Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm To continue the rant, the loud side AR shit himself on multiple occasions tonight: very early on, Dallas' LB dribbled the ball completely out of bounds, and he never raised the flag. I had as clear a shot at it as the AR, because I have a clear shot down that sideline from the mezzanine. He looked at Hilario for a call, but kept his flag down. Later in the half, Cruz put a cross in the box that was blocked to the ground, by that same LB's arms, which were in front of him. It should have been an instant call for a penalty, but again his flag stayed down. Again, I was looking right down on it, and just about burst a blood vessel when he didn't make the call. There were several other ticky-tack things he didn't call, or called wrong. I seriously hope that was his first match because I would hope that any experienced ref wouldn't shit themselves the way he did. I'm still mad as hell, even though we won. When will MLS get decent refs?
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm I agree that his overall game wasn't quite as great as at least the announcers tonight gave him credit for. They were talking about him as the presumptive MOTM. I'd give it to Cruz and DeLeon, although Santos (2 very good goals and a nice assist) was solid too. But if teams converge on DeRo and open up space for others and they can convert, its fine with me if he doesn't win the MVP again. Don't worry, there will be games when DeRo does better than this too.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm Had a long week -- road trip to Omaha -- wife working late hours as well. We decided to bag the game (full STH) and watch on TV. Before the game started I said, "I hope they make me regret not going tonight." They did. I'm accepting contributions to "persuade" me not to go to any more home games this season if results like tonight's are the norm. DeLeon and Cruz both put Najar and Pontius on the bench for awhile. That is awesome depth on the wings for MLS.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm OK, I just watched the highlights. I was at the game. I didn't realize he had that first shot that hit the post, nor did I realize he was the one who assisted Santos on the header. I wouldn't give him too much credit for the first goal, though. He did good. I do think he is working the ref a bit too much by trying to get the foul calls. I just think DeRo can play much better.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm Cruz has a Gros-like motor and doesn't seem to tire, but he is faster. Is DeLeon better than his father? Was Jacobson a blond when he played here, or is he trying to channel Brek Shea? There was a dude on our bench who looked very, very much like Santino Quaranta - glasses and all - but maybe a bit smaller. Anyone know who that was? I don't think it was Sonny Silooy.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm Perhaps when fit Pontius could be an option up top? Glad to see him get some minutes tonight to keep him moving in that direction. Depending on the matchups he could be useful up there. Or lets just keep rotating players a bit to keep guys fresh. That also works! Would rather have DeLeon as a solid option for 22-25 games over the course of the season than have him hitting the wall after playing a lot of minutes for a rookie.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm I thought Cruz had a phenomenal 2nd half. I kinda didn't remember him being on the field much in the first half and remember thinking around the 50th minute that I hadn't noticed much out of him. It was as if he heard me and decided to change my mind on that. Did he do much in the first half? I'm sure he worked hard on defense, I'm thinking more on the offensive side. This isn't to denigrate his performance overall, more of a general question. I admit I wasn't watching for him particularly in the first half. Another couple players who weren't asked to do a ton, but did their jobs really well tonight, Russell (even got into the attack quite a bit) and Woolard. Props to them. When we can protect them better (i.e. don't have tons of guys coming at them at speed), they can both be good defenders I think. I thought both looked better vs. Vancouver and better still tonight.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm The congratulations to the front 4 is deserved but really it was a team effort. From Willis making crucial saves in the first 15 minutes, to the fullbacks dominating. Solid at CB, Dudar unfortunate giving up a goal that should of been offsides. And of course Kitchen who was huge ... no sign of an Olympic hangover. And finally the luxury of bringing Pontius and Boskovic off the bench just put the nail in the coffin.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm Well. Finally. It looks like the team on paper showed up. If the other 2 DPs get rolling this team can be very good.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm That was nice! For all flack Santos was catching last week, He had a hell of a game. I hope Salihi isn't the new Danny Allsop. I know we won but He need to but those pochers goals away. Thats why he's here. I keep wondering why Pontuis and Boskovic weren't in the starting 11. Both those guys are still coming back from injury. It will take time. I think we are going to have the depth to make it through a long season! Vamos United!
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm I saw DeLeon play in college a couple times and he was eye-catching. It's amazing he has been an impact player right away. The announcers may have been a little overboard after watching him play just one game, but better to draw their attention for good play rather than poor play.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm Can we say that was one of Woolard's best games with us? I think he was decent against Vancouver at home last season as well.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm Salihi may not have any goals yet, but he's had some great opportunities, gets himself into some dangerous positions, and makes some great off-the-ball runs. De Ro and the others seem to be spotting those runs and positioning more and more, and I think if he gets steady game time with them, the goals will come. Santos, for his two goals and assist, was bugging me with his lack of decision-making capability when he wasn't shooting on goal. I thought Ben was going to pull HIM for Pontius at first. I'm not really complaining I was wrong, of course. Yes, the officiating squad was horrid, and generally (but not always) to our detriment, but the boys put it away with au-thor-i-tah. I'd never heard the names before, and I'm OK if I don't hear them again for a long while. Also, props to the loud side as always! I gotta renew my *)(^&#@ BB membership. Stupid needing to repair my car's brakes instead.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm can someone tell santos we don't score headers!!! next thing you know people will score on corner kicks
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm I tied them with rope last game actually and it was still holding Maybe they can use those extra 2.25 from my ticket to replace rope
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm I hope some will remember what is being said about DeLeon was first said about Pontius, then Najar. The league doesn't know DeLeon and doesn't have any scouting. It was pretty clear that Dallas was caught off guard by him. I think better game was by Cruz once he realized that he didn't have to worry about Shea beating DC United. I think this might have come from some good halftime coaching by Olsen by kicking him in the pants. I do see a little bit of Olsen the player in the way Cruz plays. My only question about Santos is, was this his "Charlie Davies" game? Obviously he's now on his way to get the double digit number of goals this team will need from him. But, let's hope he's not Abdul Thompson-Conteh and have one great game and three poor ones all season long. His stats will look good, but the team will suffer. I think last night was the perfect game to illustrate the need for the wings to be strong. I'll repeat what I said in another thread, the wings need to take the pressure off of DeRo. If that happens, then he is a threat and that allows Santos and Salihi to become threats. Once the opponents are forced to cover those three, then the youger wingers have enough talent to strike. The offense should fix itself. It still largely depends on the defense. Willis is really showing me something! As odd as it sounds, if he were to keep playing this well, he'd have to eventually be considered for the National Team player pool! I think we've got a GK competition. Again, looking at DC United history, particularly when they've switch during the regular season, good things happen! I said it about Korb last week, I'll add Woolard to the mix. Given the time and patience, he might become the next under-rated defender this team needs, much like Namoff over all those years. Very little happend down his side of the field all game long.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm The thing that impressed me about Santos (other then the great 1st goal of course) was the number of goal kicks/long free kicks that he was able to win or trap and distribute to oncoming midfielders. If he can really be a consistent threat as a target forward who can win balls then he will make our midfielders and DeRo a LOT more dangerous.
Re: DC United vs FC Dallas Fri 3/30 730pm 50/50 for me. He was getting abused by Brek Shea in the first 30 minutes and losing every physical battle until Shea was switched to the other wing. Woolard did bounce back and have a very effective second half though.
New nickname for Brek Shea: Soccer Cynthia. Notice the resemblance? http://thirdkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Brek-Shea.jpg http://superyo.nuxit.net/Razmoket/perso/autres/divers/cynthia.jpg
It's weirding me out, but I don't have anything negative to say about last night. The crowd was great, the team played really well and I got just the right level of drunk. The first half made me a little nervous, but then the goals started flowing. It was a great debut for DCU on NBC. The only thing that creeped me out was Brek Shea's hair. What the hell is that thing? It looks like a weasel died on his scalp. Willis' performance last night was excellent. It's like he had a string running from his hands to the ball. On another note, though he hasn't scored yet, I'm impressed by Salihi's willingness to shoot the ball. I think his goals are going to start coming.