Who: D.C. United vs. RSL Where: Robert F Kennedy Memorial Stadium When: 7:30 EST, Saturday, 24 September 2011. And now for something completely different... [LINEUP-4-3-3]Quaranta, Davis, Wolff, Simms, DeRosario, Kitchen, Woolard, Jakovic, White, Korb, Hamid[/LINEUP-4-3-3]
Re: Pre-Game DC United So, maybe in a 4-2-1-2-1, rather than a straight up 4-3-3? I think I'd rather start Quaranta/Brettschneider/Najar in that lineup...or is Najar out for Saturday?
Re: Pre-Game DC United FEED DA' BEAST! I expect the team to probably be more active than in any previous game this season! But, that will only last about 60 minutes. The question will be, can DCUnited score a couple and have enough energy (and concentration!) to hold off RSL's consistent, controlled offensive pressure? Need some magic from one player, whoever it might be! Someone needs to win this game because I don't think the team can do it, if that makes sense.
Re: Pre-Game DC United Due to the draw against Chivas, this is almost a must-win game. After this, DCU has three straight on the road against PU, Columbus, and Vancouver. With 4-5 points the goal during the road stretch, this game is crucial for keeping pace with the top of the conference. DCU still has two games in hand on most of the conference despite inconsistency and a win would be a great start for two potential 6 point swings next week(PU Thursday, Columbus Sunday). Destiny is still in DCU's hand........for now .
Re: Pre-Game DC United Unless the defense collectively "grows a pair" and the offense learns to (at least) pass to their own teammates, I don't see United getting points from RSL, PU, or Columbus. United might actually earn a point or three from Vancouver, but I won't hold my breath on that one, either.
Re: Pre-Game DC United I see a "sense of complacency" and a "sense of entitlement" by some players, hence I think Ben Olsen needs to shake things up a bit. Najar's "dribbling himself into dispossession" time after time, considering how many players were waiting in the box, is a big sin in my book. McDonald is overrated. i do think Brettschneider should be getting some playing time. But most importantly Najar, McDonald and King need to get acquainted with the bench. Simms and Kitchen should plug up the middle leaving the offensive players plenty of space to work their stuff. We need to see more hustle and hard work, and most importantly, hold people accountable. The 2 goal lead "evaporation" was a disgrace and unacceptable.
I think it's a bit late in the season to tweak formations especially with so many young guys. The time to try new formations was back in June when we were also playing like crap. Or in a couple of weeks if we fall out of the playoff race. My ideal would be : -------------------------------Hamid Korb -------------Jakovic-------------McDonald-----------Burch ------------------------------Kitchen Najar----------------------------------------------------DaLuz ----------------------------Quaranta -------------------DeRo--------------Davies
* My line up for saturday: ___________Hamid_________ kitchen - White (jakovic)- Mcd- Burch Q. - simms- DeRo( attacking)- da luz Najar. - Wolff * najar up top like olsen did with pontius. Davies comes in with around 25-30 mins. Left and run himself to the ground by chasing balls and fighting till the end, he may not score and get to do his little dance, but now the dirty work is what matters. That tie to chivas just mabey what the "boys" need to wake the F*** Up!! We will see starting on saturday; Vamos United !!!!
Are times so tough around here that we have to label most pre-game threads with lame nicknames? Real Salt Lick? Really?
Uh, we've always done that, at least since I joined and even when times weren't so tough. We used to use "Fake Salt Lake," "Cowlumbus" or "Cumblowus", "Crapids," etc. in the thread names. Did you like those better?
Yep, DeRo up top is a recipe for losing - at least until we find someone else who can actual possess the ball in midfield for us. Either Najar or Quaranta should be able to do it, but neither has actually shown that tendency.
The team's site lets you predict the line up too. http://www.dcunited.com/matchday/my-starting-eleven
You get the feeling after seeing Ben's post-match video (see team's site) that he's feeling what many of us felt. I am anxious to see how much better the overall effort becomes with his observations, as well as hopefully seeing Jakovic return to help solidify the back 4. I fervently hope we don't ever see a repeat of the aimless turns of repelling the opponent's attack without first having identified a reasonable outlet or 2 to aim for. [LINEUP-4-3-3]Wolff, DeRosario, Davies, Quaranta, Simms, Najar, Burch, McDonald, Jakovic, Kitchen, Hamid[/LINEUP-4-3-3] Preferred subs- Brettschneider or Barklage for either Wolff or Davies, daLuz for either Q or Najar, King for Simms, Woolard for Burch, Korb for Kitchen, White for either McD or Jakovic. A note on subs- we're playing a home match. There's 3 scenarios to consider. You're behind, tied, or ahead. I don't want to see offense taken off for defense with a 1 goal lead AT HOME, nor do I ever want to see it tied or behind. In fact, given the way this team's topsy-turvy performances have gone, I'd only want to see it up 3 goals late in the second half. That being said, let's keep the subs inserted into their respective roles, no more square pegs fitted into round holes. DeRo is best for us as an Agressive Midfielder. Kitchen may become our dmid, but for now experience this season better suits him and us with him out wide in the back. And yes, by all means, if we're needing offense up top, give Brettschneider a sniff of the pitch, please. I'd also like to see us have some idea of how to regularly keep the back half connected to the front half in terms of possession. We looked out of ideas early vs. Chivas, and that game quickly got ugly. The last season we won the league Cup, it was routine to see Earnie Stewart get the ball just inside the opponents half before the offensive runs would click. Whoever it needs to be, we need someone to consistently be that guy-willing to show for the ball. If that guy gets shut down, then - and this is key, space needs to be found for the next guy. Not just add numbers to the last guys space, but rather- doing what it takes to make it easy to find the outlet is key. Funny, you can see that it almost always comes down to moving vs. ball watching to improve. I am confident Ben saw this and the boys will get it done in time for Saturday night. But a good part of that could come just from getting the overlapping flank play going. Let's see more cooperation up each side between those players top to bottom, and maybe a little less dependent on Simms and DeRo. Like the idea of harrassing their flanks and opening up the middle for a motivated DeRo? Vamos United. Vamanos!
[LINEUP-4-5-1]Davies, Quaranta, Najar, Simms, DeRosario, Kitchen, Woolard, White, McDonald, Korb, Hamid [/LINEUP-4-5-1] I'm brilliant, don't deny it.
This is the perfect formation IMO when we have the lead. Slide Kitchen into midfield to help Simms out. We need a little extra bite in midfield, otherwise Simms just gets outnumbered and overrun. De Ro isn't exactly ideal in dropping back to help Simms in those situations. And the King sub of doom doesn't do anything to bolster our midfield's defense either. My only concern with this lineup is Quaranta as a left mid/left wing. He gives us no width on that side. At that point I'd rather have Da Luz out there.
MLS Preview: REFEREE: Edvin Jurisevic. SAR (bench): Chris Strickland; JAR (opposite): Adam Garner; 4th: Andrew Chapin MLS Career: 37 games; FC/gm: 21.9; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 4; pens: 5 INJURY REPORT: D.C. UNITED — OUT: MF Branko Boskovic (L ACL tear); MF Chris Pontius (R tibia fracture); DF Jed Zayner (L knee sprain); QUESTIONABLE: GK Steve Cronin (R shoulder strain); DF Dejan Jakovic (R hamstring strain); MF Santino Quaranta (L quadriceps spasm); PROBABLE: GK Bill Hamid (R hamstring strain) ... REAL SALT LAKE — OUT: MF Nelson González (R foot fracture); MF Javier Morales (L ankle fracture dislocation); GK Kyle Reynish (R ankle sprain); DF Tony Beltran (L groin adductor tear); DOUBTFUL: FW Chris Agorsor (R hand fracture); QUESTIONABLE: DF Chris Wingert (L wrist fracture); PROBABLE: FW ¡lvaro Sabor"o (R knee effusion) INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none SUSPENDED: none WARNINGS: SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: DC: Austin da Luz, Brandon McDonald SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DC: Charlie Davies, Dwayne De Rosario, Ethan White ... RSL: Jean Alexandre, Fabian Espindola, Robbie Russell, Chris Wingert Thx, Jay!