I'm no analyst (I don't even play one on tv), but why is this team playing so poorly? What's the reason? From an ignorant fan's perspective, this is what I see: -No cohesion: Simply, the players are not moving together as a team. No communication on the field; it looks like they're lost out there. -It seems like so many players are playing out of position (i.e., is Tino a mid or a forward? What role does Stewart have? When Hristo comes on, is he playing a position, or do the players just give him the ball because he's Stoichkov?). -Off the ball movement, or lack thereof. United looks to be playing in slow motion, compared to the rest of the league. Everyone is standing around instead of creating space. -It seems to me that Quaranta has lost some focus. His first touch seems to be letting him down. -The draft: I know that many were really happy with the draft, but the picks didn't do much for me. It's too early to judge, but the early indication appears that we drafted players that may make it long-term as opposed to now (I know the draft offers relatively little in terms of impact players, but I think we could have done better). Bottom Line: I don't mean this to be negative. What is the solution? Do we need trades? Do we need to establish a starting 11 and stick with it to develop some cohesion? Is it a formation problem?There is an answer. I just don't know what it is. This team on paper just seems too talented to be playing this poorly. Sorry for the rant.
I think picking a starting 11 and staying with them would help, but even before that the players need to have their roles defined by the coaching staff. we aren't going to find a player in the next few weeks that we can bring in and will save this team. We need to find the players on the roster who are going to get the job done consistently. A real issue is once Ivanov is healthy will he displace Nelsen? I know that people want Nelsen to play as the D-mid but the defense has been solid over all and Nelsen is a big part of that. Moving him out would potentially mess with that unit's effectiveness. I think sitting Etcheverry is in order until he is 100% healthy which may take more than the 2 or 3 weeks he's predicted to be out for the surgery, he shouldn't be rushed back. Overall there needs to be more coaching than the "go on out there, play some pretty football and win" that we're getting now. Some more structure needs to be provided to the players. The question is can this coaching staff provide that type of environment? I'm not sure they can do this and make the hard decisions necessary to transform this team. Having said that I think we're stuck with them for the season because replacements who are available and good is a very small list.
I agree. Hudson put together a pretty good team in Miami; no reason it can't happen here. The one positive so far has been the defense, and the defensive unit's cohesiveness is usually a good indication of good coaching. What is the problem offensively? Is it transition? I do think the players need better defined roles.
The transition to offense from defense is slow, also the numbers that get into the attack aren't what they used to. DC used to go forward quickly and with numbers and we had great flank play in order to get in some decent crosses but it rarely happens. The link from defense to offense is missing. In his prime Williams provided this outlet but no one on DC since he left the first time has filled that void. I also see that the team isn't compact enough going forward. There seems to be a big gap, usually between the defenders and midfielders but sometimes between the midfielders and forwards. when the ball goes forward the forwards are left with not enough support to mount a quality attack. The whole team needs to move up and down the field in a relatively cohesive way so that the shape of the team is kept and they can transition from defense to offense and vice-versa. Except for the Dallas game we haven't been very good at creating chances either. We wait to long to make a pass or are to hesitant to shoot from outside the box when the opportunity is there. Also when we cross the ball it always seems to be from as close to the end line as possible. This team has forgetten about the dangers of the early cross when the defense is still running in the direction of their own goal. Instead we wait until we're near the end line and the defense has more time to square themselves up and clear the ball more effectively. I look at these players and tactically they don't seem much more advanced than a decent college team. There is a lack of good off ball runs and good penetrating passes. Someone said it in another thread that we are afraid to lose possession of the ball so we don't take risks in the attack. We are more prone to play the ball square or back than forward. Lastly just the basics seem to be lacking. The number of completed passes against NY had to be pretty low. It's hard to do much with the ball if you're constantly giving it to the other team. We don't play too many quick 1-touch combinations but constantly take 2,3 or 4 touches to give up the ball which slows down the speed of the attack and allows the defense to regroup. This team used to excel at this. I can remember the ball moving upfield quickly in a series of one-touch passes that was incredible and we have lost that ability for some reason. I don't know what the training sessions are like but you play like you practice (most of the time). Maybe this is where things need to be fixed. I just have a feeling that a couple more game like the NY display and it will immpossible to recover.
My 2 cents: --poor finishing. Every good striker goes through cold spots. At this point, between some players who are raw (Quaranta, Curtis, Quintanilla and Eskandarian) and someone who is a fine goal scorer but not a pure finisher, our finishing has been poor. Even Stoichkov (a fine finisher) has blown his share of chances. --undefined roles. Hudson prefers to have his attackers cover for each other, "go where they ain't" and create. That takes time to develop that (even among veterans). Zizou went to Real Madrid and the first half of the season, the pundits were talking about how he wasn't half the player Figo was, Zidane was a disappointment, disappeared in matches, played tentatively. They don't say any of that now. Young players (Quaranta, et. al) may also need more definition of what is expected of them. --slow transition. It does seem like the team is playing WCQ where every goal is precious so possession of the ball is vital b/c it reduces opposition chances (see the USA in WCQ where an outside back--usually Regis pulled up into midfield and Reyna played like a holding mid). It clogs the middle of the pitch but can make for a very slow transition until your other midfielders learn to anticipate and make smart runs off the ball (that combined with a change of possession lead to devastating counters). --poor deadball plays. There have been a few good ones. But mostly the FKs and CKs have been mediocre. And that's killing a team that has good height in the back and needs a goal in the worst way (even off a restart). --bunkering opponents. Every team we've played (until Metro) has sought to keep numbers back and has attacked usually with great caution. In the case of the Metro, Bradley has shown an ability to adapt his defense to really create problems for opposing sides (look at how Ricardo Clark shut down Martino and Columbus' attack suddenly looked mediocre). And Pope may be playing the best soccer of his career. In short, we've played teams that we weren't likely to score a lot of goals against. Doesn't justify shutouts, only that 1 goal against Chicago was probably all we were going to get. And Metro has shown that any team that gets 1 goal against them has cause for celebration right now. --unselfish Earnie Stewart. On the field, I think he's making runs, defending, fighting for 50-50 balls. What he isn't doing is being selfish and asserting himself and demanding the ball. If we had a team of 10 Stewarts, that would be fine. But in this case, it means that he makes a run and isn't rewarded for it.
They don't seem to have any shape at all and each week they seem to change positions around. Compare this to my local team, SJ Earthquakes, which has far less talent but keeps excellent shape (always has since Yallop got here) and uses the same flawed squad each week and have a 3-0-2 record, tops in the league, despite having 5 starters out all year with injuries. I'd like to see DC turn it around b/c they could be such an exciting team to watch.