Official Kansas Wizards @ DC United POST Match Thread [R]

I don't have words, other than "I hate Sasha Victorine"

 

Kansas City has been responsible for the most negative soccer in this league since its beginning. i hope they get moved.

 

It's a shame, because I don't think D.C. deserved the loss. They played well enough to earn the 3 points....just couldn't finish their chances.

 

If we finish fifth at the end of the year, this is the one we'll look back on. Pathetic result at RFK, if we can't beat any decent teams on the road we damn well better beat the mediocre ones at home

 

Well, Adu was a bright spot. He had some great plays and was responsible for most of our offense. Too bad he matched his brilliant plays with equally bone-headed giveaways.

Oh well, there's always next week.

 

I know it's the DC forum, and I know people are upset with the loss, and I'm not trying to troll, but...

If you think they played negative soccer today in a first half that was up and down non-stop, then you probably think OJ was innocent, too.

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Congrats on a well-played, high quality game guys. Nothing either team should be ashamed of today. One more meeting (and probably more) to go.

 

Boswell: another mistake, another goal given away. He's had some struggles in the last two games United has lost (KC and Chicago), is he hitting the rookie wall? But the goal wasn't all his fault...

Carroll: Wow. Had some really nice plays, but he virtually handed the ball off to Sasha for a 1 v. 1 situation.

What the hell happened to the energy from the first half?

Why does Kuffour hang back on the top of the defense to receive passes? Can't Boswell and Stokes and Wilson pass more than four yards in front of them?

Gomez was clearly a step off during the second half, and it really cost the team when Adu made the great run down the end line and gave him a nice ball on the ground to finish.

A rough game to lose, consider United had the lion's share of chances and better play overall. Real tough time to not have any of Olsen, Moreno, Eskandarian, or Quaranta.

 

Adu should've come off, not Simms. Adu played great but moving Adu around and playing w/ Nana deeper than Adu and no striker isn't going to work. Adu + Gomez = Way Too Unselfish around the box..

Leave Walker in, bring Kuffour in for Carroll. Its all too frustrating.

 

Kansas City was practically trying to hand the game to DC as well late in the second half when there was a series of plays in which they threw the ball directly into an unmarked DC player once (I don't know how that happens at u-11 but MLS?) and then proceeded to get the ball back two times, but after each of those interceptions they passed straight back to DC players around 35 yards from goal.

 

I'll still vote for Colorado in that category.

 

Was Gomez hurt at the end of the first half? He looked for about one minute like he could barely move but then made a sprint down the field.

Freddy played well but I think he should have tried to take that defender one on one more often. Everytime Freddy dribbled by him, the guy was just trying to contain him and not get beat. I loved that play where Freddy took the ball from Roberts in the corner when KC was trying to waste time.

I know the goal that Victorine scored was well placed but I think it was saveable. Rimando had a late reaction and looked a little too far off his line.

 

Beautiful goal by Victorine. He was the only one on the field today who wanted to score and knew how. I think DCU players need to work on creating space for themselves in front of goal to get a shot off. Also, we tried to cross the ball in too much today. We needed more players to step up, beat defenders on the dribble, and have a shot on goal or find an open teammate. Having said that, we were a bit unlucky to lose. We had the majority of play, and numerous chances to score. C'est la vie.

 

Ouch. A winnable game but too many squandered chances. I was none too impressed with Walker. The distance between Moreno, Eskandarian, and Quaranta is immense. He's fast but was not remotely close to being on the same page with team mates and seemed to lack confidence in the final third.

Gomez did look like he was hurt. He squatted a while on the field, which made me think it might be a groin problem. Christian largely disappeared in the second half, though he did have a header which was one of the few times DC tested Oshonyi. Kansas City was so unentertaining. The second half they tried dumping the ball over the back line all day long. The goal was totally against the run of play. Ugh.

 

Just ugly.

For the benefit of the KC trolls (and if you come in here claiming you guys don't play negatively, then YES, you are trolling), KC played a little more open in the first half than the second, but really couldn't put much of any kind of quality together. This was the perfect KC road game--tight, compact, no glaring mistakes at the back, make the other team beat you, and pinch one on the counter. Done and dusted, perfectly executed.

If DC had been able to attack with any potency, or if Fred had a right peg to shoot with, the story might have been different. As soon as I heard that Jaime had gone down, I knew the best we could hope for was to pinch one and hold the ball. This game was going to be 1-0 or a scoreless draw. The only question was who would score. Victorine hit us with a classy finish on the break, and that was it.

 

Ugh. Championship teams don't lose to Kansas at home.

 

I agree. Walker, at least, was staying up high. When you are trying to come back from a deficit, replace a defender with a forward, don't just exchange forwards. (Besides, Carroll woudn't have been able to gift the ball to Sasha if he had been on the bench.)

 

Thoughts:

-Losing to Kansas sucks

-If you ever had any doubts about who is the MVP of this team, who is the engine that makes it go, I think we learned tonight by observing this team in his absence. Here's a hint - he wears #99 and several thousand DCU fans will remember his foot in their prayers tonight.

-In about the 85th minute, Freddy hustled back into the corner and along with someone else (Wilson?) won the ball, then made a nifty little spin move to get free. The crowd roared, and Freddy promptly passed the ball to an unmarked KC player in the attacking third. It prompted perhaps the most insightful comment I've ever heard from Eric Wynalda, who said, "Freddy has a tendancy to do this - he makes a good play, he hears the crowd cheer, and then he does something boneheaded". From the mouth of Wynalda, wisdom...

-I'm starting to have doubts about Nowak. Why? Because I saw Nana Kouffor play today, and I can't figure out how you have a kid with that much talent and leave him sitting on your bench. Nana should start, period.

-Whoever made the "United with London" banner, that was class. I just got home from being in London, and was caught up in all the turmoil on the 7th. I'm proud to be associated with a bunch of folks who, in addition to being passionate soccer fans, make it a point to make a statement like that.

 

i missed most of the first half, then most of the second before turning on with about 5 mintues left. What were the subs? i see that nana, stokes and nickell came on, but who came off? i figure prideaux, but couldnt figure out who else was missing....

 

Nana for Walker; Nickell for Simms, and Stokes for Prideaux (I think).

 

This outcome was a Bob Gansler wet dream..

Defend in numbers (what open attacking was that KC fan talking about?), take advantage of a dreadful blunder from Carroll, go home with 3 points.

Ugh..

The final ball today was severely lacking. The best opportunity of the match came on that solo effort by Adu (which would have sealed goal of the year) who admittedly said after the game that he was intending to go far post all along but he said that final touch on the cut back move didn't get far enough in front of him to go far post.

Our other best effort was almost another own goal as well as Boswell's header cleared off the line.

I can't figure out for the life of me why Brian Carroll wasn't subbed out while Simms was.

We simply get shut out too many times. We have 7 shutouts this season already. That is embarrassing.

 

Was at the game - some random thoughts.

DCU had the run of play, but couldn't finish. This was a very winnable game against a not very good team.

Forwards: Jamil Walker, please take your place on the bench and don't move until the end of the season. Thank you for your participation. Has Jason Thompson molested Nowak's kids? How he can be behind Walker and still draw a paycheck in this league is beyond me. With Moreno, Esky and Tino out, the forward line isn't thin -- it's invisible.

Midfielders: Brian Carroll, when Olsen comes back from the Gold Cup, you will sit on the bench behind Guppy, Nickell, Van Sicklen and the ghost of Chino Alegria. One of the first cuts at the end of the season. He should get an assist on Victorine's goal. Dema, nice guy, you're the next to go. You do nothing to separate yourself from the pack of players and at 165K/year, that's simply not enough. I agree with the others that Gomez was nicked, he squatted down and didn't move much right at the end of the first half, still he was the most dangerous player DCU had on the field. For those Guppy bashers -- wouldn't it be nice if a DCU midfielder other than Gomez and Adu knew how to make an accurate cross? I can't wait for him to get back and work with Wilson on the left side. Dema can then take a nice rest on the bench.

Defense: For a three man back line using a reserve from '04 (Prideaux), a rookie (Boswell) and an A-League refugee (Wilson), they're pretty damn good. I hope Namoff recovers and the mythical mystical Argie adds some value. Defense is not the biggest problem for this team.

Goal: Rimando was great, he can't be blamed on the Victorine goal, he saved the bacon a number of times before that. Oh, Bo sucks.

 

without Moreno, Esky, and Quaranta where exactly was a goal to come from?

Adu showed again that he has a lot to learn. Some extraordinary moves and some bone headed give aways. But the real verdict is that, for the most part, he passed when he should have shot and he shot when he should have passed.

God, I hate Sasha fvcking Victorine!

 

Enjoy your fantasy tonight and make sure to the clean the sheets in the morning. Oh, yeah, KC will be moved to a place TBD (Cucamonga?) by the end of the year.

 

It's all my fault. I haven't seen a win yet this year; 2 ties and 2 losses.

FYI, I'm going next Friday, so you might as well stay home.