Hot Potato With a Hand Grenade | a DC United Match Reaction

You can win points through running yourself ragged. They don’t often come in batches of three, though.

After the implosions of the not-so-distant past, Olsen choose to focus on consistency of effort as the major flaw in his side. Hard to fault the team for that tonight. Still, I would have thought maybe he might have addressed the inability to either defend or create from set pieces, the frustrating lack of fluidity between lines that are far too often static, and the woeful lack of defensive organization in transition and counter situations.

Those problems remain, though there were glimpses of sunshine through the rain.

Talking Points?

• Dax McCarty was his usual lost self in the first half. But a strange thing happened on the way to 90 minutes. First, with Tino dropping off the forward line and Najar and Pontius pushing higher on the wings, suddenly we found ourselves operating effectively at times with a central midfield three. Considering how long McCarty’s been playing in that system, is it a surprise he suddenly started to look more comfortable? And yet later, when he dropped deeper with Fred pushing high in central midfield, he operated quite well, I thought, in a version of the “Pirlo” deep-lying distributor role. I noted this in his partnership with King last time around; given time to get his head up, space to operate in, and runners to pick out, he’s a much more effective player1.

• The lack of defensive organization when facing the quick counter almost cost us again despite another largely solid defensive outing2. Colorado had several dangerous chances that were cut out, usually on last-ditch tackles by Jakovic, occasionally by others, after either a quick transition or a defensive breakdown. Is it a coincidence that whenever the camera pans across the back line in the wake of these things, the only one I see yelling and gesticulating is Kitchen, sometimes Hamid? Can I get a confirmation from a live witness? Is anybody talking back there, directing traffic, calling out boneheaded mistakes and trying to communicate?

• The last 10 minutes of this match was maybe the most coherent I’ve seen United’s attack this season. There were big, successful switches of field, quick combinations through the middle, balls pinged into wide areas for crossing chances, many coming from the deep-lying McCarty. Of course, some of Colorado’s best chances came in that time period as well when things were getting stretched and desperate, and United had precious few scoring chances for all their impressive build-up. Hard to call for that to be the standard method of play given the even greater defensive frailty and lack of good looks at goal, but having McCarty as the deepest mid with Quaranta, Pontius, and Najar drifting between the lines? Yes, please. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of that.

• First touch in the danger area. I’ve called it out before, and I’ll have to again. I can’t remember if Davies’ touch was this inconsistent before the injury because of the rosy-eyed revisionism that seems to have made him world class before he went down (though I seem to remember that it was). He and Pontius both squandered glorious chances in the first half. We’re not that good that we can squander chances like those (see above and the paucity of chances created).

Quick hits?

• Joseph Ngwenya is an abomination. Every touch takes an attack, drags it behind the woodshed, and BANG! Dead attack. $156K? Front office accountability? Hello?

• More muscle injuries? How many times have we heard that sad song over the last godawful-many seasons? Accountability? Bueller?

• Is the word out on Najar going to ground a bit too easily?

• Playing a match with Terry Vaughn as ref is like playing hot potato with a hand grenade. Shouldn’t do it, never know when it’s going to explode in your face, and somebody’s always going to get hurt.

So there’s a mixed bag here. Yes, the Rapids are the defending champs. But also yes, they’re missing half of their front-line firepower, aren’t creating much in the scoring department, and still looked the more competent team despite United racing about with crazed application. The inability to string together consistent passing sequences3 may be an artifact of so many new pieces being added to the puzzle, but at some point that’s got to start ironing itself out. In fact, it probably already should have. Fighting back for the point is to United’s credit, and every non-loss surely helps in the confidence department for a young team still trying to find its identity. And hell, fighting back for a point is a hell of a lot better than 2010. Is it enough for a post-season challenge?

We shall see.

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1. Kind of makes you even more sad about Boskovic, though Fred’s buzzing energy and quick touches in advance of McCarty were interesting. ↩

2. From the run of play. Set piece defending? Still below par. ↩

3. Going forward that is. We seem pretty competent at banging it around backwards and sideways. ↩

Progress of Sorts? | a DC United Match Reaction

I’m on the road this weekend, pecking out notes on my phone while watching the Match Day Live stream, so this may not be the most coherent of match reactions. I apologize in advance.

Quick summary? Packed midfield, poor passing, few chances, no goals. In both directions. From that “no goals” bit I suppose there’s some heart to be taken. Given the torrid time the young defense has been having of late, a clean sheet has got to be a confidence-builder.

But there’s something about this United side that’s reminding me of the USMNT of not so long ago. Lots of collective effort and energy, relying on a few individuals trying to create on the dribble rather than creating chances through passing, forwards constantly facing away from goal rather than towards it, a creeping sense of tactical naiveté — like the other team is just letting us run ourselves out before sticking the dagger in, and the frustration that our team-wide technique just doesn’t seem up to snuff.

Fortunately, the late-dagger scenario never came to pass, though with David Ferreira still in the picture it would have been more likely1. As in the Seattle match Wednesday night, Dallas shot themselves in the foot a few times with poor finishing or ill-considered attempts.

That said, all blame for Dallas’ futility can’t be laid at their own door. White’s inclusion in central defense seems to have added a solidity that was lacking with Kitchen in the mix. White is a more physical player and wins more balls in the air. You can also tell that he’s comfortable with the ball at his feet, but — either because he’s been coached to do so or is wisely keeping things simple in the early stages of his professional career — is playing safety first with the hoof clear.

There has also been limited improvement in defending set pieces, though that’s still a weakness. United did better on corners, but continues to look in all sorts of trouble on long throws. Still, I wasn’t getting the feeling that I have in previous outings that every set play was going to end up in the back of the net.

At the other end, the attack was once again very narrow, though you’d perhaps find some argument i United needing to compact their midfield four to help balance FCD’s superior numbers in the middle of the park. You might even have seen this as a tactical adaptation if you weren’t familiar with United’s previous work this season (which has all been of a similar piece).

Another lingering issue that I’m seeing, perhaps a causal factor in the lack of width because we don’t hold the ball up well enough on outlet passes, is the first touch of our forward line. It ranges from inconsistent at best to downright amateur at worst. The number of heavy touches (by no means limited to the forwards, but most flagrant there) is astonishing, and though some of the energy and commitment on recovering the ball and getting to second balls acts to mask the problem, I still can’t help but conclude that we’d see more overlapping runs into wide areas and need to expend less energy if we were cleaner on the ball.

Of course, all of the niggling problems aside, there were two glorious chances to win this match, one for Davies/Najar in the first half on a Brek Shea defensive miscue and the second pinging off Fred’s noggin in the second half (also traceable back to a Shea error). Two big Hartman saves and a clearance off the line kept United out. I suppose I could count King’s two solid looks in with the big chances here, but anybody who’s been watching his United career knows that you assume those are either going to end up high, wide, or as slow dribblers to the keeper.

In the short term, keeping clean sheets and generating a few chances to win is probably how we roll. No Boskovic, a misfiring McCarty, and lead-footed touches from the front line put an upper bound on any expectations of free-flowing, plethora-of-chances soccer. I was interested to see the second half strategy that saw McCarty sitting deeper than King in an effort to give him time and space to pick out forward passes or spread the play. Sadly, we all know how the song ends with the ball at McCarty’s feet thus far. Still, it’s not a loss, and that has to count as progress of sorts, right?

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1. United was suffering the same sort of bug, having nobody that seemed capable of picking the defensive lock to create consistent chances. Najar provided that last time around, but this is where we’ll miss Boskovic in the long run. No footnotes within a footnote, but rather a general MLS aside here. Another quality attacking player was savaged this weekend, RSL’s Morales drawing the short straw this time. How long until either (a) we’re reduced to teams of thugs brutalizing each other’s thugs or (b) one of the media-marquee players (Donovan, Beckham, Henry) gets their leg snapped like a twig? ↩

Bill Hamid's Coming Out Party | a DC United Match Reaction

Double entendre? Mais oui. For a while there it looked like Hamid wanted to gobble up everything in his box, even in unadvisable circumstances. It only seemed like a matter of time before he got lobbed or didn’t fist one away far enough and got punished.

But that that never happened. Instead, he made two critical saves when United were wobbling, perhaps providing the rest of the defense with reassurance and confidence that they feasted on to make things look more comfortable than anybody who’s seen United’s defense this season could reasonably have expected down the stretch.

It could have been very different. Seattle always looked just on the edge of creating something dangerous, but whether through their own failings, improved commitment from United, or Bill Hamid’s quick reflexes, the Sounders never found a way to the net, save via the Whistleman’s assist. Let’s begin there for the talking points shall we?

• Yes, the Seattle PK was a touch soft, but that’s one you see given about half the time. Montero stepped away from the ball and into Jakovic’s lunge to draw the contact. Does make you wonder about Kitchen getting bundled into on the edge of the box and White getting hog-tied in the area on McCarty’s chipped free kick, both certainly as clear cut, if not more so, than the PK that was given1. That said, it’s hard to complain when United’s opener had a whiff of suspicion about it as well. On first viewing, I was absolutely certain Davies got away with a shove to set himself free for the cross. The second and third viewings looked more like Hurtado’s momentum taking him out of the play2.

• Speaking of the United goals, I suppose it has to be a positive seeing the two forwards lay goals on for each other3. Up until that first goal, I was readying my poison pixels for another attack on Wolff’s being in the starting XI. But, like Najar, and, to a lesser (some might uncharitably say “much lesser”) degree, McCarty4, he grew into the game. Up until that point, he was coughing up the ball, providing little in the link-play department, and generally not looking particularly useful. Those all changed as the game wore on, particularly the link-play. I’m still not convinced that he should be starting, but there’s precious little else waiting on the bench, is there?

• I’m still curious as to what changed in this game, because it wasn’t just the goal. Seattle were looking really comfortable doing the usual anti-United tactic. Defend narrow (since we don’t insist on getting balls wide–more on that later), let us play possession in midfield, and wait for the inevitable loss of possession, usually in a bad spot. Then it’s just a matter of pouncing, getting at our defense quick, watching them trip over each other and lose their tenuous organization, and slamming the ball in the net. It’s not like it’s a secret. But then, just before the goal, United suddenly seemed to be finding seams, getting the ball into spaces for the forwards to run on to. The gap between Seattle’s back line and midfield spread, allowing Simms and McCarty to alternate penetrating this space, along with dropping forwards and pinching wings. Strange thing to happen to a Sigi team, particularly one with Alonso in the mix. Doubly so when United didn’t seem to be doing anything to force the issue. Did Seattle just get greedy and overconfident?

• While we’re on curious tactical changes… For the great majority of this match (nearly 80 minutes), United had little that resembled width in attack. Najar and Pontius both kept pinching in positionally and always seemed to want to dribble towards the middle as well. Usually when that happens, and often in combination with the style of midfield possession that United tries to maintain, the fullbacks push on to provide the missing width5. Wollard and Kitchen? Not so much. Which is why is was so strange that both were seen bombing forward on the flanks in the last ten minutes. An adjustment to the midfield four being even more central? Perhaps, but not the expected behavior when you’ve not been getting them forward all game, you’re desperate to hang on to a one-goal lead, and, most damningly, the rest of the team doesn’t seem particularly interested in getting forward. Weird.

Quick hits?

• Hope Pontius is okay. Thankfully, the trainers didn’t seem to be looking at the hammy.

• After some early signs in this match of continued suffering from the dreaded Ronaldo Syndrome, this was the most like his ROTY self Najar has looked all season. Long may it continue.

• United was perilously close to conceding shortly after the opener in typical fashion. The notes I jotted as the goal replays were on? “Stay focused, keep possession, build confidence.” So nearly thrown away.

• Why weren’t we running at Wahl more? Seems like an obvious move.

• Nearly punished for our two forwards not quite being sharp enough in potential goal-scoring situations up 2-0.

• Despite being shaky early on crosses and set pieces, United’s defense seemed to grow in confidence and stature there at the end. Confidence instilled by Hamid’s saves? Fear of Olsen’s wrath? Sigi pulling Jaqua and Fernandez? Think I’m leaning to that last one.

So those are three huge points, especially coming as they did against a team that’s been hot of late and has enjoyed success in our house. A clean sheet would have been sweeter after the recent deluge of goals United has suffered, but if Hamid can build on his MOTM performance… Let’s not get carried away. There are still big flaws in this team. I’m happy to see the team recover from its wobble and grab a win against a top-half team, but it’s a sustained level of performance that will breed confidence and belief. Two more games in the home-stand. Can United make them count and revive hopes of an outside shot at a playoff spot?

“Outside shot at a playoff spot” doesn’t seem like much to hang your hat on, but it’s a hell of a lot more than “at least we’ll probably finish above Toronto.”

Vamos United!

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1. Kitchen was probably fouled outside the box, but in the land of notional penalties, anything goes! ↩

2. Still the whiff of a subtle shove from Davies hanging about the joint though. ↩

3. Even if those might have been the only effective crosses in the match. Seriously, what is with those weak early crosses (I believe I used the word “abomination” to describe a cross at least three times in my notes), particularly given that three of our attacking quartet are 5’10” or less? ↩

4. Absolutely awful early, transitioning to mediocre, decent for a stretch, then dipping below average again. Think that qualifies as his best game this season, right? ↩

5. Alternatively, a team looking to stay defensively sound will keep four at the back and rely on forwards pulling wide to spread the opposing defense. Indeed, United did employ this tactic, notably on the goals, though not consistently. ↩