I too am a believer that Bobble-head Brown is invisible on the field and needs to be the first to go. He has horrible touch...well no touch really, he doesn't even try to get to the ball.
It must just be me but i would rather have Brown then Eskanderian. Brown has scored 4 goals this year eskanderian 1. They have played about equal min. as well. To me Eskanderian is a hard nosed player who doesn't score goals. But, the problem is you can be a hard nosed player and not score goals if you are a defender or possibly even a midfielder but at foreward you have to put the ball in the back of the net. Aleko hasn't done that yet brown has. I don't like either of them much, but at least brown does score once in a blue moon. Hopefully we can dump Eskanderian next year and pick up some quality striker to pair with Findley.
I was at the game tonight. One think strikes me, something I've always noticed, but was more obvious tonight watching RSL play on grass. RSL's passing lacks commitment. Nearly every time the ball is passed, particularly in the midfield, it is weak, slow, lacking in lead to the moving player, etc. It allows opponents to intercept and to annoy the recipient of the pass. Occasionally, the passes were so weak that DCU players were able to run onto them as if they were passes to the DCU player to begin a breakaway. RSL's offensive 3rd was playing decently, at times creatively. Defense was scary shaky all night. If the game had ended with 5 DCU goals, I wouldn't have been surprised the way the D was playing. The midfield contributed to this, giving DCU free rein to launch the kind of counter attack into open and disorganized defense which DCU loves to play against. Chris Brown made some useful touches early in the first half, and then slowly disappeared. By 10 minutes into the second half I couldn't remember when I'd last seen him touch the ball, but it might well have been in the 10th minute of the game. Kipre was off his game tonight. Findley came in too late, but seemed invisible anyway. The Argies don't like how MLS officials call games. Rimando is a god. Esky was all piss and vinegar, but seemed to lack a team to play with. It was fun to be the only person in my section of the stadium yelling at the top of my voice, GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! when we scored to tie. The honoring of Pope before the game was very very nice. The crowd honored him with a huge ovation. RFK is a stinkhole of a stadium. We had a blast, even with RSL losing.
What was up with the phantom foul on Olsen. I saw him get all pissed when it was called but I didn't see where Mantilla(?) fouled him. Of course that setup the winning goal. Esky, you let us down. I know you try hard, but we need those late goals. We needed the point!
To me Eskanderian is a hard nosed player who doesn't score goals. But, the problem is you can be a hard nosed player and not score goals if you are a defender or possibly even a midfielder but at foreward you have to put the ball in the back of the net. Aleko hasn't done that yet brown has. I don't like either of them much, but at least brown does score once in a blue moon. Hopefully we can dump Eskanderian next year and pick up some quality striker to pair with Findley. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- i totally agree with you... both of them need to be dumped. I feel that even both of them haven't done enough. when did chris brown score ? not recently. This game he should not of started. He was hurt last game and k brown came in and scored. Findley scored last game but alecko also didn't . those two should of started. i haven't seen anything from chris brown. It wouldn't have hurt Real anymore to start two different players.. Forwards are suppose to score and the two we had in don't do it.....
I think that's a symptom of the crap field your boys are USED to playing on. The same weighted pass on the carpet probably goes twice as far twice as fast...DC's passing looks horrible at RSL for the same reason. Almost every ball was overplayed by DC, and the bounces were horrible. It's not a stinkhole, except when RBNY buses their fans down...and then, really, it's more of a stink corner where they're sitting. OK, the physical structure ITSELF is getting craptacular, but you can't complain about the atmosphere on a rescheduled wednesday night match.
Absolutely, I can't complain about the atmosphere. Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles and Norte all provide extraordinary atmosphere and there was a nice sized crowd for a rescheduled Wednesday night match. Not as amazing as this past Sunday's game that we attended, also, but still quite good. I was referring to the stadium. Y'all need a new stadium, or a couple of million put into this one. Still, the lack of end zone seating (except for a corner of the north end), strange curving side seating, etc. and the fact that you can't see the touchlines on either side due to signage, means this is a craptacular facility. At least the grass held up better last night than on Sunday. Sunday, players were falling down as if it were sod, but only falling down in the non-sodded areas. LOL! Last night there was not so much falling down due to divots plowed up under their feet.
What was up with the phantom penalty call in favor of RSL? Remember: not only did Esky choke on the penalty, so did the great Gomez on the other end of the pitch...
It seems like we've witnessed what it will be like without Pope for the past few games. Last time I feel like he made an impact was his goal against LA. (which was awesome)
Oh, there's no denying that...At the very least, though, next year we'll be without the tenants thatt caused MOST of the troubles. Somehow, the end zone seating got "lost." Or possibly sold by Marion Barry for crack money and prostitutes. It's DC, these things happen. I was kinda hoping that after baseball left and before DCU got their own SSS, that we'd get the north bleachers back, but alas... As for the touchlines, they COULD let you see them by narrowing the field, but DC likes having one of the wider fields. It's still not nearly as bad as San Jose. Ugh. You could lose players in the blind spots there. One day we will get our stadium...one day.
We were wondering the same thing. A hypothesis in the United post-match thread makes as much sense as I've seen anywhere else. The ref got confused as to who was the attacking team and who was defending, and it's only when an RSL player stepped up to take the free kick did he realize he called it wrong. This IS a league that allows Noel Kennedy and Abbey Okulaja to call games, of course, so it's no surprise something like THAT could happen. Of course, there were more than a few calls I was baffled by...against both sides.
Okay, so here's a question, how does this game affect RSL (and DCU) in terms of power rankings? (yeah, they're pretty whacked out most of the time, but they are a fun game to play ) Most of the rankings I've seen have RSL #11 or #12, and DCU #1. Keeping the game close (and even dominating for stretches) would seem to favor moving RSL up a bit and DCU down a bit. Especially if the goats (#2 in most rankings) really put a beating on LA tonight and Colorado on Sunday.
I've dislike Chris Brown from the moment he stepped on the field for us. I can't believe he's still on the team. Alecko doesn't bother me, but his track record for goals as a forward is not good. I don't think we should dump him, I just think we need someone better in there. He can be a back up. Findley should start every match. Sure he's got a lot to learn still, but it's a quicker curve learning on the pitch then on the sidelines.
Kreis is making bad coaching decisions(rookie mistakes). Findley on the field for ninty minutes is more of a threat to any team because of his ability to create an opportunity with is speed and pace. It pretty interesting when you have your leading goal score play the last 20 minutes of an important game.
Bite your tongue. If we do end up getting the stadium we want at Poplar Point, it will be in large part thanks to Barry.
Over all I was pleased with what I saw last night (exept for the 6 million set peice chances we could not finish) this team is NOW better than the standings would leed you to belive, also I think Kreis is putting players on the pitch that will not quit playing no matter what,In the past that was a major problem for us. We are still a few players away , but I dont think any MLS teams are happy to see RSL on the pitch.
Garber and the rest of the stormtroopers laid an arsewhooping on the soccer staff at ESPN for last week's power rankings. Thus, the Galaxy move up and RSL moves down. Garber must have reminded ESPN that the Galaxy have Beckam, no surprise there.