I'm in serious trouble. I did not get the chance this week to make my traditional prediction that I would not be sober before, during or after the game and that we will win 2-1. Through no fault of my own, I have to remain sober tonight and we just daggone WON!!!! (2-0, but close enough) YOU DON"T UNDERSTAND!!!! THIS MEANS I HAVE TO STAY SOBER FOR THE REST OF OUR GAMES.... so much for border-line alcoholism.... superstition takes precedence.... GO United!!! I'm in danger of having hope
This is a difficult victory for me to enjoy. I had to listen to the Spanish webcast, so I am still not sure exactly what happened, except that we scored two GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also found out that my Father's Day present (Shootout) isn't available in this area....... With all that disappointment I would still like to say WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-FREAKING-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Everybody played rather well. Convey and Kovalenko were all over the place. Olsen took players on (kinda) and has some nice plays. It wasn't a pretty game by any means (see Bobby's wiff from 10-15 yards out) but a win is a win.
Chicago missing Bocanegra and Armas sure made it easier, eh? Don't get me wrong, it was a good victory, and DC still might have won if both teams were full strength, but it would have been tougher.
Quick synopsis: DC United was the aggressor, Convey dominated in the middle (United missing Stewart and Chicago missing Armas and Bocanegra). Olsen was aggressive attacking the right wing and Kovalenko on the left. Kovalenko made the most of his chances and actually drew the penalty that Etch burried for the first goal. Kovalenko scored the second goal with a far post uppper corner shot, very nice. The penalty was even nicer, as Kovalenko pulled off a great shot that former United player Orlando Perez (standing on the near post) needed to move his shoulder/arm to deflect away. Ref saw it and correctly awarded the PK. Man, how often has a call like that gone against United, I was so shocked that the deserved PK was actually called. It's sure nice to get a fair ref for a change. Brandon Prideaux dominated DaMarcus Beasley as Prideaux marked him all over the field and utterly shut him down. Chicago (missing Armas) had no answer for Convey, and United dominated possession and created almost all of the dangerous chances of the game. I'd say United created about twenty dangerous chances while Chicago only created about 5 and almost all of those late in the second half when a desparate Fire team threw everybody forward. They used their tall guys (Curtin, Jaqua, Gray, Razov) to generate a lot of set pieces and try to score through the air. Ali Curtis looked excellent, and Eliseo looked decent as well. Esky subbed in for Eliseo and was hard working but never dangerous. We were defending the 2 goal lead by that point so he wasn't looking to score very often. Curtis made some nice diagonal runs and even had a beautiful threaded diagonal pass to release Eliseo alone on goal but Thornton closed the opportunity as it opened. Curtis was his usual scrappy self and looks to be improving as a player--a refreshing sight. Nelsen played very well at Dmid. Petke organized the back line well. Rimando did fine but didn't have too many chances. Thornton kept Chicago in the game as we could have easily scored 4 or more. -Digital
Actually, we generated chances every time Convey has been in the middle. This game we scored 1 goal during the run of play and had a ref with the ballz to actually call PK's. With Stewart we scored 2 on the road during the run of play. IMHO, the goals are directly related to Convey providing chances for teammates (and himself) playing in the middle of the park. I think it wasn't really missing or not missing Stewart, but rather Hudson finally doing the proper thing and putting Convey in the middle. Convey proved it at the end of last season, then unexplicably was relagated to the wing again this season. If anyone isn't convinced that DC United is best with Convey in the center, I don't think they are watching the same team. -Digital
Well, of course it made it more difficult, but it happens to all teams and its the opposition who has to take advantage of it and we did that today. Plus, we're on too much of a high to worry about things like that. A win is a win. As for the actual game, Curtis must start next game. He actually rather suprisingly holds the ball up better than any of our other forwards. Not the missing part of the puzzle in the air, but he can hold the ball up, and thats half the battle. Not a pretty game, but good permances all throughout the team.
If this is really what happened, why in the world wasn't he redcarded for DOGSO?!?!?!?!?! Re: Stewart. He's a good, versatile player. If we play better without him, that's a coaching problem.
It's been SO LONG since DC United has won This was our best game of the year. We looked like a real pro team. Entertaining. We didn't play around with the ball-we FORCED the action Kovalenko finally showed up. I've waited for that kind of performance ALL YEAR from him. When he scored you could tell how much pressure he was feeling as he went absolutely wild. I'm sure lots of these guys are feeling a lot of pressure Course now Etcheverry leads the team in points, but at the same time people will still call for his head Nelsen in d-mid, Etch and Convey in the middle GREAT decision Still got a LONG way to go to make the playfoffs. This was a MUST WIN And yeah, I saw absolutely no way that we missed Stewart
Agreed. It also helped Convey that he had someone like Ryan Nelsen backing him up and taking some pressure off of him. The one curiousity I have about Convey now is if he could do the same thing in a 4-4-2. Its clear that he can do it when he's got two other central midfielders, but what about when he has just one? We'll have to see. Should be pretty interesting.
Today I bought a DC United shot glass and took a sip before the game... Today Ben manhandled Beasley! Ben also had the cross which Kovalenko nicely chested down and scored the second goal. Ali Curtis controlled forward passes and dished off very good. He also made many runs into open space. He definetely made a big difference in the game. There could have been a few more goals, but a win is a win. The defense played solid and Nelsen gave a GIANT effort. The Etcheverry/Convey combo was very effective, specially after the first goal when Chicago had to open up and try to score. Bring on Colorado! I smell a three game winning streak!
Hey - a win! I really liked Ali Curtis' effort tonight - always pushing, despite taking hard challenges all night. Hope he sees some more playing time. Etcheverry & Convey - the dynamic duo in the middle! A dominating performance - attractive, posession football and some inspired offense - they had it all tonight.
------- Rimando ------ Prideaux -- Petke -- Ivanov ------- Nelsen -- Convey Olsen --- Etch ---- Dema ---- Q2 --- Curtis United has been playing a 3-5-2 for quite some time now.. I think Digital Tron summed up the game pretty well.. For those of you who claim that Hudson has no tactical knowledge whatsoever (and sometimes he doesn't admittedly), the move of Ivanov to left back was brilliant.. It put Prideaux on Beasley and he shut him down completely.. The lack of knowledge on Ivanov's part of Beasley probably made that happen but a good tactical move none the less... I though Olsen had his best game of the year (for a good laugh, please go to the Chicago boards and read how upset they are that Olsen was not sent off - of course they completely ignore the fact that C.J. Brown remaining on the field was a complete travesty in itself) and seemed at least willing to take players on though a couple times in the 1st half he cut off those runs and took them inside instead of toasting Whitfield (who was guilty of ripping two United jerseys tonight - Curtis and Esky's).. I poo-poo'd the insertion of Curtis in the pre-game thread and now am glad that I was wrong.. This was easily his most complete and effective performance in a United kit.. He didn't have any clear cut scoring opportunities but he did set up teamates well and his mere appearance of speed up top caused problems all night long.. That element has been missing all season.. It's easy to defend United when speed is not present up top... Kovalenko had a great match and was one Thorton brilliant save from having a brace... It's just good to finally get a win under our belts...