Convey really came on in the last 10-15 minutes of the game. He was showing his maturity both in his runs and his level-headed possesion. I am sorry his dreams are on pause, but he can help us greatly in the coming months. james
Fire Hudson... Amazing what getting healthy players back into the team will do.. Great game tonight and great atmosphere as well.. The place nearly exploded when Earnie finally scored for us, and that on the heels of Onstad making 3 ridiculous reflex saves on sure goals.. If Earnie would have been denied on that goal, I was getting up and walking out.. I didn't stick around for the press conference this time (wanted to get home to watch the LA/Chi match) but I would have definitely asked why Namoff didn't make an appearance for either Olsen or Quintanilla as both appeared to be gassed by the end of the game.. Oh well... I think I've seen something these past two matches that bears bringing up.. Although it may seem as if we have bunkered in the second half of both recent matches, to me it looks as if they are just absorbing the pressure and looking to counter, usually a strategy that is played against us in the past.. I think this strategy is really working well in that we don't seem to give up a lot of dangerous scoring opportunities as this defense learns to play together.. I thought Convey looked very good in spots tonight, especially on counter attacks though his decision making on a few plays looked at bit rusty.. In all honesty, despite giving up the lions share of posession in the middle part of the match, we had the more dangerous scoring opportunities overall.. On to LA and hopefully we can steal some points and keep on a roll and pressure the Mutts....
I had no idea Mike got carded. Good for him. Etch has really come into his own since Hristo stopped playing. Say what you will about that. Benny and Eliseo both have faults, but both have some nads. That's huge on the wings. Our defense was a *@#*@#*@#*@#ing rock tonight. Landon disappeared. They miss Ching horribly and DeRo isn't healthy enough yet to fill that gap. Don't fire Ray. Fire rask. He's the root of this back pass, lateral pass defensive system when you are filled with players who want to run at people. Thank God we're getting to play the ball we're capable of. Almost woke the kid on Bennie's goal.
Agreed, a great game. Everyone played well, even Etch. (very difficult to admit) Aside from the game itself, apparently the League forgot to send the dress code memo to SJ. Yallop and Kinnear were in sweat pants and sneakers, whats with that? Ray looked better today and Stoitchkov was down right dapper in his suit. Good crowd that included a large number of kids, including a bunch of screaming girls. They need to be banned along with the horns and bangers. As others have pointed out Ray needed to sub for Q2 and Olsen, they had given all they had. Now on to LA. Hope DCU can continue to contain the diving duo and get another win.
I don't know about anyone else, but Prideaux really, really, really impressed me. He's just so composed. He should seriously be considered for the USA. The only weak link in the team (sort of) is Ivanov. I just think Namoff is a better option right now.
Just got back from the Post game Barra Tailgate. Whoa...feeling a little woozy, but had a great time. Great Drum circle at halftime and thru out the game. I guess I'll have to wait and see the tape tomorrow, but from where I sat it looked like Cheyo Quintanilla And Marco both had good games. The defense was rock solid. I hope Ray plays Marco at a 40-50 minute clip from here on out. He can do some serious damage...... Marco...MOTM nice firework show after the game
DC: Stewart 1 (Cerritos 2, Quintanilla 7), 9th min. TAKE THAT SORMUN!!! Ed dixit!!! (Sorry, couldn't resist. All in fun.) Great win for DC tonight. Forget about the fact New England and Columbus won so we still have the same cushion we had before. These were a huge 3 points in that they were 3 points Columbus and New England surely did not expect us to claim. That's important. And now, just 1 point behind that team from the north. 1 little stinkin' point. ECM PS: In a somewhat related score: DC United 2 Notre Dame football 0 mahgnilliW eriF!!!!
From the crashing waves of Buxton to RFK in one day. It was worth every f****** mile! Way to cap off my vacation. The United I know and love has returned! I wasn't aware I had such a hot daughter R&B I had a nice cache of missles tonight thanks to NC. Great to see everyone.
I don't know about a yellow, but he should have gotten 3 points for the take-down! How could Stott ignore that? It was right in front of him! From my vantage point in 309, it appeared that Walker & one other (Roner?) SJ player were way offside on their goal, but the flag stayed down for some reason. I wanted to hear from someone who saw the play on TV, because I'm not exactly the most objective person in the world when it comes to DCU. Thanks Skip, for confirming.
Heading to HDC on 11/23 What a game, this team is looking strong and getting better. Darkhorse to get back to the Cup? Hardly. We have as good a chance as anyone in the East, maybe better. Looks like we not only got Cerritos in the Curtis deal but the other half of Earnie's game as well. I had forgotten what a forward tandem looked like, these two are fun to watch work together, we no longer need all 11 to hopefully create chances. Our back line defended well, starting with Prideaux, Nellie, Petke, Ivanov and in that order. But we did hit some sloppy balls in distribution, and Ivanov hasn't impressed me all season, espeically being a foriegn acquisition and all. We are quick to dump on management but, I'm looking around and I like this team. We're a contender with experience and skill all over the field. Tough match coming up at LA next week. The time has come To catch the scum PeaceOUT
In another somewhat related note, I brought a TV down to the Barra tailgate to watch my Mighty Michigan Wolverines totally dismantle Notre Dame. What a great Saturday
When Etch went out I would have preferred to see Q2 move to the middle, Olsen move to the right wing and Convey move to the left. I think Q2 is better at maintaining possession than Convey and makes better passes, while Convey has a little more speed and end-to-end style that could be useful on the wing. And, like everyone else, putting in Namoff after our 2nd goal would have been a very smart move. Substitutions aren't Hudson's strong suit. But I'm not complaining. We beat the Quakes.
oh what a night! man was that a great win. we played with purpose and strength for 90 minutes. this is one of the best united wins ever. where's my buddy sorum? tell me please why cerritos and stewart didn't play well together. tell me how they didn't just dominate the ball in their half. my man earnie with the goal. he might have been slow to work himself into the team, but he is really tearing it up when it counts. marco played great, he is gonna be awesome if we use him like that. mike had a nice game. what about that incredible play toward the end where dema made that beautiful tackle... did they sub donovan at the 30 minute mark? man talk about disappearing, someone ought to call robert stack. brandon prideaux is such a stud. what another great game to have. talk about your tough, blue-collar ball player. ray and john prepared the team well. it was so awesome to look up from the barra at the end of the match and see the entire "loud side" standing and cheering, it has been a long time since we saw that. my brothers and sisters in the barra brought it strong this game, despite the dumbshit from DCU who in his sunglasses is trying to outdo csc, obviously an email is on its way to mr. zack... the nest was jumping, the who side was shaking, what a great time. this is what it is all about my friends. we got a little something going on here... ps--you michigan people, you gotta go to eugene next weekend...go ducks.
It was great to see Earnie get the monkey off his back. I thought he played a brilliant two minutes culminating in the goal, but then almost immediately went back to playing like crap for the remainder of the game. I don't think he's bothered to try to win a 50/50 ball all season long - it's just puzzling. Cerritos is looking more and more dangerous each match in the red and black. I'm beginning to regret ever questioning that trade. Still, if we had a true target forward to go along with him we could be deadly. Everybody else had fine games. Until Ben's goal, Prideaux was MOM in my book. He and Nellie made up for some shaky moments by Ivanov and Petke, but in all the back line had a solid game. I think that had something to do with the "where was Donovan" questions - they were on him like a blanket all match. Nice job by Etch tonight for a change - glad Ray subbed when he did, though, and if he keeps using him in this limited capacity I'm sure he can still contribute. Really expected him to bring on Namhoff for Q2 around the 70th minute. Man, Convey looks rusty out there. Hope the permit fiasco hasn't left any scars.
Hear, hear! He didn't use his subs! He can't evaluate college talent! We beat the best team in MLS! Oops, forget about that last one!
I am sooo tired. I don't know how we looked, but from the middle of La Norte, we were rocking, especially in the second half. I loved it when Onstad took at full speed for midfield so he didn't get hit with TP. Time to work on the ol' chucking wing. I thought SJ was onside during the goal. It seemed to me that Walker was behind the ball the entire time. But then again, all this took place in front of me, so I don't have the best angle. Great to see us come down off the kickoff and score. That's the dagger mentality Ray was talking about. Great TEAM win. Everyone rocked tonight. I was surprised to hear the "quiet side" getting into a DC United chant. Bring on the galacto-scum. Sachin
Bravo Bravo, Barra Brava!!! Let me just say, that tonight rocked. I brought a few Barra virgins to the game tonight... and my best friend said that he will never "sit on the quiet side again." The Barra was rockin'. I can ask for no more. It was great starting chants/songs with my best friend. He's new to Barra, but I think we've got a keeper. ...he made me very proud. The drum Circle was crazy tonight. I felt so sick after it 'cause I was jumping so much. What a great time. Awsome job to everyone who was involved!!!! Bravo!!! I'd like to say, that the Barra is absolute family. Never have I joined a group and felt like part of the crowd from day one. Chico, you are really "the man." And DaveBrother, you were the first barra member to introduce yourself to me, and I will will always think of you as MyBrother... I am so proud and honored to be a part of the Barra Brava! Viva la Barra! The game was awsome. D'you know how great my night was? I didn't realize that the 'Quakes scored until Benny put his shot in the back of the net... I was hearing and seeing no evil. I saw Ben's shot go in, and I'm thinking, "Woo Hoo! 2-0 United," then I see the score board, and it says 2-1 United. So I say, "Woo Hoo! 2-1 United. In my head, San Jose, never tied it up. It was all United, all night. Alright, I'm tired as hell. Petke bought me a shot of Taquilla tonight at Fados and that put me over the edge. Time to catch some shut eye and sleep in the Euphoria that is DC United. Cheers everyone. I hope you have/had a safe and enjoyable post game! Vamos United! I'm out -ted
Had to drive from Hollywood to Alhambra to see the game on the shootout, but boy was it worth it. Etch was out of his mind today. If THAT'S what a motivated Diablo looks like, Ray should challenge him every week. Beninho - remember, it's good form to send Christmas cards to those who give you gifts. Even if they're Canadian. Stewart and Cerritos are damn dangerous together up top. I don't think we see a lot of Esky the rest of the year (especially once Hristo returns), and we may never see Martins. Defense: Rock freaking solid. Onto next week, and my first visit to the Home Depot Center (thanks Knave!)... RS
bunker ball We did it last week, with seemingly way to much time to go, and we did it again tonite at about the 70th minute. Why did we go to bunker ball? Are the odds of winning that much greater that it is a wise tactical move for a coach to do? Seems when we have players "who would stab their grandmother in the eyes for another bowl of porridge," we should keep on bringing it on. This is not to say that playing rope-a-dope, as Bobby so expertly did in the last few minutes, is not the thing to do. It was, and it preserved the win tonite. But it seems not to suit our style of play, and momentum was shifting when we let them bring attack after attack into our field. One fookin little mistake, and we are hoping to get out with a tie instead of the win. Why not keep playing the loosey-goosey attacking style of play that got us there? It sure stuffed SJ tonite. Ah but no quibbles tonite. Great game and a great victory. When was the last time you felt this proud of DCU?
Re: Heading to HDC on 11/23 Also significant is the change in tactics on the wings, putting Q2 and Olsen out there on the "wrong" sides. Having a traditional wing setup where you encourage them to sprint to the endline and cross isn't very effective with our midget-like forwards. Putting them on the other side, and having them pinch in to the corners of the box puts them in good positions to shoot and to play short passes with the forwards. It really fits into all 4 players' styles and the effect on the field is obvious to see.
Good win for you guys, you clearly wanted it more. Without Ching, Donovan looks lost, and with Waibel our defense has a huge gaping hole, which you exploited quite smartly. DeRosario is a 20 minute player, at best, and he's most effective when he's playing against a tired defense. Good luck at L.A. next week! PS: If Cerritos had regularly played with that much effort, we'd never had traded him. Just hope he maintains it. Is he in a salary renegotiation year?
the match tonight was the best i have ever seen DC play. good win. the fans were great as well as the players.
What a tremendous first half that was. I was worried at halftime that after all that dominance we only had a 1-0 lead, especially given our recent history with SJ. Etch looked like he cranked up the time machine back to '98, Olsen went forward, the defense was beyond solid, and our forwards looked dangerous. I don't think we'd seen that combination of events since 1999. Why did Hudson not use at least a second sub in the second half? I know he's trying to build team character and let guys like Q2 and Olsen gut it out, but man, after we followed up SJ's tally with Olsen's fortunate goal, why tempt fate again? A Namoff for Q2 sub then would have make complete sense. Prideaux was very, very solid again. Dema did extremely well to read that Etch was going forward with some abandon and react by being more responsible defensively. He was nowhere near the threat he normally is going forward, but he more than made up for it with his defensive work rate. Top notch stuff from Dema. Cerritos and Stewart really connect nicely. Convey looked mostly lost again. His last ten minutes were decent, and before that he did have some ok touches and passes, but he looks nothing like the assertive pre-transfer mess Convey. We need that old Convey back, because it's clear Etch is at his best when he knows he just needs to give it his all for 45-60 mins and not worry about pacing himself. Maybe Hristo can help fill that role when he returns, but he seems more comfortable camping out wide on the left and not being active in the middle. Bounce back Bobby! Good things happen when you go forward, Mr. Olsen. Keep that up and Forest may come calling again.