He was invisible, providing no offense whatsoever. His defending was equally poor, he didn't seem to know if he should pressure Burciaga high or drop back. Therefore, he was usually in no-man's land providing no support for Erpen, yet allowing Burciaga to move the ball into the attacking half. He was much better replacing Erpen; however, after KC got the 3rd goal at the half, they really started to bunker and after No. 4, MacTavish didn't have to confront much attacking play at all. I do think he would make a good outside back in a 4 man back line.
Yes - he didn't lie to anyone from what I heard. He said NOTHING about a stadium, unlike the previous mayor who promised a stadium and by the way I'm still waiting for that check to come in the mail. He did say somthing about being a big supporter of DC United and that DC United will be in DC "for a long time" or something like that. I found that comment somewhat peculiar. One of the owners blurted out something about having a great stadium built, but frankly, I doubt that check is coming either. Oh, and as far as I could tell, there wasn't a jersey anywhere near the mayor.
Hey guys, I haven't posted here in a while, haven't really had time to read too much lately, either, but after reading the first few pages of this thread, here goes. Our defense sucked wind last night. They were slow, out of position and sliding all over the place. After re-watching the game on tv this morning, KC did exactly the right things to beat us. They bypassed the midfield with quick counters, and have forwards that can fly past any and all of our (slow)defenders at will. I agree with someone's comment about Bobby needing to re-focus; he has seemed to be off of his game so far this season, and I can't help but wonder if all of his extracurricular activities are splitting his focus too much??? Troy needs to go back to the blue jersey, that red one was not working for him last night. Erpen. Wow. Even for him that was bad. I didn't think that our forwards played poorly last night, just that they didn't do too much to "make things happen", and weren't the force that they can be. Christian's blistering goal, definately the highlight of the game. Beautiful. On to the midfield. I am not sure why Brian has become the whipping boy here; You all seem to have players that you will pick on and players that are untouchable. Erpen has been making bad decisions on the field, well, forever, and yet no one has ever called for him to be benched. and the "big name" players can phone in entire games and you let them slide. Why Brian? Surely you don't think he is the one pivotal point to the team's success or failure. Bench him and all will be well. That is actually very flattering to think that he is the one player on the field that can make or break a game. But, hey, I am a little biased Josh looked a little tentative last night, missing the action will do that to you. Devon was ok, but I think that Simms and even Deroux were more effective in that position at making things happen. Fred, not so much, but it's still early in the season and he hasn't had too long to assimilate, so I'll hold my opinion there. Ben was a workhorse; one of the better games that I've seen him play in a while. As for Brian, I won't waste my breath trying to convince you all of anything, simply give you something to think about. One of the reasons that Brian was one of Nowak's favorites is that he does what he's told. To the letter. That is why the team calls him "demo". Peter told him what he wanted, and Brian did it. Has it occurred to any of you that he is doing what Tommy tells him to do? And if the rest of the team is not where they should be, it makes it a lot harder on him to distribute, wouldn't you say? When Ben is in the middle with Brian, he is always the one going forward. He is not going to make it back to help all the time, so Brian is the one to stay home. This is not true when Clyde and Brian are in the middle together - they both take turns going forward and staying back. A lot harder for the other team to cover and work around. I am not bashing Ben, just pointing out an observation. I actually think the best line up I've seen this season was with Ben, Brian and Clyde on the field together, with Clyde and Ben working both the middle and the right side. The 3 of them together, plus Josh are some of the biggest workhorses in MLS. As for the subs (or lack of), all of the players that I would have put in for help last night were sitting behind me, not dressed, so that answers that! As for our new coach, he has a lot of potential with this group of guys. He is definately not Peter - he doesn't strike me as the firecracker, get-everyone-hyped-up, keep people on their toes kind of guy that seemed to work for this team the last 2 years, but that is not the only way to coach. However, if he does not have the player's confidence, and a clear picture of what he wants them to do and how to get them to do it, it is going to be a long season. Last night sucked for so many reasons. Everyone had their boneheaded moments. The conditions didn't exactly lend themselves to perfect passing and positioning - more to slipping and sliding. But hopefully we can put this behind us and move on. Last year we had a great start and a crappy finish to the season. Maybe this year will be the flip side and we'll end up at the home-field advantage championship game. Wouldn't that be awesome Wow, that was long-winded!
Here is the 2007 Season Roster Dance by Position: 1. Jay Nolly [G] for Nick Rimando [G] 2. Shawn Crowe [G] for Ryan McIntosh [G] * 3. Current Open Senior Roster Spot for Brandon Prideaux [D] 4. Bryan Arguez [M] for David Stokes [D] * 5. Fred [M] for Freddy Adu [M] 6. Kasali Yinka Casal [M] for Santino Quaranta [M] {never filled Q1’s roster spot after his trade to LA} 7. Kiki Willis [M] for Domenic Mediate [M] * 8. Luciano Emilio [F] for Alecko Eskandarian [F] 9. Marc Burch [F] for Robert Ssejjemba [F] ** 10. Guy Roland Knepe [F] for Andy Metcalf [F] * 11. Brad North [F] for Matt Nickell [F]* Notes * - in/out involves developmental roster players ** - Ssejjemba was senior roster, Rod Dyachenko was moved from developmental to senior roster this year to take Ssejjemba’s spot, Burch takes open developmental roster spot left by Dyachenko
Ugly. Frankly, I don't see how changing to four backs solves any of the problems this team has. You play four flat in the back and fall down, and you're still going to have problems. On three of the goals, one guy falls and the whole line is beaten. We could certainly go to four backs, and it's not a bad idea ipso facto (except for the fact that we have no left back and don't have four MLS-level dedicated defenders on the roster), but I don't see how it fixes any of our problems unless the players step up and play better. THAT is the critical issue. We're going to continue to suck until the players do something about it. Shades of 2000 indeed.
I disagree. Doing the same thing over and over again when it doesn't work -- and it hasn't worked since the middle of last year -- is evidence of inflexibility/fear/incompetence. In hockey, coaches constantly tinker with lines, combinations and tactics to see what works best and they often make those changes several times in a season. That is flexibility, not desperation. Now if Soehn benched the regulars and started the Reserve team -- that would be desperation -- although the result might not be any different.
Once we go to a four-man backline, several players become options for the outside defender spot that otherwise would be exposed in a three-man backline. Several of the midfield-type players (either on the wing or defensive center) could play outside back.
Another outsiders opinion here - the weather condidtions were equally poor for both sides but i think KC really benefitted from them more. There were a few ties when I think they had some really good chances that were lost to footing but the DC defense seemed to have problems on the goals they did give up. Last week out there you guys were a bit tired, flat and frigid (as were those of us in the stands who werent able to run around but at least had winter clothes on Last night - some weather, quickness and bad bounces beat you. I expect to see DCU at the top of the east after we get into the grind of the season. jeff
I think one of the major issues the supporters have with Brian's play to date is the poor distribution that has led to damaging counter attacks. Surely Soehn isn't telling him to give the ball away. I don't know if it's lack of vision or execution, or whether he's panicking when he gets pressured, but turning over the ball in that part of the field when the entire team is moving forward is dangerous, no matter if we're playing a 3 or 4-man back line.
I think that the main problem this team has is that it's new identity is that of a great scoring team. With this, everyone is pushing forward, as soon as we get the ball, in an effort to get on the scoresheet. The idea that we will outscore teams, not beat them with that midfield-choking 1-0 or 2-1 scoreline, everyone switches to offense way too quickly. Then, with a wet field, a little hesitation on the outlet, everyone is going the other way, poorly. I would say this led to most of the goals we've given up, especially last night. Of course, I could be wrong. We could just suck.
i like the above, though i would like to see fred in the middle somehow. seems like we have a lot of players that fit one role (def mid, center mid/forward) and no players to fill other roles (wing). to maximize what we have, how about a 4-3-3? Olsen -- Boswell---Erpen---Namoff ????------Gomez------Gros Moreno----Fred-----Emilio with ???? being a "take your pick of our many very average midfielders, simms, carroll, mctavish, etc
That was horrid. The whole thing. Our defense looked porous. Our decisionmaking looks weak. A number of players appeared to be ball-watching or out of position. I can't tell you why. I can tell you that it was our home opener. I can tell you that the rain affected both teams, that the ref didn't give up any of our goals, that KC seemed to have options every time they had the ball and we seemed to have one man isolated with no support a lot. This team played well -- well enough to win IMHO -- at Chivas. If CCC is all about finesse and strategy, great. But right now MLS is still a league where games are won and lost as much as anything by commitment, desire, hard play and working together. No excuses. DCU is the class of this league and we damn well better start playing like it.
Good analysis. Facundo Erpen has been the whipping boy around here ever since he has been on the team (and much more so recently, in case you haven't been paying attention). He does make mistakes. Moreno has had two bad games in a row. Ben has been pushing up much more, but most likely because DC United has fallen behind in both MLS games. Boswell has had lackluster in both MLS games thus far, and so has Namoff. Perkins has not made a crucial save in a very very long time. We had had unproven wings thus far, except Gros who played decently last night. But, even you must admit Carroll has been given the ball away much more than he has in the past. And yes, he is not the sole reason the team is losing (in fact, he is probably one of the least to blame for how the team is doing so far).
I am not saying that Brian has not had his share of errant passes, trust me when I say that no one pays more attention to his game than his family! I am only saying that it seems as if the only attention he gets during games is if he does something wrong, i.e. everyone had bad passes in last night's and the previous games, but Brian just seems to catch the crap for it. I think that there is room for improvement from just about everyone that was on the field last night.
Why all the critics.. this is basically the same team as last year except for two positions. Correct? Wow... People get off the bandwagon pretty quick in DC. If the outcome of these past two games was different we would hear all the gush as to how DC is so good. That we have super players. Now the same players are terrible....You can lose like the rest of the teams..
That sucked a ********ing great great sucking. It's really all I can say right now, my anger has taken over any possible coherent thought or observation.
OUR DEFENSE SUCKS! OUR DEFENSE SUCKS! OUR DEFENSE SUCKS! BobbyBowell.com should be shut down so at least he can say he shut something down! He obviously can't close down or stop any attackers the past three games now...
It's the nature of the beast that defenders (or d-mids) are usually only noticed when they make a mistake. Even goalkeepers get kudos for a nice save, but rarely are defenders praised for what is perceived to be just their job. When you think about it, Gomez's blast over the goal of that beautiful setup he got last night cost us a goal just as surely as Brian's giveaway on goal #4, but there has been barely a mention on these boards of that missed opportunity. And Fred had a really bad giveaway directly to Sealy that hasn't been criticized because the defense (somehow) managed to keep it out of the net. Tell Brian to suck it up and put this match behind him. We hope all of the boys will be able to do so, since there were no shining stars last night.
You're right -- you haven't been posting or reading in a while. No one on the team has been criticized as roundly as Erpen since late last season. Multiple simultaneous threads a few weeks ago were ripping into him. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not trying to excuse Erpen's play or criticize Carroll's. But it's simply absurd to wonder why Carroll's being criticized here while Erpen isn't, because that isn't even remotely close to true.