Fire everybody. Pick the starting 11 out of the supporters' groups and have the BS posters coach via the in match threads.
Something drastic needs to be done. There was no energy tonight, some frustration but no positive energy. I don't even know what to suggest, as it is simply a mess.
Nothing is working. The team is just flat out BAD!!!!!!! THE BAD: Front office is making bad decisions. Offense sucks. Defense sucks. Midfield sucks. No one has any touch with the ball (except Jaimi). It's hard to watch. THE GOOD: They looked like they played hard.
But why are we bad? It's not like we don't have the talent. Namoff, Peralta and Gonzales are good but are not playing well as a defense and I think Wells's lack of communication is the problem there. Our midfield with Fred and Gallardo needs better DM's and a true right mid - Santino was the only one trying out there tonight and playing out of position does not help him. Sure he did not mark Mapp for the goal but shouldn't there be a central defender there? Our forwards are completely cut off from the rest of the team - balls are not making it to them in positions to score and therefore they are tracking back too far and taking themselves out of the potential play. I don't believe the Emilio is bad he is just not getting the service he got last year - Gomez ran at the defense and drew defenders to him freeing up Emilio. Now he is double teamed the whole match. It is frustrating to watch. Keepers on the team: Emilio Moreno Quaranta Fred Gallardo Peralta Martinez Namoff Simms Wouldn't miss: Burch Neill Wells Its time for Wells to sit. James
Wells was one of the few people who played well tonight! He wasn't at fault on either goal and made some good saves.
Well it might be time for the return of the Orange Traffic Cone to make its return. Sohen isnt making the changes needed to win and just doesnt seem to motivate the boys anymore. We need someone who can motivate the team and get the chemistry working again.
Niell and Emilio need some time with the Reserves to build confidence and touch. Both of them were simply awful tonight. Emilio especially, who got the ball in dangerous positions a number of times and then turned away from goal each time. Niell, on the other hand, simply doesn't have it. He's too short, too slow, and has no touch. Having watched every DC game this year, I haven't seen anything out of Niell to suggest that he belongs at this level. His random slide tackles were for the most part worthless, and he played at the target striker position. Why is the 4'11" tall guy playing target striker? Especially when he was listed in the pregame as a winger, if I'm not mistaken. And he had two or three good crosses at the end of the game, so winger seems to be an effective position for him. My boys at FC Dallas have the opposite problem: getting our giant hulk of a forward to play target striker is like pulling teeth.
I agree - Both goals came right up the middle. He had little shot at stopping both goals tonight. He should know a couple of words in Spanish by now to communicate with his D line.
Wow. After watching this evening's pathetic exercise at executing whatever the heck the team was supposed to be working on with the "return to semi-normal scheduling", I am so moved to frustration I just had to return from a long absence to once again point out the obvious. In fact, my disgust is so intense, I'll shield you all from a lot of angst and keep the points simple. Oh, and before getting started, I'd like to point how ironic it seems that after all these years seeing how many facets and players of the league have changed, Terry Vaughan still manages to suck as a ref- and that's eyeing the match from both sides. Here we go... 1) Why has this team once again failed to identify a member of our team willing to put a move on a defender and sucessfully put in either a shot on goal or a decent service? Both flanks are pathetically tepid when gaining possession nearing the 30 yard line- way too few crosses given our time of possession up on their end. Hand in hand with this goes everyone taking more of a responsibility on moving possession upfield- specifically not trying to knock a 50-50 pass 20-30 yards upfield, when there's at least 10-15 yards of space to be taken just dribbling upfield. 2) It's great that Wells can boom his service 65+ yards, but can someone tell him it's not size that matters, but effeciency and effectiveness!! Maybe our slightly taller wings would be a better option than our undersized forwards? And speaking of winning headers, 3) What genius has decided our frontline should consist of 2 forwards under 6 feet? And is it me, or isn't Franco Niell just a shorter, less effective version of Emilio? He seems to be getting abused lately as much as Freddy used to- well, almost anyway. With the personnel in such flux from the past offseason, it's clear the team needs to find something(s) it can do well, and do the work necessary to demonstrate that on a level of excellence in a match. Forget getting a few wins, it would appear at this anxious moment to either remember, or perhaps even better to LEARN how THIS season's team plays best. Vamos United. Vamanos. 'nuff said.
If the league gave a trophy for standing around or lazily jogging, DC United would have it in the bag. Look, this team has no one who runs off the ball except for a 5'4" forward who loses it whenever he is passed to. We pass from one stationary player to another stationary player and wonder why we can't break down defenses. We don't have one player on the team except for Fred that can beat a defender 1 v 1. At least with Olsen and Gomez this team had fire and intensity, now we don't even have that.
My new nickname for Sohen is the "anti motivator". He always talks about lack of passion after losses, but its obvious he doesn't know how to motivate this team. If you can't be motivated to play the team that has knocked you out of the playoffs the last two years and generally hacked your skilled players every chance they get what does it take? If DCU doesn't already have a sports psychologist on the staff its time to get one.
Sirs and Mesdames: A few observations, having just returned from the match... MOTM was Quaranta. He was a stalwart defensive presence and managed his side of the field well. It looked like he was coached to stay at home, which would explain why he did not tear-ass down the wing on a few occasions in possession. He seemed to play within himself, and make a positive impact on the ball offensively, defensively, and with savvy off the ball runs. As for the rest, meh. The other thought that would not escape me throughout the second half: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works ye mighty and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. There it is.
A 3-4-3!?! (or was it a 3-5-2 with Moreno playing attacking midfield!?!) What a disgrace! Seems like nobody wears the DC United uniform with pride anymore... Everyone from Payne to Kasper to Soehn should fear for their jobs right now...
IMO I don't think we are as bad as some of you think we are. We played without Fred or Gallardo and I'm afraid Olsen is gone for good, so that already was a huge disadvantage. Wing play is terrible on both sides, even though its there defending that I find to be horrid. Emilio needs to be benched, Doe is a way better option right now. I was hoping we could tie this game but all is not lost, the season goes on. We need to get some players healthy and start trying to get some wins together.
No no no! This team just needs some time to gel before going on a 13 game winning streak and winning the Supporters Shield again. You guys are all a bunch of chicken littles! Honestly, this team sucks. Again, no team speed, no creativity. Boys and girls, with the squad we have now, we're playing for an 8th seed and a miracle in the playoffs ....... and that's pushing it. At least I have a shiny new DC jersey with our VW sponsor on it!
The good news -- it didn't rain. The bad news -- VW, revokes its sponsorship citing DC's "Lemon Law." At half-time I moved out of 333 to the upper deck for a change of perspective. One of the ushers upstairs said "moving to change your luck?" I said, "yeah, this team's sucked all year, who knows what might work." Observations from the upper deck -- the team is worse than it looks from the lower bowl. Slow, no off the ball movement, no imagination, no drive for goal, no guts. The truly horrid -- Wells -- can't be blamed on the first goal but 'Temo caught him off his line on the second. No communication with the Defense at all. Emilio -- I don't buy this "the league found him out" -- you mean they couldn't figure him out all last year? He stinks this year, why, I don't know why nor do I care. Simms -- nice job marking Mapp on the goal. You look lost and lazy without someone pushing you for playing time. Burch -- no speed and completely clueless on the wing. That's partially not his fault, but either Soehn can't coach (more on that later) or Burch doesn't pay attention. Dyachenko -- good ball skills, not fast enough for this league - period. The mediocre -- Quaranta -- he's not a winger, stop playing him there. Peralta -- barks out order, but no one pays attention, why? Niell -- at least he tries, but put him outside where his lack of height isn't a handicap. The keepers -- Moreno -- the others should be ashamed of the Old Man's effort. Slide tackling in the 80th minute to win a ball. Where were the rest of you? Martinez -- the one unequivocally good signing. Namoff -- steady, always trying If MacFarlane really is taking a look at this team, Soehn is on thin ice. It's one thing to lose, it's another to look bad losing while the owner is spending big bucks. That is a quick ticket to the unemployment line. The immediate fixes. Junk the 3-5-2, it doesn't work. 4 man back line Namoff, Peralta, Martinez and Burch. LEAVE THEM THE 'EFF ALONE UNTIL THEY DEVELOP SOME COMMUNICATION! Wells sits, Carvallo gets a few games, he can't be worse and he speaks Spanish. Midfield is Fred. Gallardo, Simms, Stratford/McTavish/Niell/Kirk. No more Quaranta on the wing. Forwards are Moreno and any one of Doe, Quaranta or Emilio. Keep it simple, stick with the same formation and stop having so many players out of position. If it's not better after another 2-3 games then bye-bye Tommy and calling John Harkes.
I have to say I thought the effort was there tonight, but Chicago was in control of the game from start to finish. It could have been 3 or 4 - 0. This game just reinforces the conclusion that I've been coming to for the last 2 or 3 weeks that we really are not a very talented or deep team relative to the rest of the League. The evidence for that conclusion appears in every area of the team. At the back Zack Wells is really, really struggling. He does not command his box. His lack of positioning was specifically highlighted on ESPNs analysis. He had a couple of good saves tonight but he was also incredibly lucky with a few misses by Fire players. As to the back line its a real mixed bag. I actually think Namoff an Martinez are playing well. However, Paralta is having major breakdowns. For example, on Chicago's first goal, Paralta is not within 20 or 30 yards of Mapp as he takes a shot from 15 yards out at the center of the Goal. Tonight's midfield of Simms, Burch, Quaranta, Dychenko and Moreno is hardly going to strike fear into opposing teams. I will say I thought Moreno played very well tonight, but every time he looked up to make a through pass there was nobody making any kind of diagonal run or move to space to unbalance the defense. Simms, Burch, Dychenko and Quaranta were each trying to out do the other in losing the ball to the Fire. Quaranta for a brief period in the second half started to find some running room but time and again just hit aimless balls in the center after he broke free. There just did not seem to be any kind of organized or coherent attack being initiated out of midfield. Up top Neil and Emilio were terrible. Emilio is so out of form its practically embarrassing. When you think DC, as Goff reported earlier today, has made Emilio its second DP it puts me almost in tears. Neil as I've said before is just not up to play in MLS. I think he is the worst forward signing by DC since 96. He just can deal with the physical requirements of MLS. Having a 5' 3" forward compete with a 6' 4" defender is a joke (And what is it with this team sending high balls over to Neil to contest with Soumare). Yes we were missing Gallardo and Fred but what you saw out on the field is the core of this year's team. At this point I just don't have any confidence this team will contend for the title. And given the money spent by DC to improve the Team, you really have to think there were some very poor decisions made this off season.
Just out of curiousity, why are you asking that? Our forwards were the least of our problems tonight.
I dont think we hae a big problem in the back, i believe it is our midfield that is holding us back. We have no ball winner, we were always second best when it came to winning the second ball, Chicago outplayed us in the middle of the field. Motivation, What motivation? After the second goal went in, all the players, including the captain stood on the field with their hands on there hips. Not one single player was rallying the others, even if your losing, you must keep your head up and keep going. Which we are simply not doing
I was at the game and that was an awful game to watch. It looked like Chicago was playing with at least a one man advantage the whole game. 1. Soehn really bothers me. He's been making excuses for the team all year. Tired, needs time to adjust, injuries... What was he thinking with the subs tonight. Nobody in until the 63rd minute and he took out Quaranta instead of Niel??? Then Stratford!?!?! comes on as our 2nd sub! That guy has shown absolutely zero this season. I also have to wonder why Soehn is using a 3 man back line. It puts a lot of pressure on our outside wings who are A-slow and B-not very good. I think Fred can play the wing in a 352, but that's about it for our team. 2. Moreno is past it. He should have retired last year. 3. Niel is not even worth a tall mocha late at Starbucks. 4. Clyde is very good, but needs to assert himself right now. He keeps playing his role and at this point we need some guys to step up. It's time for him. 5. This team has defensive talent. Fred, Gallardo and Emilio have talent. The rest are role players. 6. The team misses Olsen and Gomez SO much (so do I).