DC United vs Los Angeles Galaxy • Saturday, September 20, 10:00 EST • • Live on CSN, HDNet and Shootout • DCUnited.com Match Preview - Including TV, Radio and Webcast Information • MLSNet Match Notes • English Webcast - WMET • Other Webcasts • PBP Chat Information • Note 1 • The pre-match threads have been suffering a bit lately. They really are for serious discussion only. If you want to engage in what might be called, euphemistically, light discussion (ok, trash talking) then please take it elsewhere. Either start another thread or take it to the rivalries board. • Note 2 • If you're a DC United supporter who's going to this game please check out the DC United vs Los Angeles Galaxy Organizing Thread. If you haven't done so already please chime in and let us know you'll be there too. This post will be updated later in the week for corrections and additions. Items in gray will be updated once available or confirmed. No Flames • No Trolls
Biggest questions I think are the health of Etch and Hristo. Obviously if Etch is healthy and recovered from his leg contusion (?) then his play last Saturday earned him a start this Saturday. If he can't go, I imagine Convey starts in his place. Will Hristo be sufficiently recovered from his surgery to come off the bench and provide his customary, um, spark? If neither of these guys can go, I imagine we'll see this... Rimando Ivanov Petke Nelsen Prideaux Olsen Dema Convey Q2 Cerritos Stewart Subs: Warren, Namoff, Martins, Stokes, Q1 I imagine the likelier scenario is that Etch can play, but Hristo cannot. Rimando Ivanov Petke Nelsen Prideaux Olsen Dema Etch Q2 Cerritos Stewart Subs: Warren, Convey, Namoff, Martins, Stokes I like Convey as much as anyone, but Etch earned another start last weekend, Convey did not. I like Martins more than Esky or Q1 to travel and come off the bench. Esky hasn't shown much, and who knows about Q1's health. Maybe Q1 or Chino travels instead of Stokes. If we play as we did against LA and SJ, coming out strong and moving the ball crisply and, most importantly, forward, we should be fine. LA is not an easy place to play, and giving up an early goal puts us in a hole I'm not sure we can climb out of on the road. LA's defense struggled to run with Stewart and Cerritos, and playing at home they'll be expected to come forward as a team more than they did at RFK, which will hopefully create space in which those two can create chances. Etch is, as always, the x factor. If he plays like he did against SJ, LA could be in trouble. If he reverts to earlier form, it's us who could be in trouble. That all said, I see a 1-1 game. We get one via a Stewart-Cerritos combination then Ruiz equalizes and our level of hate for him skyrockets.
I just want to echo Red & Black's post from the previous pre-game thread with Scum West, which basically says, "I HATE THE GALAXY!" Go United and try to avoid Cobi's leg humping tactics.
That last post wasn't enough.................... I hate LA. I mean I really hate them. I want United to take them behind the "woodshed" and spank them so bad that Carlos Ruiz's beotch screams can be heard in Guatemala. I want Cobi to come out bald with a big tatoo on his head of a dog humping a leg. I want Sigi to lose 50 pounds because he crapped so much out of fear. I want a 5-0 win so the Galaxy fans will shut up and start remembering whose beotch they really are...................I want toilet paper drilling Kevin Hartman in the back of the head the whole game, I want Hung to look so bad that they bring Lalas slow tail into the game and I want the goatee back as well............... This post doesn't do my loathing for LA justice, but it gives you an idea. Bring Scum West on, baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Etch's health at this point is definitely a big question, but I still maintain that he is ultimately most effective playing shorter amounts of time, just like on Saturday, though of course he came off for injury.. One would expect Convey to be just about ready to go a full 90 pretty soon and he is about as good a replacement as we can get for Marco.. LA is coming off of a very ugly performance against Chicago and a loss to us last week as well.. I see a fired up LA team taking it to our yet unproven side on the road.. It's been nice to be at home these past few weeks but now the real season begins.. 4 out of the the next 5 league matches are on the road and we must get a minimum of 4 points out of those games.. Unfortunately I don't see us getting a result this week.. Although LA is relatively safe from not making the playoffs thanks to the pathetic Burn, they do need however to avoid SJ at any cost in the first round of the playoffs and I think they win this matchup very comfortably and things will get very nervous around here.. Interesting to note is by the time our game kicks off on Saturday night, we will have 2 games in hand over the Revs and the best they can be is only 1 point behind us heading into that matchup, which is good news for us because that lowers our theoretical "magic number" to at least qualify for the playoffs.. Additionally, we will still be 1 game in hand over the Crew (who play all division games from here on out, another advantage to us) with the possibility of being only 1 point back of them heading into our midweek match at NY. They play at NY on Saturday.. Let's hope for a draw in that match.. I see a 3-1 win for LA.. I just don't have as good a vibe as my boy Mike Martin who thinks we will roll in this matchup.. I hope he's right.....
I can't imagine that any team would want to play United right now. The attack can come from anywhere (11 different goal scorers?) and at any time. And they're coming off confident wins over LA and SJ. United 3 LA 2 Cerritos, Convey, Petke Serna, Elliott
LA has not been impressive at all in quite a while. I think having both forwards diving all over the place hurts them with the refs. I really think we can get a draw there and possibly sneak out a late win.
Please remember to trash the HDC. Perhaps spray painting a large DC United logo somewhere would be the way to go. Oh yes, serious analysis.. I hope Dema breaks Ruiz's leg. Sachin
I know not why weedman is seeing unconquerable danger from LA, unless he is over-partaking of the weed and has become paranoid. Let's consider the factors: Gals are a virtual lock for the playoffs les gals have a champion's (over-) confidence that they can beat anybody these first two factors are the complacency recipe that DC United thought it had perfected in 2000 lalagals have been unable to pull out a win on the road Elliott continues his two season slide into obscurity Jones the leg-humper has not picked up his teammates the way he has in the past (but he might start a streak) Ye olde hundred fires is a negative in the midfield. Victorine is out with his broken hip (who knew he was so vital to les gals?) Marshall has the only speed of the first four defenders. Albright Anchovy is dangerous, but mostly from the PK spot Flipper wants to show Ray that he can still play Flipper and anchovy have yet to pass to each other effectively lala gals have no surprises to MLS defenses in 2003 The california redwoods are still a serious threat in the air on any set piece in which it can put its big bodies around the goal. Sigi the Hutt cannot seem to motivate his troops this year (how do you spell complacency?) lala gals seem to have convinced the media that they are very hard to beat in Carson, but they've lost there twice now (Colorado and Chicago) The bad news is that we've got to play Sigiball. That's also the good news now that our counter-attacking has picked up pace and threat. We can possess the ball better than the gals so corners should be at a minimum. Nick MUST be on his game and control his box (it would be a great time to play Warren, IMO). If Ivanov plays, he's got to clear balls first time instead of trying to control them (and allowing a last second San Jose chance). Stewart, Cerritos, Cheyo, Olsen, Convey, and Dema are faster and quicker than les gal's back three or four, with Marshall the only exception. Marco can beat them with balls into space and by personally attacking the frame. It's too new to assume that Victoria Street is a stronghold for the pretenders. We are on a roll and lala gals are in one of Sigi's rolls and look to be bitten. I don't think they can turn it on, now that they seem to have lost the edge. They are not a weak team, simply a very, very predictable and slow one. In short, very beatable if you play with discipline. DC gets at least one point from this match-up. GM
I am not sure I agree with this analysis. I think it would be better if Dema could break both Ruiz's and Serna's leg during the same play.
3 points is almost a lock, assuming DC continues to play the same way they've played since Cerritos joined the team, and LA continues to play the same way they have all season. To me both of those are reasonable expectations. As Tom points out they are slow and predictable and only likely to score through exceptional individual efforts. Good Luck in that. I think the Galaxy stink with a great stinking and are on the verge of collapse similar to DC"s epic fall from grace in 2000 (another good observation there GM). We also have a pretty decent record in LA and a wide field helps us far more than it helps them. We have the experience edge as well so home field advantage is negated somewhat, which is assuming LA actually has that. Serna will no doubt score to continue his loathsome form against United, but I think that's about it, unless Anchovy or Medusa turns in a superhuman performance. Only concern about DC is Marco. Clearly he should start based on his play versus SJ, but with only a road bench of four field players, a change in game plan might be difficult if he starts off bad like he did versus LA last week. Assuming Namoff, Martins, and Esky are the other subs, then SuperBobby is the only replacement possible for Marco without a major reshuffling of field players. I certainly like the ability to bring in Convey's considerable talents, but he hasn't really shown the possession type skills and decision making needed to close out a road win. Obviously, he's wicked going to goal and could unbalance LA unmercifully, but should he miss his chances and/or fail to set up others successfully, then DC could be in for a dogfight. He needs to find his game and get his head back on straight after his recent disappointment. Of course, if Marco plays his game, all that is moot. We'll win convincingly 3-1. Cerritos is due, Q2 is hot, and dare I say it, Earnie is confident as well. So we could have two forwards score in a game for the first time this century! I'm exxagerating a bit, so please no brutal rebuttals on that thought. (Moreno and Quaranta in 2001? maybe against NE?)
First, I suggest Ray get his team out to LA a day early on Wednesday to avoid any delays with Isabel. Second, I like DC's chances in this match. Call it a feeling, the birth of confidence, but DC is playing some dangerous ball with a solid defense. My prediction LA 1 (On a Ruiz PK from either a Ruiz or Serna dive) and DCU 2 (Nelson on a header from a CORNER kick, and one from a Cerritos/Stewart combination.)
DUDE! 3-1 LA?? Really? come on, say it ain't so. Well.... No, i just can't agree. While United has been on an emotional high octane burn, I still think that some of them are out there with something personal to prove. Etch wants to continue to show that yes indeed he is still Diablo. Bobby wants to prove that while he got the shaft on the Hotspurs deal that he is good enough to play across the pond. Earnie wants to show that he can be a major influence in MLS, am currently still waiting for Q1 to do something. I don't think they will win because I really, really like 'em, I think they'll win because they'll be the better team on the pitch. And dude, bad form to wish that Dema breaks Ruiz's leg.... He could break both legs.
What's with Ivanov starting over Namoff? IMO, Namoff has outplayed Ivanov in the same position all year, has just as good an ability to counter attack, and is just all-around more sound on defense. Is Namoff nicked? Or do some folks disagree and think Ivanov has earned it over Namoff?
The Travel Squad A benefit to the healthy depth is that there is strong competition at just about every position. It is quite obvious that Doug Warren will be in LA. While our Defense may not have a lot of depth, we've got a lot of options by moving midfieders around to cover for openings. At this point, Bryan Namoff is the only real defensive sub that I can imagine we use. Maybe bring a long David Stokes, but to some degree, I highly doubt that he'd see any playing time, barring some wild injuries during the week. Assuming Marco starts for us in the the midfield, Bobby Convey, Chino Alegria, and to an extent Bryan Namoff, are our midfield subs. Since Bryan is already locked into defenese, he's already on board to make the flight. Our Forwards are the big question. We've got two travel slots left and we've got three forwards to choose from. While Alecko Eskandarian may have played in more games, the now healthy Santino Quaranta gives us a little more flexabilty in terms of utility (i.e., either forward or midfielder) and thus makes the trip. My guess is that since we were impressed enough with Thiago Martins to sign him into our already heavy striker corps, then we expected him to be good enough to play. So he makes the trip too. What I'm not sure about is Hristo Stoichkov. He's a coach and a player. Does he choose his role before the trip? I imagine that he travels as a coach and does not suit up because of Santino and Thiago, but if we can sneek him into the sub roster because of his dual status, then all the better. Competition should be hot enough at each position that our players won't have time to have mental lapses and they'll come out to play, no matter where they're visiting from here on out. At least, that's my hope. DC is coming together and I think that we've got a good chance to win this game. LA is a weak team that rely's too heavily on a few players. There are no stars on United, just on their jersey's. This team rely's on everyone stepping it up. Watch for an even more impressive DC United in LA. (with that being said, let's just pray that Isabel doesn't keep the power off for too long.) To all those who are making the trip to the Tool Box, give 'em hell. later -ted
Stokesy gives us some dominance in the air. If (that's a big if) our team feels defensively strong enough on the ground to risk the occasional rookie lapse, Stokesy could see time. It's all about match-ups. les gals are dominant in the air and that's just about it, other than having a stingy team defense. Stokesy gives DC dominance in the air (yes, I said that) and can really threaten lalagal flanks (and their slow defenders (except Marshall) with his pace and crossing ability. I doubt we'll see him, but it would be a very interesting match-up, IMO. I'm sure Bryan's still got his great attitude. He'll see time in the coming home stretch to the playoffs. I think coach sees Ivanov as a better passer of the ball from the back, and that's why he is ahead of Bryan on the depth chart. I predict Teeno stays home, with Esky and Thiago making the trip. No question that Mo is on DC's bench going into this game. Can we get a big AMEN from everybody about Isabel? I have high hopes of seeing a DC fan presence at "the US Soccer Cathedral" Give 'em hell!!! GM
the funny thing (which is also a good thing) is that we're looking at who's on the bench, and not so much whose on the field. I'm pretty much cool with playing any of our bench players, and that doesn't bother me one bit. I do hope that (1) Marco is healthy and that (2) he can repeat his performance from Saturday. Just last week (after his play against the Galaxy) we were saying that he had lost his chance to be in the line-up. [edited]
Someone asked this earlier but I'll ask it again ... Even if Isabel weakens it'll surely cause problems at east coast airports. Any word that DC United will fly out early to avoid trouble?
Flying out early While I haven't heard anything specific to United, I did hear that the Ravens were flying out to SD early to ensure that they avoid any flight problems. I'd imagine that by Wed or Thurs whenever Dyson posts his "notes and quotes" we'll get the real answer.