Rocky Mountain Arse 2 : 1 DeCrepit United

Ouch...just ouch. We never really play well in Colorado, but still, that was not particularly encouraging. Starting Moose and DeRoux on the wings seemed to hold the promise of attacking intent, but United was dominated on the flanks, though it was Hercules who was the big threat early, not Cooke as many had anticipated.

So what was encouraging? Well, Emilio scored (again). If he keeps banging them in, DC will be fine. Also, some youngsters got significant minutes and didn't look entirely out of place. On to the ratings:

• Perkins (6): Didn't have much chance on either goal (where was the defender on the far post for the goal off the corner?) and made a couple of decent stops.
• Erpen (5): Not horrible, but was repeatedly burned by Hercules. Most of Colorado's promising attacks came from his side, though maybe Moose wasn't much help defensively.
  
• Boswell (5): Beaten by Brown on headers too often. Poor marking on crosses and set pieces needs to be fixed - soon!
  
• Namoff (7): Cooke wasn't much of a threat, which means Namoff did his job. He also seemed to be trying to take charge and initiate attacks when DC was at its most stagnant. One of the few United players who played well.
  
• Olsen (6): Typically ballsy outing. Got off a few shots from distance, cursed and shouted a lot, and could have equalized late on.
• Carroll (5): Touch seemed a bit off and DC didn't control the middle of the park like they normally do. Did get a few shots from distance. Perhaps Soehn has instructed the deep lying mids to take more shots from distance now that we have a predator in Emilio to pounce on any mistakes?
• Moose (5): Looked good on the ball and made a few nice runs both with and without the ball. Not given a 6 simply because the wings were poor for DC and in particular the Rapids were dangerous down his side.
• DeRoux (5): Decent defensively, but didn't add as much to the attack as Moose did.
  
• Gomez (5): Where were you Mr. MVP? a few decent runs with the ball, but generally didn't add much to the attack and didn't provide the quality from free kicks that we've come to expect.
  
• Moreno (5): A lackluster performance. Did have some decent passes, but held the ball a bit too long and conceded possession a bit too much. Too static.
  
• Emilio (6): Starved for service but did manage to get a goal in his MLS debut. Can't wait to see what he does when United controls possession like they should.

And the subs:

• Fred (5): Looked a bit lost, but that should change as he gels with the rest of the team. Technically sound, didn't eschew his defensive responsibilities, and played with a bit of fire and attitude.
• Casal (5): Good on the ball though he did try to dribble a bit too much. Got the assist on Emilio's goal. Defensively - not so much. Definitely a project, but give him some time in the reserves and off the bench to learn the system and he might be a significant contributor by the end of the season.

One final note. I really, really despise Michael Kennedy. I'm sure he's a lovely man off the pitch, but I've never, ever been impressed by him as a referee. What was the deal with calling lots of fouls and dishing yellows early, only to let just about everything short of a mugging slide from about minute 35 on? As an inveterate hacker of ankles myself, I really don't mind refs letting the hard stuff go, but how about a little consistency please? Both teams got hosed by this guy on multiple occasions. Time to ship him off to Elba!