While DC United ran a virtual training session against what appeared to be traffic cones dressed in Galaxy colors for the first half, there were a few moments that should give us serious pause: 4:45 min. mark Herzog? launches a ball over the top to Ruiz that seems to catch Petke? by surprise and is thus slow to react to the run. Only because the original ball is overhit, do we escape a clear one v. one opportunity very early in the match for the Galaxy. Having Nelson half-heartedly raise his hands for an off-sides call was a little disquieting to say the least since this seemed to expose a serious deficiency in our three man backline... our lack of pace. In theory, we should be able to counterbalance this weakness with anticipation and communication between Nelson, Petke and Namoff. Yet in this instance we were completely relying on Rimando to recognize the threat and come off his line in time. 13:15 min. mark Ball is again played over the top while Kirovski leaves Carroll? in his wake. Kirovski gets to the endline and manages to get a cross to a completely unmarked Ruiz as Petke? is caught ballwatching and allows the most dangerous threat on the field a good four yards of space in the box! Only a poor effort to control the ball by the little Fish and a desperate poke by Petke prevents a point blank shot on goal. 34:30 min. mark Free kick outside the box which resulted from the referee correctly playing advantage from Namoff's attempts to corral Herzog allowing Nelson to step in and dispossess. Numerous mentions have been made about Rimando's peculiar lethargic inability to deal with crosses during this match. How this ball ended up bouncing untouched in the 6yd box before heading out of bounds is certainly a major concern! But what also struck me was how free and clear Victorine's run to the near post was. Where was the marking??? It was certainly an unwelcome preview of coming attractions. 44:15 min. mark Herzog corner that many have already noted brought Rimando's egregious and sadly comical whiff that yet again allowed the ball to bounce invitingly in the 6yd box. What was just as unnerving to me was Petke? wandering around aimlessly while allowing Victorine yet again an unmarked run during a set piece. The fact that Sasha was caught seemingly by surprise by Rimando's theatrical blunder and couldn't put his header on target does not negate the fact that with proper service who knows what might have happened. Why is any of this relevant? Well, as enamored as I am with Nowak's infusing the team with confidence and organization, etc. Here was the team putting its most dominating half together in recent memory, yet there were clear lapses at the back and on set plays. It seemed to strike a jarring discordant note to say the least as we could easily have left the field at halftime down a goal. My concern is that as other teams catch up in terms of their fitness levels and organization (neither of which Sigi seemed capable of infusing in his side for this match) how will Nowak manage ways to counter these glitches. The addition of Adu and the departure of Nelson only magnified our defensive frailities in the second half and it will be interesting to see if they reappear in successive matches. So, in the spirit of the new board. I start this thread for folks to comment on specific concerns, match observations, etc related to DC United's defensive efforts, organization and options. I do not intend this to be a "Pick on Petke", "Rimando should be Replaced" or "Nowak is a better tactician than Arena, Rongen, Hudson, etc." type of discussion, but that is for the moderators to determine. I just want to thank them for working to create a forum for such discussions On a completely unrelated side note: I do not know which is more annoying, the Fox Sports World broadcasting team continually mis-identifying players on the field while babbling incessantly on about completely irrelevant non-match related items... or the MLSNET match tracker being unreliable e.g. "-45th Minute.DC GK WARREN misplayed corner kick, leaving ball to bounce in the goal box, but VCITORINE's header just went wide." It makes it much more difficult for the non-fanatic to figure out who is to be held accountable for defensive lapses. So if I make any mistakes in attributing errors to the innocent, my apologies in advance!
Re: The Defense Never Rests - Game 2 Good, thoughtful post. You mention some points that are disquieting to me as well. Some additional thoughts. 1) We are S-L-O-W in the back, and are thus vulnerable to diagonal balls played behind the 'up' man from the back line. We have escaped serious consequences so far only because our midfield has exhibited a truly mind-boggling (but most welcome) workrate. Coaches like Bradley and Sarachan are not fools (unlike El Galaxian Gordo) and will surely have seen how to exploit this weakness. 2) Since the Bruce left we have neglected to defend our posts. Whether this is lack of organization or some advanced defensive scheme with which I am unfamiliar, I cannot say. All I know is that we have surrendered an inordinate number of goals because we have left opposing players unmarked in positions that sixth-grade coaches would recognize as dangerous. As the quality of finishing in MLS improves, this will be increasingly exploited. (OK, I'll grant that the LA game was not a poster child for MLS finishing skill, but I think the point remains valid.) I hope that Nowak has concentrated his early efforts on elevating the play of the midfield (and thus of the forwards) and will address defensive concerns next. 3) Our back line has the least depth of all the units. We seem to have an embarrassment of riches of forwards and midfielders who, under the new system, appear to be almost interchangeable, but we are thin in the back. Other than Stokes and Prideaux, who is waiting in the wings? I know Olsen, Gros, even Convey, etc. could fill in, but those strike me as Band-Aid (TM) solutions. OK, just so it isn't all doom and gloom, I like the way we play our way out of the defensive third. We are pretty composed and aware of options. Nothing screams "ENGLISH SECOND DIVISION" more than lumbering defenders hoofing the ball upfield so I'm glad we've grown beyond that. We had a pretty decent defence last year, but suffered from near-total impotence up top. We have a newly energized team, so let's hope we can maintain our shape and composure in future matches.