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

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by SokkerNut

Guess I might be in the minority here, but it isn't just about the back 4. I was totally unimpressed with the mid-field play. There was so much open space in the middle it was ridiculous. I kept asking myself where's the midfield. I guess the bottom line is it was a poor game all around and with the exception of Tarpley's play and some good moments by Nolly, there are 11 men on the field and they stunk up the place. They need to watch and re-watch the game tape from the FC Dallas game where they played a beautiful game as a team.

I agree... if the midfield had actually come out of the locker room last night the back line would have been superb.

Where was the midfield last night.

Long ball after long ball and no one moving til the ball was intercepted by DC.

I wonder if those guys realize they are on the second worse team in the league... half a breath away from a 9-5 next year...

Note to RSL
Don't just stand around and watch the match... that is what the fans are for....DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING!

[SoccerPrime]

I was especially excited to see how many longballs POPE sent forward. 🙁

Well, at least he was clearing the ball as opposed to passing it right to DC.

[prk166]

Originally Posted by Deuce

I wonder if those guys realize they are on the second worse team in the league... half a breath away from a 9-5 next year...

After last night, I'm not sure if some of them will even be able to manage that.

[RSL1]

Originally Posted by BumpyPitchBoy

Scarlett was not marking Gomez. Scarlett was near the ball when it was on the line, but he didn't try to go for it. Cutler was the one marking Gomez, and he just let him through.

Agreed that Cutler blew it also, BUT, Scarlett literally stood there watching and as a defender it is criminal to stand and watch as your goal keeper gets collapsed upon by a forward on the line. Doesn't matter if he's someone elses mark, he was by far the closest player to that ball and made no effort to (a) pick up Gomez streaking through or (b) protect his goal keeper and his goal line. That is unacceptable. Call it a lapse of judgement.

As for others stating that the midfield let the defense down. Now argument here. Just think that the defenders don't do themselves any favors with poor marking and ball watching.

[RSL1]

Originally Posted by Aero

I agree. I'm not sure how much I'm willing to blame Scarlett for that goal. I think he had positioned himself well to clear the rebound which he believed would come forward. It wasn't his fault that Jay dropped the ball and then kicked it backwards towards the goal. That's all on Jay. Scarlett did exactly what he was supposed to do by positioning himself in front of his keeper to clear the ball if there was a rebound. It's the keeper's job to make sure that any rebound goes forward instead of back towards the goal.

Also, as per the rebound, that's a fair statement if Gomez had come from a different point on the pitch. BUT, Gomez attacked the goal line from behind the point that Scarlett was standing and this was after the save/rebound occurred. This would suggest that Scarlett could have reacted the same way that Gomez had should they have both been waiting for a rebound from the same spot in the box and that Scarlett could have (just like Gomez) crashed the goal to make a play on the ball. If he was waiting for a rebound and this was the result then it's either a poor judgement that he made not to make a play when Gomez did or pure laziness since the opposing forward reacted to the rebound from behind him when he did not.

At the end of the day, professionals are trained to pick up guys running free through the penalty area. They are also trained that you protect the goal keeper when he's on the ground and the goal line when the goal keeper is out of position. He did not do either of thess. Ironically, these are about the only things that Eddie Pope did well last night having cleared two balls of the line....

[Aero]

Originally Posted by RSL1

Also, as per the rebound, that's a fair statement if Gomez had come from a different point on the pitch. BUT, Gomez attacked the goal line from behind the point that Scarlett was standing and this was after the save/rebound occurred.

Gomez was running from about the penalty spot with a full head of steam after taking the original shot that Nolly stopped. He came from behind Scarlett as he positioned himself to clear any rebound that Nolly might have given up. By the time Scarlett saw him, he was already past him and on the ball. There is no way that Scarlett could have gotten there even if had seen him in time. He's fast, but not that fast. He's not going from a complete stop to matching Gomez's speed in enough time. Not to mention that he would have had to go through Nolly, who was between him and the ball, to get there.

I blame the whole goal on Nolly. First of all, he shouldn't have given up a rebound. But you don't especially kick that rebound towards your own goal. That ball was headed into the net even if Gomez hadn't been there. Pope wouldn't have been there to save this one. If Gomez hadn't kicked it in, then Nolly would have just been credited with an own goal.

[SoccerPrime]

Man, its too bad Pope didn't make that last one. He was so close to scoring.
Just wasn't in the cards.

Theres got to be some MLS stat that shows that Pope's teams always wins when he scores.

[RSL1]

Originally Posted by Aero

Gomez was running from about the penalty spot with a full head of steam after taking the original shot that Nolly stopped. He came from behind Scarlett as he positioned himself to clear any rebound that Nolly might have given up. By the time Scarlett saw him, he was already past him and on the ball. There is no way that Scarlett could have gotten there even if had seen him in time. He's fast, but not that fast. He's not going from a complete stop to matching Gomez's speed in enough time. Not to mention that he would have had to go through Nolly, who was between him and the ball, to get there.

I blame the whole goal on Nolly. First of all, he shouldn't have given up a rebound. But you don't especially kick that rebound towards your own goal. That ball was headed into the net even if Gomez hadn't been there. Pope wouldn't have been there to save this one. If Gomez hadn't kicked it in, then Nolly would have just been credited with an own goal.

In the immortal words of Will Farrell in Anchorman, "Agree to disagree".

[devNull]

Originally Posted by Aero

I blame the whole goal on Nolly. First of all, he shouldn't have given up a rebound. But you don't especially kick that rebound towards your own goal. That ball was headed into the net even if Gomez hadn't been there. Pope wouldn't have been there to save this one. If Gomez hadn't kicked it in, then Nolly would have just been credited with an own goal.

I also have to disagree. Yes, if Jay was going to give up a rebound it was not the way to give up the rebound. Yes, Scarlett would have had to have been very aware and superhuman to get to the rebound. However, I do think that porous marking which allowed the ball to be dumped into the center of the box and allow a DC United player (Gomez?) to have a wide open look at the goal didn't have much to do with Nolly. It is a team sport and most of the time one person doesn't get the blame for the whole goal. Nolly messed up on giving the rebound, but why was Nolly handling such a difficult shot in the first place?

[Aero]

Originally Posted by devNull

I also have to disagree. Yes, if Jay was going to give up a rebound it was not the way to give up the rebound. Yes, Scarlett would have had to have been very aware and superhuman to get to the rebound. However, I do think that porous marking which allowed the ball to be dumped into the center of the box and allow a DC United player (Gomez?) to have a wide open look at the goal didn't have much to do with Nolly. It is a team sport and most of the time one person doesn't get the blame for the whole goal. Nolly messed up on giving the rebound, but why was Nolly handling such a difficult shot in the first place?

Okay. I will agree with that. It was terrible marking not only on the cross, but to allow Gomez to get the first shot off anyway. Cutler should have gotten himself between the ball and Gomez instead of being on the other side. He should have then also followed Gomez after he took the shot instead of just stopping and watching. Gomez was his man, not Scarlett's.

And while the shot was difficult, Nolly could have done a better job handling it.

I'm not saying that there isn't enough blame to go around here, I just don't think that Scarlett did anything wrong. Lots of other people, yes. Scarlett, no. I don't think it is fair to blame him for the goal at all when so many other people failed so miserably on many basic things. That was the only point I was trying to make.

And I just watched the goal about 10 more times and I'm even more convinced than I was before that Scarlett is fairly blameless on that goal.