USOC Final - DC United Edition - [R]

I don't know ...

On the one hand it's great to see the Metros fail. You just can't get enough of that!

On the other, Chicago worries me. If DC United doesn't turn it around VERY SOON I fear that Chicago will begin to encroach on the grand figure that was DC United's early MLS dynasty.

They've now got 3 US Open Cups. And they've got one MLS Cup. And they got all that only since 1998! Hmm ...

 

Well, as a DCU fan, i'm not gonna wish the Fire ill will to keep us on top. We need to go out there and start playing with some pride. the way it looks now, we might have the chance to stop their run for MLS Cup in the first round!

 

You forgot him walking over Chino's back last year. And I agree with who ever said he must be hated on his own team.

 

True, but it still does not come close to what DC United accomplished in the early years.

Chicago still has to win a CONCACAF Champions Cup. As good as some of the Chicago teams have played in the past, they were unable to make significant progress in that competition.

Not to mention the InterAmerican Cup.

Having said that, reaching the playoffs should not be the target of DC United. DC United needs to starts winning...

 

You had me till you said Cubs.

I gotta pull for K's Red Socks.

OT: How many trophys have you won Metros Metros
How many trophys have you won, Not a F'in one.
Not a F'in one
Not a F'in one
How many trophys have you won
Not a F'in one!!!!!!!!

 

WSOP or WPT? They're both repeats. They're actually repeats of repeats. I can tell her who won (it wasn't me).

 

It was WPT. She is the Queen of Texas hold 'em. If I had the cash I'd put her in it.

 

Watching Sarachan accept his USOC medal (the one Cup he didn't win as a DC assistant), I couldn't help but think that with a little better foresight, this guy could be our coach right now.

He got passed over in late 98 when Payne chose Rongen over Sarachan because Sarachan didn't have any head coaching at the pro level.

And while I don't fault Payne for not being able to give up gong to the World Cup when the DC job became available late in 2001, I can't help thinking that he could have waited on canning Rongen or hired an interim coach or something and had Sarahcan come aboard after Korea.

The guy is just a good coach. He's got a great eye for talent, teaches good tactics and he just seems to be a master at interpersonal relationships, not getting too close but not having to be a dick or risk alienating his players to get them to respond.

I'm not sure how he does it as he seems perpetually upbeat and it's hard to imagine him tearing into a team after a bad loss or at halftime after a bad half, but whatever it is, he just has a knack for pushing the right buttons and while I was happy to see him win this trophy tonight, I still find myself wondering about what could have been.

Also, I can't help but ponder the irony in DCU fans - a lot, though by no means all - being discontent with the coach while the two finalists for the Open Cup were former United assistants and the Supporters Shield will also come down to former United assistants. (And, odds are MLS Cup will likely also involve a former United assistant.)

 

I cheer for the curses.

Beware of trading the Babe and turning away goats my friend.

Back on topic though, it's great to see the Scum fail yet again. Maybe people who penciled in Bradley as the heir-apparent to the US squad will start thinking of someone else in his spot. Did it occur to anyone else that Sarachan was still with the team in 1999 during Rongen's first year when we were dominant still? It wasn't until he left that the ship fell apart.

 

I agree that the lesser of two evils one and I am sure glad we did not waste a draft pick on the Ralph guy.

 

No kidding.

But, of course, we all know Ralph would have rotted on the DC United bench with Stokes anyway.

 

I have to admit, it is always nice to see the Scum lose, and especially fall apart and start yelling at each other on the field. I don't mind the Fire, they seem a pretty class organization, and the BarnBurners have always been good to us in the windy city.
I'm almost looking forward to the Revs winning both their games against NJ, us winning both our games, and Chicago getting to beat the snot out of the Metros again in the first round of the playoffs. Sarachan definitely has Bradley's number this year.
I said it before, the assistant coach may have more to do with the team playing well, or at least together and working hard, than the head coach, who is really more of a manager anyway.

 

No kidding. The whole thing looked like an afterthought, with the football lines on the field and what seemed like 10 people in the stands.

 

What WONDERFUL news that the Metros lost! Despite MLS intervention in making the Metros play their last 3 Open Cup games at home, in hopes of a Metros championship, the Metros are STILL w/out a championship of any kind!

We need to face reality-their organization, and their fans, are terrible and in need of help/intervention. The best option is to send the DC organization and its players (DCU1) to NY/NJ to take over. Then we should create a new organization in DC, DCU2.

Garber cannot solve the curse of the Metros-he's not a soccer guy. Metros need a champion, like DC United, to lay out what needs to be done.

 

http://www.nj.com/metrostars/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/106628104031530.xml

.....asked what he would say to skeptics who argue the MetroStars play better when he is not on the field, Mathis turned bitter.

"I won't play next game, and hopefully they win," he said sarcastically. "That's easy to say. At least I can run for 90 minutes now. That's what you (media) criticized me for the last two years. I can run 90 minutes now, and you guys are raising hell because I can't play soccer."

Here comes another Metros implosion. I'm not surprised.

 

Geek Stat Of The Day (Schadenfreude Division):

The Metros have not scored a goal in the last 449 minutes in all competitions that Bud Boy has been on the field, the last one coming over a month ago (Jolley's 81st minute consolation goal against the Revs on Sept. 13). All offense they've generated (Magee's equalizer & Wolyniec's winner, the victory against SJ, the USOC semi against us) came with him either subbed, thrown out, or suspended. And that includes three missed PKs, two of which were by blown by him.

Edited to note that this does not include extra time.

 

yeah, i saw something about that on another thread. it seems like a lot of people have thrown a lot of weight behind the fact that WHEN he scores, they win. I continue to say that in soccer, when ANYONE scores, most of the time, the team will win because there isn't a ton of scoring. many times, the losing team is shutout. so that is a stat that is very very misleading. Unless he scores in the majority of his games, you have to look to someone else, and that last stat is telling at the moment. i've said it a couple times before and i will say it again. the bottom line is that the team plays better with him and Richie Williams on the bench sipping some hot cocoa.

 

I don't think it's misleading at all. I didn't say that he has gone 449 minutes without scoring, but that his team has gone 449 minutes - five games - without scoring while he is on the field.

Mathis, alone, is on 571 scoreless minutes (59th minute against KC on Sept. 6). His last assist came on July 2 against San Jose - 1,276 minutes (not including the 45 minutes he played, and did nothing, against China in a friendly).

That's very telling.

 

So couldn't the statement be made that if Convey hadn't gone down when Mathis made contact from behind, thus not drawing the card that sent Mathis off in the last game at RFK, that we would've won the game since he would've been on the field and they wouldn't have scored?



I sure hope we get to play the Metros in the first round of the playoffs. I don't think they'll be around for the second.

 

Nah.

Mathis still would've found another way to get sent off, thus allowing the Metros to tie.

 

Good pre-game quote from one of the damned:

*brushes away tear*

 

Sort of hard to believe that Sarachan could be DC United's coach right now had Payne listened to some of the suggestions offered before and after he decided that Hudson was the savior. It was suggested that Onalfo and Aunger be caretakers over the team till the end of the WC, with Sarachan overseeing things. Payne did not feel that Sarachan had a head coaches personality. Boy could he have not been more wrong!

 

All join hands and sing:

How many trophies have you, have won?
How many trophies have you won, not a f*****G one!