Gutsy Road Win
Announcer voice over: We have secretly replaced this years' lousy DC United side with a halfway decent team. Let's see if anyone notices . . . .
We noticed.
In an intense match, United played 90 minutes of good team defense to capture three points on the road. Well-acquainted with DC's propensity this season for not working hard for the full duration of a game, I held my breath for the inevitable collapse, but it never came.
For United, the night was all about team defense. For the Fire, it was their turn to run out of quality in the final third. Chicago ended the night with 5 shots on goal to United's 2. The road win was the result of effort and tenacity rather than skill, but, for a United team desperate for points--and having shown a distinct lack of intensity over the course of the season--the result was welcome indeed.
Talon Rating: 3 out of 5 birds
The match opened with a bang, with Chicago applying lots of pressure and DC falling back and resorting to panicky defending. Despite the high energy on display from both sides, Chicago looked the better team. United seemed uncomfortable in the 4-4-2 and glacially slow in transition.
Nevertheless, in minute 11 United scored off a set piece. Quaranta had been fouled, Gomez struck a good arcing free kick, and Namoff made a great diagonal run and header to finish.
Chicago started applying even more pressure, and a goal for the Fire seemed only a matter of time. United had repeated flashes of disorganization, but commitment from players allowed recovery. After the goal, United adopted a more defensive mindset, with Tino dropping deeper into the midfield.
Chicago had some good opportunities but couldn't take advantage. In many respects, this was more of a game that Chicago lost than DC won. Going into the second half, you got the feeling that the match still hung in the balance, and that the game's defining moment was yet to come.
The second half started with Chicago coming out hard and DC looking a little dicombobulated, the players in black shirts resorting to a lot of fouling when beaten in order to slow Chicago down.
It was, however, encouraging to see all the United players, including Emilio, hustling back on defense. It was also nice to see players covering when their teammates pushed up to attack, and a second defender coming over to cover when a teammate challenged for the ball.
Moreno came on in the 61st for Gomez, who had clearly started to fade. Moreno took over the match, and after his arrival DC had a good spell of offense. Chicago was playing numbers up, leaving space for United's attack, lead by Moreno, to go to work.
Right around the 63rd minute United demonstrated some brilliant team offense, with smart combination play making the ball do all the work. Burch fired a ball in to Quaranta who, running hard to the end line, made quick touch on to Olsen who just missed the net. It was one of the better offensive sequences by United this year.
All was not puppies and rainbows, however, as Chicago put DC under tremendous pressure toward the end. United bent, but did not break.
Let's check out the final match statistics:
D.C. United Chicago Fire
Total Shots: 5 17
Shots on Goal: 2 6
Total Saves: 6 1
Fouls: 23 11
Offsides: 1 1
Corner Kicks: 2 8
I'd be really hesitant to crow too much about this victory. Look at the total shots! Look at the fouls!!
While team defense and concentration has improved, United still has to up its game in terms of speed of transition and generating scoring opportunities before it becomes a bona fide threatening force. Every game from here on out will present a tough challenge.
I'll admit that Soehn's tactics and substitutions were not too bad, for once. So instead I'll criticise him for wearing a goofy plum-colored shirt.
One thing I would have done differently was substitute Pontius for Olsen, instead of Quaranta. At least two good reasons support this. First, I love Ben but he was completely done and was becoming a major liability.
Second, Quaranta and Pontius are a dangerous paring that, when together on the field, play with a synergy that is greater than the sum of its parts. They should have been paired up to kill off the game with possession and offense, rather than what United did, which was fall back on desparate defending toward the end.
Julius James seems to be decent in the middle of the back line. With James, United finally seems to have the personnel to play 4 in the back, which is a good thing. Aside from more solid defense, his presence seems to afford Jakovic to get forward more, which should help our transition.
At the very end, Wicks and Burch got into a jawing and shoving match. It looked like Wicks had been screaming for the backline to push up on the free kick, and Burch didn't. Given Burch's tendancy to fall asleep during key moments of a game, I have no problem with this. On the other hand, both guys forgot they were in the middle of a game for a couple of moments, and had Chicago scored while they were busy flinging handbags at each other, it would have been an unspeakable travesty.
Here's hoping United keeps up the emotion and intensity going forward. I am very, very nervous, however, that without a more consistently effective attack United is going to find itself on the outside of the playoffs looking in.
UPDATED:
BDR points out that "intensity and desperation are hard emotions to maintain."
DCUMD gives some props to Simms and the James/Jakovic combination in central defense.
Fullback dissects Soehn's performance and finds it . . . good.
United Mania's match report is here.
Here are Goff's player ratings:
For once I generally agree with Goff, and here are some additional random thoughts about the players:
- Quaranta: a mixed bag. Some good, heads up moments, but then some poor crosses and defending.
- Gomez: so-so. Great free kick that led to the goal, didn't do much else and ran out of gas early.
- Olsen: has lost more than a couple steps with age, and, toward the end when he was exhausted, made some dangerous mistakes and was an overall liability.
- Moreno: took control of the game from the moment he came on. Well done.
- Emilio: worked harder than recently, but not very effective.
- Jakovic: continues to be a key player for United.
- Namoff: was playing out of his mind.
- Simms: a better match than he's played in a while. Read the game well, made key tackles, and contribued to the offense.
- James: speed and effort, good positioning, a little rough, but looking like a keeper for sure.
- Fred: maybe his best game of the year, which means he played about average.
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