We're not exactly blowing opponents away, but we are winning, and usually by two goals. The system Emery uses simply puts too much pressure on our center backs. They're not the fastest, and the number of one-on-ones we've allowed with our keeper is insane. It will definitely come back to haunt us one day, but how can anyone argue with seven wins in a row? Sure, the opposition was not of the highest quality, but Watford was above us in the table until yesterday.
This early in the season, it's easy to feel optimistic. New manager and all that, and we're in fifth, five up on Man U and level with 4th place Spuds. I'd feel a little better had we not farmed out Chambers. Kos may never be effective again, and if Nacho or any CB gets hurt, we're in trouble. Buying Leno was very smart. I hope they let Emi start in Qarabag.
...
DC United beat Montreal Impact 5-0 in a game that our manager Ben Olsen admitted was "damn even" despite the flattering score. In the US, our addiction to playoffs has infected soccer too, so if DC can win four out of its last five, we'll slip into the last playoff spot and have a shot at winning the MLS Cup. It's not all Wayne Rooney, and it's not all Audi Field, though together they may explain a lot of our return to respectability. Luciano Acosta, Yamil Asad, and Paul Arriola click with Rooney and each other amazingly well. They think they can score buckets of goals and they're right. No team will want to face us in the playoffs.
...
I'm betting that Mourinho is fired tomorrow. Why stall? He obviously wants out and is going to make them pay to get rid of his malign presence. Just pull the trigger already. Why anyone signs a contract with this guy for more than two years max is beyond me. Man U is dripping with star talent and can play with anyone, if the manager lets them.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Arsenal 2 - 0 Everton
[The last couple games weren't televised here, so I don't blog on them. My comments are sufficiently uninformed after seeing the games.]
Not good enough. The three points were a relief, yes, but we required a man of the match performance from Cech (and some Toffee incompetence in front of goal) to secure them. (More about the linesman's contribution below.) The defensive fragility has to be the main concern for Emery. I am still mystified about Chambers's loan to Fulham. I like Sokratis, and I'm not as down on Mustafi as everyone else seems to be, but I think Holding-Chambers would do as well as they do. And if they go down injured, it's Holding and who? Bellerin is looking increasingly beatable, and Monreal is slowing down a trifle. Behind them, it's 34 year old Lichtsteiner and a banjaxed Kolasinac, whose healthy defensive prowess is suspect.
Our terrible start unfortunately coincided with Torreira's debut as a starter. I thought he was very good today. Xhaka, however, gave the ball away too many times for my liking. Ramsey didn't do enough, Ozil seemed to avoid anything resembling a challenge, and Auba was off his game. I don't fault Lacazette, whose winning goal was magnificent, and whose industry all over the field was appreciated.
Everton was surprisingly lively today, so credit to them for making this a very uncomfortable game for us. But they have to feel hard done by, with the misses from all three of their strikers, the brilliant curler from Laca, and the offside goal. That pretty much killed their spirit, and it was a horrible miss from the linesman. I was happy that the good, beautiful strike stood as the winner.
If we play like this against Watford, we're going to lose.
Not good enough. The three points were a relief, yes, but we required a man of the match performance from Cech (and some Toffee incompetence in front of goal) to secure them. (More about the linesman's contribution below.) The defensive fragility has to be the main concern for Emery. I am still mystified about Chambers's loan to Fulham. I like Sokratis, and I'm not as down on Mustafi as everyone else seems to be, but I think Holding-Chambers would do as well as they do. And if they go down injured, it's Holding and who? Bellerin is looking increasingly beatable, and Monreal is slowing down a trifle. Behind them, it's 34 year old Lichtsteiner and a banjaxed Kolasinac, whose healthy defensive prowess is suspect.
Our terrible start unfortunately coincided with Torreira's debut as a starter. I thought he was very good today. Xhaka, however, gave the ball away too many times for my liking. Ramsey didn't do enough, Ozil seemed to avoid anything resembling a challenge, and Auba was off his game. I don't fault Lacazette, whose winning goal was magnificent, and whose industry all over the field was appreciated.
Everton was surprisingly lively today, so credit to them for making this a very uncomfortable game for us. But they have to feel hard done by, with the misses from all three of their strikers, the brilliant curler from Laca, and the offside goal. That pretty much killed their spirit, and it was a horrible miss from the linesman. I was happy that the good, beautiful strike stood as the winner.
If we play like this against Watford, we're going to lose.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
If Loving Wayne Rooney Is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right
MLS has finally decided that DC United merits a big name import, and it has transformed us into a dangerous side with ambition. The brand new Audi Field will be the venue for eight of our last ten games. Before Rooney's arrival, we were mired at the bottom of the MLS standings. Now, we're six points from the last playoff (what is it about Americans and playoffs?) spot with three games in hand.
DC United was the premier MLS team in its first decade. We won the MLS Cup four times (including three of the first four years), the CONCACAF Champions League, three US Open Cups, and four Supporters' Shields (best regular season record). But as the rest of the league moved into soccer-only stadiums, we were still playing in funky old RFK; and the league concentrated on building up the New York and LA franchises at the expense of the rest of the teams. We were pretty awful for quite a while. The one triumph was an unlikely US Open Cup in 2013, a year we finished dead last in the league.
There's nothing wrong with coach Ben Olsen, local hero. We just didn't have enough good players. Goalkeeper Bill Hamid is top class, and I'm delighted he returned from a disappointing European stint. Luciano Acosta is excellent. Most of the rest of the players had to be replaced, though, and that's what happened. Still, it was not clicking for United until Audi Field became Wayne's World. He's provided leadership, a damned near perfect example, incredible effort, and sublime skill in driving us to pick up points and climb the table. He's gotten five assists and four goals in (about) ten games, and has rejuvenated the play of Acosta, who now looks like one of the most dangerous players in the league. Here's a really nice blog post from PlanetFootball with clips. The one from the Orlando game is incredible--check it out if you have not already seen it. The stuff of dreams!
Rooney is 32 years old. He's a Manchester United and England legend. But he's already well on the way to becoming a DC United legend as well.
DC United was the premier MLS team in its first decade. We won the MLS Cup four times (including three of the first four years), the CONCACAF Champions League, three US Open Cups, and four Supporters' Shields (best regular season record). But as the rest of the league moved into soccer-only stadiums, we were still playing in funky old RFK; and the league concentrated on building up the New York and LA franchises at the expense of the rest of the teams. We were pretty awful for quite a while. The one triumph was an unlikely US Open Cup in 2013, a year we finished dead last in the league.
There's nothing wrong with coach Ben Olsen, local hero. We just didn't have enough good players. Goalkeeper Bill Hamid is top class, and I'm delighted he returned from a disappointing European stint. Luciano Acosta is excellent. Most of the rest of the players had to be replaced, though, and that's what happened. Still, it was not clicking for United until Audi Field became Wayne's World. He's provided leadership, a damned near perfect example, incredible effort, and sublime skill in driving us to pick up points and climb the table. He's gotten five assists and four goals in (about) ten games, and has rejuvenated the play of Acosta, who now looks like one of the most dangerous players in the league. Here's a really nice blog post from PlanetFootball with clips. The one from the Orlando game is incredible--check it out if you have not already seen it. The stuff of dreams!
Rooney is 32 years old. He's a Manchester United and England legend. But he's already well on the way to becoming a DC United legend as well.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Cardiff 2 - 3 Arsenal
For the neutrals, this was a fantastic game. For me, it was torture--but with a happy ending. All five goals were very well taken, though it's fair to say that poor control, dodgy refereeing, and lax defense were present in the buildups, though that takes away nothing from the goals and assists. Mustafi's header was excellent, and so was the header that made it 2-2 for the Welsh side. You just can't strike a ball better than Laca and Auba did for their goals, and the Camarasa chance was not easy but he buried it.
So, defense. What defense? If Warnock's men were trying to prevent chances, it did not work. Laca hit the post, and several great Arsenal chances were spurned, blocked, or saved. For our part, it's becoming increasingly clear that our system is not catering to our defensive abilities. Had Emery not impressed on the men how important it was to snuff out counters with intentional fouls, it may have been worse. As it was, we were in danger of going down to ten men when both fullbacks picked up early yellows.
I liked the way we moved the ball. Maybe Ozil was greasing the gears. I haven't seen any player ratings, but Xhaka seemed off the pace to me, and exhibited some bad judgement, most spectacularly for the stupid cross-field giveaway just before halftime that led to the (first) tying goal. Gwendouzi looked good, I thought, and Ramsey was lively. I love Lacazette, though. He works really hard on O and D and has good vision. Bellerin did his job and so did Nacho, but I think they're being asked to do an awful lot. Sokratis and Mustafi are not good, fast, or disciplined enough to be able to deal with counters without help, but our fullbacks are always way up the field when we lose the ball. Torreira helps in that regard but he's not the complete answer. Cech seems to me to be very uncomfortable back there. He's asked to play out of the back and he's not terribly good at it; and he never knows what he's going to get from his CBs on corners and crosses. He's supposed to be the secure option, but aside from his still excellent reading of the game and decent shot-stopping abilities, he appears to be the risky option in the early going.
This was a very necessary three points when we could easily have dropped two or three. Cardiff had just three shots on goal, but missed some glorious chances by skying them when a good shot would have scored. After the break, we have to shore things up in the back somehow. We can't just wait for an aging Kos to get healthy again. I will never understand the decision to farm out Chambers, but Holding and Mavrapanos are still on the squad and from what I've seen they can't do much worse than the guys Emery keeps sending out.
So, defense. What defense? If Warnock's men were trying to prevent chances, it did not work. Laca hit the post, and several great Arsenal chances were spurned, blocked, or saved. For our part, it's becoming increasingly clear that our system is not catering to our defensive abilities. Had Emery not impressed on the men how important it was to snuff out counters with intentional fouls, it may have been worse. As it was, we were in danger of going down to ten men when both fullbacks picked up early yellows.
I liked the way we moved the ball. Maybe Ozil was greasing the gears. I haven't seen any player ratings, but Xhaka seemed off the pace to me, and exhibited some bad judgement, most spectacularly for the stupid cross-field giveaway just before halftime that led to the (first) tying goal. Gwendouzi looked good, I thought, and Ramsey was lively. I love Lacazette, though. He works really hard on O and D and has good vision. Bellerin did his job and so did Nacho, but I think they're being asked to do an awful lot. Sokratis and Mustafi are not good, fast, or disciplined enough to be able to deal with counters without help, but our fullbacks are always way up the field when we lose the ball. Torreira helps in that regard but he's not the complete answer. Cech seems to me to be very uncomfortable back there. He's asked to play out of the back and he's not terribly good at it; and he never knows what he's going to get from his CBs on corners and crosses. He's supposed to be the secure option, but aside from his still excellent reading of the game and decent shot-stopping abilities, he appears to be the risky option in the early going.
This was a very necessary three points when we could easily have dropped two or three. Cardiff had just three shots on goal, but missed some glorious chances by skying them when a good shot would have scored. After the break, we have to shore things up in the back somehow. We can't just wait for an aging Kos to get healthy again. I will never understand the decision to farm out Chambers, but Holding and Mavrapanos are still on the squad and from what I've seen they can't do much worse than the guys Emery keeps sending out.
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