My guess is that he wanted to get as much out of Olsen as he could. In the midfield, Olsen may not be fit enough just yet to go a full 90 and be effective. Up front, he could possibly be more explosive, and help ease some of the scoring load. I don't understand why your coach would pick his line-up the way he did either. The way the Metro lines up anymore, the best way to attack is up the wings. Setting up a Convey vs. Ziadie matchup was a good decision (I defy fans of either side to say they thought Ziadie would own that matchup before the game), but why have no player on the right? Chronopolus has been our worst defender during the last 7 or 8 games. Even if Hudson was dead set on Olsen playing up top (which I thought was a smart move), he should have set up a right winger to play against Chrono. Villegas would have been an ideal choice. Fast and a decent dribbler (the type of player Chrono has particular trouble handling), Petter would have been the much better choice for that right side. Did Hudson drop any quotes after the game? Did he explain his odd formation? I just don't get it. JMac
Well, without calling you a liar, I'll just say that I find those numbers HIGHLY suspiscious. That being said, we'll have to go with them, as I didn't tape the game. But if Ritchie's job is to stand around and make "safe" passes, and we've got Ivan on the field, then who's playing offense? Why are we wasting half our midfield in passing the ball five feet to Eddie Pope? And if that's "Ritchie's job" then why is he going forward so much? Why is he, for instance, heading the ball in the penalty area? And how many of those "passes" put the receiver in a bad spot? If I pass a ball square, to a guy already covered, and he has a half-second to get the ball and put it somewhere, is that a completed pass? RS
I am so F-ing pissed! That is such a gut wrenching way to lose. We didn't play poorly, but made so many glaringly bad plays. Diallo was beating Reyes repeatedly, while his presence up front (the cause of him getting beaten) was minimal at best. Alavanja sucks donkey and makes me wonder once again about Hudson's "keen eye for talent." That goes ditto with Ziadie owning Convey all afternoon. I am so disgusted! The scum play like crap and still manage to walk away with the points and ruin our chances for the playoffs. What a miserable afternoon and I can't take much more of this inept offense. Rrrrrrr
Not to rub any salt in the wound, (as I can easily understand the frustration) but that comment is signature material if I've ever seen one! JMac
Can we keep Pope, Reyes, and Rimando, and fire the rest of the squad. Way to not cover Mathis, it's not like he's good.
I believe your setiments would best be interpereted by a distraught River Plate fan in FourFourTwo's article on the River-Boca derby. "I don't get it, we win against teams who play beautiful football, and then we come here and lose to Boca with their F-in s-ty, negative football."
If its not some supporter from KC, its a scum supporter. This day can't get much worse. [edited by JH6 after complaint]
For the offense to suck there would have to be one on the field. There were no more than four players with offensive "skills"(up for debate) on the field at any given time. DC will not win a game like this with the likes of RW and Alavanja on the field. I think final blame comes down to the coach today. Must win(need to score atleast one goal) game and you dont put an offense out there, especially late in the game. Put freaken anybody out there. Is Mapp possibly worse than Alavanja? I really have to question Ray Hudson as a coach when he takes up space with Alavanja. I believe he will also keep him around for next year. Also of the note the Metrostars suck. I am amazed with all the individual talent they were so inept. They did score and win of course. Dont look now but DC will ensure the post season for the Metros, but if they play like they did today it will be a short one. You are welcome Metros fans.
That would be mostly our coach's fault. For whatever reason, he keeps playing Chrono and Ziadie as defenders, and he insists on playing a formation with no right wing. We play with Davis and 3 central mids. Basically, the same type of formation Hudson had DC lined up in today. It's tactically retarded. JMac PS: SABuffalo, like I said, I wasn't trying to rub it in (god knows the season isn't over, and as a Jet's fan, the 2000 NFL season taught me no playoff spot is safe until it's guaranteed) I just thought that comment was funny.
Freestyle: %$%$ off. You make some dodgy claim about Williams giving the ball away and, when called on it, suggest I'm a liar and then come up with nuanced bull%%$% about the definition of a completed pass? I tracked him today because of a similar argument on another thread. You count next week, since I would bet as much as you want that Williams almost always has the highest touch-to-completed pass ratio on this team. Williams' job is to help United hold possession. He does it well. That doesn't mean he's a great player. That doesn't mean he doesn't have weaknesses. But invariably, after every game, someone dumps on him for doing what he has been told to do by the coaching staff.
Going into next season I'm actually pleased w/ the defense. In the central midfield we are sorely lacking. Richie plays reasonable d, but he is not strong enough offensively, likewise, Etch does not have a defensive bone in his body (his offensive skills have gone down hill a lot as well). If Moreno cannot play in 75% of the games next year, it's time to cut bait. We can get two new central midfielders next season w/ our one or two remaining int'l slots (depending on keeping Moreno). It would be nice to have a couple of two-way players. Quaranta is a good bet at striker, and I'd love for Moreno to come back healthy. Olsen is strong on the right and I'd like to see Q2 and Convey battle for the left side of midfield. Central midfield is the most critical position of need next year. Considering this is the toughest position to fill in MLS it should be an interesting (or potentially disappointing) off-season. Dump ==== Villegas Lassiter Etch Alavanja Amann Move to Sub ========= Williams Q2 or Convey Prideaux Increase in salary/neg impact on cap? ============================ Quaranta Olsen Nelsen Convey Rimando Reyes
Okay, okay...I'm not one to post very often (mainly a lurker) but I would like to respectfully disagree with the general tone of the comments so far... Ritchie had a few missteps, sure. But how does someone so "bad" use his head so well? He looks a foot shorter than some of those guys, and yet fights for position, and often gets it. (BTW - I also don't really see much cause for complaint on the passing, as has already been pointed out). Alevanja played pretty poorly, turning it over too much, and Roy certainly put himself out of position plenty (unless you count offsides as good position!) Pope chested right in front of Roy and he blew it. Reyes played with fire plenty of times, allowing Diallo to get in front...but was able to defend rather well, IMHO. Even the penalty, while the right call, was simply a strong tackle that Diallo flopped up. Etch was a bit disappointing, giving it away a lot more than usual and not distributing well. All in all, however, the game was decently played on both sides. Just because the game went 92 minutes without a goal doesn't always mean that the team blew chunks. Sure, I'm frustrated, but those 92 minutes weren't total yawners. The problem, it seems to me, was getting scoring chances. DCU just didn't get a good attack. Sure we had possession, but the Metros defense stymied our attack before we could get it forward. Ah, come on, lads and ladies! Don't crap out now! (Oh, and reducing ourselves to calling opposing teams fans homosexuals is a bit infantile at this point, don't you think?) I'm certainly looking forward to Sats. game vs the Quakes. Even though it looks bleak, there is still a chance for the playoffs, and at least some shot at ending the season on a positive note.
that was a terrible game. Olsen is totally wasted playing up front. We suck Lazo is the worst and guess what, he was our most dangerous player except for Pope. Bobby need to learn which way we are going because he always passes backwards.
I'll be honest here. I thought the Metros were going to lose going into this match. I wouldn't blame Ray Hudson, because he hasn't retooled the offense. He's made your defense very strong, and one great play at the end was all they let up. As for Mathis being out of shape, I have to say he's in the best shape he's been in all year long. He was fairly active, but I feel that he is completely misplaced in the midfield. He was much more effective in the last 20 minutes as a forward.
The ONLY good thing today was Garth Lagerway calling Rimando Nicky Tavi The Mongoose, after that most righteous save. Subbing Lassiter for anyone but my dead mother is utterly DAFT, RAY!!! Fire the wanker! And send Alavanja with him. Oh, and speaking of firings, Dave Johnson, or whatever HIS name is, Histoy, bye bye, a full spring and summer and he still can't learn the player's name. Whata Yutz. I am truly disappointed in what effort United showed today, and I feel REALLY let down. Don't tell me I have to renew my season ticket at this moment, cause I likely wouldnt, and certainly not in the section I am in this yr., not at that price scale.
Lagerway was the only thing I found entertaining about the game. DC's offense was just anemic. McKinley started and Alavanja came in as a sub. The announcers said something about a hip problem for McKinely. Without Moreno the offense has zero menace. None. We could have gotten a scoreless draw if we'd been lucky, but that's it. On the final score, Pope covered Faria on the left side (and Pope is probably hurting; he was down on the ground and seemed to have a problem with his left knee earlier). Nelsen was beaten by Mathis on the goal. He probably could have been in a better position, and Pope's post-game discussion with Reyes suggested Pope was blaming Reyes and Reyes was vigorously disagreeing. But neither Prideaux nor Reyes were visible on that play. Reyes and Prideaux seem to fall to the ground and be outmuscled by other teams' players all the time. They need to get some upper body strength over the off season. I had great, yet ultimately false, hopes for this game. I want to believe DC can do it (that's what it says on the back of the shirts they gave us as season ticket holders, right?). But it will be a miracle if DC makes the playoffs this year. The only slight chance they have rests on Moreno's ability to carry them, and I simply don't see that happening. I'll go and cheer, but DC is most likely the last-place team in MLS this year. What a bust.
My guess was that since he wasn't doing anything, Ray, in desperation, gave Rocket Roy a chance. What's to lose?
Sure it can, and it will. dc still has to play 450 more minutes of almost scoreless football. 180 more against the same team that walked off winners today. Thank goodness for satellites so the rest of us can enjoy it too.
Alavanja is by no means a quality player, but I thought his effort was there at least. I have no idea what Prideaux was doing, he's just awful and shouldn't see the first eleven under all but the most extreme circumstances. Lassiter was poor, although I didn't think he was off on the close play. Marco obviously was suffering a little bit from the travel as he wasn't at his best. Convey was very poor, he made terrible decisions, showed no real awareness, and even when he did something well like beating his man, he inevitably tried to take someone else on and gave it away. And yes, Richie Williams is supposed to be playing the holding mid role, but I will never agree that he plays it well. Our midfield was much better vs. San Jose when he was where he belongs (sitting next to Ray).
So do you think Hudson should have traded Convey instead of Zaidie? Put differently, would you offer Convey to NY for Zaidie straight up?
as far as I am concerned, Rocket Roy can go take a ride on a Minuteman to Johnson island, what a poor performance AGAIN! This guy hasnt made one decent shot on goal since he came. Bye Bye Roy.