Anybody got any opinions on the open practice?? For those not there, there was a 45 minute scrimmage starters vs hopefuls. Score ended up 1-1. I thought it was tons of fun I got to sit right up on the railing and watch the scrimmage! Playing offense for the starters was Convey, Diablo, Stoitchkov, Olsen, Stewart. I was absolutely loving watching these seasoned guys play soccer. We've got REAL STAR POWER on our team!! We may be the most exciting team in the league this year
I guess I was at the same practice but what I saw wasn't quite as exciting. Obviously preface this with "in my humble opinion" and I respect completely if others saw it differently. But here's my take: David Stokes had no trouble shutting down Earnie Stewart all game. Make of that what you will. Convey was the only starter to constantly make runs off the ball. The movement off the ball for the starters was noticeably less than for the red or second team. Santino looked flat. Dema K stood out for his incredible use of elbows and fists, and that's about it. There was a black guy - invitee, not sure who he is - who had the sweetest first touch on the field. He played for the reds first half only at around center mid. Reyes was his usual self - mostly that's very good but oh some ugly fouls back in or near the box. Stoichkov was by far the best player on the field and he seems to be reasonably fit. I would have to say that Q2 and Ali Curtis should be considered for the opening slot next to Stoichkov. Marco and Convey had some great passes. Marco could be better this year because it seems like the team ran through him less than last year - how's that for a luke warm endorsement. Ivanov and Nelson did not play. All of this said, it was nice to see everyone and as usual United did a good job welcoming fans and taking care of everyone.
Agree with Dave on everything. This team is very much a work in progress. They better get to work soon though. BTW, Petke promised "something big" when he scores his first goal for us. Sachin
Only a few days after saying that he had to play a four-man back line, the "starters" seemed to be playing a three: Reyes (on the left), Petke, and Namoff. Convey played more in the middle with Etch and Dema, which may be why the redshirts did not double Marco, giving him the chance to make some sweet passes.
Stoitchkov seemed to me clearly the dominant player out there. In the first half, he took a volley on the first bounce and sent a half backward pass all the way across right to the feet of Earnie Stewart. Amazing. He also had quite an animated half time conversation with Bruce Arena.
I was only able to see the second half of action, but, generally, I was pleased with what I saw. Not always the prettiest game, but not bad either. Eskie was faster than I thought he'd be. Woodworth looked decent, and I hope he comes back for a shot next year. Q2 generally showed well. Namoff seemed quite comfortable on defense, and I thought he and Olsen could be a good pairing on the right. And what was Olsen's problem late in the game?! He flattens Curtis from behind deep in the corner, and then acts pissed that Ali would dare call a foul. I love the guy as a player, but that *************** has no place on the field, particularly with your own team. And to give due credit, Ali made a nice assist to give the Reds the last goal. I'd agree that Stokes shut Stewart down handily, but, from what I saw, that was because he stepped in to intercept predictable, long passes from midfield. Who was the tall, curly-haired guy playing up front for the starters? The Russian? Late in the game he had one half-decent shot on goal, and he misfed Olsen several times on the wing.
This was the lineup that I saw at the practice today. Maybe someone can help fill in some of the gaps. Black ----- GK - ? Def - Petke, Reyes, Namoff MF - Olsen, Kovalenko, Convey, Etcheverry, Stoitchkov, Quaranta F - Stewart Red ---- GK - ? Def - ?, Stokes, ? MF - ?, ?, Alegria, Quintanilla, Barclay F - Curtis, Eskandarian Black 3-2 Red Goals: ? (I can't rememember the first goal), Stoitchkov, Olsen; Curtis, Eskandarian
I agree. It was fun to watch the open practice and meet some of the posters on BigSoccer. I hope DC United does this every year.
It makes one wonder about the team when Stoitchkov, the oldest player, is the most impressive player. If he weren't so fragile I'd be more optimistic. Two others who surprised me were Curtis and Q2. Curtis was having his way with Petke, who seems to have problems with anyone having some speed. Q2 was doing well throughout the scrimmage in a central midfield postion for the second team. Aside from those three, everyone else seemed to be average or below average in effectiveness. For all the Etcheverry bashers, me included, he showed some running today, a bit more than token defense, quicker decision making and passing, but the completed passes were 30-40 percent at best. My impression was that he seemed to play either as a withdrawn forward and later more of a h-mid position back with Kovalenko. I was surprised to see Q1 playing most of the time as a left-mid (Convey's spot) and having a good battle with Barclay who played him to standstill. The back three of Namoff, Petke and Reyes were getting beaten regularly in the first 40 minutes with long through ball. Some of them may have been offside but it was still a concern. Namoff seemed to be having the least amount of trouble. Convey was very active in the center but his give and go passes were not clicking and Stewart got few chances because most of the passes to him were cut out by the second team defense. The first team midfield was not too impressive with their passing. It was nice to see the team again but as others have said they have a long way to go before the season begins.
What I learned from the open practice. -Ryan Nelson is my new favorite player. -Thanks to everyone in La Norte for showing me the ropes. -Petke is still a wanker, but we love him. -Thank you to John Swann (I think that was him) for giving me his shirt when no one else would. -Alecko has big time hops for a man of his stature. -That drum is loud as crap.
Black GK - Warren 1st half, Geddes 2nd half Red GK - Bohenick both halves D - McDonald (American Univ) and Brian Carroll M - Bernard (local invitee?), David Hayes (Richmond Kickers) Good meeting a bunch of you and being able to put (screen)names to faces today.
It was hard to gauge how many people from the three different supporters groups were there for the sole reason that they were all together in the Northwest corner of the stadium. Good turn out by the way, I thought there were a few hundred people.
No kidding. We were wondering who he was. When he took a corner, we asked him "What's your name?" and he was shocked. Sachin
No idea. Maybe David Hayes. Great to see everyone and meet a fair number of you folks for the first time. Sachin
our midfield was absolutely nasty today. stewart actually made several nice runs (he also set up either the third or maybe second goal with a beautiful trap of an akward ball, a nice turn and a nice little pass. during the first half he made good runs to the middle but the service was nasty--telegraphed square balls that had no chance or balls simply too far. we also danced around the top of the box too much and played square balls. there was a play toward the end of the scrimmage where tino made a nice run from the right and ben overlapped, and then tino sends a straight ball--all he needed was a nice angled ball, where his man has space to pick it up, instead he pushes the ball to the end line--sloppy, sloppy and no vision at all. how are we gonna be defenses with football that predictable. we continue to move the ball too slowly through the midfield. it is one thing to do a "slow build up" by swinging the ball up the field, it is quite another to play slow and casual the way we did, we were so slow to move the ball, the 2nd team just sat back and picked up balls. reyes was pushed back most of the scrimmage, i only recall one run, during the first period, he made up into dangerous space. petke also didn't look too go to me, q2 turned him beautifully on play early in the first half, spun him 360, but then of course blew the ball over the bar. i would have liked to see that new college boy play further forward, he is pretty small and didn't get a lot of touches withdrawn. he had a nice chance at the end on a scramble. olsen was working several guys, quite frankly i enjoyed seeing him lay his body on guys and play at that high level of intensity. i thought several guys were a bit more laid back than i appreciated. there was no beer sold, that sucked. i had to leave early from the tailgate, but it looked like it was gonna be fun.