Metros get the big 3 point win in a very, very ugly game. 80 minutes of crap followed by 10 minutes of actually waking up and trying to win. Mathis MUST take PK's if he's on the field. No more Diallo! No more Faria! If Mathis is on the field and there is a PK, Mathis must take it. End of story. That 4-3-3 formation was an absolute disaster. Let's never do that crap again. Having Diallo/Mathis/Faria up top does nothing if you don't have a midfield to get them the ball. Zambrano is a tactical moron and cannot motivate anyone it seems. We won this game in SPITE OF Zambrano, not because of him. Faria's cross to Mathis for the goal was a thing of beauty. It's the best pass I've ever seen Faria make, and he picked the right time to do it. Akwari was so, so much better than Chrono it just isn't funny. Chrono had a spell there where he gave away the ball needlessly about 5 times in a row. Bench Chrono, start Akwari. Left back problem solved!
Agree with your assessment of the match esp. about Akwari. Diallo did nothing all game. Part of the problem was where Oz had him playing! Why would you have one of your more dangerous goal scorers playing 10 yards off the touch line all game. The same holds true for Faria on the left side. There was no continuity with the front line until Diallo went out. The Line-up for the next game should be: Howard Zadie Petke Jolley Akwari Paule Williams Davis Mathis Diallo Faria
Faria was my man of the match. Worked his ass off. Got on the end of every cross into the box. Made that great cross to gift Mathis the goal. Most of all, he plays with tons of heart.
Um...they played a 4-4-2. Mathis was in midfiled until Diallo came out. Anyway, SO many bad passes/touches on both sides. Ugly, ugly game.
At least we got a much needed 3 points out of this fiasco. Next games are against LA Galaxy and Dallas Burn. If we truly are back in the winning form then we will get results against these 2 clubs---will that happen---probably not. Not to be negative, but if we could BARELY beat the last place team in MLS by a stopage time goal, then we don't deserve to be in the playoffs.....just my thoughts
I don't know about giving Faria player of the game. Although he does hustle out there, he does go through his utterly useless, lose the ball every chance I get phase. Not that any other metros don't go throught that phase. Especially where Jolley was reeming him out for not doing his job on one of those corners. MY POG would have to be Howard, who although only had one official save for one shot on goal. That header was a rocket and if it wasn't for his quick reaction we'd all more than likely be singing a different song right now.
Faria MOTM? You've got to be kidding me. The guy blows all game. He sucks. All he does is sit there and pout, and moan. I mean jesus christ. The pass itself was great. One good play, for 90 minutes of ************ doesn't make a MOTM. Chrono sucks. Remember the openning play when his first touch sucked, and it rolled out. I was like here we go. Andy Williams should definately run the show in the midfield. I mean at times, Mathis had to go back all the way to the defense to help out there. Faria, in my view has to sit, and assume a super sub role.
That first touch he had in the second half on the through ball from Mathis in the box...horrible. I agree. I dont think his play was anywhere near worthy of MOM. Its kind of sad when we cant come up with one worthy player for MOM....
Faria was fine, but right before the goal he broke in on goal with 2 guys near him and his first touch pushed the ball so far forward Rimando actually saved Pope's shot on goal. If he takes a shot with his first touch, maybe he scores. I'm beginning to wonder if he suffers from Cobi Jones disease (In which a player who is faster than 4/5ths of the league develops a reliance on speed that lets him down every time he goes against that other fifth of the league). He seems to get caught up to a lot more this year than last. He does have heart, though. After the game, Diallo was screaming at OZ for taking him out. Of course, if fat-head would have made the PK, he wouldn't have needed an offensive sub right there, but I suppose that point was lost on Diallo. Let's hope he can keep his cool. I too would like to see Akwari get his shot, but I think OZ will be hesitant to put a rookie in the middle of a playoff run with OZ's job on the line. After all, the guy has played 2 games for the team, and it will take him some time (and some mistakes) before he becomes an automatic lock as a starter. Like Chrono or not, he is experienced, and I think Oz relies on that. To me, the more Chrono sits the better, but I have a hard time figuring out who is more painful to watch, Chrono, Moore or Paule. I loved Ross' play today where he held the ball for about 4 seconds with no one around him, then passed it straight to a DC United player standing all alone with no Metro in sight. Nice move. You are on whose team again? Paule also has experience, not that you'd know it from watching him. I wonder what a line up similar to that below would look like for 90 minutes. Diallo Mathis Davis Williams Faria Moore Zaidie Jolley Petke Addo I think it would give us a faster defense to offense transition without the pointless ball holding and turnovers that the Chrono-Paule show has provided, but who knows.
My 2 Cents Andy Williams was my MOM. And the poster who said this: "Zambrano is a tactical moron and cannot motivate anyone it seems. We won this game in SPITE OF Zambrano, not because of him." ss right on the money. This guy is closing in on Bora for the Eddie Fermani Award. By the way...did anyone notice that ESPN Radio was set up outside the stadium doing post match interviews? They had on Balboa, Mathis and Zambrano. I listened on the way home. I hope they continue these programs. Actually, it would be nice if they also did English commentary. See ya on Sept 12th. I hope we play prettier football then AND get another victory.
And another thing I would like to see Addo get more (lol...some??) playing time and this new kid, Akwari, looks promising.
People, people! -- We won -- We deserved to win -- We beat The Scum -- We control our own destiny on winning the division reg season -- We basically knocked The Scum out of the playoff hunt -- I finally got to see a win in person this season after 10 matches Now results aren't everything to be sure, but let's take this for what it was worth: breaking an ugly losing streak with a thrilling last-minute win over our most hated rivals in a very physical game. First half was pretty bad, but the second was as exciting as I've seen in person this season. The sizable crowd got to go home happy. Let somebody else work out this week who gets to play where and with who -- today, just celebrate.
Honestly, Faria was useless for 90 minutes. How he was not pulled out instead of Diallo is completley bogus. I'll say that right now. That was a joke, and it completely showed that Faria is Zambrano's pet. That's it. We definately need to get a right midfielder. Diallo is not the answer.
I'd really like to know what beyond that one good pass Faria did well. I know I spent most of the game yelling at him for being utterly useless with the ball at his feet.
Same here man. Does anyone remember that one instance where Mathis finally took on some players and got by two guys. Faria was sitting on the side getting water while that was happening, then he finally turns around, and yells at Mathis for not passing him the ball. Mathis ripped him apart. Anyway, lets muse at the fact that Etchevery looks like AC Slater, and that Olsen needs a haircut.
Three things after reading the messages on this board: 1. Hopefully, Oz finally gets it. Mathis must play up front. The difference in the game when Mathis moved forward and Davis came in waas dramatic. Yes, there were still bad passes and miscommunication, but they looked like they could create dangerous opportunities and ultimately they did. 2. Those who are calling for Diallo and Mathis to start up front should be calling for Faria and Mathis. Diallo dribbles with his head down so he can't see open teammates, shoots even when a cross is in order, is prone to offsides, and sulks when things don't go his way. In the second half when he should have crossed the ball to Faria, he shot it. Sulked for some unknown reason when Rimando caught the ball. Then, he walked back and didn't even run to get onside when Metros had possession. This led to an offside. We don't need this garbage. Faria hustles, has heart, and will give his all for this team. And yes, he will pass to open teammates. Faria's every touch is not gold. He wastes chances. But I would have him on that field any day because the bottom line is that ultimately he is effective. 3. For the second game in a row, I have to ask can we stop acting like Andy Williams is superman? For all of his good play (such as dragging Reyes around the penalty area late in the game), he made a lot of horrendous decisions and gave the ball away several times. Just one example: shooting the ball well wide in the second half with two man open, crashing the far post. There were other numerous mistouches around the penalty area in the second half. We need Williams to be a better distributor of the ball than he has been. Yes, he can dribble through five people and is very exciting, but he is not fulfilling the role we need him to fulfill. He is not setting up the strikers and making them better. It is common to say in basketball about a point guard he is flashy, but I don't know if you can win a championship with him. Maybe the same would be said about Williams. To be a great player instead of just a very good one, he needs to become a better passer and distributor of the ball.
When we were pressuring DC's goal Faria was always in the middle of it. He creates havoc in the box and gave the DC defense more trouble today than either Big Mama or Mathis. Faria has received alot of criticism this season and most of it has been deserved but I think he's are hardest working player and I love to see him do well. Pouting? He doesn't pout half as often as Big Mama.
While I will agree with you that he is not Zidane, Williams is our best mid-field passer, bar none, and just set a personal record for his 13th or something assist of the season. He isn't perfect, but who else do we have passing balls dangerously out of the midfield? Paule? Chrono? Dangerous to us, perhaps. IIRC, that shot Williams took was after a run of play were we had a lot of pressure but no solid shots on goal. He gave it a try. I don't have a problem with that. Remember the cracker he scored a couple of games ago on a similar shot from nearly the exact same place? Yes, he should have gotten it on frame, but you can't kill the guy. He is our only non-crap, non-injured mid-fielder at the moment. Give him 3 games with Mathis and Faria up front, and you will see the goal pile up. As for Diallo, I don't really know where this guy fits. He played half the game on the right touchline. I'm not sure if Oz asked him to do that, but he isn't scoring from 40 yards out on throw ins. It's just not his game. Oz needs to find a way to best use the offensive talent we have. I have yet to see him do that. I agree with your points in # 2 that Diallo, Mathis, Faria don't seem to work together. Faria is a speed finisher and a poacher. Diallo is a power finisher, and a poacher. Mathis is a passer with a (usually) great shot. If they can play a front 3 with Mathis withdraw slightly that would be intersting, but I don't want him in mid-field fighting for the ball. More so than Diallo or Faria, I trust Mathis to find the most dangerous option and take advantage of that, be it a pass or a shot. If we can make a 3 pronged attack with those guys work we will be in for an interesting playoff run. If not, prepare for the first round loss. Oz has 5 games left. Let's see what he can do with the chalk board. We are (I believe) 10-11-2 with 32 points (2 behind Chi and Col) with 1 game in hand. 8 points vs DC and NE should see us through to second in the division and a 6th place finish, with LA as a first round opponent. 9+ and I think we win the division (just a guess).
Faria does not know how to cover his man on corner kicks. Almost cost us the game on two occassions that Pope was free.
Re: Re: Metros vs. DC - POST Game [R] Mathis plays as a withdrawn striker. Mathis always goes back into midfield (sometimes very deep) if he's not getting the service he wants. He does this in a 4-4-2 as well. He'll even do it as the lone striker in a 4-5-1. The problem was the lack of midfield play. Williams fights hard, but other than him OZ basically tries to play with 2 defensive mids (Moore and Paule). So we ended up with 6 players in a defensive stance and 4 attacking players pushed more forward and nothing connecting these 2 groups. That's why there was so much crappy long ball and a lack of flow for the Metros. We still have no transition from defense to offense. So many times when we get the ball everyone tries to kick it upfield to try to instantly start a counter-attack. This doesn't work when the other team has numbers back. We need to play a real 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 with Mathis up top. He'll stay up there if we have a midfield that can get him the ball. Davis is part of the solution. Ziadie is another part if we move him up from defense.
The real question is why the hell is Faria marking Pope on these corners. DC was playing with just one forward, that Quintanilla kid who is only like 5 feet tall. Their midfield is also smallish - Williams, Convey, Olsen. On set pieces, Pope pushes forward and is their #1 target. I know this. You know this. Everybody in the league except OZ seems to know this. He should assign our best defensive player in the air (either Petke or Jolley) against their #1 target. Faria is good in the air offensively but it's not the same as being good in the air defensively. Faria should be in the box because he is taller with a good jump but he should be marking a more secondary target player (like maybe Olson). Our best defenders should be marking their biggest threats on set pieces. It's common sense. OZ is to blame on this one. Also partially Howard as well. He's supposed to organize the defense. If he sees something isn't working he should make the adjustment and fix the problem. This is what good teams do. Hopefully, Howard will get better at this with experience. I fear OZ is a lost cause.
Say what you want about the Metro defense but as soon as I saw one of the scenarios on my Snickers' Scratch and Win card was a Metro win by shutout I was lining up to collect my prize. Of course playing against a team who averages less than a goal a game and who's season highlight is a 1-1 tie in San Jose will make one confident.