I don't know what happened but when the post match thread was around 2 pages long it disappeared. How so? No idea. I recovered most of it from my history. I think only a couple posts were totally lost. ———————————————————————— Knave Final Score ... DC United 0 : 0 Dallas Burn It's a draw after 100 minutes. No Flames • No Trolls ———————————————————————— Monster Fire Trask. ———————————————————————— Knave We have now officially lost 10% of all the points we could possibly get this season. We're just not getting the job done and next week against the Metros could be pretty damned ugly. ———————————————————————— Felix football world That was a fun game to watch, good attacks and good defending. The only downside of this game is Obrien possibly being lost for the season with a serious leg injury. It looked like he may have completely broken his right leg just below the knee. Kovalenko is a wreckless sometimes and this is the result of it. ———————————————————————— rymannryan Yeah, I felt bad for Ronnie. I never like to see serious injuries regardless of the team. Man what I would do for Alan Shearer/Robbie Fowler type player! In other words, someone who just plain scores goals. I'd trade away any member or members on this team for that person. Lack of finishing was our downfall last year and will continue to be our downfall through this year. ———————————————————————— Mike Toole That was quite possibly the ugliest match I've EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE-- and I only saw the second half. Well, it was at LEAST as bad as the Birmingham-Villa one a few weeks back, and that one had TWO pitch invasions and a player escorted out by the cops to ensure he wasn't attacked by the fans. First of all, how is that thug Suarez getting away with kicking players when they're down, mugging the ref, etc? I feel terrible for the Burn after that dreadful fall O'Brien took, but I can't feel any sympathy for a caveman like Suarez. Speaking of cavemen, how is it that Stoichkov wasn't sent off for dissent after yelling and gesturing at the ref in the wake of his booking? Altogether, this was another great example of awful officiating by the MLS refs. Both Dallas and DC played hard and pretty rough to see if they could pull off the win, but I don't fault them for their roughhousing as much as I fault the ref for not sending Suarez off when he kicked Bobby Convey, or for when he shoved the ref himself, or booking Convey when he got up and took a swing at Suarez, or... well, about a half dozen others. Booking and sending off players for bad behavior and dissent is established to prevent games from turning into a bunch of thugs running up and down the field kicking at each other. This rule wasn't enforced tonight. I'm going to complain to the refs committee, because this was their fault. Finally, I wish a speedy recovery to Mr. O'Brien. Also, DC should please replace Ray Hudson with Ernie Hudson. That would be MUCH funnier. (Hudson's gesturing and cursing was pretty funny, though.) ———————————————————————— Glorious Save Well, I'm glad that our boys controlled play. I'm glad that we created lots of chances. I'm glad that Rimando is looking sharp.....but our lack of finishing made this game extremely frustrating to watch. ———————————————————————— SABuffalo786 How frustrating A good overall effort we should've won it (************ you Jesse), though like Knave I'm dreading next week's trip to the swamp. Like someone said in the Chicago post match thread, we probably would've found some way to lose this match last year, so we shouldn't be that down on ourselves. On the longterm view, I think we're going to be a better version of last year's Revs where we get hot towards the end of the season and make a nice cup run. ———————————————————————— grafh Disappoingting result, but we played great soccer. Convey in the middle was fun to watch, he had a great game. He was everywhere his distribution was good, more importantly he set a fast pace to our attack. Quaranta is the other player that stuck out for me. What was he playing left midfield? At least that was the position he was playing the second half. He played some beautiful balls, especially the one to Stewart, and the through pass to Stoich in the first overtime. Might this be a position he continues playing, that might make the decision of moving Convey to the middle easier. On the O'brien incident I really don't think Kovelenko was trying to hurt him, if you look at the replay he lunged in front of O'brien but his back foot unintenionally caught Obriens ankle. Hopefully I doesn't turn out to be anything serious for Ronnie. Well we didn't lose which is always a good thing, but next week is REALLY a must win. ———————————————————————— ttrevett I'm sorry, I'm new to the bigsoccer boards, and am a huge fan of American soccer, and I'm NOT one of Brian O'Shea's euro-snobs, but really, can anyone tell me this was a fun game to watch???? I watched Man Utd-Charlton this morning. Excellent first touches, great tackles, fantastic passes. This game, only great passes. These guys couldn't trap a ball if my 16 month old daughter kicked it to them. The one positive I saw here was Quaranta looking like Giggs on the left flank. He should stay there. Earnie Stewart should not play as a solitary striker BTW. ———————————————————————— SABuffalo786 RE: O’Brien I'm hearing a broken ankle ———————————————————————— GUTuna DC United just blue balled me!!! Everything Hudson, the Press, and us BigSoccer nuts have been preaching, we did tonight. We needed to play more direct balls into dangerous spots...done. We needed to show more individual initiative and take players on...done. Earnie Stewart needed to get more involved in the offense...done. Bobby Convey needed to move to the middle and take greater initiative...done. We needed to be aggressive late into matches, including Hudson making offensive subs...done. It was all done save the finish!!! Earnie, man I love ya, but ya really missed a couple key chances tonight. For all the ref's ham-handedness late in the match, he really missed Kreis' tackle on Tino for a PK early. Kreis came in hard and got no ball. Kovalenko's header and Countess' save...heartbreaking. I'm really more pissed than usual, because we did everything right, just to get the same crappy result. This thing should have been 2-0 or 3-0 at halftime and out of reach for the Burn. ———————————————————————— SABuffalo786 RE ttrevett I found it entertaining. ———————————————————————— soccerball In a game that lacked professionalism Hristo and Ray showed why the team will self distruct this year. I watched Hristo yell and almost step on to the field in a friendly in Richmond after his horrific tackle against the kid from AU. No way to behave while on suspension. Going after the ref and arguing with Ben olsen so openly like tonight is a disgrace. Why the league continues to protect this guy - I have no idea. Why do they do such a good job taking care of their foreigners and not the Americans? Is Hristo such a big fan draw? NOT ! Ray Hudson is notihng but smoke and mirrors. Him cursing on TV tonight does nothing for our young kids being taught professionalism. Bring back Harkes and get rid of these jokers ! Tonight was a step backwards for US soccer. ———————————————————————— ttrevett Alright, maybe I'm being too harsh, but does anyone out there think that MLS is CURRENTLY as exciting to watch as EPL? Please keep in mind that I am the biggest fan of the USMNT I know(at least in my house ). ———————————————————————— jonny DC is too good to be last in the Eastern conference. They are 1 of the better teams or the best team that plays w/ good technique and enternaining ball...No doubt Dc controlled the game , had more shots , had more woeful finishes(yuck)...let me put it like this way-Countness was the Man of the match. Tino: All of the O passed through him. He made some great long-ball passes , ran , had an obvious PK, hustled , hit the post , came back to help on D. He was everywhere. DC's best player today. The D-line was solid. Especially Nelson. Rimando was great , a perfect game..in terms of going out for crosses. Convey showed some nastiness(hey, he almost got it on w/ a 6 footer Suarez)was aggresive , he ran well without the ball , made some good runs , & short passes. Though in the 2nd..he disappeared Stewart just ran Dema Ko O'brien..that was nasty Alegria was having a good game..making clean tackles , pushing up the ball , playing some good D. The badluck...continues ———————————————————————— Knave RE: ttrevett If you want to have this debate then take it to the MLS board. This thread is for post match discussion only. I'll be deleting responses to this post in this thread. BTW, I consider this post borderline trolling. Read the DCU FAQ and/or PM with questions. ———————————————————————— Footer Phooter Good game, bad finishing. I agree with the comments on Stoichkov. During the first half he really laid in to the ball kid who didn't pass the ball to Etcheverry quickly enough. While the kid needed a talking to, he didn't need Stoichkov screaming in his face. Anyone else see the fight between 215-220? One guy was bleeding from the side of his head. I was wondering how it started. ———————————————————————— Michael Mejido After the Metros had beaten the Rapids, I turned to FSW to watch the DC/DAL match. I was only able to see the overtime of course, and looking back, I'm sorry that I even changed the channel. What I saw was Stoichkov yelling at his own players as if he still had talent he had 10 years ago. I saw Ben Olsen running around like a chicken with its head cut off, which is nothing new, but again, berating officials and yelling at teammates. I heard that Dema Kovalenko had 'taken out' Ronnie O'Brien earlier in the game. And then I saw your 'manager' Ray Hudson absolutely out of his skull yelling at the officials because he thought a throw in should've gone DC's way. Both the announcers for the match agreed that the throw was obviously for Dallas. Basically, I want to tell you what a bunch of punks your team consists of. But hell, the truth tends to be seen as flaming on this board, so I won't say it. Instead, I'll say something as a MetroStars fan: I personally do not want to play your team next week. I want to avoid you at all costs. I don't want all the venom on your team to result in a broken ankle or shattered shin for a team that is starting to play as a TEAM - a team that does not yell at each other, but rather has steadily improved week after week. We might even say they are a classy team. So I do not even want to see the DC/Metro game.... because I don't want to see players like Kovalenko, Stoichkov, Olsen bitching and whining and getting in the faces of both players and referees provoking a fight simply because they aren't winning. I don't want to see the game because I really do think that DC will fall behind early and look to hurt someone on our team out of frustration, or venom. I just couldn't understand seeing all these players obviously not playing as a team, and yelling, and whining, and acting like children. Then I saw Hudson and I understood. We were a mess last year. WE did the whining and complaining. WE had the venom. We got Bradley and now we are a team. You were pitiful last year, and this year was supposed to be the year where you developed your teamwork. It's not working, and that is your coaches fault. And bringing in shite like Stoichkov and Kovalenko doens't help. One team going up, one team going down. Just don't take us with you. Michael Mejido mmejido@gti.net ———————————————————————— Knave I merged Mejido's post into this thread. (C'mon, it's not that bad.) And, Michael, don't post spoilers.
While i have first post honors.. WHO THE HELL BOO'D AFTER THE MATCH TONIGHT? You dont boo your players after they come off the field after 100 minutes of play. There was no one on the field who wasnt putting out all they could for the win. to all you pricks- you make me sick. i know i am in violation of the rules, but that disgusts me.
Booing Players In all fairness to the folks that paid money to watch that garbage. Let them boo. BOO THE HELL OUT OF THEM!!! We need to show our disgust. D.C. United is my team and will forever be but, they have to be booed. They should know how the people feel. GET BACK TO GLORY BOYS!!!
Three points after four games. Three goals in four games. Tick, tick, tick. Is time running out for our boy Ray? A mixed bag of a game. Good efforts from Convey, Olsen, Quaranta and the back line. Why hasn't Namoff been playing more? Convey looked threatning in the middle. Stewart worked hard up front, but remarkably ineffective. Alegria showed good discipline at defensive midfielder, but limited physically. Kovalenko looked more comfortable at outside left, was a complete disaster when moved to the middle. Gaping hole at the back every time he went forward. Quaranta was effective when moved to left outside. Horrible tackle by Kovalenko on O'Brien. Lucky he didn't get a card. Idiotic yellow card on Hristo. The guy is a born criminal. Ball moved better when Marco didn't touch it. Nevertheless in first half when Marco stayed forward, back line could not get the ball forward, except with long passes over the defense. In the second half, when Marco started coming back for the ball, the pace of the attack slowed noticeably. Raimando had several nice saves, but his service from the back is scary.
Boooooooooooooooo Three points from four games, no goals in two home matches, Ray "not unhappy, we played some lovely possession football and we'll be a good team by the end of the year" and etc and etc and etc It's like "Groundhog Day" without any hope of redemption at the end of the movie. Booooooooooooooooo
.... MODERATOR'S NOTE ... I don't know what happened but the original thread disappeared when it was around 2 pages long. I was able to recover all but a couple of the posts from my history. I'm sorry if your post was lost but I did what I could to recover them all.
After the build up of optimism during the week, tonights result is beyond frustrating. I am starting to get the feeling we are looking at another 5-600 minutes of no scoring. One goal in the last three games is pathetic. Although controlling the game for large segments, moving the ball quickly (when Etch didn't get involved) and being aggressive, when they got within twenty yards of goal they went completely brain-dead. DCU couldn't shoot on goal, complete passes or make runs into space. Maybe credit should be given to the Dallas defense, maybe not. The defense (back three) looked good. Chino did a surprisingly good job at d-mid although the numerous backpassing reminded me of ABMOD. The midfield moved the ball well except as noted above. But, what is with Olsen pushing, pulling and grabing throughout the game? Has his ankle slowed him that much? That leaves the forwards. Nothing to say since they did essentially nothing positive. I have to agree that Q1 looked much better at left mid. Time to move Convey (hope his injury is not serious) to the middle and have Etch take care of that knee. Missed the refs name but he looked like the magna cum laude of the Noel Kenny school of incompetent refereeing. Well maybe next week will bring us some happyness. Time to start building the optimism again.
I can't understand why people wouldn't boo. I'm in a lot of pain from that game, other DC United fans must be too. After 3 seasons where we can't make the playoffs where almost every team's invited, we start the season w/2 home matches with 200 minutes of no scoring. Etcheverry really hurt us. The first 15 minutes we were great-the yellow killed our momentum. Stop the whining it's a bad call get over it. And he took free throws FROM people, and took a corner from Earnie Stewart. Took all the corners and free kicks-and as usual nothing happened from them. And he slowed the flow of the game. One of his worst games get the surgery. Alegria didn't even belong in the match. He had what-2 good passes and that's it. He's not only not adding to our offense, he's also very small and can be physically outmuscled on defense. By the way a big thumbs up to Nelsen and Prideaux. Excellent games. Nice stop by Rimando. Great D back the back 3. This whole situation sucks. D**n. Time may be running out on Ray. Better win one soon. I'm giving up on the season until we actually win a game. if sormun's right-10 or so points after 10 games-we are in SERIOUS trouble w/8 of 20 games left against San Jose, Columbus, and LA.
Knave, 2 things: 1) I tried to quote your last post and it wouldn't let me. It said I had to have a thread selected. Something's screwy. 2) Mejido's post isn't trolling??????????
... Mod's Note ... Try now. I was editing it to make things read a bit easier. Perhaps that interfered. As for Mejido, I thought the bulk of his points were actually in line with sentiments already being expressed in this thread. So, no, I didn't think it was. Though I do see your point about a couple of the lines. .................................................... Just saw on MLS Wrap that O'Brien's got a broken tibia. I watched that tackle again. It was late and it was pretty reckless. I'm not sure I could really defend Kovalenko on it.
Post match quotes are up: http://www.mlsnet.com/games/03/tracker.php?gamename=05032003_DALDC&version=quotes Here's one from Ray. Yeah, let's make that the new board tagline. Also, MLSNet's recap: http://www.mlsnet.com/games/03/tracker.php?gamename=05032003_DALDC&version=recap And MLSNet's analysis: http://www.mlsnet.com/games/03/tracker.php?gamename=05032003_DALDC&version=analysis (Gotta say, this is a big improvement in post match coverage in comparison to previous years.)
That's a joke right? Alegria was a stud the whole time he was on, which you would never believe by reading posts like this one. He did exactly what he was asked too each and every time. As for the game, it was alright. The reffing sucked but we definitely dominated them and I still feel as if the goals will come soon enough and we'll be fine. Stoichkov did bitch a lot when he didn't get the ball which I didn't like too much. Quaranta needs to stop being a *************** around the box and go at people not just with his right foot. There were several times today when if he had gone with the left foot he had an easy shot. Earnie needs to find a way to get involved in this offense faster. I definitely question some of Ray's substitutions tonight. Rob it was nice watching some of the game with you tonight. Bison, nice meeting you. Grasscutter, thanks again for the DVD.
La Barra Brava I had a blast tonight... the game sucked, but I had a blast at the tailgate and jumping/standing on the "loud side" of the stadium. La Barra Brava!!! To be honest, nobody really stood out for me tonight. Chino I thought played well... he's not great, but he's a pretty solid player that you can count on to play with everything he's got. I thought Tino had a pretty good first half. In the second half he was a little less obvious, but otherwise had a good game. Why can't we score? We had really no great opportunities to shoot on goal toight. What a waste of Stewart. I thought we were going to put him up front with a partner. We've got serious problems up front. It's like we've got midfielders at every position. ugh! Vamos United ted
The booing was clearly for the refs and not the team. I thought the team played very well. We just seemed to be unluckly in that last touch for goal.
No joke. Not even close. What did Alegria do that made him a stud? And what was he asked to do that he did each and every time? As for the game, it was alright. The reffing sucked but we definitely dominated them and I still feel as if the goals will come soon enough and we'll be fine. OK man.
Digital's Player Ratings Santino – 5 Played some nice balls as a midfielder, but as a forward he just doesn’t pull the trigger. The goal is to score, so when a shot prevents itself, you need to take it, not look for an even better pass. He needs to learn to go to passes rather than wait for them to arrive. Nice in spots, but overall very ineffective. Earned a PK that wasn’t called. Stewart – 4 I love Earnie, but he just isn’t getting it done right now. Etcheverry – 5 Lots of heart, lots of hustle, but horrible corner kicks, poor free kicks, stalling opportunities by his insistence on taking everything … including throw ins. He needs to break this habit. Convey – 6 Played quickly through midfield and usually helped United string together several quick attacking passes to get into position to challenge an unsettled defense. Playing 6 v 10 like we usually do (as other teams keep 10 men behind the ball) just isn’t going to cut it. Convey looked very at home in the middle. Olsen – 5.5 Did a good job on Martinez defensively, but didn’t get as much offensively as he should have. Dema – 5 A couple of decent runs, but lots of empty play. He plays hard and is skilled, but at the end of the day he failed to take his only shot from the top of the box, and didn’t create any opportunities for anyone else. Alegria – 4 Mediocre game, lots of give-aways. His strength is supposed to be possession, but this game the only good passes he made were all negative. Reminded me of Richie Williams offensively without the solid defensive play. Prideaux – 6.5 Great game. Marked Eddie Johnson well, covered for teammates, played within himself offensively, and was on top of everything tactically. Nelsen – 7 Another excellent game. His organizational skills allowed our back three to dominate today. Namoff – 6 Wonderful game defensively and very solid offensively, but not asked to do too much. He was helped by having Prideaux’s speed and Nelsen’s organization. Rimando – 6 Very good game. Made every stop, but his distribution was poor as usual. Helped by a great back line. Hristo – 6 Decent game, but yelled at his teammates a lot and didn’t provide the difference he had in the previous games. Eskandarian – 5 Didn’t get enough touches to be properly evaluated, but didn’t make any glaring mistakes either. -Digital
i guess. everyone i was watching the game with thought it was for the team. and i am sure the team thought that too.
I just finished watching my tape and what can I say? They played great tonight, but just couldn't find the finishing touch. There were more dangerous balls in the final third than we've been seeing lately, but we just couldn't get it past them. Frustrating result. Earnie's [4] touch was off tonight, but he and Quaranta are playing better together. Good runs from him, but I think it was right to pull him in favor of Stoitchkov. My MOTM was Quaranta [7]. He was dangerous all over the pitch tonight. He had the two most effective passes to Earnie (which I'm sure would have made the match 2-0 if Earnie hadn't had an off night). He took players on the dribble and earned a clear penalty when Kreis took him out late. He was screwed by the ref all night. He was hustling back to win tackles, and he kept fighting throughout. Great game. Chino [5] played very well, but he still manages a few heart attack passes per game that nearly lead to goals. Luckily they didn't hurt us tonight. Dema [5] was solid but not very effective. I saw multiple replays of the O'Brien incident and it was ugly to be sure, but I didn't think it looked malicious. It was just an aggressive tackle. Ronnie looked to be in agony, and I felt awful for the kid. He's a great player and lots of fun to watch. Etcheverry [6], sans mullet (well sort of), was good tonight. He bought into the quick passing game and played it well. He nearly scored on that delicate lob that Countess palmed away nicely. Ben [6] was tormenting Dallas for most of the match, but he did have a few boneheaded moments where he fouled needlessly and gave some lazy balls away. Nice cross to Earnie, just a little to tall for him. Convey [6] again was tentative early but really came on in the second half to drive the engine forward. He seems to get a little giddy when he enters penalty area, which he needs to work on, otherwise I think he would be pouring the shots on goal every game. I thought he should have shot more often from distance. The one shot he took was skied over the bar, but I was happy to see him have a go. Bobby worked well with Etch, Chino, and the wings all night long. I hope Ray continues with this midfield. Nelsen [7] had a great game. He was the Comcast MOTM, but I thought he gave away posession too much. He tackled flawlessly, but often rushed his distribution. Still, hard to complain when he anchors a back line that surrenders zero goals. Wonderful organization as usual. Prideaux [6] was solid in his marking assignments but was frightening with his distribution. Yikes man, work on those passes. Namoff [6] was soooo impressive in relief of Mike Petke tonight. He plays within himself and always makes the intelligent pass. His runs up the flank in the first half were encouraging and nearly led to goal. Nick [7]. Awesome. He is back on form. Subs: Stoitchkov [4] and Eski [4] didn't make a huge impact on the game, but they did provide a lift late in the match. All in all, I thought they played wonderfully, but just didn't have the knock out punch in the end. I will reiterate what I have suggested for about 4 years now. United MUST SHOOT FROM DISTANCE!!!! If just to keep the opposition goalkeeper honest, have a go from anywhere withing 30 yards from time to time. Catch the backline napping. Catch the keeper napping. Get a lucky deflection. AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! ..oh yeah, Dallas are utter crap.
Yeah, I thought it was pretty clear who the fans were booing, and I'm sure the team were happy to hear it. The ref was abysmal. I guess that's what happens when you break in the virgin ref.