It bothers me to think that we must have a picture perfect field to play well. I'm sure someone has said it before, but we just seem incapable of winning ugly. I agree that Erpen didn't look good and I don't think he's any tremendous improvement over Boswell in the 3-5-2. l wouldn't mind switching to a 4-4-2 to get both Erpen and Boswell on the field at the same time. Of course, if we were going to play a 4-4-2, we'd still have Petke. I came away from the game thinking what a completely wasted season Columbus has had. They've got size and speed. With a coaching change earlier, they probably could have been a force in the East.
That was absolute crap out there. Even took the ref out at one point. Great point, Chico--absolutely killed any attack through the middle. File that game away and forget it.
I'll have to ask T about it - I'm curious as to his take on the pitch. It really looked bad from the webcast.
I don't think out newest Argie will stop the team from looking hard for a new striker this offseason.
He's a target forward, and that's NOT what we needed. I realize I only saw about 30 minutes of the guy, but he just doesn't seem like the right fit for this team. My son's assistant coach made this point in his first few minutes on the field, and the more I watched, the more I agreed.
It was really horrible because he booked Dema for diving in the exact same place where he slipped the second before. I mean come'on. Even if looking at the replay Dema did do his run into the guy and fall routine, I was pissed till they put that up on the jumbo-tron.
Re: Official Columbus Crew @ DC United POST Match Thread What wheels? He looked awful pedestrian out there.
There were several reasons we tied this match, but three really stand out in my mind. One was subbing out Carroll at half for Freddie. Don't get me wrong I love Freddie, but Carroll's presence was dearly missed. The other reason was Terry Vaughn's dumba##. Man that guy was off tonight. He called Dema for a dive and carded him. If he had been consistent with dives then there would have been at least three yellow cards for Columbus. Then he gave an offside on Moreno's goal that was called back. I never saw the linesmen's flag up so therefore it had to have been Vaughn who made the call. He made the call so late that I was shocked. Finally our finishing in the first thirty minutes of the game was awful. We had 14 shots and 8 shots on goal by halftime. Columbus only had two shots on goal and one goal. That's going to haunt us in the playoffs if we don't correct it. I give credit to the boys tonight. After the second goal they could have gave up. I mean they had already made the playoffs before today so the fact that they played all out until the end shows a great deal about their character.
Just got back home (had to wait for all the parents to show up before I could leave). I just want to thank everyone who put me in contact with Mr. Giffin. DCU really came through and made the trip a blast for my players. We had a group of about 50 players, parents and siblings and just about every player was telling me that we HAD to do it again next season. I know the game was kind of ugly (DC was playing at half speed for most of the match. It was obvious because they went to full speed for a bit after the first Columbus goal), but between the supporters group chanting, making the stands jump and throwing beer at each other, Erpen's bike-cross, Olsen's meg and the Ref falling on top of Dema as he carded him, you turned a bunch of high school kids into DC fans. They were able to get on the field, get some autographs post-game and a DCU rep was able to set up something special for one of my players (Thanks K!). Total class, all around. As to the game itself, I have to admit I was confused as to why Walker started over Adu. Freddy seems to get better with a lot of touches, so he looks pretty good when he starts. Walker has his speed as the big attribute, so he's great off the bench against a tired defense. Why start Walker? By the time Walker came off, he would have been the perfect player to send in. It seems like every sub DC made was done to fix that initial mess up.
Looking at the replay in at the stadium, I thought that was a good call. Actually, most if not all of the offside calls were good tonight. Though I don't know if the AR or Vaughn called that particular one. For the last several weeks, the AR's have been very stringent about coming from an offside position to playing a ball in an onside position. Jamie did that several times tonight.
Re: Official Columbus Crew @ DC United POST Match Thread [Shrug] Thought I saw him do some quality running. Must have mistook him for another since no one else seems to have seen it.
A header off a throw in????? You've got to be kidding me. Horrible marking, and if Rimando doesn't come flying off his line for a ball he has no chance at (like usual) the ball just floats into his hands for an easy grab. United really needs to pick it up, good thing Chicago is also limping into the playoffs. Also is Erpen really an improvement over Boswell? Seems like he was out muscled and hustled by Buddle, and I have a hard time believing Boswell would have let that happen.
The quiet side AR made the call and the flag was up well before Moreno even took the shot. Now, I don't know if it was the right call, but in live action I thought it was correct.
Re: Official Columbus Crew @ DC United POST Match Thread I saw it too, he has quick feet and made some nice short runs that drew some fouls, definitely better dribbling skills then Walker. As time went by he started combining better with the player with a couple one touch, layoff balls. Like I said earlier to early to tell what he can do and what he can't, hes still no at 100% fitness and he hasn't played with the team at all, I'll hold my judgement on him for now.
Nowak has been going with only 1 D-mid for a while near the start of the second half. Obvioulsy it hasn't been working. Carroll probably got the time off because he went a long time on Wednesday. Did you notice that they didn't have the electronic scoreboards on that they had been putting the DC United logo in? I guess since baseball is over now they are playing "F- the soccer team" as hard as they can. I could have sworn Dema had tracked back for his goal. I'd have to look at the tape to be sure... But yeah, AR's have been calling offside tight, and correct. Thx, Jay!
Re: Official Columbus Crew @ DC United POST Match Thread No, you're right, he had some quality runs. But I wouldn't say that he 'has wheels'. Walker has wheels/out and out speed. Filomeno, was smart about many of his runs. I particulary liked the way he would zig-zag laterally among the defenders in the hope that he would get a through ball. But he's not meant for 'Route 1 football', a ball over the top, where he needs to outrace a defender. That's just not going to work.
Erpen was the goat of the match. Even though Buddle played well, Erpen's sleepwalking made him look world class. Filomeno did alright, at least well enough to get us the penalty to draw us level. There would be no worrying about the attack if our defending hadn't been so criminal. That said, at Chicago, it may be time to go to a 4-4-2 to get more size in the team. Erpen's not exactly scaring anybody (except maybe United supporters).
I wish I could agree, but I don't. "Meaningless" games? They all mean something - and this one showed that for Rimando to make such a fundamental mistake and give up a goal off a throw-in, when Buddle obviously had a height advantage and was going to get something on it...well, there is no place for such boneheaded moves, even in meaningless games. We should have won this game. To draw at home against the worst team in the division? UNSAT.
Before the match I walked up to the nosebleed seats just to get a different perspective on the field while the teams were warming up. While everyone commented on the crap infield "filler," the whole pitch is not one bit better. Even the outfield grass has large rectangular dead spots, almost like someone rolled up the sod and let weeds grow in its place. My daughter and I go to NV Majestics games down in Woodbridge that are played on a high school football field that is in much better shape than RFK. The entire DSEC should apologize for this travesty and be made to walk around the track at RFK in diapers before the next playoff game carrying signs saying "We are so sorry, we are incompetent boobs." Really, someone will get hurt very badly on that pitch, you might be in better shape playing in Lot 8. As for the game. I hope Nowak was dialing it in, because his tactical subbing at the half was brain dead. Gomez got nicked just before the end of the half and I figured he would come off for Adu. Well I got it half right. The minute I saw Adu in for Carroll, I knew C-bus would get another goal. While Adu is still a one-trick pony, he can't be faulted for completely blowing as a D-mid. He just looked lost; Olsen and Erpen were constantly yelling and pointing to him on positioning. I can't imagine what Nowak was thinking by leaving a lame Gomez and Adu in the central midfield at the same time against a team with size and speed. Once Simms came in for Gomez, the C-bus attack disappeared just like in the first half. Erpen. I just don't know. He couldn't keep up with Buddle at all. At least Jacqua is a poor man's Buddle so maybe it won't be so bad. Erpen clearly has much better ball skills than Boswell, but he really is not the physical presence Boswell can be in the middle. In the playoffs, I think I would prefer a piano mover, rather than a piano player in the central defense. Filomeno. Nice to see him. How anyone can predict how he will pan out next year (even if he will be here next year) on his 25 minutes of play is beyond me. Oh well, this is BS. I hope DCU picks it up a notch against Chicago. An effort like tonight's means it will be all over on the 30th.
Just wait...my kid has played under Freddy Adu - like conditions (rocks, broken glass) in NoVa! I thought Filomeno played like a philodendron, hopefully he can pick it up next year. I hate it when the tailgate is better than the game!
The field condition was a travesty. How much longer will a championship quality team have to endure such insults?
Too early to tell. I thought similar things when I first saw Gomez last summer. I liked what I saw while the ball was at the center circle. He would make several attempts to start a run into space but with Gomito out nobody sent the ball into space. Overall, the team wasn't passing on many of the runs in the final third. Just a bunch of guys taking on players 1V1.
A question -- when Jamal Sutton ran right into Rimando after he had possession of the ball why was that not a straight red? Any referees please explain.