DC United Postmatch

[SoupInNYC]

One last note, I thought the officiating in this match was very good. Nothing I was really upset about. I thought watching live we got away with a penalty, but watching the replay, the ref made the right call just outside the box. Which, coming from an MLS ref is somewhat surprising.

As much as we bitch about reffing in MLS (myself included), I think its good to point out when they have had good matches.

 

[Ulrich]

Not sure if anybody has noticed, but while the team isn't good at defending set pieces, every single game we have a ridiculous trick corner kick (usually a double pass/flick) set up that ends up with a beyond solid shot by an open player. Many are right at the keeper or blocked by hitting a deep defender (as opposed to the defender blocking it), so we aren't scoring as many as we should. But the plays are there and if we start converting 50% more of the opportunities from these, we'll go from losses to ties and ties to wins. It's like Vieira is a fan of the basketball inbounds pass...

 

[mgarbowski]

Thanks all for the pointer to that corner play. I did notice it, was impressed by it, and then somehow forgot about it in the glow of the 2-game winning streak.

 

[ktdNYCFC]

Imagine how we'd look if we were using 3 DPs. I don't care if Lampard comes back tomorrow - I'm done with this nonsense. We've got Lalas shaking his head in the pre-game calling it a complete disaster. Is he even selling shirts anymore?

 

[SoupInNYC]

Imagine how we'd look if we were using 3 DPs. I don't care if Lampard comes back tomorrow - I'm done with this nonsense. We've got Lalas shaking his head in the pre-game calling it a complete disaster. Is he even selling shirts anymore?

Ok, this gave me a great idea. Someone more technologically savvy than I am has to mash that Ben Olsen clip with a peeping lampard in the sky somehow.

 

[Viewfrom226]

Not sure if anybody has noticed, but while the team isn't good at defending set pieces, every single game we have a ridiculous trick corner kick (usually a double pass/flick) set up that ends up with a beyond solid shot by an open player. Many are right at the keeper or blocked by hitting a deep defender (as opposed to the defender blocking it), so we aren't scoring as many as we should. But the plays are there and if we start converting 50% more of the opportunities from these, we'll go from losses to ties and ties to wins. It's like Vieira is a fan of the basketball inbounds pass...

It makes sense as a tactic given that:
- Traditional corners where the ball is just lumped into the box tend to be vastly overrated in terms of the percentage which actually produce goals (though sometimes it doesn't feel that way on the defensive side for us!);
- Our percentage is likely to be even lower given that we don't have a lot of height and some of the guys with size aren't great headers of the ball; and
- We have a guy taking them who can put the ball on a dime.

 

[Alfred]

I hear the Saunders bandwagon starting up. Let me add that at one point he caught a ball cleanly. #JoshRules.

 

[Ulrich]

I hear the Saunders bandwagon starting up. Let me add that at one point he caught a ball cleanly. #JoshRules.

While Saunders faced zero shots on goal, he did snare the ball from the feet of the DC player that botched the sure goal - that was a gift Saunders gave us. Other than that, he was damn lucky DC can't shoot because they had 1-2 open nets with Saunders on the side of the goal mouth. He also may have missed his calling as an amateur boxer since all he wants to do it punch the ball when grabbing it may be the safer route (I'm waiting for his fist to glance the side of the ball and it careen into the net).

I'll refrain from any more criticism this week - we got a shutout and that's bonus to a win. Let the team savor it and hopefully we can go take another one next Sunday from the tree-hugging lumberjacks.

 

[SoupInNYC]

One more note on Saunders after watching the game highlights. That FK from Sarvas that went off the post, Saunders set up the wall and then stood in the middle of the goal. You could see Mata trying to tell Saunders to move more towards his right, but Saunders was not listening to him. Sarvas went to Saunders' right and put it off the post.

Now that said, it was a wonderful FK from Sarvas, and even if Saunders had been better positioned to make the save, I'm not sure he could have gotten there, but he really should have been in a better spot.

 

[Tom in Fairfield CT]

One more note on Saunders after watching the game highlights. That FK from Sarvas that went off the post, Saunders set up the wall and then stood in the middle of the goal. You could see Mata trying to tell Saunders to move more towards his right, but Saunders was not listening to him. Sarvas went to Saunders' right and put it off the post.

Now that said, it was a wonderful FK from Sarvas, and even if Saunders had been better positioned to make the save, I'm not sure he could have gotten there, but he really should have been in a better spot.

Can we also mention the ridiculous play where he got caught way out of position and got so lucky to grab that ball off the attackers foot?

 

[Seven]

Not sure if it was due more to United's mediocrity, but I was impressed how we closed out the game. Normally it's a heart attack waiting to happen, but last night they did a really good job making the smart pass and keeping possession, and drawing fouls

 

[Christopher Jee]

Can we also mention the ridiculous play where he got caught way out of position and got so lucky to grab that ball off the attackers foot?

Do you think he would have been better off staying on his line for that? Or are you thinking he should have been out earlier (my bias)? Nearest defender was at least a couple of strides away.

 

[ktdNYCFC]

Who else noticed on one of the opening plays of the game, Hernandez gets the ball at his feet with DC closing in, looks at Saunders, says fuck that and ends up pressing it into the corner?

 

[Ulrich]

Can we also mention the ridiculous play where he got caught way out of position and got so lucky to grab that ball off the attackers foot?

I did mention it two posts up from you.

 

[Ulrich]

Who else noticed one of the opening play of the game, Hernandez gets the ball at his feet with DC closing in, looks at Saunders, says fuck that and ends up pressing it into the corner?

Hernandez looked nervous every time he had the ball - he's only one step up from Sanders with it.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Do you think he would have been better off staying on his line for that? Or are you thinking he should have been out earlier (my bias)? Nearest defender was at least a couple of strides away.

I thought he should have been out earlier. He was way too hesitant coming off his line in the first half. Second half was much, much better.

 

[Viewfrom226]

My thoughts:

- Obviously three points on the road against an Eastern team is huge given how we started at home. It was also nice to show that we can play sensibly on the road on the bigger pitch.

- Overall a pretty solid performance, and a good example of a match that we played pretty well in and got some of the breaks (thanks Alvaro Saborio), which wasn't happening earlier. Unlike Montreal where we absolutely stifled them offensively, this one could have gone in the other direction in the first 30 mins without some good fortune.

- DC was beyond terrible. I've seen them look better this year, but that was a really poor performance.

- Still uncertain on the Mikey Lopez experiment. I'm warming to his ability to run around and press, and it has correlated with good overall team performances (though whether it is actually causing them remains up in the air for me). But, his on the ball skills are so limited and we are losing offensive opportunities when the ball is played to him. I find it borderline painful to watch.

- I think we got a huge break a few weeks back when White got scratched before the match and Brillant came in. He always was, and has been, our best CB in my opinion, but that horrific opener in Chicago and the messing around with three at the back early meant it was as slow start for him.

- Anyone else notice that Mullins hasn't even been on the bench for the past three matches? I find that surprising given that Vieira is carrying both Mendoza and Taylor and I would have thought Vieira would at least want the optionality of Mullins.

- I really liked how we "saw the match out" once going up 2-0. Possession stats really switched in DC's favor at that point if you look at the five minute intervals graph, but we gave up very few chances. Smart performance.

- I'm worried about the lack of cover for Bravo going into Portland, but if you assume a suspension was always coming, good timing I suppose. He presumably gets to skip a cross country flight and then is back for Toronto and New Jersey.

- The Khiry Shelton goal was such the embodiment of the Khiry experience. But he's the only guy on the team who gets that goal for us in all likelihood and I love that he attacked the ball so aggressively even if he kind of missed it. Better yet is his recent ability to drive in and then take the ball outside and get a cross in, which has led to two goals in the past three matches. The crosses have been somewhat weak but very accurate.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Hernandez looked nervous every time he had the ball - he's only one step up from Sanders with it.

I'm not even sure if he's a full step up. Hernandez has played pretty well defensively this year. But he is pitiful with the ball at his feet.

 

[Viewfrom226]

I'm gonna have to try and make more of these away games. There weren't many of us but it was a great time.

Really bummed to have missed the trip for this one.

Not to skip ahead, but anyone heading to Toronto in 10 days?

 

[mgarbowski]

Do you think he would have been better off staying on his line for that? Or are you thinking he should have been out earlier (my bias)? Nearest defender was at least a couple of strides away.

I thought he had to come out. While it raised my blood pressure, in the end he made the play.