To jump from keepers to all players... Brandon has the best record as a starter, I think, in that the three regular season games he didn't start were all losses, making him 10-8-9. Dema and Ben each missed (different sets of) 2 losses and 2 draws, making 'em both 10-9-7 in the starting lineup. Galin (9-8-5), Ali (6-4-2), and Namoff (7-6-4) also have "winning" records as starters this year, if I didn't miss something, while Etcheverry (6-6-9), Petke (9-9-7), and Quintanilla (4-4-4) came up even.
This Saturday, we either win or go home. 50-50 we advance. We came back from a 2-0 deficit to with 10 minutes left to win 4-2 this season. Anything's possible. Maybe not probable, but certainly possible.
Seriously, though, the fact that it is our 32nd MLS match and we are still making these wild guesses about who will play just points out what is wrong with this team. It reinforces what Earnie Stewart said in his interview on CSN (see other thread here). At this point you shouldn't be guessing about lineups, unless there is an injury or suspension. The sad part is, no combination has produced many goals for us this year.
Re: Re: Official DC United vs Chicago Fire PRE Match Thread • Game Two That sounds more like a topic for Free For All.
I still believe You other guys may have given up on dc but i still beleive dc can win this. DC-2 CHI-0 DC win in PKs
If our players hold onto leftover Halloween candy on the field; throw it one way and shoot the other, which way would Thorton go? I think this needs to be looked into.
This one is realy funny !! They (Chicago) have killed us at home and overthere you think they are gonna pet us on the head !! Do you ?? I tell you what is gonna happen ! Their players are gonna kill us to teach our players a lesson !! I do not think they will stop even when is gonna be over score wise. I do not blame them !! We deserve a lesson to bring us back to earth and civility !! I think we are up for a embarrassing defeat !!! We deserve it !!!
True there were a bunch at the game, but the vast majority were there as spectators. Look at the official game results and you'll see that only C.J. Brown, Logan Pause, and Curtis Spiteri are listed as subs not used. However, Chicago has a strong sense of "team" and brought the others because even though they were not on the travel roster, they had a role to play at RFK!
I had high hopes entering the post season with about a month to go but when Olsen went down so did DC United. We don't have the speed or the attacking ability to break down teams. Dema is the only one capable of this. I will watch the game, say goodbye to Etcheverry and Stoitchkov by having a drink in thier honor for past soccer glories. I will then cry in my beer if it is Nelsens last game as I hope he comes back next year. Perhaps a salute to Tino and Bobby as they may be gone also but I hope not. I will drain my glass for the little warrior Chino as he will be back in the Brava Brava section next year. And I look forward as always to next year with high hopes. Thanks DC for the enjoyment of Saturday nights at RFK and the company of the best fans in MLS. -The Far Side
Breakfast If I were you I wouldn't even eat breakfast because Razov's arrogant comments after the game are going to make you puke anyways.
This is what I do when Im down in FIFA... I think we should play a 2-5-3 Warren Petke Nelson Chino Convey Kovalenko Quaranta Olsen Stewart Alecko Martins Quintanilla If only I was coach....
If we listened to the "realists", we would have quit in July. Be real fans - not fair-weather whimps. These guys have got it right: DC has had the crap beat out of it with the injuries of late - give your boys some support, eh? They deserve it! If you want the team to play above average, you've got to give them above average loyalty! I say 3-0 DC
I've been so p!ssed about Saturday's performance it's taken me this long to gather my composure. Some quick post match notes that drive my lineup decisions: 1-Convey is wasted on the wing, all he does is do jumping jacks the entire game. Ray's an idiot if he thinks the boy's a true winger. 2-Stewart is wasted in midfield. Partnered with Cerritos up front was when we had our best stretch of the season. 3-This team sucks when we use a back 3. I say we go with a 4-4-2 that looks like this: Warren Prideaux--Petke--Nelsen--Namoff Q1--Convey--Kovalenko--Q2 Stewart--Cerritos Q1 gives his best performances at midfield. Like Convey, he has to be constantly in the action, otherwise his mind is wandering the cosmos. Stewart and Cerritos should be given one last opportunity to reestablish the wordless connection that helped get us some wins. Finally, Ben should play only if he is truly ready. If Hudson puts him in before he is fit, then my unquestioned support for the non-Rongen will vanish. That said, to all you Chicago fans who think your team is so clean and we're so dirty, you obviously weren't at the game on Saturday. Between Beasley and Razov competing with Etch and Hristo, I thought I was watching a water polo match. Hopefully Thiago Martins won't assault anyone else with his powerful chest Kung-fu. Maybe we'll have a referee who actually wears his contacts. --Catch
i am still pretty bummed out, and i'm not blindly wildly optimistic. But do you realize how cool it would be if they DID actually pull it off? How fantasticly unprecadented that would be? How intoxicated i would be? You know, hope nd belief don't cost anything, so what the hell. It Can Be Done. GO TO IT BOYS!!!!
And if we don't support Bush, we're unpatriotic, right? If we were "fair weathered whimps", we wouldn't be posting here, or even caring about this match, now would we?
It has, which is one of many reasons they've been awful lately. Apart from a vague chance that Ben may be back, are any of those injuries going to be healed by game time? Not the way they've been playing lately they don't. But I'll be giving them my support anyway (by psychic brainwaves, from in front of a TV), because DC is my team. How the team plays has very little if anything to do with what gets posted about them on Big Soccer. I think the real answer is that if we want the team to play above average, we need an above average team. We have a below average team, a miracle of physics (or mathematics) in which the whole seems to be less than the sum of its parts. To criticize lacklustre and uninspired performance is not being disloyal, not unless we've all been transported to the Fantasy World of John Ashcroft. If DC actually manages to tie up the series, even if we lose in OT or PKs, I'll be thrilled and impressed. If we somehow come through and win the tie, I'll be ecstatic and probably dance around the room shouting and screaming (one of my fondest memories is of how much noise three people in one small living room could make when DC won the cup from Vasco). All I'm saying is it seems like a bloody long shot at this point.
A small sampling of the "fair-weather whimps [sic]" in this thread: BroonAleMagpie Joined: Apr 2000 BarbDett Joined: Apr 2000 Knave Joined: May 1999 ursula Joined: Feb 1999 nancyb Joined: Jun 2000 janderson14 Joined: Oct 2000 GoDC Joined: Nov 1999 monster Joined: Oct 1999 sormum Joined: Jul 1999 Ikenston Joined: Mar 2003
Personally, I think there is no chance we win this game, but given that's it's MLS, we somehow win 3-1, but lose in the golden goal period becuase Ray inserts Ivanov.
Based on our performance on Saturday, our month long slump, and Chicago's apparently unstoppable form, the odds of our pulling off an upset look pretty bad. That said, if Chicago get overconfident and assume the game is won already, and if DC show up and play a lot tougher than anyone expects, we may have a chance. The key is scoring early. If we can get an early goal in Chicago it could be a different game. Two goals ties it up, and from then on, anything can happen. Ok, these are very big 'ifs' but it is within the realm of possibility. I would start Cerritos and Stewart up front, and Marco, Q2 and Dema in the middle. Tactically we need to work on pressing their midfield and forwards, possess the ball better, and work the attack down the wings and keep the ball on the ground. Put Martins and Stoichkov late in the game if necessary. Realistically I give us about 10% chance of pulling it off. If we don't pull it off a secondary objective should be to restore some of our pride. I would like at the very least to see a spirited, respectable performance without the fouling and whining that characterized game one. At this point even a tie would be a reasonable way to end the season, in the circumstances. I really would hate to see us torn to pieces by Chicago, again, though.
P.S. Nos. 7 and 8 in the red jerseys are also faster than a...well anyone we're going to put on the field.