Yes, 31 days to go until this is for real!) there are some troublesome trends that should be monitored. People are well aware of my feelings about certain off-season moves, particularly concerning one defender (if you call him that). Last season, only a solid defense kept this team from falling off the face of the earth. Now, the central partnership that held that together is gone - Pope, Nelsen, and Rimando. The solidity of those three allowed Reyes, McKinley, Prideaux, and Namoff some freedom to screw up without punishment - this included long upfield jaunts without coming back, missed tackles, bad fouls, etc... I don't see that freedom being there this season! The problems at D-Mid continue where Hudson's trying to fit Nelsen there but if he's not available, there is no back up! Nelsen is not the end all be all of d-mids either. Kovalenko is tenacious but never been a great defender or even remotely defensively minded. Many of Dema's cards come from bad challenges at midfield where he is attempting to catch up to the play after having pushed too far forward... A lot can change in 31 days and the team I expect to see on April 12 should be in much better shape than the one today. DC United has the potential to win it all, however, potential is just that and at the end of the full 90 (or 100), the team's got to prove their worth on the pitch! I'll be more than happy to take back any and all disparaging words about any player/coach/manager/team affiliate/fan/BS.com posters/etc... if DC United comes out and "gives it the full gun" to make the playoffs and win the MLS Cup!
Continue to play well at home and improve the crappy road record (2002-one win on the road?) they had last year.
Bradley is a smart guy, but these predictions are just crazy talk. Chicago 5th? How? Are they going to have Chris Armas turn into Nowak for them? Beasley isn't the kind of player that controls a game on his own, so Chicago's entire midfield has 1 MLS quality player that is dangerous in attack. We lost 2 preseason games and gave up a lot of goals, yes. And certain players (Reyes, for example) seem to be making mistakes quite often. However, most people in here seem prepared to give up the season right now. What the hell is that? How do any of us know how fit the team is? Am I the only DC poster to not go down to Spring Training or something? If anything, being able to score 2 goals in the second half against Columbus indicates that we may actually be quite fit. And TCompton...what championship did Columbus win before they got Crew Stadium? The Ohio State High School Cup? Stadiums have to do with money and off-field politics.