What's left to say about the Gold Cup that hasn't already been said? We had four strong matches, and then one epic failure. It's clear that the 5-0 loss to Mexico weighs more heavily on our hearts than any of the previous victories, but fortunately we have only a few weeks to wait before we get the chance for revenge.
Is it really all that bad that we finished the Gold Cup in second place? Nah. There's no upcoming Confederations Cup to qualify the victor for like last time, so it's not an incredibly meaningful trophy. Our goal for the Gold Cup was to evaluate some new players, right? So if that was the goal, then mission accomplished? Right?
There were definitely a few players who set themselves apart from the rest of the roster in the Gold Cup, both positively and negatively. Guys like Ching and Perkins proved why they've already virtually locked up spots on the World Cup team, while other guys like Heaps and Cooper proved why they haven't received more action in the past. Let's take a second run at our potential World Cup roster, with a little bit of a different format from last time.
Goalkeepers
3 In:
Tim Howard - Still the lock for #1 keeper
Troy Perkins - May have moved into #2 slot after Gold Cup
Brad Guzan - Needs more PT but hasn't lost spot yet
3 Out:
Jon Busch - Consistent MLS keeper could get another chance
Marcus Hahnemann - Is he still in consideration?
Luis Robles - Not a good Gold Cup for him
Defenders
8 In:
Oguchi Onyewu - Hopefully he gets some PT in Milan
Carlos Bocanegra - Full team's captain can start at CB or LB
Jay DeMerit - Confed Cup performance makes him a starter
Jonathan Spector - Now the unquestioned RB starter
Chad Marshall - Good Gold Cup, despite last match
Steve Cherundolo - Unimpressive in brief Gold Cup starts
Heath Pearce - Consistent and can play multiple positions
Jonathan Bornstein - Consistency is hard to come by at LB
8 Out:
Frankie Hejduk - May have lost spot to progressing Pearce
Clarence Goodson - Gold Cup CB was better than expectedD
anny Califf - No appearances in Confed, competing for 4th CB
Michael Parkhurst - Disappointing in Gold Cup
Marvel Wynne - Still waiting to see if he's more than just an athlete
Jimmy Conrad - Good in MLS, not an international
Michael Orozco - Disappeared from Nats for unknown reason
Jay Heaps - Played last ever international match Sunday
Midfielders
8 In:
Landon Donovan - Still best player ever to wear US uniform
Clint Dempsey - New right wing competition from Holden
Michael Bradley - Should continue to develop in Germany
Benny Feilhaber - Brief Gold Cup showing helped the team
Ricardo Clark - Potential transfer to Serie A
Maurice Edu - Hope to see him healthy soon
Stuart Holden - Stock definitely up after Gold Cup
Kyle Beckerman - Consistently adequate, maybe room for him
8 Out:
Robbie Rogers - No impact in Gold Cup knockout matches
Jermaine Jones - Hope he gets called in for some WCQ matches
Francisco Torres - Maybe returns to the fold 8/12
Sacha Kljestan - Needs to play better in MLS before next callup
Logan Pause - Mediocre in Gold Cup, probably out of the picture
Santino Quaranta - Not sure why so little Gold Cup PT
DaMarcus Beasley - Needs PT at Rangers to earn another chance
Sam Cronin - First cap at Gold Cup, keep in mind for 2014
Forwards
4 In:
Jozy Altidore - Transfer to Olympiakos could be good for him
Charlie Davies - Best player on the field against Honduras
Brian Ching - Only player to keep his head up in Mexico loss
Freddy Adu - Still in by default because no other good forwards
4 Out:
Conor Casey - Interested to see if he gets another chance 8/12
Kenny Cooper - Unimpressive in Gold Cup
Nate Jaqua - Just throwing out names at this point
Brian McBride - Please come back! We need you!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
USMNT Projected 2010 World Cup roster
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
DC United tie vs Firpo, 1-1
Boy did I miss the feelings of 2008. Poor motivation in international tournaments, decent possession but few shots on target, costly individual mistakes... This is deja vu all over again.
1. In his first bit of extended time, Danny Szetela stood out in an otherwise mediocre midfield. He looked like the best player on the field for the first quarter, with some nice passing. Center attacking midfield was a good position for him, although the coaching staff apparently did not agree.
1. I liked the constant energy and pressure from Rodney Wallace. I don't like when he tries to take impossible long range shots.
2. Jaime Moreno did not look like his usual self for the first half, other than his penalty kick goal.
3. It's kind of frustrating watching Milos Kocic. He doesn't miss any saves - that's very positive. But he still struggles to hold onto balls or come out at the right times.
1. Greg Janicki was undoubtedly the worst player on the field. Maybe he's been watching Jakovic too much. Jakovic has the ball skills to dribble calmly out of the back. Janicki doesn't. His mistake early in the match might cost us a spot in the next round.
I've very curious to see what kind of lineup Soehn will use in the away match in this series. The same roster likely won't get much of a better result, because this team has historically underperformed on the road in international tournaments. But to put it in a different perspective, we would have won this match were it not for one individual mistake by Janicki. If we can limit mistakes and play our possession game, we've still got a chance to advance.
1. In his first bit of extended time, Danny Szetela stood out in an otherwise mediocre midfield. He looked like the best player on the field for the first quarter, with some nice passing. Center attacking midfield was a good position for him, although the coaching staff apparently did not agree.
1. I liked the constant energy and pressure from Rodney Wallace. I don't like when he tries to take impossible long range shots.
2. Jaime Moreno did not look like his usual self for the first half, other than his penalty kick goal.
3. It's kind of frustrating watching Milos Kocic. He doesn't miss any saves - that's very positive. But he still struggles to hold onto balls or come out at the right times.
1. Greg Janicki was undoubtedly the worst player on the field. Maybe he's been watching Jakovic too much. Jakovic has the ball skills to dribble calmly out of the back. Janicki doesn't. His mistake early in the match might cost us a spot in the next round.
I've very curious to see what kind of lineup Soehn will use in the away match in this series. The same roster likely won't get much of a better result, because this team has historically underperformed on the road in international tournaments. But to put it in a different perspective, we would have won this match were it not for one individual mistake by Janicki. If we can limit mistakes and play our possession game, we've still got a chance to advance.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
DC United tie at San Jose, 2-2
This match exhibited nothing but a lowly underperforming team working harder than a much more talented team. DC came out to a quick 2-0 lead, and apparently they thought they didn't need to do anything else for the next 70 minutes. That wasn't true.
There was also some definite bad luck for San Jose. The PK call for the first goal was questionable, although you can make a reall good case for it being a penalty. Then our second goal comes off an unlucky deflection. And it certainly didn't help the Earthquakes either that their most potent scorer got injured before the end of the first half. I was starting to worry that we may have used up all the kharma that we earned earlier in the year after all the faux penalty calls and such, but then we go and gift the Quakes a second goal with a freak handball.
1. Two easy goals from Christian Gomez. A very Morenoesque penalty kick, and a clean finish of the deflection for his second. Totally disappeared in the second half though when we needed him the most.
1. Luciano Emilio earned himself a lot of chances in this match. If he keeps up this kind of workrate, he will very quickly be back to his scoring form.
2. Also some good attacking work from Fred on both wings. He was constantly abusing our old friend Mike Zaher in the first half, and frequently found himself in dangerous spots. But every good chance the Earthquakes had in the first half came from their left. Once Fred shifted sides and Pontius moved to that wing, that was no longer the case.
3. Several very nice saves by Josh Wicks tonight, but Wallace's handball never would have occured had Wicks grabbed that cross first.
1. Marc Burch was beaten on San Jose's lone goal, and beaten a couple other times too. He did have some great service out of the back, but unfortunately there's more to playing fullback than long crosses.
2. What was Rodney Wallace's hand doing in the air?
So a pretty poor start to our toughest stretch of the season that includes 6 out of 7 regular season matches on the road, and 6 matches over the next 3 weeks, the first of which is a tough match against Firpo on Tuesday. Will be interested to see how the team does in this competition in 2009 after totally flunking out of all international competitions last year.
There was also some definite bad luck for San Jose. The PK call for the first goal was questionable, although you can make a reall good case for it being a penalty. Then our second goal comes off an unlucky deflection. And it certainly didn't help the Earthquakes either that their most potent scorer got injured before the end of the first half. I was starting to worry that we may have used up all the kharma that we earned earlier in the year after all the faux penalty calls and such, but then we go and gift the Quakes a second goal with a freak handball.
1. Two easy goals from Christian Gomez. A very Morenoesque penalty kick, and a clean finish of the deflection for his second. Totally disappeared in the second half though when we needed him the most.
1. Luciano Emilio earned himself a lot of chances in this match. If he keeps up this kind of workrate, he will very quickly be back to his scoring form.
2. Also some good attacking work from Fred on both wings. He was constantly abusing our old friend Mike Zaher in the first half, and frequently found himself in dangerous spots. But every good chance the Earthquakes had in the first half came from their left. Once Fred shifted sides and Pontius moved to that wing, that was no longer the case.
3. Several very nice saves by Josh Wicks tonight, but Wallace's handball never would have occured had Wicks grabbed that cross first.
1. Marc Burch was beaten on San Jose's lone goal, and beaten a couple other times too. He did have some great service out of the back, but unfortunately there's more to playing fullback than long crosses.
2. What was Rodney Wallace's hand doing in the air?
So a pretty poor start to our toughest stretch of the season that includes 6 out of 7 regular season matches on the road, and 6 matches over the next 3 weeks, the first of which is a tough match against Firpo on Tuesday. Will be interested to see how the team does in this competition in 2009 after totally flunking out of all international competitions last year.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
DC United win vs Colorado Rapids, 3-1
After a first half consisting of two major mistakes (Namoff's own goal and Khumalo's terrible chip shot miss), United was a bit unfortunate to be down a goal. The teams looked very evenly matched. But from the moment that the whistle blew to open up the second half, one team was clearly better than the other. What did Tom Soehn say to the players that so inspired that passion? Who knows. But I do know one thing he said: "Jaime - you're in". And that might have been the biggest factor contributing to the victory.
1. Even before the third goal, I was ready to come on here and write about the wonderful interplay between Luciano Emilio and Fred. Emilio did really well with his back to the goal and with multiple defenders on him to hold up the ball and distribute back to teammates. He was frequently getting into dangerous spots, and his goal was well earned by the team. Fred looked the best he's looked on the wing in quite a while, with some good crosses, and even won the ball a couple times in the defensive third. As Fullback suggested, Fred probably deserved to be ejected though.
2. The resident veterans Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez once again delivered a huge victory for the club. Gomez was instrumental on all three goals, earning the PK that Moreno ultimately converted, sending in the corner kick for Namoff's golazo, and putting Fred through to get the ball rolling on Emilio's goal. Moreno now has a goal in three consecutive MLS appearances.
3. Colorado's goal and pretty much every one of their chances came from long balls over the top. Credit Clyde Simms for shutting down every attempt in the middle.
4. Not the greatest starting lineup, but Tom Soehn sure did use his substitutes effectively. I didn't quite understand the decision to start Khumalo on the wing ahead of Wallace. But the team made adjustments when necessary, and maybe Moreno is best these days when coming off the bench.
1. This was obviously an up-and-down emotional match for Bryan Namoff. After the huge mistake of an own goal and a few other giveaways in the first half, Namoff unleashed the redemption on a beautiful diving header goal.
1. Really a poor decision by Boyzzz Khumalo to try to chip the ball over the keeper (and over the bar too as it turned out) instead of just taking a low placed shot at either corner. Luckily, this miss didn't change the result of the match, but it sure felt like it would at half time.
So after a well deserved and well needed week off, DC United now sets out on a very compacted portion of the schedule that will see us playing two matches per week for the next three consecutive weeks, including the US Open Cup semifinal on Tuesday (with tickets now discounted through dcunited.com), a home-and-home series in the Champions' League against Firpo, a couple trips to the MLS Western Conference (San Jose and Houston) mixed in, and of course the big matchup against Real Madrid on August 9th.
1. Even before the third goal, I was ready to come on here and write about the wonderful interplay between Luciano Emilio and Fred. Emilio did really well with his back to the goal and with multiple defenders on him to hold up the ball and distribute back to teammates. He was frequently getting into dangerous spots, and his goal was well earned by the team. Fred looked the best he's looked on the wing in quite a while, with some good crosses, and even won the ball a couple times in the defensive third. As Fullback suggested, Fred probably deserved to be ejected though.
2. The resident veterans Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez once again delivered a huge victory for the club. Gomez was instrumental on all three goals, earning the PK that Moreno ultimately converted, sending in the corner kick for Namoff's golazo, and putting Fred through to get the ball rolling on Emilio's goal. Moreno now has a goal in three consecutive MLS appearances.
3. Colorado's goal and pretty much every one of their chances came from long balls over the top. Credit Clyde Simms for shutting down every attempt in the middle.
4. Not the greatest starting lineup, but Tom Soehn sure did use his substitutes effectively. I didn't quite understand the decision to start Khumalo on the wing ahead of Wallace. But the team made adjustments when necessary, and maybe Moreno is best these days when coming off the bench.
1. This was obviously an up-and-down emotional match for Bryan Namoff. After the huge mistake of an own goal and a few other giveaways in the first half, Namoff unleashed the redemption on a beautiful diving header goal.
1. Really a poor decision by Boyzzz Khumalo to try to chip the ball over the keeper (and over the bar too as it turned out) instead of just taking a low placed shot at either corner. Luckily, this miss didn't change the result of the match, but it sure felt like it would at half time.
So after a well deserved and well needed week off, DC United now sets out on a very compacted portion of the schedule that will see us playing two matches per week for the next three consecutive weeks, including the US Open Cup semifinal on Tuesday (with tickets now discounted through dcunited.com), a home-and-home series in the Champions' League against Firpo, a couple trips to the MLS Western Conference (San Jose and Houston) mixed in, and of course the big matchup against Real Madrid on August 9th.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Danny Szetela
Today Goff is reporting and United is confirming that the club has officially acquired Danny Szetela via the MLS allocation system. United continues to acquire more young talented players who could turn into fairly big stars.Almost makes you wonder why FC Dallas would pass on this 22-year old kid with international experience. There have been rumors floating around about Heath Pearce, Damarcus Beasley, and Stern John all potentially returning to MLS through the allocation system, but I think United made the right move by grabbing this guy right now. For Dallas, it might make sense to wait and hope for an older established player like Beasley. But not for United; we've already got plenty of those. Pearce is a little more intriguing, and it would be disappointing if United was to miss out on an opportunity to sign a proven national team caliber left back when that's been arguably our biggest need for quite a few years now. But for me it would make no sense to pass on Szetela in favor of a hope that might never come to fruition. Some of these points might also assume that Dallas actually knows what they're doing, and they've never been particularly known for their player evaluation capabilities.
So now that the Szet is here, what do we do with him? Add Szetela's name to our list of versatile midfielders that already includes Pontius, Wallace, and Quaranta. We're likely to see him competing directly with Andrew Jacobson for a holding midfield position and as the first option to fill in for Olsen when necessary. I could also see him moving ahead of Khumalo, but not Fred, on our winger depth chart. Does anyone know if he can play on either side? What we probably know for sure is that Soehn is going to use him in some different spots, just like we've seen done with Pontius, Wallace, and even Barklage to some degree. Hopefully Szetela gets a couple minutes right away as a substitute in the Open Cup semifinal next week.
The bigger question is what number will the Szet wear?! He wore 7 for the Olympic team and 17 for the Crew, but both of those are taken here. 27 seems to be available, but my money is on 12.
Welcome Danny. Hope to see you stay awhile.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Mid Season Review part 3: Trades
So now that we've already reviewed and analyzed DC United's acquisitions and departures since the close of the 2008 season, let's take a look at the trades. Basically just one big one, and a couple players swapped for late-round draft picks.
1. The biggest offseason move was DC United trading Ivan Guerrero, Colorado's own designated player slot, and a 2010 2nd round draft pick to the Rapids for Christian Gomez and goalkeeper Mike Graczyk. And of course the other player impacted, although not directly involved, would be Marcelo Gallardo, who had previously occupied that DP slot for United. If you're interested in some light reading for additional context, take a look back at my 2008 Gallardo/Gomez analysis, my 2009 Gomez/Gallardo analysis, and some additional analysis of the Gomez trade. The last post provides some real interesting insight into the frame of mind we were all in following this trade. Of course there were concerns about whether Gomez would be closer to his form from 2007 or from 2008 (verdict: 2007). There were also a lot of fans (including myself) who thought Guerrero and a 2nd was too much to give up (verdict: nope, Guerrero didn't play a single game for the Rapids in 2009 before returning to Honduras). And as inconsequential as the Graczyk acquisition was, this was the first sign that United was not pleased with its current set of goalkeepers (Crayton and Kocic). But the biggest outcome from the dual DC/Colorado swaps of 2008 and 2009 might be that the first trade got us the draft pick that turned into Chris Pontius, who is set to make a lasting impact on our club for years to come.
2. When DC United acquired Josh Wicks from the LA Galaxy, few of us were very excited. His 1-2-3 record with a 2.18 GAA in LA was less than impressive. But Wicks has now emerged as our clear starter, and could be a top 5 MLS keeper. According to dcunited.com, we gave up a 2010 4th round draft pick to get Wicks, but I think I recall Goff reporting that it was either a 3rd or a 4th depending on how many games Wicks started. If that's true, then it will surely turn into a 3rd, because Wicks is likely to start 20-22 games for us this year.
3. The final two trades each involved left backs and some conditional draft picks, with DC United losing Mike Zaher to the Earthquakes and gaining Avery John from the Revolution. With an eye on the future, it's hard to spin this exchange as a victory for United. John has been mostly terrible in his few appearances with United, unable to supplant Marc Burch from the starting left back slot as many fans had hoped. Zaher, on the other hand, has started 5 games for San Jose, and while that team is not exactly a defensive powerhouse, Zaher has apparently made some positive contributions. This isn't to say that Zaher would likely be starting ahead of Burchy either, but at least he earns less money than John and takes up a developmental slot (of which we now have two extras) instead of a precious senior slot like John.
That's all for the player movements. I'll do a summary by position of all the changes sometime next week. Quick programming note: I'll be in OCMD this weekend, so don't expect a writeup from the Colorado match until Monday or Tuesday night.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
USMNT projected 2010 World Cup roster
This will be the first in an occassional series of posts where we look at the available players for the US heading into the 2010 World Cup, and the players that we think are likely to get the call.
With a second-place finish in the Confederation's Cup, which included a huge 2-0 win over Spain, and a hard-fought championship loss to Brazil, it's hard to argue against using most of the players who saw action in the Confed. But 6 points earned to date in the group stage of the Gold Cup also gives the US a deep list of options. Here's the list of players I see as currently occupying the 23 spots available for the 2010 World Cup:
Goalkeepers:
Tim Howard - One of the best keepers in the world.
Brad Guzan - Played very well in shutting out Egypt in the Confed.
Troy Perkins - Two clean sheets so far in the Gold Cup.
Defenders:
Oguchi Onyewu - Signing with AC Milan this week is huge for US.
Carlos Bocanegra - Full team's captain can start at CB or LB.
Jay DeMerit - Would not have been on this list a month ago.
Jonathan Spector - Has emerged as our best option at RB.
Steve Cherundolo - Tough battle with Spector for starting RB.
Chad Marshall - Gold Cup starter might be our best backup CB.
Jonathan Bornstein - Consistency is hard to come by at LB.
Frankie Hejduk - Fantastic in the twilight of his career in WCQ.
Midfielders:
Landon Donovan - The best player ever to wear a US uniform.
Clint Dempsey - Came up big multiple times in the Confed.
Michael Bradley - Great, calm passer, and with a scoring touch.
Benny Feilhaber - Versatile midfielder can play CM or on the wing.
Ricardo Clark - Love him in the bruiser role, when in control.
Robbie Rogers - MVP of the Gold Cup so far with 1 goal, 2 assists.
Maurice Edu - Injuries have kept him out lately, hopefully he recovers.
Kyle Beckerman - Strong showing at CM in the Gold Cup.
Forwards:
Jozy Altidore - Huge in the Confed, with a goal against Spain.
Charlie Davies - Huge in the Confed, with a goal against Egypt.
Brian Ching - Maintains possession and good at drawing fouls.
Freddy Adu - Always looks dangerous, deserves more time.
Out:
Luis Robles - Third keeper in the Confed, yet to get an opportunity.
Danny Califf - No appearances in Confed. Competing for 4th CB.
Michael Parkhurst - 1 Gold Cup appearance, competing for 4th CB.
Clarence Goodson - 1 Gold Cup appearance, competing for 4th CB.
Heath Pearce - One good cross, otherwise unimpressive for the Nats.
Marvel Wynne - Physical presence, still low soccer skills.
Michael Orozco - Disappeared from Nats for unknown reason.
Stuart Holden - Waiting to see more against stronger opponents.
Santino Quaranta - Earned first international goal against Honduras.
Francisco Torres - Wondering if he was benched for a reason?
Pablo Mastroeni - Former starting CDM at the end of his career.
DaMarcus Beasley - Was terrible in the Confed.
Logan Pause - OK defensive midfielder, can he handle the big boys?
Conor Casey - Great MLS season, done nothing on the national level.
Kenny Cooper - Doesn't score from less than 40 yards from goal.
With a second-place finish in the Confederation's Cup, which included a huge 2-0 win over Spain, and a hard-fought championship loss to Brazil, it's hard to argue against using most of the players who saw action in the Confed. But 6 points earned to date in the group stage of the Gold Cup also gives the US a deep list of options. Here's the list of players I see as currently occupying the 23 spots available for the 2010 World Cup:
Goalkeepers:
Tim Howard - One of the best keepers in the world.
Brad Guzan - Played very well in shutting out Egypt in the Confed.
Troy Perkins - Two clean sheets so far in the Gold Cup.
Defenders:
Oguchi Onyewu - Signing with AC Milan this week is huge for US.
Carlos Bocanegra - Full team's captain can start at CB or LB.
Jay DeMerit - Would not have been on this list a month ago.
Jonathan Spector - Has emerged as our best option at RB.
Steve Cherundolo - Tough battle with Spector for starting RB.
Chad Marshall - Gold Cup starter might be our best backup CB.
Jonathan Bornstein - Consistency is hard to come by at LB.
Frankie Hejduk - Fantastic in the twilight of his career in WCQ.
Midfielders:
Landon Donovan - The best player ever to wear a US uniform.
Clint Dempsey - Came up big multiple times in the Confed.
Michael Bradley - Great, calm passer, and with a scoring touch.
Benny Feilhaber - Versatile midfielder can play CM or on the wing.
Ricardo Clark - Love him in the bruiser role, when in control.
Robbie Rogers - MVP of the Gold Cup so far with 1 goal, 2 assists.
Maurice Edu - Injuries have kept him out lately, hopefully he recovers.
Kyle Beckerman - Strong showing at CM in the Gold Cup.
Forwards:
Jozy Altidore - Huge in the Confed, with a goal against Spain.
Charlie Davies - Huge in the Confed, with a goal against Egypt.
Brian Ching - Maintains possession and good at drawing fouls.
Freddy Adu - Always looks dangerous, deserves more time.
Out:
Luis Robles - Third keeper in the Confed, yet to get an opportunity.
Danny Califf - No appearances in Confed. Competing for 4th CB.
Michael Parkhurst - 1 Gold Cup appearance, competing for 4th CB.
Clarence Goodson - 1 Gold Cup appearance, competing for 4th CB.
Heath Pearce - One good cross, otherwise unimpressive for the Nats.
Marvel Wynne - Physical presence, still low soccer skills.
Michael Orozco - Disappeared from Nats for unknown reason.
Stuart Holden - Waiting to see more against stronger opponents.
Santino Quaranta - Earned first international goal against Honduras.
Francisco Torres - Wondering if he was benched for a reason?
Pablo Mastroeni - Former starting CDM at the end of his career.
DaMarcus Beasley - Was terrible in the Confed.
Logan Pause - OK defensive midfielder, can he handle the big boys?
Conor Casey - Great MLS season, done nothing on the national level.
Kenny Cooper - Doesn't score from less than 40 yards from goal.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
DC United win vs Harrisburg City Islanders, 2-1
It's pretty cool that for DC United to return to the Open Cup Final, their path to a second straight championship will consist of, in order, wins over a PDL club, then a USL-2 club, then a USL-1 club, then an MLS club.
I didn't go to the match, and I didn't even listen to it. The below match ratings are given for the sake of my ADRs, and based only on match reports from Boehn and Tenorio, and Insider comments. I'm open to revisions though, so if you attended the match, the floor is yours within the comments section to agree or disagree.
Top Shelf: Devon McTavish, Andrew Jacobson
Call: Boyzzz Khumalo, Fred
Rail: Avery John
Saturday, July 4, 2009
DC United tie at Columbus Crew, 1-1
A 1-1 tie would have been a pretty good prediction going in, and isn't a bad result for us. But it feels good to say that this team deserved better. DC United dominated in scoring opportunities, with 11 shots on goal to Columbus's 3. But they were a bit more effective at converting their few opportunities, as we let the Crew off the hook far too often with failed chances and weak shots straight at the keeper. After we missed out on scoring so often early in the second half, I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt a Crew goal was coming soon.
This is a tough part of the schedule, with a lot of multigame weeks coming up, and not the best time to be missing four starters in Moreno, Emilio, Quaranta, and Jakovic. But to be fair, Columbus was also missing their best defender in Chad Marshall and a dynamic midfielder in Robbie Roberts. We were the better side tonight. Which makes me feel good about our chances if we happen to run into the Crew in a home-and-home playoff series. But that doesn't get us any farther in the standings.
1. The central midfield of Clyde Simms and Ben Olsen was supposed to be a part of our starting lineup all year, but unfortunately seeing them together in the middle of the field has been rare. The new aerodynamically cornrowed Simms was able to go forward more with a trusted holding midfielder next to him, and made two important runs that led to our goal: first a headed shot, and then a run that caused some confusion and knocked over a defender just before Gomez's touch. But maybe the most shocking aspect of this match was Ben Olsen going 90 minutes for the first time in close to two years.
2. Really great team work that resulted in Christian Gomez's goal. Simms to N'Silu to Pontius to Gomez.
1. Remember the two things we thought we learned about Boyzzz Khumalo earlier in the week? That he's not a right wing, and that he's not a starter. Well he started at right wing in this match, but I guess we didn't have too many other choices. Khumalo was once again terrible on crosses, but did well in using his speed to track back a couple times, including one last second shot-saving tackle on Ekpo.
2. Rodney Wallace displayed excellent movement off the ball, putting himself in good spaces. But twice this resulted in shots straight at Hesmer. I'm not exactly sure if it was Wallace's fault that Moreno was so open at the back post for the Crew's goal.
3. Pretty solid match from Greg Janicki filling in for Jakovic. The defense did well to keep the Crew off the board on their many set pieces.
1. I'm not sure whether or not it was a coincidence that the Crew's goal came immediately after Fred entered the match for Khumalo. Fred gave the speedy Ekpo too much space to send in an uncontested cross. With Pontius, Wallace, and Quaranta all playing so well, and now Khumalo also making a strong push, I wonder if Fred might be slipping even farther down the depth chart.
So another strong performance by a United team that remains in sole possession of first place, at least until the end of the Chicago/Colorado match. Also, it's so rare that we talk about decent officiating performances, but that was a very well called match by Baldolermo Toledo.
This is a tough part of the schedule, with a lot of multigame weeks coming up, and not the best time to be missing four starters in Moreno, Emilio, Quaranta, and Jakovic. But to be fair, Columbus was also missing their best defender in Chad Marshall and a dynamic midfielder in Robbie Roberts. We were the better side tonight. Which makes me feel good about our chances if we happen to run into the Crew in a home-and-home playoff series. But that doesn't get us any farther in the standings.
1. The central midfield of Clyde Simms and Ben Olsen was supposed to be a part of our starting lineup all year, but unfortunately seeing them together in the middle of the field has been rare. The new aerodynamically cornrowed Simms was able to go forward more with a trusted holding midfielder next to him, and made two important runs that led to our goal: first a headed shot, and then a run that caused some confusion and knocked over a defender just before Gomez's touch. But maybe the most shocking aspect of this match was Ben Olsen going 90 minutes for the first time in close to two years.
2. Really great team work that resulted in Christian Gomez's goal. Simms to N'Silu to Pontius to Gomez.
1. Remember the two things we thought we learned about Boyzzz Khumalo earlier in the week? That he's not a right wing, and that he's not a starter. Well he started at right wing in this match, but I guess we didn't have too many other choices. Khumalo was once again terrible on crosses, but did well in using his speed to track back a couple times, including one last second shot-saving tackle on Ekpo.
2. Rodney Wallace displayed excellent movement off the ball, putting himself in good spaces. But twice this resulted in shots straight at Hesmer. I'm not exactly sure if it was Wallace's fault that Moreno was so open at the back post for the Crew's goal.
3. Pretty solid match from Greg Janicki filling in for Jakovic. The defense did well to keep the Crew off the board on their many set pieces.
1. I'm not sure whether or not it was a coincidence that the Crew's goal came immediately after Fred entered the match for Khumalo. Fred gave the speedy Ekpo too much space to send in an uncontested cross. With Pontius, Wallace, and Quaranta all playing so well, and now Khumalo also making a strong push, I wonder if Fred might be slipping even farther down the depth chart.
So another strong performance by a United team that remains in sole possession of first place, at least until the end of the Chicago/Colorado match. Also, it's so rare that we talk about decent officiating performances, but that was a very well called match by Baldolermo Toledo.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Mid Season Review part 2: Departures
This is our second of four posts in review of the moves DC United has made since the end of last season. Last week we looked at their acquisitions, today we'll look at the players who departed, and then later we'll look at their trades.
1. It's hard to imagine how different DC United's season would be had they retained Marcelo Gallardo in 2009. My guess? He would have spent most of the season in Argentina recovering from a sprained pinkie or RLS or something. When on the field, he did some nice things, scoring 4 goals and adding 3 assists in 15 appearances (yes, just half the season). But the problem was the amount of time he spent off the field, and a seeming lack of desire to return. He's looked like his old self since returning to River Plate, which makes you wonder what could have been if his heart was with DC.
2. Ah, los Gonzalos. This pair of South Americans was brought here to start in central defense, but that didn't last long. Gonzalo Martinez was quickly moved to left back, where he eventually lost his starting job to Marc Burch. Other teammates complained that they never knew what to expect from Martinez. While being slightly more consistent, Gonzalo Peralta struggled with injuries, and never really emerged as anything more than an average central defender by MLS standards. Peralta has returned to the Argentine second division and Martinez to Columbia.
3. A departure that seemed kind of serious at the time was that of Zach Wells, who started 17 games in goal for us in 2008. Had he decided to return to DC this year instead of leaving soccer altogether, the team may never have traded for Josh Wicks, and now we'd be stuck with Crayton and Wells again. Thanks Zach!
4. Everyone's favorite scapegoat last year was Rod Dyachenko, a guy who showed a lot of potential initially, but dropped off in '08. Not only did we trade a first round draft choice to Toronto to retain Dyachenko in 2006, but we also chose to protect him over Brian Carroll in the 2007 Expansion Draft. It's not Rod's fault that we overvalued him. I mean no disrespect to him when I say that he's better off in the USL, which is more to his skill level. I caught a half of a Minnesota/Portland match a couple weeks back and Dyachenko looked like one of the best players on the Thunder.
5. I was truly disappointed when the club decided to part ways with Francis Doe shortly into the 2009 season. But apparently I did not forget Doe's incredible performance against New England last year as quickly as the front office did. I guess I should trust Soehn's opinion more than my own when it comes to weighing players' fitness levels, but right now I would prefer to still have Doe on the roster over N'Silu.
6. Clearly two victims of the new MLS roster constraints were Joe Vide and Domenic Mediate. And while I can't find any recent information on Vide to know if he's playing anywhere, Mediate has been an important player for the first place Puerto Rico Islanders. With MLS adding three more teams in the next two years, these guys might get their chances again.
7. Quavas Kirk is another in the endless line of IMG Academy players and Generation Adidas players who haven't panned out. Never the most technically skilled soccer player, Q-Nasty was probably our most physically gifted player on roster last year. Kirk will now try to develop his skills in the USL with Minnesota.
8. More victims of the roster changes were Ryan Cordeiro and Craig Thompson. Cordeiro brought lots of energy to the field in his 8 appearances, and was often the star of the reserve team. Thompson was consistent, if unimpressive, while serving as decent depth during the team's struggles with injuries last year. After both were surprisingly not invited to traning camp, Cordeiro decided to stay local, signing on with Real Maryland, while Thompson is apparently without a team.
9. DC United cut ties with the entire Carroll family when failing to renew the contracts of Jeff and Pat, ending a run of three consecutive years with two Carrolls on the roster. Jeff Carroll suffered from numerous unfortunate injuries during his time in DC, and after showing some potential early on, wound up sitting out the entire 2008 season. Pat Carroll was inconsistent in three starts for United, sometimes playing steady in defense, but more often failing to provide the coverage we needed for him to earn a permanent spot. Both are now with Real Maryland.
1. It's hard to imagine how different DC United's season would be had they retained Marcelo Gallardo in 2009. My guess? He would have spent most of the season in Argentina recovering from a sprained pinkie or RLS or something. When on the field, he did some nice things, scoring 4 goals and adding 3 assists in 15 appearances (yes, just half the season). But the problem was the amount of time he spent off the field, and a seeming lack of desire to return. He's looked like his old self since returning to River Plate, which makes you wonder what could have been if his heart was with DC.
2. Ah, los Gonzalos. This pair of South Americans was brought here to start in central defense, but that didn't last long. Gonzalo Martinez was quickly moved to left back, where he eventually lost his starting job to Marc Burch. Other teammates complained that they never knew what to expect from Martinez. While being slightly more consistent, Gonzalo Peralta struggled with injuries, and never really emerged as anything more than an average central defender by MLS standards. Peralta has returned to the Argentine second division and Martinez to Columbia.
3. A departure that seemed kind of serious at the time was that of Zach Wells, who started 17 games in goal for us in 2008. Had he decided to return to DC this year instead of leaving soccer altogether, the team may never have traded for Josh Wicks, and now we'd be stuck with Crayton and Wells again. Thanks Zach!
4. Everyone's favorite scapegoat last year was Rod Dyachenko, a guy who showed a lot of potential initially, but dropped off in '08. Not only did we trade a first round draft choice to Toronto to retain Dyachenko in 2006, but we also chose to protect him over Brian Carroll in the 2007 Expansion Draft. It's not Rod's fault that we overvalued him. I mean no disrespect to him when I say that he's better off in the USL, which is more to his skill level. I caught a half of a Minnesota/Portland match a couple weeks back and Dyachenko looked like one of the best players on the Thunder.
5. I was truly disappointed when the club decided to part ways with Francis Doe shortly into the 2009 season. But apparently I did not forget Doe's incredible performance against New England last year as quickly as the front office did. I guess I should trust Soehn's opinion more than my own when it comes to weighing players' fitness levels, but right now I would prefer to still have Doe on the roster over N'Silu.
6. Clearly two victims of the new MLS roster constraints were Joe Vide and Domenic Mediate. And while I can't find any recent information on Vide to know if he's playing anywhere, Mediate has been an important player for the first place Puerto Rico Islanders. With MLS adding three more teams in the next two years, these guys might get their chances again.
7. Quavas Kirk is another in the endless line of IMG Academy players and Generation Adidas players who haven't panned out. Never the most technically skilled soccer player, Q-Nasty was probably our most physically gifted player on roster last year. Kirk will now try to develop his skills in the USL with Minnesota.
8. More victims of the roster changes were Ryan Cordeiro and Craig Thompson. Cordeiro brought lots of energy to the field in his 8 appearances, and was often the star of the reserve team. Thompson was consistent, if unimpressive, while serving as decent depth during the team's struggles with injuries last year. After both were surprisingly not invited to traning camp, Cordeiro decided to stay local, signing on with Real Maryland, while Thompson is apparently without a team.
9. DC United cut ties with the entire Carroll family when failing to renew the contracts of Jeff and Pat, ending a run of three consecutive years with two Carrolls on the roster. Jeff Carroll suffered from numerous unfortunate injuries during his time in DC, and after showing some potential early on, wound up sitting out the entire 2008 season. Pat Carroll was inconsistent in three starts for United, sometimes playing steady in defense, but more often failing to provide the coverage we needed for him to earn a permanent spot. Both are now with Real Maryland.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
DC United win vs. Ocean City Barons, 2-0
DC United should be neither elated nor concerned after the team needed 75 minutes to beat a PDL squad consisting mostly of college players and a few amateurs. It wasn't pretty, but DC is one step closer to defending their US Open Cup title, which is more than you can say about the 4 MLS clubs who lost to USL clubs last night.
1. Others seem to disagree, but I thought Ange N'Silu looked good last night. And while he and Khumalo didn't work together very well, which is exactly what I predicted, N'Silu was involved in almost every decent scoring chance in the first half. He disappeared for most of the second half, but he drew the penalty which ultimately put us ahead, and then popped up again in stoppage time to score our second goal.
2. Were this an MLS game being officiated by MLS refs, Chris Pontius would have earned two penalty kicks. Pontius was the best player on the field in the second half.
3. Marc Burch was the best player on the field in the first half. Despite his flaws, the USLlive.com announcer made a good analogy when comparing Burch to the point man on a hockey power play. From a spot on the back line, Burch was organizing the attack in the first half. He passed well with Wallace on the left flank, and would frequently find Khumalo or McTavish open with long balls across the field. And this match also saw the return of the legendary Burchie-bomb, which seems to be reserved only for Open Cup matches, as Burch hit the free kick that Ogunbiye failed to secure for the last goal.
4. Milos Kocic made two great saves in the final five minutes to preserve the victory. Needs to work on his distribution though.
1. This was my first chance to see John DiRaimondo. He reminds me a bit of Jeremy Barlow: small (5'-7", 155lbs) and not the best athlete, but calm and with good positioning. In a match that was often frustrating to watch, the incident in which Janicki bowled over and subsequently injured DiRaimondo provided a bit of comic relief.
1. Maybe this is being too harsh on him, but I thought Andrew Jacobson looked right at home on a field with a bunch of amateur soccer players. Too many giveaways.
2. Ok so we learned two things about Boyzzz Khumalo in this match. First, he's not a right wing. And second, he's not a starter. He had some terrible crosses, and on one fast break opportunity late in the game, he tripped over his own feet. Probably because he was tired after running nonstop for 80 minutes. Khumalo is best when coming on as a sub as a striker in the 75th minute to run around the opposing defense like crazy after they're all winded.
So those red Barons deserve a bit of credit. They put forth a valiant effort against a first place professional team, and I think they probably have some players whose names we might hear again at a higher level in a couple years. Hopefully the United players congratulated them after the match. But we'll be the ones moving on to face our Open Cup rivals the Harrisburg Islanders next week.
1. Others seem to disagree, but I thought Ange N'Silu looked good last night. And while he and Khumalo didn't work together very well, which is exactly what I predicted, N'Silu was involved in almost every decent scoring chance in the first half. He disappeared for most of the second half, but he drew the penalty which ultimately put us ahead, and then popped up again in stoppage time to score our second goal.
2. Were this an MLS game being officiated by MLS refs, Chris Pontius would have earned two penalty kicks. Pontius was the best player on the field in the second half.
3. Marc Burch was the best player on the field in the first half. Despite his flaws, the USLlive.com announcer made a good analogy when comparing Burch to the point man on a hockey power play. From a spot on the back line, Burch was organizing the attack in the first half. He passed well with Wallace on the left flank, and would frequently find Khumalo or McTavish open with long balls across the field. And this match also saw the return of the legendary Burchie-bomb, which seems to be reserved only for Open Cup matches, as Burch hit the free kick that Ogunbiye failed to secure for the last goal.
4. Milos Kocic made two great saves in the final five minutes to preserve the victory. Needs to work on his distribution though.
1. This was my first chance to see John DiRaimondo. He reminds me a bit of Jeremy Barlow: small (5'-7", 155lbs) and not the best athlete, but calm and with good positioning. In a match that was often frustrating to watch, the incident in which Janicki bowled over and subsequently injured DiRaimondo provided a bit of comic relief.
1. Maybe this is being too harsh on him, but I thought Andrew Jacobson looked right at home on a field with a bunch of amateur soccer players. Too many giveaways.
2. Ok so we learned two things about Boyzzz Khumalo in this match. First, he's not a right wing. And second, he's not a starter. He had some terrible crosses, and on one fast break opportunity late in the game, he tripped over his own feet. Probably because he was tired after running nonstop for 80 minutes. Khumalo is best when coming on as a sub as a striker in the 75th minute to run around the opposing defense like crazy after they're all winded.
So those red Barons deserve a bit of credit. They put forth a valiant effort against a first place professional team, and I think they probably have some players whose names we might hear again at a higher level in a couple years. Hopefully the United players congratulated them after the match. But we'll be the ones moving on to face our Open Cup rivals the Harrisburg Islanders next week.
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