- Allsopp for 2011? NO!
- Harkes says he would be interested in DC job. Love the player. He's my connection from first love (Sheffield Wednesday) to current (DC United), but he wouldn't be in my first tier of candidates. His TV work hasn't exactly revealed a sparkling tactical mind, and, if understanding tradition and motivation of players are his primary qualifications, I think you've already got a better package (and much better TEAM guy) in Benny. For what it's worth, I don't think he's on the FO's shortlist and that this is just Harkes tooting his own horn (goaded by mic and camera to be sure, but he's never needed much prompting, has he?), but we shall see.
- Why CONCACAF is killing the best rivalry in North America. And it's not just about losing the Mexico games; the overall level of meaningful competition for the US goes down in the proposed new system. That can't be good for the program as a whole. What's this I keep hearing in the media about disconnect from the desires of the populace and lack of accountability amongst the political leadership of this country? Oh...they're not talking about USSF are they? Maybe they should be.
- A Joe Vide update. He was a gritty player. Here's hoping grit prevails.
United and USA Grab Bag
EFCOG's and Abominations
Just when you think this season can't possibly induce more pain, you get a loss like the one this weekend. Missing a match reaction? Just hit the rewind button; it's getting a bit stale to keep writing...Najar is the greatest thing since fish sprouted legs, Perkins is a seeping pile of suck, mistakes kill. That about sum it up?
Makes you wonder how some of these clowns are getting what amounts to an 80%+ approval rating in the protected list vote. Of course, after that moment of wondering, you realize that the reason they're getting so many votes is that the few bits of relative quality shine so much brighter considering the utter void of talent surrounding them. Anybody want to crank that softball over the left field fence and play blame game with the FO?
Speaking of those particular devils, Goff says...
Hmmm. EFCOG (Enigmatic Foreign Coaching Genius) got bounced in the quarterfinals of last year's Next Coach Cup. Looks like he's the favorite this time around. And yes, you can read that as "FBF will be running the Next Coach Cup again in 2010." That said, why is the name Kevin Keegan "floating around"? Isn't the idea to bring some tactical structure to the team? Seems to me that hiring a manager known for giving players their head wouldn't be the brightest approach for a team that makes as many boneheaded blunders as this one. Bah! Sounds like more half-assed name chasing to me.
The good news? Only four games left of this misery (at least for this season). The question becomes, which is in more danger of being surpassed, 20 goals or 20 points? We're currently on 18 for both. 18! After 26 freakin' games.
What an abomination.
Makes you wonder how some of these clowns are getting what amounts to an 80%+ approval rating in the protected list vote. Of course, after that moment of wondering, you realize that the reason they're getting so many votes is that the few bits of relative quality shine so much brighter considering the utter void of talent surrounding them. Anybody want to crank that softball over the left field fence and play blame game with the FO?
Speaking of those particular devils, Goff says...
The buzz in soccer circles is also that United plans to initially focus on experienced foreign candidates.
Hmmm. EFCOG (Enigmatic Foreign Coaching Genius) got bounced in the quarterfinals of last year's Next Coach Cup. Looks like he's the favorite this time around. And yes, you can read that as "FBF will be running the Next Coach Cup again in 2010." That said, why is the name Kevin Keegan "floating around"? Isn't the idea to bring some tactical structure to the team? Seems to me that hiring a manager known for giving players their head wouldn't be the brightest approach for a team that makes as many boneheaded blunders as this one. Bah! Sounds like more half-assed name chasing to me.
The good news? Only four games left of this misery (at least for this season). The question becomes, which is in more danger of being surpassed, 20 goals or 20 points? We're currently on 18 for both. 18! After 26 freakin' games.
What an abomination.
Hashing Out the List
My posting has grown a bit sparse of late, and I'm sorry for that. Sadly, I'll be on the road again this weekend, but I'll try to catch a replay of the Houston match when I get in late Sunday and post a few thoughts. In the meantime, I thought we might follow on from the roster poll of a few weeks ago by doing a protected list poll.
I haven't seen any rules yet, so I'm going to establish a framework based upon previous editions of the expansion draft. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of these so we can update the rules in time for the next poll (probably at the end of the season).
(1) Select eleven names from the list below.
(2) I'm assuming nobody knows if Boskovic has a no-trade clause in his DP contract, thus requiring us to protect him. Since we don't know if that's so, he's available for selection (or not).
(3) While Generation Adidas players could "graduate" from that status, my reading of the "home grown" player rules is that you can add two players per year to the list (pending fulfillment of other requirements) and that players remain on the list once selected. Since home grown players do not have to be protected, Najar, Hamid, and Shanosky, all designated as home grown on the playing roster, do not appear.
(4) Developmental players (marked [d] below) who are selected in the draft will need to be offered senior contracts by the team that selects them. Keep that in mind.
(4) Your protected list must include three foreign players (marked [f] below) since we have more that four senior internationals on the roster.
Have at it, and don't hesitate to use the comments as a soapbox to stump for your candidates...
I haven't seen any rules yet, so I'm going to establish a framework based upon previous editions of the expansion draft. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of these so we can update the rules in time for the next poll (probably at the end of the season).
(1) Select eleven names from the list below.
(2) I'm assuming nobody knows if Boskovic has a no-trade clause in his DP contract, thus requiring us to protect him. Since we don't know if that's so, he's available for selection (or not).
(3) While Generation Adidas players could "graduate" from that status, my reading of the "home grown" player rules is that you can add two players per year to the list (pending fulfillment of other requirements) and that players remain on the list once selected. Since home grown players do not have to be protected, Najar, Hamid, and Shanosky, all designated as home grown on the playing roster, do not appear.
(4) Developmental players (marked [d] below) who are selected in the draft will need to be offered senior contracts by the team that selects them. Keep that in mind.
(4) Your protected list must include three foreign players (marked [f] below) since we have more that four senior internationals on the roster.
Have at it, and don't hesitate to use the comments as a soapbox to stump for your candidates...
Yanked Abroad | 06. It's Business Time
My first order of business in the break is to start cleaning house a bit. Right winger Søren Berg has lost his spot in the starting lineup and isn't happy I didn't let him go earlier in the season. Fine by me; He's 33, on the decline, and takes up $7.5k of our $95k wage bill. I fax his name and an acceptable fee to anybody and everybody, save our rivals. Likewise, I offer up Movsisyan's Armenian teammate Robert Arzumanyan as his non-EU status is keeping him from picking up games (we're only allowed three non-EU players on the field at any time, and Kelly Gray, Movsisyan, and Zhou are much more important to the cause). We need center backs who can play when I need them.
I make my first move for a goalkeeper, targeting FC Metz backup Oumar Sissoko. Unfortunately, I've got loose lips in camp, and Hertha BSC jump in when our interest is made public. I immediately up my offer with only the faintest of hopes. In the meantime, Berg's had offers come in from a couple of Danish teams and Xerez in Spain. I accept them, and he decides to move to Danish league big boys København.
Metz accept my improved offer for Sissoko, and, miracle of miracles, Hertha back down. I offer him a relatively hefty contract, though it's still less than Berg is making, so it should be a wash on the wage bill and still allow me some wiggle room in the budget to sign a defender. Speaking of defenders, Arzumanyan has agreed terms with the Dutch side RKC, meaning I might have some cash to splash on the midfield as well as defense.
Unfortunately, Sissoko decides that Randers would be a step backward in his career. Bastard. I was offering him 3 times what he makes now and a guaranteed starting spot on a team gunning for Europe when he's not getting any looks at Metz. Time for Plan B. Only problem? The options for Plan B are either ancient (and expensive!) or little improvement on what I already have.
The transfer window opens and Berg and Arzumanyan move on. With some of their transfer fees made available to me, I have just under $500k available to go shopping. I'm also $13.5k under my salary budget, which should be enough to net at least two pretty good players.
Bad karma? Just noticed that Sissoko, who rejected the offer to be my starter in net, just tore a groin muscle and is out 2-3 months. I really shouldn't enjoy that quite so much...but I do.
Silly season gets rolling in earnest as a handful of clubs battle me for the signature of Chema Antón, a Real Madrid reserve left/center back. Real accept a bid of $160k. He doesn't ask for much when we chat about salaries, but I offer the moon, wary of what others may be offering him. I also make an offer of $30k for Niek Ripson, a Dutch defender of more athletic than playing ability. If I can land him, maybe he can bang bodies with some of the physical specimens that have been giving me trouble in the league. Once again, the news of my bid for Ripson leaks. Heads are going to roll in the front office!
Despite the FO shenanigans, I land both Antón and Ripson, bolstering my defensive corps, though I suspect that I'm paying them both a little too much. I still have about $5k under the salary budget, which is enough for a starting-quality player. I'm thinking of offloading one of my excess fullbacks and going hunting for a blazing right winger, because the pickings at goalkeeper are pretty damn slim. That said, I may go after an EU-national backup, because having an Aussie as backup means that if he gets the call, I have to sacrifice one of Zhou, Movsisyan, or Gray from the starting lineup. With that in mind, I table a free transfer bid for a young Dutch keeper who's deep, deep, deep on his club's depth chart and has thus wound up on the transfer list. The scouts think he's a bit behind our current backup, but not by much.
My hunt for a speedy young winger goes continent-wide, but finally returns to Denmark, where I step up the chase for FC Midtjylland's Christian Sivebæk, a raw but talented and extremely athletic 21 year old (I picture him as a Danish Brek Shea, which probably shouldn't be much of a mental stretch). My bids for both players are accepted, and the contracts are presented, both slightly higher than requested, but not obscenely so. We also put the word out that right back Olesen is on sale for cheap, and the offers start to trickle in.
I'm a bit worried that the kids I've offered contracts to are taking their time considering while Olesen jumps at the chance to get out the door, signing for Blackpool within days. Interest is suddenly hot with some of my better performers, and Odense are making bids for left back Krol. I turn them down with a sneer.
The young Dutch goalkeeper, van Duin, finally signs on, and, surprise, surprise, my coaching staff think the kid is better than my scouts indicated, at least the equal of our current backup. Plus, he's younger and an EU-national to boot. Unsurprisingly, the Aussie GK, Coe, gets shopped.
The right winger Sivebæk finally accepts my terms to end my winter shopping spree. I think we're pretty set for depth in the Spring campaign, which is going to be a testing one with 15 league matches and at least 2 cup matches packed into just over 2 months. Unless we get a can't miss offer in the final 10 days of the transfer window, my team is finalized for the run in. I schedule six friendlies in February to get the guys back up to speed before we return to league action in March.
My name is also being linked with potential vacancies in the German second division after the early season news was all about MLS clubs wanting to bring me back Stateside. Hmmm.
As the window creeps towards its conclusion, keeper Nathan Coe moves to Zenit St. Petersburg on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season. More importantly, they're paying his salary. Sadly, our stalwart center back, Ahmed, is getting delusions of grandeur with the interest being shown in him. Three days before the window slams shut, he's telling the media it's time to move on. Fine, I tell him in private; I share your ambition, but I don't have time to find a replacement, so I'll let you go at the end of the season. The ungrateful wretch says "screw that" and hands in his transfer request. I reject it.
And thus the window closes...
The Danish media notes that we were the most active team in the transfer window. To summarize:
IN: Chema Antón (DL/C, Real Madrid, $160k), Niek Ripson (D/DMC, FC Emmen [NED], $30k), Marco van Duin (GK, Volendam [NED], free), Christian Sivebæk (MR/FC Midtjylland, $190k)
OUT: Søren Berg (AMR/ST, FC København, $300k), Robert Arzumanyan (DC, RKC [NED], $75k), Allan Olesen (DR, Blackpool, $35k), Nathan Coe (GK, Zenit [RUS], loan [$8k fee + option to buy for $45k]
So I spent $380k while taking in $418k and shed about $4k in salaries, upgrading or getting younger pretty much everywhere that I lost players. Not a bad patch of business if we get significant contributions from any of our signings, since only Berg had minutes worth mentioning among those departing.
In our first pair of warm-up matches against no-name competition, we run out 6-0 and 4-1 winners. The only significant thing of note from the matches is the number of chances my new-look 4-2-3-1 formation creates. I'm not sure it'll work against level or better opposition, but against cannon-fodder it works quite well. More significant tests await in the form of Horsens and Viborg, both teams that gave us trouble in the cup.
In the meantime, my scouts have have alerted me to a young French keeper out of favor at Villareal and available for peanuts. Though the transfer window is closed, I make an offer. Villareal want a little more, and I'm not bothered about offering $14k for a possible future starter. He's initially not keen, but I offer him double what he's asking (still not much) and heavy performance incentives. Despite not wanting to join us, he finds the offer too good to refuse. Come July we'll have a guy that we might mold into a starter given a couple of years.
In the "tactics tester" friendlies, I'm confronted with some poor showings in the 4-2-3-1, resulting in switches to more traditional 2-forward alignments to come from behind. Both results are scoring draws that we have the better of, but I'm not pleased with what I'm seeing. Likewise, the "confidence builders" against minnows result in some less than stellar displays. Worrying stuff as we head into the Spring season.
For more Yanked Abroad and other FM stories, visit the FM Tales page.
I make my first move for a goalkeeper, targeting FC Metz backup Oumar Sissoko. Unfortunately, I've got loose lips in camp, and Hertha BSC jump in when our interest is made public. I immediately up my offer with only the faintest of hopes. In the meantime, Berg's had offers come in from a couple of Danish teams and Xerez in Spain. I accept them, and he decides to move to Danish league big boys København.
Metz accept my improved offer for Sissoko, and, miracle of miracles, Hertha back down. I offer him a relatively hefty contract, though it's still less than Berg is making, so it should be a wash on the wage bill and still allow me some wiggle room in the budget to sign a defender. Speaking of defenders, Arzumanyan has agreed terms with the Dutch side RKC, meaning I might have some cash to splash on the midfield as well as defense.
Unfortunately, Sissoko decides that Randers would be a step backward in his career. Bastard. I was offering him 3 times what he makes now and a guaranteed starting spot on a team gunning for Europe when he's not getting any looks at Metz. Time for Plan B. Only problem? The options for Plan B are either ancient (and expensive!) or little improvement on what I already have.
The transfer window opens and Berg and Arzumanyan move on. With some of their transfer fees made available to me, I have just under $500k available to go shopping. I'm also $13.5k under my salary budget, which should be enough to net at least two pretty good players.
Bad karma? Just noticed that Sissoko, who rejected the offer to be my starter in net, just tore a groin muscle and is out 2-3 months. I really shouldn't enjoy that quite so much...but I do.
Silly season gets rolling in earnest as a handful of clubs battle me for the signature of Chema Antón, a Real Madrid reserve left/center back. Real accept a bid of $160k. He doesn't ask for much when we chat about salaries, but I offer the moon, wary of what others may be offering him. I also make an offer of $30k for Niek Ripson, a Dutch defender of more athletic than playing ability. If I can land him, maybe he can bang bodies with some of the physical specimens that have been giving me trouble in the league. Once again, the news of my bid for Ripson leaks. Heads are going to roll in the front office!
Despite the FO shenanigans, I land both Antón and Ripson, bolstering my defensive corps, though I suspect that I'm paying them both a little too much. I still have about $5k under the salary budget, which is enough for a starting-quality player. I'm thinking of offloading one of my excess fullbacks and going hunting for a blazing right winger, because the pickings at goalkeeper are pretty damn slim. That said, I may go after an EU-national backup, because having an Aussie as backup means that if he gets the call, I have to sacrifice one of Zhou, Movsisyan, or Gray from the starting lineup. With that in mind, I table a free transfer bid for a young Dutch keeper who's deep, deep, deep on his club's depth chart and has thus wound up on the transfer list. The scouts think he's a bit behind our current backup, but not by much.
My hunt for a speedy young winger goes continent-wide, but finally returns to Denmark, where I step up the chase for FC Midtjylland's Christian Sivebæk, a raw but talented and extremely athletic 21 year old (I picture him as a Danish Brek Shea, which probably shouldn't be much of a mental stretch). My bids for both players are accepted, and the contracts are presented, both slightly higher than requested, but not obscenely so. We also put the word out that right back Olesen is on sale for cheap, and the offers start to trickle in.
I'm a bit worried that the kids I've offered contracts to are taking their time considering while Olesen jumps at the chance to get out the door, signing for Blackpool within days. Interest is suddenly hot with some of my better performers, and Odense are making bids for left back Krol. I turn them down with a sneer.
The young Dutch goalkeeper, van Duin, finally signs on, and, surprise, surprise, my coaching staff think the kid is better than my scouts indicated, at least the equal of our current backup. Plus, he's younger and an EU-national to boot. Unsurprisingly, the Aussie GK, Coe, gets shopped.
The right winger Sivebæk finally accepts my terms to end my winter shopping spree. I think we're pretty set for depth in the Spring campaign, which is going to be a testing one with 15 league matches and at least 2 cup matches packed into just over 2 months. Unless we get a can't miss offer in the final 10 days of the transfer window, my team is finalized for the run in. I schedule six friendlies in February to get the guys back up to speed before we return to league action in March.
My name is also being linked with potential vacancies in the German second division after the early season news was all about MLS clubs wanting to bring me back Stateside. Hmmm.
As the window creeps towards its conclusion, keeper Nathan Coe moves to Zenit St. Petersburg on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season. More importantly, they're paying his salary. Sadly, our stalwart center back, Ahmed, is getting delusions of grandeur with the interest being shown in him. Three days before the window slams shut, he's telling the media it's time to move on. Fine, I tell him in private; I share your ambition, but I don't have time to find a replacement, so I'll let you go at the end of the season. The ungrateful wretch says "screw that" and hands in his transfer request. I reject it.
And thus the window closes...
The Danish media notes that we were the most active team in the transfer window. To summarize:
IN: Chema Antón (DL/C, Real Madrid, $160k), Niek Ripson (D/DMC, FC Emmen [NED], $30k), Marco van Duin (GK, Volendam [NED], free), Christian Sivebæk (MR/FC Midtjylland, $190k)
OUT: Søren Berg (AMR/ST, FC København, $300k), Robert Arzumanyan (DC, RKC [NED], $75k), Allan Olesen (DR, Blackpool, $35k), Nathan Coe (GK, Zenit [RUS], loan [$8k fee + option to buy for $45k]
So I spent $380k while taking in $418k and shed about $4k in salaries, upgrading or getting younger pretty much everywhere that I lost players. Not a bad patch of business if we get significant contributions from any of our signings, since only Berg had minutes worth mentioning among those departing.
In our first pair of warm-up matches against no-name competition, we run out 6-0 and 4-1 winners. The only significant thing of note from the matches is the number of chances my new-look 4-2-3-1 formation creates. I'm not sure it'll work against level or better opposition, but against cannon-fodder it works quite well. More significant tests await in the form of Horsens and Viborg, both teams that gave us trouble in the cup.
In the meantime, my scouts have have alerted me to a young French keeper out of favor at Villareal and available for peanuts. Though the transfer window is closed, I make an offer. Villareal want a little more, and I'm not bothered about offering $14k for a possible future starter. He's initially not keen, but I offer him double what he's asking (still not much) and heavy performance incentives. Despite not wanting to join us, he finds the offer too good to refuse. Come July we'll have a guy that we might mold into a starter given a couple of years.
In the "tactics tester" friendlies, I'm confronted with some poor showings in the 4-2-3-1, resulting in switches to more traditional 2-forward alignments to come from behind. Both results are scoring draws that we have the better of, but I'm not pleased with what I'm seeing. Likewise, the "confidence builders" against minnows result in some less than stellar displays. Worrying stuff as we head into the Spring season.
* * *
That Same Old Sad Tune | a DC United Match Reaction
I'm looking at my notes, and I see this horrible Cassandra moment staring back at me from midway through the second half..."Donovan has been invisible in the second half. Wonder how long that lasts?" So clearly, this loss was on me. It's all my fault fault for tempting fate, not Simms' nor Jakovic's for failing to clear an innocuous ball. Not Boskovic's for completely failing to justify his salary on the break. Go ahead, I see your stones are ready. Fire away.
(Ahem. See how easy it is KasperPayne?)
But seriously. Who didn't see that coming?
Let's not forget. For all of their pathetic and disjointed play in the first half to contrary, the Galaxy are currently the league leaders in MLS for a reason, and DC are rock bottom for a whole pile of reasons. Add in our lack of confidence and playing on the road...but of course, MLS is a different animal than leagues overseas. The Parity Police pretty much guarantee odd results and a minimum of blowouts. This isn't Chelsea v. West Brom. So what went wrong in this instance?
#1: Benny's powder got all wet. LA were scattershot going forward when DC were actually looking to attack, or at least counter. As soon as United grew content to merely keep the ball, and the possession became pointless, things got dangerous. And I'm still not clear why you wouldn't put Najar up top when you pull Allsopp. Sure, pull Allsopp, he's a useless pile of wombat dung (and some slow-ass wombat dung at that). But leaving Hernandez, an equally slow "tweener" midfielder/forward not likely to chase lost causes up top isn't going to put fear into any defense. Why not push Najar up top to race about and keep them honest? Too tentative an approach by far by Olsen, and it gave an LA side that looked incredibly disjointed going forward the time and space to settle into an attacking rhythm. But...
#2: Do we need to keep gifting goals? Simms should have cleared it. Yep. But when he didn't, Jakovic should have done the job. I really hate the fact that Jakovic has all the makings of a fantastic defender, but he can't cut out the brain-farts. Witness his beating Buddle for pace then matching Donovan over a significant distance, cutting out both runs. Or winning headers, cutting out passes, or delivering precise balls forward. But balance those feats against some of the truly awful choices of passes in the first half. His decision making remains suspect and isn't helped by indecisive play in the midfield ahead of him. And when the first goes in...
#3: It all falls apart. Olsen may have instilled grit and determination, but he can't make the team confident. Only results can do that. Catch 22. Can't hold onto the results without confidence (at least you can't on the road against a team that expects to win...go ahead and tell me Toronto wanted to win). Can't build confidence without holding onto results. DC's defense, which had been pretty steady for the first 80 minutes, collapsed completely when push came to shove and the first chink appeared in their armor. And of course...
#4: That damn toothless attack. Ignoring the giant waste of space that is Allsopp, consider the two glorious chances United had for a second goal and the attendant boost to the aforementioned missing confidence that might have arrived in its wake. Hernandez, who I was extremely impressed by, at least managed to test Ricketts, who came up with the big save to keep the lead at one. But Boskovic has to do better on the break. I know he's not a forward. But he's our DP. A DP's got to finish that chance when his team needs it so desperately. Need further evidence of our lack of fangs? Why is LA the one looking hungry for goals in stoppage time when they already have the lead? Why aren't we at least testing them, forcing them to protect their lead? Why aren't we the ones attacking? What do we have to lose at this point?
A round of Quick Hits?
* Donovan is such a bitch to the refs and walks all over them, and still the 50/50 and questionable calls go in his favor. Pathetic.
* I thought the teenybopper screamfest for every Beckham appearance was over.
* Anybody else think Kirovski's decided to play the "evil" version of himself, like that one Star Trek episode? You know, goatee = evil? He was certainly brutal enough with the fouls.
* We have some very technical boys who can play some very smooth stuff in attack...Then we have Allsopp.
* Not to harp on it too much, but a reasonably quick forward would have put us up by a couple in the first half. Allllllllllsssssop. It just sounds slow.
* Hernandez actual got a couple of calls in this match. Toledo must not have gotten the memo from Whistlemen HQ.
* Perkins' distribution was awful.
For much of this match, I had this weird feeling of being in Bizarro World (and no, it wasn't just Kirovski's goat). Usually, United are the ones with the majority of possession, but a lack of runs and a frustrating inability to connect in the final third, while the opposition string quick series of passes together resulting in chance after chance.
But all it took were those final 10-15 minutes to convince me that we hadn't just shifted dimensions. The same familiar pattern repeated itself. True, this time it wasn't a stupid mistake to allow the early goal and much huffing and puffing and failing to recover. Instead, we packed the normal pattern of 90 minutes into a soul-crushing final 10. Or it would be soul-crushing had not the 2010 OnalfoPayneKasper Steamroller already pancaked mine (and, I suspect, most United fans'). In a way, I suppose I should thank them. If not for their dedication to making me feel completely hopeless about my team, I might be genuinely upset right now, rather than shrugging off this result as more of the same old sad tune.
Ugh.
I guess.
(Ahem. See how easy it is KasperPayne?)
But seriously. Who didn't see that coming?
Let's not forget. For all of their pathetic and disjointed play in the first half to contrary, the Galaxy are currently the league leaders in MLS for a reason, and DC are rock bottom for a whole pile of reasons. Add in our lack of confidence and playing on the road...but of course, MLS is a different animal than leagues overseas. The Parity Police pretty much guarantee odd results and a minimum of blowouts. This isn't Chelsea v. West Brom. So what went wrong in this instance?
#1: Benny's powder got all wet. LA were scattershot going forward when DC were actually looking to attack, or at least counter. As soon as United grew content to merely keep the ball, and the possession became pointless, things got dangerous. And I'm still not clear why you wouldn't put Najar up top when you pull Allsopp. Sure, pull Allsopp, he's a useless pile of wombat dung (and some slow-ass wombat dung at that). But leaving Hernandez, an equally slow "tweener" midfielder/forward not likely to chase lost causes up top isn't going to put fear into any defense. Why not push Najar up top to race about and keep them honest? Too tentative an approach by far by Olsen, and it gave an LA side that looked incredibly disjointed going forward the time and space to settle into an attacking rhythm. But...
#2: Do we need to keep gifting goals? Simms should have cleared it. Yep. But when he didn't, Jakovic should have done the job. I really hate the fact that Jakovic has all the makings of a fantastic defender, but he can't cut out the brain-farts. Witness his beating Buddle for pace then matching Donovan over a significant distance, cutting out both runs. Or winning headers, cutting out passes, or delivering precise balls forward. But balance those feats against some of the truly awful choices of passes in the first half. His decision making remains suspect and isn't helped by indecisive play in the midfield ahead of him. And when the first goes in...
#3: It all falls apart. Olsen may have instilled grit and determination, but he can't make the team confident. Only results can do that. Catch 22. Can't hold onto the results without confidence (at least you can't on the road against a team that expects to win...go ahead and tell me Toronto wanted to win). Can't build confidence without holding onto results. DC's defense, which had been pretty steady for the first 80 minutes, collapsed completely when push came to shove and the first chink appeared in their armor. And of course...
#4: That damn toothless attack. Ignoring the giant waste of space that is Allsopp, consider the two glorious chances United had for a second goal and the attendant boost to the aforementioned missing confidence that might have arrived in its wake. Hernandez, who I was extremely impressed by, at least managed to test Ricketts, who came up with the big save to keep the lead at one. But Boskovic has to do better on the break. I know he's not a forward. But he's our DP. A DP's got to finish that chance when his team needs it so desperately. Need further evidence of our lack of fangs? Why is LA the one looking hungry for goals in stoppage time when they already have the lead? Why aren't we at least testing them, forcing them to protect their lead? Why aren't we the ones attacking? What do we have to lose at this point?
* * *
* Donovan is such a bitch to the refs and walks all over them, and still the 50/50 and questionable calls go in his favor. Pathetic.
* I thought the teenybopper screamfest for every Beckham appearance was over.
* Anybody else think Kirovski's decided to play the "evil" version of himself, like that one Star Trek episode? You know, goatee = evil? He was certainly brutal enough with the fouls.
* We have some very technical boys who can play some very smooth stuff in attack...Then we have Allsopp.
* Not to harp on it too much, but a reasonably quick forward would have put us up by a couple in the first half. Allllllllllsssssop. It just sounds slow.
* Hernandez actual got a couple of calls in this match. Toledo must not have gotten the memo from Whistlemen HQ.
* Perkins' distribution was awful.
* * *
For much of this match, I had this weird feeling of being in Bizarro World (and no, it wasn't just Kirovski's goat). Usually, United are the ones with the majority of possession, but a lack of runs and a frustrating inability to connect in the final third, while the opposition string quick series of passes together resulting in chance after chance.
But all it took were those final 10-15 minutes to convince me that we hadn't just shifted dimensions. The same familiar pattern repeated itself. True, this time it wasn't a stupid mistake to allow the early goal and much huffing and puffing and failing to recover. Instead, we packed the normal pattern of 90 minutes into a soul-crushing final 10. Or it would be soul-crushing had not the 2010 OnalfoPayneKasper Steamroller already pancaked mine (and, I suspect, most United fans'). In a way, I suppose I should thank them. If not for their dedication to making me feel completely hopeless about my team, I might be genuinely upset right now, rather than shrugging off this result as more of the same old sad tune.
Ugh.
I guess.
Sympathy for the...Whistleman?
Rättskiparen | The Referee [2010] from Freedom From Choice AB on Vimeo.
I've always thought that it takes an odd sort to want to be a top level whistleman. Maybe more odd than I thought.
Yanked Abroad | 05. The Icy Breath of Winter
If you missed the beginning of this series, the archive is posted on the FM Tales page.
When last we spoke, I'd emerged on the far side of a meat-grinder fixture list with my Randers team relatively healthy, 4th in the league, and through to the semifinals of the Danish Cup. I take advantage of the international break to watch the USA friendly as they visit my new home in Denmark, and I'm spotted in the stands by the keen-eyed commentators. Virtual Bob runs out a stock 4-4-2 that the Danes in their 4-2-3-1 exploit mercilessly, gunning for the weakness on the flanks of the US defense and filing the gap between the two lines of four with three attacking midfielders. They're up within two minutes and go into the half at 2-0 and looking comfortable, though wouldn't you be if you were facing Virtual Bob's experimental strike force of Casey-Rolfe?
In the second half, the US goes to a narrow diamond and immediately starts bossing the game. Twellman, on as a sub for Casey and having an otherwise miserable time of it, draws a PK, and Donovan finishes it. Donovan and Eddie Gaven both go close from the edge of the area, but the Danes regain control with fifteen minutes to play, finally icing the cake with a 90th minute goal on the counter to win 3-1. It must be noted that the Danes played their best lineup while Virtual Bob experimented and was without Howard, Altidore, Dempsey, Edu, and Bradley Junior, all suffering from short-term injuries. Unfortunately, it looks like Virtual Bob is just as enamored of Kljestan as his real-life self...
Other notes of interest regarding the USA squad? Donovan is with Chelsea (he always seems to go there in my FM2010 games), where he's predictably only featured a handful of times. Conor Casey is being pursued by Charlie Davies' Sochaux; Chad Marshall is banging around Greece; Jimmy Conrad landed in second division German soccer; and United fans will snort in their coffee to find that Perkins and Quaranta are both in the mix (though neither made the 18 for the Denmark match).
Back to league action with three games remaining until the winter break...
Danish Premier - Randers 1:1 FC Midtjylland
5th v. 6th battle at the edges of the Euro-spots. Midtjylland are a more technical and athletic side than we are, so I ran out the 4-2-2-2 counterattacking formation that sent AGF packing in the cup. Within 15 minutes, I knew I'd screwed up. The visitors had most of the possession, and we were struggling to get the ball into dangerous areas. So I shifted the formation to a 4-2-3-1, pushing Zhou up from d-mid to central mid and pulling Sane back from a forward spot to his natural a-mid role. Within minutes we were stringing together passes and starting to control possession. Near the half-hour mark, Nygaard was fed through near the edge of the box. He held the ball up, fought off two defenders, and laid the ball off to Sane, who blasted into the top corner from the edge of the box.
We only grew in confidence from there, creating a handful of good chances while the opposition had few clear glimpses of our net, mostly from set pieces. But then they produced a moment of quality from nowhere on the hour, a long through ball picking out their right winger cutting inside. He beat one defender, then cut back in front of another and fired home from an acute angle. Disappointing. I can't help but wonder what a better keeper or quicker center back might have been able to do in that situation. Movsisyan came on for the tiring Zhou, and we went to an asymmetrical 4-4-2 with one winger advanced and one central mid dropped deep, sort of resembling a check-mark. The remaining half-hour was ours. We hit the bar, created any number of chances, but couldn't find the breakthrough. Then, in the 90th minute, Nygaard was fed through, and their defense were tracking back desperately. Nygaard bore down on the area, only to be hacked down from behind on the edge of the box. Red card. But the resulting free kick went wide and our only chance in the three minutes of stoppage time went wide.
Decent result and the fans are pleased, but I view this as an opportunity missed to push closer to the Euro spots. As it stands, AGF are well out in front, followed by the trio holding the Euro spots. I'm at the head of a five team chasing pack that hold a sizable lead on the bottom three. And hey, rock-bottom Køge finally picked up a point! Our next opponents, Brøndby, are currently third, meaning a result against them would put us right in the thick of the race for Europe.
Danish Premier - Randers 2:1 Brøndby
Looking for a change of pace, and knowing that our opponents almost always play a wide diamond 4-4-2, I decided to run out a 4-2-3-1 from the start with the two d-mids crowding out their a-mid and our own a-mid harrying their d-mid, thereby creating a big possession advantage at home. 15 minutes in and things didn't seem to be working as planned. They had all the chances and all of the ball. Rather than abandoning the plan, I refined it, setting Karlsen to man-mark their a-mid and having Sane (our a-mid) man-mark their d-mid. Then I set the wide men to close down their wide midfielders and fullbacks.
Success! With our opponents marked tightly and harried, thus starved of any useful possession, we started coming into the match more. Zhou, freed from his holding responsibilities and pushed into the vacant central midfield, became our hub. He fed Beckmann for a storming run down the left. A deep cross found Movsisyan charging in off the right wing. His header was saved, but he buried the rebound. Sadly, despite the turnaround, we were pegged back immediately by a free kick curled around the wall with our pathetic keeper nowhere to be found.
The boys responded in style, Zhou threading the needle for Nygaard to pound home...only for the flag to be waving on the far side. Controversial call and my guys were surrounding the ref and linesman. Fortunately, we kept our cool and Nygaard took advantage of their keeper's mishandling of a long, lofted through ball to slot home our second just before the break.
While the first half was noted by the commentator as "really exciting," the second bored to tears, and that was entirely my fault. I stifled, I man-marked and hacked their creative big guns, I played on the counter. Result? Neither side created much of anything. They made a big run at an equalizer with about 20 minutes remaining, but I shifted to a 4-1-3-2, packed the middle (where they weren't), and sprayed balls to my athletic forwards to win and hold up. Not pretty, but it worked...and credit our crappy keeper for making the one save he really had to make down the stretch.
Still doesn't mean I won't be shopping for a replacement.
Speaking of shopping, the Randers fan and board consensus is that I got a steal with Zhou Haibin. He's been shortlisted for Autumn Player of the Year in the Danish League and is among the five favorites to take home the prize.
In the wider world, the World Cup draw for 2010 just took place. Virtual Bob's USA are in a strangely familiar group alongside a top Euro side (Holland instead of England), Algeria, and Euro-slavs (Slovakia instead of Slovenia). Eerie, ain't it? And somehow, the Mexicans ended up in South Africa's group again (this time alongside Chile and Bosnia). Group of Death? Easily Group A: Paraguay, Italy, France, Ghana. Though Group C are close contenders: South Korea, Denmark, Spain, Ivory Coast.
And while we're traveling abroad, let's take a peak in at MLS. The Supporter's Shield race looks to have been the best ever, with San Jose winning on goal difference over the Fire (both on 52 points) and trailed closely by the Red Bulls (51 points) and Sounders (50 points). DC United finished six points shy of the playoff places. In the playoffs, Houston followed the RSL route to the Cup, nabbing the 8th and final spot as the fifth placed team in the West. Switching brackets to the Eastern Conference, they took out the Fire and Red Bulls on their way to the final, where they beat a Seattle side that disposed of both LA sides on their way to the final. In the Open Cup final, Columbus beat Chicago after the two MLS sides disposed of lower division opposition in the semis (Rochester and Miami FC respectively).
Right. Back to Denmark...
Danish Premier - Silkeborg 1:1 Randers
Disappointing way to end the Autumn season. We probably did just about enough to win, but one lax moment at the back and wasteful finishing denied us all three points. The first half was extremely dull as we negated their diamond with an anchorman behind a staggered four in midfield. The only bright spot looked to be Movsisyan, but I pulled him at the half when he picked up a knock (dumb move in hindsight, as we'll have three months off to recover after this game).
The second half continued to un-inspire until Nygaard took a through ball from Zhou and powered it home on 70 minutes. I resorted to my normal 4-1-3-2 "kill the game" formation, but they managed to find a gap and slip through for the equalizer 9 minutes later. We dominated the last 15 minutes, but stoppage time saw a tremendous save from a powerful Zimmerman effort and Ahmed heading over from short range on a free kick. Opportunity missed as our middle-of-the-pack rivals all lose or draw.
And that brings us to the end of the Autumn season. Here's a look at the table (click to enlarge)...
...where we see that I've got the club positioned as part of a trio chasing down København and AGF. We've opened up a slight gap on the rest of the table with a little over half of the season in the books (33 game season). We don't lose many games, but our biggest problem is those draws. We're tied for the league lead on 6. I'm hoping that a little winter break shopping will net me the goalkeeper and center back that solidify the defense. Anything else will just be shopping gravy. Stay tuned to see if I get my men...
* * *
In the second half, the US goes to a narrow diamond and immediately starts bossing the game. Twellman, on as a sub for Casey and having an otherwise miserable time of it, draws a PK, and Donovan finishes it. Donovan and Eddie Gaven both go close from the edge of the area, but the Danes regain control with fifteen minutes to play, finally icing the cake with a 90th minute goal on the counter to win 3-1. It must be noted that the Danes played their best lineup while Virtual Bob experimented and was without Howard, Altidore, Dempsey, Edu, and Bradley Junior, all suffering from short-term injuries. Unfortunately, it looks like Virtual Bob is just as enamored of Kljestan as his real-life self...
Other notes of interest regarding the USA squad? Donovan is with Chelsea (he always seems to go there in my FM2010 games), where he's predictably only featured a handful of times. Conor Casey is being pursued by Charlie Davies' Sochaux; Chad Marshall is banging around Greece; Jimmy Conrad landed in second division German soccer; and United fans will snort in their coffee to find that Perkins and Quaranta are both in the mix (though neither made the 18 for the Denmark match).
Back to league action with three games remaining until the winter break...
Danish Premier - Randers 1:1 FC Midtjylland
5th v. 6th battle at the edges of the Euro-spots. Midtjylland are a more technical and athletic side than we are, so I ran out the 4-2-2-2 counterattacking formation that sent AGF packing in the cup. Within 15 minutes, I knew I'd screwed up. The visitors had most of the possession, and we were struggling to get the ball into dangerous areas. So I shifted the formation to a 4-2-3-1, pushing Zhou up from d-mid to central mid and pulling Sane back from a forward spot to his natural a-mid role. Within minutes we were stringing together passes and starting to control possession. Near the half-hour mark, Nygaard was fed through near the edge of the box. He held the ball up, fought off two defenders, and laid the ball off to Sane, who blasted into the top corner from the edge of the box.
We only grew in confidence from there, creating a handful of good chances while the opposition had few clear glimpses of our net, mostly from set pieces. But then they produced a moment of quality from nowhere on the hour, a long through ball picking out their right winger cutting inside. He beat one defender, then cut back in front of another and fired home from an acute angle. Disappointing. I can't help but wonder what a better keeper or quicker center back might have been able to do in that situation. Movsisyan came on for the tiring Zhou, and we went to an asymmetrical 4-4-2 with one winger advanced and one central mid dropped deep, sort of resembling a check-mark. The remaining half-hour was ours. We hit the bar, created any number of chances, but couldn't find the breakthrough. Then, in the 90th minute, Nygaard was fed through, and their defense were tracking back desperately. Nygaard bore down on the area, only to be hacked down from behind on the edge of the box. Red card. But the resulting free kick went wide and our only chance in the three minutes of stoppage time went wide.
Decent result and the fans are pleased, but I view this as an opportunity missed to push closer to the Euro spots. As it stands, AGF are well out in front, followed by the trio holding the Euro spots. I'm at the head of a five team chasing pack that hold a sizable lead on the bottom three. And hey, rock-bottom Køge finally picked up a point! Our next opponents, Brøndby, are currently third, meaning a result against them would put us right in the thick of the race for Europe.
Danish Premier - Randers 2:1 Brøndby
Looking for a change of pace, and knowing that our opponents almost always play a wide diamond 4-4-2, I decided to run out a 4-2-3-1 from the start with the two d-mids crowding out their a-mid and our own a-mid harrying their d-mid, thereby creating a big possession advantage at home. 15 minutes in and things didn't seem to be working as planned. They had all the chances and all of the ball. Rather than abandoning the plan, I refined it, setting Karlsen to man-mark their a-mid and having Sane (our a-mid) man-mark their d-mid. Then I set the wide men to close down their wide midfielders and fullbacks.
Success! With our opponents marked tightly and harried, thus starved of any useful possession, we started coming into the match more. Zhou, freed from his holding responsibilities and pushed into the vacant central midfield, became our hub. He fed Beckmann for a storming run down the left. A deep cross found Movsisyan charging in off the right wing. His header was saved, but he buried the rebound. Sadly, despite the turnaround, we were pegged back immediately by a free kick curled around the wall with our pathetic keeper nowhere to be found.
The boys responded in style, Zhou threading the needle for Nygaard to pound home...only for the flag to be waving on the far side. Controversial call and my guys were surrounding the ref and linesman. Fortunately, we kept our cool and Nygaard took advantage of their keeper's mishandling of a long, lofted through ball to slot home our second just before the break.
While the first half was noted by the commentator as "really exciting," the second bored to tears, and that was entirely my fault. I stifled, I man-marked and hacked their creative big guns, I played on the counter. Result? Neither side created much of anything. They made a big run at an equalizer with about 20 minutes remaining, but I shifted to a 4-1-3-2, packed the middle (where they weren't), and sprayed balls to my athletic forwards to win and hold up. Not pretty, but it worked...and credit our crappy keeper for making the one save he really had to make down the stretch.
Still doesn't mean I won't be shopping for a replacement.
Speaking of shopping, the Randers fan and board consensus is that I got a steal with Zhou Haibin. He's been shortlisted for Autumn Player of the Year in the Danish League and is among the five favorites to take home the prize.
In the wider world, the World Cup draw for 2010 just took place. Virtual Bob's USA are in a strangely familiar group alongside a top Euro side (Holland instead of England), Algeria, and Euro-slavs (Slovakia instead of Slovenia). Eerie, ain't it? And somehow, the Mexicans ended up in South Africa's group again (this time alongside Chile and Bosnia). Group of Death? Easily Group A: Paraguay, Italy, France, Ghana. Though Group C are close contenders: South Korea, Denmark, Spain, Ivory Coast.
And while we're traveling abroad, let's take a peak in at MLS. The Supporter's Shield race looks to have been the best ever, with San Jose winning on goal difference over the Fire (both on 52 points) and trailed closely by the Red Bulls (51 points) and Sounders (50 points). DC United finished six points shy of the playoff places. In the playoffs, Houston followed the RSL route to the Cup, nabbing the 8th and final spot as the fifth placed team in the West. Switching brackets to the Eastern Conference, they took out the Fire and Red Bulls on their way to the final, where they beat a Seattle side that disposed of both LA sides on their way to the final. In the Open Cup final, Columbus beat Chicago after the two MLS sides disposed of lower division opposition in the semis (Rochester and Miami FC respectively).
Right. Back to Denmark...
Danish Premier - Silkeborg 1:1 Randers
Disappointing way to end the Autumn season. We probably did just about enough to win, but one lax moment at the back and wasteful finishing denied us all three points. The first half was extremely dull as we negated their diamond with an anchorman behind a staggered four in midfield. The only bright spot looked to be Movsisyan, but I pulled him at the half when he picked up a knock (dumb move in hindsight, as we'll have three months off to recover after this game).
The second half continued to un-inspire until Nygaard took a through ball from Zhou and powered it home on 70 minutes. I resorted to my normal 4-1-3-2 "kill the game" formation, but they managed to find a gap and slip through for the equalizer 9 minutes later. We dominated the last 15 minutes, but stoppage time saw a tremendous save from a powerful Zimmerman effort and Ahmed heading over from short range on a free kick. Opportunity missed as our middle-of-the-pack rivals all lose or draw.
And that brings us to the end of the Autumn season. Here's a look at the table (click to enlarge)...
...where we see that I've got the club positioned as part of a trio chasing down København and AGF. We've opened up a slight gap on the rest of the table with a little over half of the season in the books (33 game season). We don't lose many games, but our biggest problem is those draws. We're tied for the league lead on 6. I'm hoping that a little winter break shopping will net me the goalkeeper and center back that solidify the defense. Anything else will just be shopping gravy. Stay tuned to see if I get my men...
Poll Time
So no match reaction this week, though I encourage you to read back through the last few, as they're pretty much all of a feather. Witness: lots of hustle, reasonable in the defensive third, reasonable in the middle third, dumb mistake(s), completely toothless in attack. That about sum it up for you?
Anyway, the point of this post is to look forward rather than back, and it's really come out of my looking at the roster and wondering where to go from here. First step, of course, is to identify what can be recycled into a more attractive and winning product next year. But damned if I'm having a tough time of it.
Which is where you come in. I'm going to make a big roster list. You tick the little box if you think they deserve to be around in 2011. Tick as many (or as few) as you like. Simple, right? Spread the word via whatever means are at your disposal (twitter, word of mouth, facebook, forums, etc.), and let's get an honest picture of what we (admittedly the unwashed internet masses without a precious clue...according to some ;-) think.
Some of you may notice that I've left out coaching staff, and it's probably reasonable to ask why. Simple. I'm going to be conducting a series of more focused polls in the coming weeks where said folks come into question, most notably the trainers and fitness/conditioning folks. Mostly, I've chosen players for this initial poll just to get a broad picture of where the fan-thinking is at. Why include Kasper & Payne then? Let's just say I'm interested in seeing if anybody does support their reign. Remember, you've got your Internet Anonymity Cloaking Device activated so be honest please...
Anyway, the point of this post is to look forward rather than back, and it's really come out of my looking at the roster and wondering where to go from here. First step, of course, is to identify what can be recycled into a more attractive and winning product next year. But damned if I'm having a tough time of it.
Which is where you come in. I'm going to make a big roster list. You tick the little box if you think they deserve to be around in 2011. Tick as many (or as few) as you like. Simple, right? Spread the word via whatever means are at your disposal (twitter, word of mouth, facebook, forums, etc.), and let's get an honest picture of what we (admittedly the unwashed internet masses without a precious clue...according to some ;-) think.
Some of you may notice that I've left out coaching staff, and it's probably reasonable to ask why. Simple. I'm going to be conducting a series of more focused polls in the coming weeks where said folks come into question, most notably the trainers and fitness/conditioning folks. Mostly, I've chosen players for this initial poll just to get a broad picture of where the fan-thinking is at. Why include Kasper & Payne then? Let's just say I'm interested in seeing if anybody does support their reign. Remember, you've got your Internet Anonymity Cloaking Device activated so be honest please...
Dead and Buried | a DC United Match Reaction
Aaaaannnnnd...CUT!
That's it. DC United's 2010 is over from a competitive standpoint. Dead and buried. All that's left now is to count the bodies and figure out who survives until next season. In fact, I think that's what we'll be taking on in the weeks to come. But in the meantime, let's play the blame game, shall we?
They Pay You For That?
Who was that myopic wombat posing as a professional soccer referee? I'm fairly certain that just grabbed some dude from an Ultimate Fighting cage, tossed him a whistle and a rulebook, and let him go nuts. How else to explain the number of hefty challenges that went unnoticed? On several occasions, you could see an obvious foul committed, players from both teams slow, anticipating a whistle, heads turn towards the dude, and he—as if realizing that he's supposed to be officiating, not spectating—makes the advantage gesture.
And let's take a moment to consider the case of poor Pablo Hernandez. Granted, he did get the call for the PK in the first half (even myopic wombats could see that one, apparently), but this game just further enhanced my intuition that he's pissed in the US soccer referee fraternity punchbowl (or something). In his time on the field, as has been the case since his arrival, he was shoved, hacked at, and tripped (including a possible second penalty shout) with no whistle forthcoming. Then, when he's had enough and makes a slight kick out at Danny O'Rourke (and, be honest, who wouldn't have that kick?), the fourth official (myopic wombat with the whistle ignores the UFC stuff remember) gets him sent off. It's true, he did have a bit of a kick, but I'm not sure you can give red for that. I've seen it given before, but not often for as little oomph as Hernandez put into it. In fact, Andy Najar had a more enthusiastic stab in just about the same area of the field, but I guess intent wasn't what that fourth official was looking at (Najar didn't connect).
Inexperience on the Bench
But though the officials changed the course of the game, they can't be solely to blame. Sad as it makes me, I need to call Benny out for not making subs earlier. Was Cristman dinged? Because Najar was gassed with 15 minutes to go and foraging alone up front where every United clearance, goal kick, and punt found an unchallenged Columbus head (Najar's strengths are many, but fighting Chad Marshall and Andy Iro for headers isn't one of them) that sent the ball right back down United's throat. If nothing else, Cristman can hustle and fight for balls in the air. His energy could have applied pressure rather than allowing the Crew to lob balls into the box without challenge. Hell, even the slow and not pressure-intensive Moreno might have been a decent introduction to hold the ball. Or Pontius to win some headers. Instead, United thumped clear, regrouped, and prepared for the next ball to be lobbed forward.
I'm also going to withhold judgement on the Talley for James sub since I'm unsure if James was injured, but if it was for anything other than injury, that was a stupid swap. Was anybody surprised when Talley (admittedly manhandled by Lenhart in the buildup—with a predictable lack of whistles) conceded the penalty that ended United's last interest in this season? I sure as hell wasn't. And wasn't Morsink on the bench? I know most reading this are not huge fans of his, but we had subs to burn and could have used his energy in midfield, particularly with the amount of chasing United had to do when down to 10 men.
Bittersweet
Even with the officials tilting the field and the Bearded Bombardier failing to pull the sub trigger, United still had chances to win this game. Arguably United's two most talented players (currently—stow the Moreno historical talk), sad to say, had the two biggest chokes of the evening. Najar could have won it just after the equalizer, but dinked wide when one-on-one with the keeper. And Jakovic had the chance to equalize in stoppage time, but blazed over after Najar fed him a beautiful ball on the break. That said, it sticks in the craw trying to apportion too much blame to either because they contributed so much to the cause save for those single moments of failure. I'd still have both in my starting eleven, for whatever that's worth.
How about some quick hits?
* Tino + Burch = least patient flank in MLS? How may hopeless long shots or massive cross-field balls to nowhere did you count? The thing with Tino is that, for every one moment where you really admire his play, he tosses out three that make you want to strangle him.
* Jordan Graye's rookie wall misery continues. I still say let him play and make the mistakes now when it doesn't matter. He'll learn and be better for it. He has all the tools to be a quality fullback in this league.
* God, but we could use some genuine speed up top.
* Hamid's a great shot stopper, but he needs to work on coming for crosses and high balls. That said, he's still a better option than Perkins at this point.
So that's it then. The season is dead, and it's time (I suppose some would argue well past time) to start building for 2011. I think I'll let the misery steep for a few days before launching a post series running the rule over the current roster and perhaps dusting off the old polling machine to vote some folks off the sinking island that is RFK.
Ugh.
That's it. DC United's 2010 is over from a competitive standpoint. Dead and buried. All that's left now is to count the bodies and figure out who survives until next season. In fact, I think that's what we'll be taking on in the weeks to come. But in the meantime, let's play the blame game, shall we?
They Pay You For That?
Who was that myopic wombat posing as a professional soccer referee? I'm fairly certain that just grabbed some dude from an Ultimate Fighting cage, tossed him a whistle and a rulebook, and let him go nuts. How else to explain the number of hefty challenges that went unnoticed? On several occasions, you could see an obvious foul committed, players from both teams slow, anticipating a whistle, heads turn towards the dude, and he—as if realizing that he's supposed to be officiating, not spectating—makes the advantage gesture.
And let's take a moment to consider the case of poor Pablo Hernandez. Granted, he did get the call for the PK in the first half (even myopic wombats could see that one, apparently), but this game just further enhanced my intuition that he's pissed in the US soccer referee fraternity punchbowl (or something). In his time on the field, as has been the case since his arrival, he was shoved, hacked at, and tripped (including a possible second penalty shout) with no whistle forthcoming. Then, when he's had enough and makes a slight kick out at Danny O'Rourke (and, be honest, who wouldn't have that kick?), the fourth official (myopic wombat with the whistle ignores the UFC stuff remember) gets him sent off. It's true, he did have a bit of a kick, but I'm not sure you can give red for that. I've seen it given before, but not often for as little oomph as Hernandez put into it. In fact, Andy Najar had a more enthusiastic stab in just about the same area of the field, but I guess intent wasn't what that fourth official was looking at (Najar didn't connect).
Inexperience on the Bench
But though the officials changed the course of the game, they can't be solely to blame. Sad as it makes me, I need to call Benny out for not making subs earlier. Was Cristman dinged? Because Najar was gassed with 15 minutes to go and foraging alone up front where every United clearance, goal kick, and punt found an unchallenged Columbus head (Najar's strengths are many, but fighting Chad Marshall and Andy Iro for headers isn't one of them) that sent the ball right back down United's throat. If nothing else, Cristman can hustle and fight for balls in the air. His energy could have applied pressure rather than allowing the Crew to lob balls into the box without challenge. Hell, even the slow and not pressure-intensive Moreno might have been a decent introduction to hold the ball. Or Pontius to win some headers. Instead, United thumped clear, regrouped, and prepared for the next ball to be lobbed forward.
I'm also going to withhold judgement on the Talley for James sub since I'm unsure if James was injured, but if it was for anything other than injury, that was a stupid swap. Was anybody surprised when Talley (admittedly manhandled by Lenhart in the buildup—with a predictable lack of whistles) conceded the penalty that ended United's last interest in this season? I sure as hell wasn't. And wasn't Morsink on the bench? I know most reading this are not huge fans of his, but we had subs to burn and could have used his energy in midfield, particularly with the amount of chasing United had to do when down to 10 men.
Bittersweet
Even with the officials tilting the field and the Bearded Bombardier failing to pull the sub trigger, United still had chances to win this game. Arguably United's two most talented players (currently—stow the Moreno historical talk), sad to say, had the two biggest chokes of the evening. Najar could have won it just after the equalizer, but dinked wide when one-on-one with the keeper. And Jakovic had the chance to equalize in stoppage time, but blazed over after Najar fed him a beautiful ball on the break. That said, it sticks in the craw trying to apportion too much blame to either because they contributed so much to the cause save for those single moments of failure. I'd still have both in my starting eleven, for whatever that's worth.
* * *
How about some quick hits?
* Tino + Burch = least patient flank in MLS? How may hopeless long shots or massive cross-field balls to nowhere did you count? The thing with Tino is that, for every one moment where you really admire his play, he tosses out three that make you want to strangle him.
* Jordan Graye's rookie wall misery continues. I still say let him play and make the mistakes now when it doesn't matter. He'll learn and be better for it. He has all the tools to be a quality fullback in this league.
* God, but we could use some genuine speed up top.
* Hamid's a great shot stopper, but he needs to work on coming for crosses and high balls. That said, he's still a better option than Perkins at this point.
* * *
So that's it then. The season is dead, and it's time (I suppose some would argue well past time) to start building for 2011. I think I'll let the misery steep for a few days before launching a post series running the rule over the current roster and perhaps dusting off the old polling machine to vote some folks off the sinking island that is RFK.
Ugh.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)