RSL vs. DC Aug 31 Pre/PBP/Post [R]

[devNull]

Originally Posted by Peter Hein

You have the guy you are looking for. His name is Cabrera. Unfortunately, he was not available for this DC game defensive disaster. Notice the offside line at 3/4 of the field and then getting outrun by Walker (fresh player in second half against a tired defense) with an easy one on one with Nolly. DC coach knew what he was doing when he saw the slow defense. The midfield was the problem, no control or interception of the ball, thus constant defense. The players wait for the ball to be kicked before they position themselves. Then it is too late. A player needs to look at the player and calculate what the offensive player's options are and then position at the moment the kicker strikes the ball. A well I played too long ago. I guess today they are not taught what we were taught!?!?!

Are you suggesting that Cabrera can play defensive midfield? I agree that Cabrera would have helped tonight, but I don't see him helping the midfield.

[DadOf8]

RSL looked like it was their first time playing together. I'm wondering if bringing in Scarlett, Gregorio, Tarley, et al at this point in the season is causing the team to reconfigure its playing schema mid-stride. I pose this question: Have we ever had the same starting 11 more than once? It seems like Coach E is still trying to find the right combination of players.

You're right, this one was hard to watch, okay, it was okay when the score was 2 - 1, I thought there might be a chance to get back into it, but that hope was quickly blown away. Here's to having a short memory and kicking the Rev's butt Saturday.

[devNull]

Originally Posted by prk166

I still come back to the Willaims - Mathis question. Can those 2 really be in the midfield at the same time? I'm not sure Scarlett helps that situation either.

I think that they can. How many touches did they get on the ball tonight in dangerous positions (not that they really did much w/ the touches they had)? I think that quick, quality distribution out of the back from a solid defensive midfielder is lacking. I like Cutler, but his passes are very predictable and rarely dangerous. I understand he doesn't want to make a mistake, but I think we need something more out of that position. Clint isn't really going to be an engine in the midfield and neither is Andy. They can both do well given a good ball in space. I think it works if we can get someone to start providing those balls.

[edaw33]

Originally Posted by DadOf8

It seems like Coach E is still trying to find the right combination of players.

Isn't that what freaking practice is for?



Holy crap, maybe the inconsistent play is due to inconsistent lineups?

[Rover]

Originally Posted by RSL1

OK, so here's my take on the game tonight:

Dunseth made an atrocious decision right before the second goal when hedchallenged young Freddy where he did. Rather than contain, he dove in at his ankles. The ensuing free kick was a pretty one. Not a surprise that DC scored there. It was a dangerous spot.

The goal that Adu scored was also a sad statment of affairs. There were THREE white jerseys in his area. NONE attempted to slow him down or pressure the point of attack. Nolly was also poorly positioned on the shot, though Freddy should not have had a chance to get such a clean shot off anyway. Dunny, Pope, SCARLETT (our supposed savior), I'm looking at you.

The goal that was scored in the second half after Nolly made the save on the line (the fourth maybe?) was the most inexcusable of them all. While Nolly didn't do a very good job to cover his rebound, Eddie Pope let the DC player run right by him and tuck the ball in the net. Watch the replays and you'll see the DC goal scorer pursue the ball from behind Eddie Pope. Not acceptable. When the goal keeper makes a save and the ball is on the turf on the goal line, the defensive players better damn well be collapsing on that ball rather than allowing the opponent to hack away at their vulnerable keeper.

The last goal was just sad. Clearly gave up. Broome made a poor decision to bring the ball down inside the box with a defender on his back. He gave up after that.

Other observations:

- Mathis is just ridiculously slow these days. Not just slow of foot but more importantly he's slow in decision making and is showing very little ideas in the attacking 1/3. It pained me to see him resort to the longball so early in the game. The fact that he's not dictating the flow of the game through teh midfield and is just getting stupid fouls renders him a complete liability out there since it is distracting to the team. For the record, I have always been a Cleetus apologist. Sadly, no more....
- Broome was uncharacteristically poor tonight. He's not usually this bad, but he's also proving why he's not considered a first line starter in MLS.
- Akwari is S-LLLLL-OOOOOOO-WWWWWW. He also has no clue how to distribute the ball. This kid does not have what it takes, unless having what it takes means getting beat to the ball and getting beat BY the ball.
- Scarlett looks so promising that it's painful to make the following statement. There's one thing that I've seen from him before, as I have reported when they announced his signing: he has very poor decision making going forward. His pace and pretty touches are positives, but he doesn't understand his position because the league that he played in prior to this rewarded individual skill over tactics. He looks so very pretty on the ball and he looks fast (though not as untouchably fast as Ellinger keeps talking about). The thing is, there's a difference between actually being dangerous and merely appearing to be dangerous. He dribbles into some very odd positions and doesn't get behind the defense enough to use his "speed" to his advantage. I think that the comparison to DMB was apt - that is, a comparison to an early DMB who couldn't cross the ball to an open jersey, didn't know the right time to slow the attack or to go full speed ahead and the DMB that actually dribbled himself into bad spots. Scarlett complained last game about not having people in the box to cross to -- well, part of that problem is that a good cross isn't just a well struck ball that you blindly serve into the box!?!
- Tarley looks like a good pickup. Loved to see his work rate out there. But he isn't the creative attacker that people are calling him. He's a box forward.
- Trembly is a out of his league.

Now, what's the antidote here?
My answer is three fold:
(1) The backline has to learn how to mark, and I mean how to truly mark, not just stand in the general vicinity of the player. Cabrera is one such upgrade. Eddie Pope has to relearn how to play the game as an MLS professional and then he's fine. Broome, Akwari, Dunseth need to be the "depth" that we keep talking about. That means bringing in two more class defenders.
(2) The midfield needs complete overhauling. I don't care how much speed and skills Andy Williams and Scarlett bring to the flanks, when a team doesn't have two dedicated central players to dictate the flow of an attack and to add variety to the point of attack, then the forwards receive no service and the back line is under fire on counter attacks all night long. The answer is to drop Cleetus at the end of the season and bring in a truly creative #10 and another horse to do the dirty work inside but who also has the speed to cover for blown marks on the defensive back line.
(3) As much as we all like Kreis, the dude does not create any sense of havoc for the opponent's defense. He doesn't do much off the ball to create space for the midfield. All he really does is make diagonal runs. After 90 minues this is predictable. Yes he scores goals, but with a team that is lacking for ideas in the final 1/3, I say you need to bring in a more creative and fear-inducing forward.

These are a lot of moves to make. I think that our allegiance to certain players has to be dismissed, however, and we have to cut some fat and add some other horses to the stable as suggested above.

I am open for scrutiny, but please keep it above the belt.

Well, that's quite an analysis and I cannot argue with your reasoning. I make it a point to avoid heavy personal criticism of players but if there ever was a time to be blunt, it is now. Why? Because although we still have a slight chance of making the playoffs, we now are essentially holding weekly tryouts for next year's team.

You've covered the points very well so I will only elaborate on one, and that is the midfield. Like everyone else I've been waiting patiently for RSL to develop a true midfield. Everyone has their own philosophy on how to build a team, so I'll admit up front I usually prefer a basic 4-4-2 that can be modified as necessary. From that perspective, you build from the back, and I think that although we need some help there (and despite tonight's poor performance) the elements are in place. I agree we could use a couple more strong wing defenders. With that and a big improvement in defensive organization, we'll have a defense that will keep us in games.

But the midfield is where you win games, and we need a lot more there to compete in this league. Basically, we're not strong enough in the middle two, and that's the source of most of our inconsistency. Lots of terms to choose from, but I'll use "attacking mid" and "holding mid." We simply don't have top class players for these positions. I'm not going to point a finger at Mathis because we all knew what we were getting with him. He simply isn't the kind of player who can sustain the organization of a team as is needed in a mid. We need a player who can do what Nowak did for the Fire--there are many examples. The Ronaldhino type who pulls the team along with him.

Cutler is young and has promise, but he's not prepared at this point for the responsibility of holding mid. I'm open to debate, but I think the holding mid is the most important player on the field. Why? Because he is involved in virtually every play and is the most consistent link between all the other players on the field. This is too often what we're missing, as was clear today as we were unable to string more than a couple passes together. DC didn't have that problem.

Thanks for the analysis. I'm sure others will throw in their opinions too.

[Aerick]

Here's my opinion:

I hate losing, again and again and again...

[dysko]

Originally Posted by Aerick

Here's my opinion:

I hate losing, again and again and again...

[Sarcasm]
So, I have determined that the soccer gods like to mock us... they give us great weather and a team that isn't great.

How about next year they give us crappy weather and an MLS Cup winning team? [/Sarcasm}

[SoccerPrime]

Rover and Peter, you are brilliant. I completely agree with your analysis.
This was a tough game to watch (and I was up late watching it).

I feel like besides personnel changes (I was very disappointed in Akwari, Dunseth and Cutler), RSL has to take a more aggressive midfield posture. The Revs and DC use a 3-5-2. Of course you leave your defense more open but with a stacked midfield less gets through to the backline. Think about it. All tonight DC's great midfield swarmed the ball and didn't give Mathis, Williams and Scarlett a chance.

Anyway, thats my take.
We are not dead yet, still 24 points up for grabs, but it isn't getting easier, is it?

[RSL1]

I need to apologize. So many goals that I actually lost track of some of my game notes and was somewhat factually incorrect with my previous statements. In watching the highlights, here is where I was wrong:
- The first goal was not a result of Dunseth's poorly timed and ill-advised tackle on Freddy's ankle at the top of the box. However, a very dangerous near goal resulted from it. We were one post away from it being 6-1.
- The goal where Nolly made the difficult save but let the ball die on the line where Gomez took care of cleanup duty did NOT involve Eddie Pope letting Gomez run through. That was Scarlett. I suggest that you show that play to all your young defenders in pee-wee leagues. It is exactly what not to do: ball watch. As a defender, you must protect both your goal keeper and your line. You also don't let unmarked players streak by you through the box. It still blows my mind how badly Scarlett picked this one up. Eddie Pope can be somewhat pardoned from my previously scathing commentary for that play.
- That said, Dunseth let more people run by him unmarked than I care to annotate. Dunny, Pierce and Akwari need to go back to marking "101" for some continuing education.

[BetterThanChivas]

I think that our defense will be fine if we could just get a midfield that could keep the ball for more than three seconds at a time. Kenny Cutler has problems wwith this. Almost everytime he gets the ball, he gives it away. The awful 5-1 scoreline is only a small fault on the defense. We need a midfield to keep the ball. With kenny out on Saturday, we will see how we do with someone else in the holding midfield spot.