I LOVE BRIAN NAMOFF. The difference between Namoff and Prideaux as the nominal backs in a 4-4-2 was glaring. Namoff passed the ball well where Prideaux frequently couldn't judge the speed of the ball on the pitch and sent it to Galaxy players. Namoff's runs were excellent. He battled constantly. Sure, he picked up a yellow, but he didn't let that take the steam out of his play. He constantly brought the ball forward and his overlapping play with Hendrickson was great. When he got hit in the face by Kirovski, he left the field spitting and cursing. Awesome.
Who hates Freddy? Just because people rightly think he isn't starter right now doesn't mean they hate him. Hands up, who hates Freddy? We spent a lot of the first half passing to the wrong team again. That really needs to stop. We performed well otherwise. Probably could have gotten three points, but considering our injury situation, I'll be happy with one and hope we can get some more help by next weekend.
Hopefully, that was the beginning and the end of the short corner experiment. And in other news, with those yellow cards, Dema and Esky are suspended for the next match.
I wanted to see Santino play. But we were given the return of Ty Keough instead. That was seriously the worst line-up I've ever seen DCU put out there. All that was missing was Stokes. Namoff, Carroll, Prideaux were all on the field at the same time. Hendrickson seems to finally up to speed with his new teammates.
Well Damn. As in the game in LA, Scum West steals points from us. DCU gets a definite A for effort in a gritty hard-fought match. We set a tone early and pressured everywhere. Finishing, a D. We had plenty of chances to put this game away. Nelsen was a stud, as per usual. LA has been really hurt since Califf went down. We definitely dealt better with our injuries in this game. After this game, I'm also VERY glad we signed EZ. He did an admirable job in midfield today and he really changes our look in the air. Combine that with more defensive depth (could you even bear more of Stokes this year???) and it was a great signing. Still galling to see LA score with only two shots on goal and really no more scoring chances.
Why do we look like an NBA team trying to work the ball into the key every time we get near the area? JEEBUS, that's annoying (and ineffective)! Moreno is just too slow. I hate Ruiz with the burning intensity of ten thousand suns.
Here's the difference between DC and LA: The Galaxy has a ton of talent and a fantastic finisher up top. DC's talent is good, but they battle the entire game. I like the fact that United leads the league in fouls. It's gonna cost them some time, but the cards rarely feel like the cheap ones Etch used to pick up where you were scared he was gonna be gone 5 minutes after a yellow. As opposed to some uglier recent games (the tie at Dallas, the loss at KC), this was a decent result. Sure, you'd like to win at home, but LA's leading the league and it's a big improvement over the 1st-half meltdown 8 weeks ago. One last thing: Jesus H. Christ does LA hit the ground a lot. United is a physical team, but LA's reputation as the flopping-est team in the league was well deserved tonight. STAY ON YOUR F****** FEET.
- How many times did Nelson snuff the attack, especially in the last ten minutes? - Gros had another great game. - Eski hustled and hustled and hustled and hustled... You get the idea. - Moreno had a bad game. How many times did he give up the ball. - If Stott calls a foul for handling the ball in the box, why does he not give a red card to Prideaux? - Just watch Chicago get screwed by the same call, Guevara gets the PK. - The Demanator and Eski will be sorely missed next game. - What was up with Petke swapping jerseys with Ruiz at the end of the game. Hopefully, they're trying to save a little money on the TP budget at RFK.
OTC??? Seriously though, I don't have any lineup problems today. We moved the ball well on a wet field and fought hard all game.
If the handball isn't intentional to stop the goal, there's no need to show the player a red (or even call a foul, see US v. Germany WC 2002). Even if he's standing on the goal line. Prideaux was sliding to block a shot. The call was correct, but functionally was like CJ Brown's in the Chicago-Scum game. I still hate Kevin Stott.
I really expected something much, much worse. I'm not thrilled with the result but I'm not all that unhappy, either. How did Nelsen snuff the attack?
I think because it was pretty inadvertent. In the replays it looked straight down, palms away from the ball. I don't think he was trying to stop it. Typical Prideaux . . . he runs really hard to the right spot and makes the wrong play.
i would like to have seen kuffour, and maybe tino in this game. p.s. i hate kevin (i love f****** with D.C. United) Stott the twat.
Nelson's great. IMO, he's the best defender in the league since Boca's gone. Eddie's lost a step. Ezra played well in the 4-4-2. I wish Adu had come in for, say, Carroll, and put on left wing, with Gros in the middle. The league has to instruct its referees to be more aware of dives and embellishment. These guys are pros, they want to win. If you allow and even reward that stuff, what do you think pros are gonna do? They'll do what it takes to win. And then we're one step removed from WWE. Um, but if it's not "intentional" then it's not a PK. It's 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt certain that Stott blew a call tonight. Was it the PK, or the non-red? We can argue that, but beyond argument is that Stott isn't qualified to call a match at this level if he doesn't know the rules. There will be the inevitable comparisons to the Frings handball at the World Cup. But Brandon's arm was in a natural position, I thought, so while that wasn't the worst call I've ever seen, it shouldn't have been a PK. It was half the PK that the Suarez takedown of Esky earlier was. On the Frings play, the arm was in an unnatural position. A defender on the post has one job. His left arm wasn't performing that job.
Esky - worked hard, didn't have very good touch at the beginning of the game, but he seemed to come into the game as play progressed Moreno - not his best game, guilty of turning the ball over a lot, needs another shot of whatever revitalized him before the season started. Might have earned us a pk, have to wait to see a replay. Gros - what a great draft pick, easily turning out to be our rookie of the year and a future corner stone of the team.....if forest doesn't take him off our hands first Dema - typical match, broke up some plays, created some chances, great two way player that doesn't quit. Had Stott the Twat not just given Kirovski a yellow, Dema would have ended the match card free EZ - glad we signed him, the team is finally starting to look dangerous on corners and he hustled pretty well up and down the flank Nelsen is a stud - too bad this will be his last season with the club. The entire defensive unit worked pretty well to shut down a dangerous LA attack. I was sure Ruiz was going to sink us at the end of the game. God I hate that little mother fukcer. If any MLS player could suffer a severly painful and career ending injury, plaese let it be him. That is so unlike me....I hope I have enough karma points built up to survive that outburst!
But if it's inadvertent then it's not a foul to begin with...perfect description of a handball that is not a violation of the rules.
It was inadvertent but it prevented a goal. I actually think Stott called it correctly. PK due to a clear goalscoring chance being stopped, but no yellow due to no intent to play the ball.