Absolutely nailed it -- that is exactly what's going on. He's a bit better with Jackovic and miles better with Dudar. Put him with Ethan White and last night's defense looks like the Steel Curtain.
It's those microclimates they get in the Bay area. It can be 100 on one side of the stadium and 60 on the other
We need another center back of Dudar's quality, if anything for when Dudar is out. Jakovic is apparently made of sugar, so he's not the answer. When the summer window opens it's time to cut and add with an eye on the defense.
This year's defense is certainly an upgrade over what we had last year, but you're absolutely correct. As it becomes more and more apparent that Boskovic may not have a future with this team, it may make sense to look for a defender for the third DP slot. Having a defender who is a step up from Dudar (who has been a great addition to the team) may be the last piece of the puzzle.
If we drop Bosko, we lose even the pretense of having anyone to take DeRo's place...That's kinda bothersome. Bosko may not be ideal, particularly in that he's not overly defensive-minded, but I don't think we've seen enough of him to say he clicks with this squad. I still think he has a lot to contribute, and I'd hate to lose our DeRo alternate. a realistic Dudar alternate, though, would be nice. Of course, so would a stadium. and a unicorn. And a milllllllion dollars.
Just want to say that as a fan, I'm really glad that Olsen played your top lineup. It made for a very entertaining game. DeRo manages to score pretty much every time he comes to San Jose, so it wasn't a surprise to see him score, but that was a beautiful shot by him. And it was nice to see that DC didn't mail it in after getting down by two goals (twice), they were still going for it. I was very excited to see Deleon play after seeing him on tv several times, but I have to say he was a bit disappointing. He worked hard, but he lost the ball a lot and looked a bit slow in his decision making. But still, he's having a great rookie year and I expect this may have just been an off game for him. And while Santos wasn't as sharp as he's been, he does have a cannon of a shot. Good luck the rest of the way, it would be great to see both DC and SJ continue their success, and get into (and do well) in the playoffs.
Not really worried. The defense was exposed as we suspected they would be in this match. I never expected 9 points from this road trip.
if you would have told me we would score 3 goals before the game, i would have said we would tie at worst. had Cruz not gave them a free corner kick and subsequently own-goaled while DeRo's bycicle shot goes in (or Pontius buries it on the put back) its a 4-4 game. That's a lot of "if's" but it was also very close to happening and things didn't go our way this time
There were a lot of 'almost' moments for us it seemed. We just didn't get any of them. I'm not too chuffed by this loss though. Putting in 3 on this SJ team is great and we knew the defense would be porous with the injury situation.
Dispite giving up 5 goals, Willis had some good moments. He came off his line quite nicely a couple of times.
I was hoping during the Summer transfer window that we trade either DMac or Jakovic and sign another central defender, DP or not. Of course, release Boscovic and sign an attacking midfielder, DP or not, to provide depth for DeRo in midfield. I'm happy the forwards and midfield jelling, I want to see upgrades in the defense.
That does seem to be Olsen's strategy, but I'm not sure that I am a huge fan of it. Particularly with the injuries to the defense, I don't think DC are poised to start a run to the Supporter's Shield. To me, that means that Olsen needs to pick his battles and, while part of me loves Olsen for going into San Jose with guns blazing, the cynical part of thinks that an away game on the west coast, with little rest, against a team that is a on a hot streak but is a non-conference, non-rival may not have been the battle to pick. There's something to be said for extending the winning/not-losing streak, but if the second stringers fail to produce like they did against Montreal, then that's twice DC will have left points on the table against weaker opponents and I don't think DC is the position of strength to afford that. I realize that it worked last time since I'll gladly take the destruction of TFKAM for a draw against Montreal and I always want to see DC go for the win, but that's also one of the reasons that I would make a god-awful coach. You calling him a "sweetie?" ;-)