Official DC United vs Kansas City Wizards PRE Match Thread [N&A]

Let's see BC out, Adu played poorly, Prideaux should never see the field again. Must be time for line-up changes.

Cerritos Eskandarian
Moreno
Olsen Stuart
Carroll Kovalenko
Petke Nelsen Namoff
Rimando

We need to score more than a goal. Take some pressure off the GK and defenders.

 

So I take it the match isn't on Direct Kick either?

 

I think a win no matter how big in the next TWO matches at home will give us enough boost to make it through the rest of the season and wake some people up. But phew! what a task that lies ahead. What's this "curse" I have been hearing about with KC? Is there a way we can capitalize on it via chants?

 

All our goals will be on MLS Wrap. They'll probably have an extra-long segment for our match. Yup. Definitely.

 

We haven't won since opening day. We have 3 games this week and we need to start piling up some points. Our Midfield is very thin now with Convey out, so there's a good chance we'll see something different for one or more of these games. Will we go with a 4-4-2? Will we see Moreno drop back in to the midfield? will we see Ara or Kuffour get some minutes off the bench? Will we score?

I can't say I have the right answer to any of these questions, but I'll give it a shot. I think we stick with the 3-5-2 Saturday, start Moreno up top with Cerritos, slot Gros into Convey's spot, and see Ara come off the bench at some point. I see us probably only scoring one goal again, despite a dozen chances, but I think we can keep KC off the board and finally earn a clean sheet. I think Petke is back in the lineup, and with he, Ara, and Gros giving us some size on the pitch, our goal comes off a header on a set piece. (maybe even a corner)

 

I thought Kuffour couldn't play for another week or so? I'd like to see (or for me hear, through webcast) Ara in midfield.

 

Chicago and KC were both disappointed in their defensive efforts in last Saturday's game. Gansler's defensive philosophy would put a chastity belt on a sterile female, even more so after the belt was almost unlocked last weekend. This will be a game of counter-attacks by KC. It will for the most part be a real snoozer, highlighted by La Norte taunts of TM. KC has shown they can score goals against a significant defense (Chicago). This is a very winnable game for them and I suspect that they are subconsciously expecting at least a point from Saturday's match.

Look at the match-ups:
Coach: KC (but give Nowak time)
GK form: KC
Defense: push to KC
Midfield: DC (even sans Convey)
Forward: no advantage either way.
12th man: DC
momentum: no advantage.

Our boys had better come out with a blood lust for 100 minutes or we'll be spending another couple of days ruing our position in the standings.

GM

 

An impartial Look at the match-ups:

Coach: KC
GK: KC
Defense: KC, because they're not totally dependent on one player, and much better in the air.
Midfield: KC, especially without Convey. KZ and Klein are very strong.
Forward: Wolff is at least fast. Arnaud is much better than Esky.
Depth: DC
momentum: no advantage.

You can break City down with speed and skill on the wings. To beat DC, just wait for them to tire in the second half, then counter.

 

We Need To Win, Let's Put Moreno And Cerritos Up Front, Alecko At The Back And A Sub For Moreno(adu) In The Second Half, It Was Just The First Game That We Have Won Come On, We Need To Score, And Nowak Be Carefull With Your Subs, You Have Made A Lot Of Mistakes

 

Does having a new coach mean we can't refer to them as "Kansas" any more? I liked how that riled up their fans.

 

I'd like to see Adu in a more 'withdrawn forward' for the next game. He's been playing as a classic number 9 i.e. receiving the ball with his back to the goal, for hold up play. He simply does not have the upper body strength for this role, and is bundled off the ball with the lightest of shoulder barges. He should not be put in this position at this point, and may be more effective 'in the hole' - behind the strkers, where he can run at defenders.

 

Zvagnin would be in his nightmares for months afterwards.

 

There will likely be the standard 3 camera MLS ENG (Electronic News Gathering) shoot. MLS Wrap showed highlights (including a great one of me) from the other non-broadcast game so far this season (Colorado at KC).

MLS archives every game whether it is broadcast or not.

 

All MLS games are taped, they just don't use a television crew to do it all the time, or a camera that broadcasts anything. It sure would be nice if the wild feed from that video could somehow be shown on Direct Kick. This is the worst game not to show on TV ... simply because I can't be there and now I can't even watch it on tape when I get home Sunday ......
I am more worried about this game than last week's, and we know how bad that turned out. KC has a very good midfield and a (usually) stifling defense. We can't finish very many chances of late, and KC usually limits what chances a team gets. They also counter well, and we don't counter-counter all that great.........
I hope when I turn on the news Sunday I see that we won by 6

 

I love reading what fans of teams that rarely watch KC play say about the team. KC has not been a "counter-attacking team" since the disasterous failed bunker season of 2001. 2002 was a crappy season all around, but the team has been a primarily attack oriented team last year and this year.

The Wizards will go after DC from the start. The big factor in DC's favor will, of course, be my presence in the stadium. Sigh.

I mean, during the non-broadcast KC/Colorado game, Kansas City was tied 0-0 at the half and had had a defender ejected in the 44th minute. What did Gansler do? He substituted in a Forward (Matt Taylor) and took off a Midfielder (Diego Walsh), and the Wizards attacked -shorthanded- with abandon throughout the second half, while scoring 2 goals to win.

Every team will rely on the counter from time to time, including the Wizards. But the 2004 Wizards are an attack-oriented team. Their inconsistency is due to a real weakness (absence) in attacking-mid. Neither Cisco Gomez or Diego Walsh has shown the ability to fill Preki's boots.

 

Think we can put certain assesments into bedrock at this point, heading into this match.
PROBLEMS
1)While our midfield works to get us many chances, we finish relatively too few of them, with us showing 2 or more goals only 2 times thus far.
2)Our defense has given up 8 goals so far, with no less than 3 goals coming late in games to steal 2 points(2x) and even 3 pts(CHI) and given the above, we have few points to show for our efforts at dominating possession overall.
3)Our relatively consistent line-up will be absent Convey at midfield, due to his injury.
4)We have 4,possibly 5 forwards(Q2?) trying to earn playing time at 2 positions. Jaime has been most effective,depsite all 4 having scored 1 goal apiece, his 3 assists separate him from the pack stat-wise.
5) As shown by evidence of a seperate thread, we are still looking to score off a corner-kick this season.

Coming out of this leaves many of us pondering.
Questions
1) Do we
a) stick with the 3-1-4-2, or
b) go to either a 4-4-2(doubtful, given we're at home) or
c) a 3-4-3?

2)Who starts at forward? Who do we sub if we're down 1 or more come half-time?

3)Who fills in for Convey? Nowak's been quoted as saying we don't have his equal, but we will cover for him. Does his stand-in come from the MID ranks, or do we convert a forward?

4)What do we do defensively to ensure no more late-match meltdowns occur? Work on player focus, change the formation, better effective defensive subs?

5) With WC call-ups looming for several players, how do we start inserting rookies so they're not starting green when called upon? Better to start them and sub with an effective veteran, or sub them late when tired legs are on the field?

Nowak has shown so far this season a penchant for consistancy. While chances abound for him choosing from amongst a slew of variables in carving out a strategy come Saturday, the safe bet is undoubtably on letting the river run, with maybe a ripple here or there. Comments about Cerritos bypassing an invitation to play for El Salvador tonight in Houston to focus on his club should ensure he sees playing time, if not an outright start.With that in mind, I'd suggest the following-

Cerritos--Moreno
Gros-Dema-Olsen-Stewart
Carroll
Petke-Nelson-Namoff
Rimando

subs- Prideaux,Adu,Esky,Stokes,Ara,Q2


With Petke's return, the backline should firm up from the past.
I wouldn't be surprised that if Freddy or Moreno come in as 2nd half subs, we see a switch to a hybrid 3-1-3-3, with Dema sliding to the wing and the sub playing a bit withdrawn centrally. This will hinge on whether Gros is able to fully integrate with the midfield, and maybe the better option is to allow Earnie to take over Convey's role, and slide Gros over to right wing?

I'd like us to see either/both Ara Stokes figured somehow into the line-up, earlier than later. Guess it'll boil down to whether we see our best XI starting or finishing this game.

Either way, I'm sure the team is not only focused on what it needs to do to improve, but will accomplish at least 1 solution to the 5 problems listed above, especially with the crowd bringing it.

DC-3 KC-1

 

Well, if they were actually shown on TV once in a while, we could be more accurate I was just going off what I've read in the KC newspapers. If they come out attacking we may do better with them than I thought. Plus with you there, we're a lock
Thanx for the more accurate information

 

Right Eismahn. Seems like we could see one of two possible lineups. Taken as a given that Cerritos starts, here are the most likely lineups:


(Note: I have no idea if Petke or Prideaux or even Stokes will start and obviously depending who starts than Namoff is on the left of right. So I will just have the defense including Nellie and Namoff plus either one for the other spot.)

The Gros starts lineup

------------Rimando
--Namoff--Nellie---Petke/Prideaux
-------------Carroll
Stewart-Olsen--Kovalenko----Gros
-----Moreno-------Cerritos

The Cerritos or Moreno to a-mid (or 3rd forward) lineup

------------Rimando
--Namoff--Nellie---Petke/Prideaux
-------------Carroll
Stewart---Kovalenko-----Olsen (possibly Gros)
----------Cerritos/Moreno
---Moreno/Cerritos-----Esky/Adu

I like the later.

 

I don't know about the TV. I have dishnet's direct kick package and last weekend wound up with a few games that MLSnet's schedule claimed I wouldn't get. For some reason, the schedule doesn't seem to be as accurate as it was last year.

 

The TV schedule has been 100% accurate.

 

MLSNet's schedule page only lists national games. The MLS on TV page lists local games. They do have on ommission though this week - Colorado on LA is televised by FSRM and iNDemand is carrying it.

On topic, these are some tough calls for Peter. I would like to see Ronald get a shot and Freddy certainly can't be hurt by coming off the bench this time. Maybe it's the shakeup the team needs.

 

Keep dreaming buddy. If Stewart would stop sending pop flies into the box during corners we would have a chance.