Before Extra Time – Page 6 – Soccer ramblings from RVA

Before Extra Time: soccer ramblings from RVA

Union Busting! New Look United takes on Philadelphia

Olsen and company have gone all in on this season. The rebuilding that many were content to endure this season is now over. The front office acquired some tradeable assets over the course of the offseason, and has now decided to use them to try and take advantage of the weak Eastern Conference. Third place would get United into the playoffs automatically; they are currently 6 points out of second/third with a game in hand over the Columbus Crew and two games in hand over the Red Bulls. However, United needs to start converting those games in hand into wins, especially at home, in order to have a chance at the end of the year.

What better way to try out the new attacking lineup than with the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Union, who also have allowed the least goals in the conference. I think that Ben Olsen is going to throw the newbies in there and give them a baptism by fire. DeRo’s presence will allow Clyde Simms to sit back in front of the defense and give them some more cover, whereas with Dax McCarty he was trying to get forward more. I see this starting lineup:

Hamid
Kitchen McDonald White Woolard
Simms
Najar DeRo Pontius
Davies Wolff

Jed Zayner’s unfortunate injury means that we will definitely not be seeing the Perry Kitchen at defensive midfield experiment this season. But I’m also willing to give Clyde Simms another chance, now that he doesn’t have to compete with McCarty for space. I’m thinking/hoping that we will see the Simms of old.

Philadelphia’s last five games is the same as United’s, albeit in a different order: one win, three ties, and a loss. The expectations have now been raised and a tie in this game is not good enough. I look for United to pull out a 2-1 win, with goals from Pontius and DeRo.

July 1, 2011
Tradesplosion! McDonald, DeRo, and Dax

Ben Olsen’s DC United has been anything but tame. Olsen shook things up in the offseason, and he has done it again today. On my drive home, I saw that United had traded allocation money for Brandon McDonald, a physical centerback from the SJ Earthquakes. I think it is a good move, giving United some physical bite in the central defense while Jakovic is out, and possibly allow Kitchen to take over Clyde Simms defensive midfielder role.

But then came the real shocker: Dax McCarty traded for Dwayne DeRosario. My first reaction was that United got the short end of this deal, trading away long term stability for a run at the playoffs now. But really, the more I look at it, the more that Dax McCarty just wasn’t going to fit with the other personnel on this team. Dax needs to play as a more deep lying midfielder, with someone else having the attacking role. But, in DC, that role is taken by Clyde Simms, or Perry Kitchen, or Conor Shanosky. Playing Dax out of position for the next 10 years isn’t going to do him any good. He is a class person and I am glad that United was able to get him into a position where he can succeed, even if it has to be with the Red Bulls. It doesn’t hurt that United gets one of the best attacking players in the history of the league in return. Hopefully United can also get a long-term solution in the attacking midfield for after the two or so years that DeRo gives them soon.

So going forward, what lineup do I want to see, at least until Jakovic comes back?

Hamid
Zayner McDonald White Woolard
Kitchen
Najar DeRo Pontius
Davies Wolff

I would put that front five up against any other in the league right now. Vamos United, and bring on the Union!

June 27, 2011
Defensive Juggling: How does United replace Jakovic?

Ever since the back four of Perry Kitchen, Dejan Jakovic, Ethan White, and Daniel Woolard first started playing together, the DC United defense has looked more organized and, more importantly, has let in far fewer goals. But now, United’s longest serving defensive starter, Dejan Jakovic, is leaving for duty with the Canadian National Team. Regardless of your deep, passionate hatred for Jakovic (there are plenty of you out there), he has played well so far this season, and he has gotten better as the season has progressed. This leaves a big question: How will Ben Olsen juggle his back line to replace Jakovic?

Rodrigo Brasesco

Rodrigo Brasesco was brought in to be center back cover for exactly this time. However, in his limited stints in the center, he has looked poor. He would not be in the conversation were Jed Zayner healthy, but he has looked decent as a right back. This leads to what I think is the most likely situation…

Perry Kitchen

I think that Perry Kitchen is going to end up playing alongside Ethan White in the center while Jakovic is out. He started the year as a center back and played fairly well in that position. However, he is not the prototypical center back: he is a little small and not as much of a physical presence as White or Jakovic. His skill on the ball is more suited to an outside back, where he has been shutting down opposing wingers. Taking on a powerful target forward will give him problems. Regardless, a back line of Brasesco-Kitchen-White-Woolard seems to be the most likely.

Clyde Simms

At the beginning of last year, Clyde Simms started out as a center back, but got hurt in the first game. It was a harbinger of the season to come. If Olsen doesn’t think that Kitchen is a strong enough presence in the middle of defense, he could put Simms there, Brasesco on the right, and then Kitchen in the midfield. Or he could put Simms in the back and then put Stephen King in the midfield.

Everyone else

Any other combination of moving defenders around would require one of the injured players to come back and already be match fit. The injury to Devon McTavish is especially painful now; he likely would have been the one to slide into the middle with Brasesco’s current performance. Like I said above, I don’t see Jed Zayner playing center back, but he would be the right back instead of Brasesco, were he healthy.

Conclusion

Well, I already gave it further up, but I think that the back line will end up being Rodrigo Brasesco-Perry Kitchen-Ethan White-Daniel Woolard. If Zayner is healthy, I could see him playing right back over Brasesco, but that is about the only change I see. Ethan White looked strong against the Timbers on Sunday, so let’s hope that his power combined with Kitchen’s skill provides United with a solid enough combination to last until Jakovic returns.

May 31, 2011
A crack in the fortress: DC United 3-Portland Timbers 2
Well, what a game! DC United comes away with the first points won off of the Portland Timbers at Jeld-Wen Stadium. With the win, United is tied on points for third place in the Eastern Conference, but in fourth on goal differential.

Man of the match

For me, its Blake Brettschneider; he was a bulldog up top all game. He also had two assists, with a lovely flick on header to set up the first goal and released Josh Wolff for the third goal. Brettschneider is turning out to be the all-time steal from the Supplemental draft; who else from the Supplemental draft has had a big impact?

PK Insanity

Four PKs in one game? Well, the score sheet will only show two, but Kenny Cooper had his first two PKs called back because Bill Hamid left his line. And yes, Bill Hamid did leave his line early, by a pretty decent margin. However, I would also like to see a replay to see how close to a complete stop Kenny Cooper was on his two attempts. Regardless, Cooper needs to stop trying to be cute and just slam the ball into the back of the net; John Spencer agreed, and gave the third PK to Jack Jewsbury. To add further insult to injury, Spencer took Cooper off immediately after the PK.

However, United pulled one back with a penalty of their own. Chris Pontius was running hard at goal, and the ball went over the arm of a Portland player that was on the turf. Penalty was called, and Pontius just puts it in the back of the net, with no cute run-ups.

Wingers step up

With neither of United’s typical starting forwards in the lineup, United needed their wingers to step up and provide some pace and pressure. And provide that they did. Chris Pontius and Andy Najar were putting pressure on the back line of the Portland Timbers all night. Pontius continued his torrid start to the year, scoring another goal. Najar put in some hard work on both ends, but I was especially impressed with his work on defense. The image of him going up and heading a ball away over everyone else will not soon fade.

Everything else
- Perry Kitchen put in another strong performance at right back; the moment that stands out to me was when he backed his player down to Portland’s defending third. It will be interesting to see where Kitchen goes when Dejan Jakovic reports to Gold Cup duty.
- Speaking of Jakovic, he is finally turning into the player that fans have expected him to be. His physical abilities have always been there, but he’s playing smarter now too. United will definitely miss him when he is gone for the Gold Cup.
- Bill Hamid needed to do better on the second goal; it bounced off his hands and then into the goal. Luckily, Josh Wolff had already given the winning goal, but if he hadn’t, this goal would be more closely scrutinized.
- Daniel Woolard seems to be getting his feet under him going forward; whenever Marc Burch is healthy, he won’t be getting his starting spot back.
Next Up

Any road win is a good road win. DC United will look to continue their road form this coming Friday, when they take on the LA Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.
May 29, 2011
What’s a JELD-WEN anyways? DC United vs. Portland Timbers

This Sunday (Sunday, SUNDAY!) DC United gets back to MLS action and travels to the Pacific Northwest to take on the DC United West, who are undefeated at home. Two reasons for that are the play of Troy Perkins and Rodney Wallace, both alums of the season that shall not be mentioned and now solid contributors to the Timbers. So far, the Timbers have looked like the expansion Seattle Sounders, currently sitting at 6th in the West with 17 points and, if the season ended today, would be in the playoffs. They are also tied on points with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th place teams in the West, sorted only by goal differential.

Injuries have made the lineup pretty easy to predict:

Hamid
Kitchen Jakovic White Woolard
Najar McCarty Simms Pontius
Brettschneider Ngwenya

I will continue to say that I would like to see more of the Stephen King Experiment, although getting a more creative central midfielder over the summer is still in the talks; unless United craters these next few weeks, they will still be in the hunt for the playoffs and the pressure will be on to make a move. Charlie Davies has been great, but it is too bad that United couldn’t have gotten Benny Feilhaber too; that is the kind of attacking midfielder they need in the middle. Will they go back to the South American pipeline and try to pull out an unknown player from Bolivia? Time will tell.

But back to this game. Portland’s weakness is its defense and offense is where United has all of their injuries. Portland has scored many of their recent goals off of headers and United is terrible at defending crosses. Portland has a rabid fanbase and United is on the road. This does not look good for the Black and Red. However, Portland’s streak has to end at some point: I am going out on a limb and saying that United will pull out a 1-1 draw, with BlakeBrett scoring his first league goal of the season. Any sort of point is a good result coming out of Portland, and maybe Perkins will have flashbacks to last year and let in some clunkers.

May 27, 2011
What do I want to see versus Ajax? Partnerships

The first thing I want to see is this game happen, without a rapture. But what I actually want to see is all about partnerships.

The first partnership that I want to see is Santino Quaranata and Blake Brettschneider up top. With the way Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff have played so far this year, it would be very difficult for anyone to displace them when healthy. But if Santino Quaranta can put in a great effort against Ajax, combined with the fact that his free kicks are far superior than what Dax McCarty has put in so far this year, he may wiggle his way back into Ben Olsen’s starting lineup. I also want to see Blake Brettscheider start; I am already over the Joseph Ngwenya experiment. Ngwenya has all of the physical tools, but he can’t seem to put it together on the field in a way that has him finding the back of the net. I see him as a more physical version of Adam Cristman: a hard worker who can give you a change of pace, but not a starter. Let’s see what United has in Brettschneider, who did nothing but score in the preseason and in reserve matches so far. Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff won’t be too long for DC, but a Quaranta-Brettscheider pairing might.

The next partnership I want to see is the Stephen King-Dax McCarty partnership again. Dax is not a true defensive stopper, but he’s not the playmaker either. He is a deep lying distributor who can take the ball from the defensive and work it up front. With Clyde Simms next to him, he has been pushing too hard to try and fit as a playmaker, which may explain the recent problems with his free kicks. If Branko Boskovic were still healthy, we probably would have already seen him debut with McCarty. But Dax’s best game, arguably, came when he was playing alongside Stephen King, who is more of the attacking type of midfielder. We have seen flashes of King’s ability, like the nice back to the goal chip assist he put into Andy Najar last year. I don’t think he can consistently be that player, but I think that he can be a solid contributor who takes the the attacking pressure off of Dax McCarty. With the resurgence of United’s defense, I think that this can be a risk that they can take.

The final partnership I want to see is the continued partnership of Ethan White and Dejan Jakovic. I need to see one, or both, of them really start to boss the middle of the field, especially through the air. What they need is some Clockwork Orange style action, being forced to watch loops of vintage Oguchi Onyewu just destroying attacks in the air. They also both need to play smarter. Both relay a little too much on their physical abilities to bail them out of problems; when that doesn’t work, we get the goal like we saw against Colorado Rapids. Watching Steve Cherundolo on a loop might install some smarter play in them.

So who do I see playing? Well, if you couldn’t tell, a combination of current starters and people I hope will start.

Hamid
Kitchen White Jakovic Woolard
Najar King McCarty Pontius
Quaranta Brettschneider

While I expect that we will see liberal subbing, a first team squad for most of the game is likely/necessary for what people are spending to see this game. I hope that United can pull out a draw, but I’m going to say 3-1 Ajax if they start their first team.

May 20, 2011
Quick reactions versus the Colorado Rapids

After a 1-1 draw with the defending champs, DC United had a mixed bag of player performances.

The good

*Andy Najar – It was apparently whack-an-andy night at RFK today, as Najar was hacked down multiple times without any fouls being called. But Najar, in the second half, was his normal dangerous self, sending in nasty crosses and running right at defenders.
*Chris Pontius – In the first half he was anonymous, and was watching the offsides flag instead of playing to the whistle on an admittedly blown call. However, he made up for it in the second half, playing much better and creating multiple goal scoring opportunities. The penalty he drew was soft, as it looked like he lowered his shoulder into the defender, but he stepped up and knocked the ball into the back of the net.
* Second half play – It took a blown red card and a missed penalty to light a fire under United, but when it turned on, they played like United at their best. Let’s see that in both halves in two weeks time against the Portland Timbers.
*Dejan Jakovic – Jakovic continues to scare the crap out of me; he had one pass that was intercepted in the box, for example. But when he is not making Jakovic-esque plays, he is a very solid central defender. Just cut down on the boneheadedness, Dejan.

The bad

*First half play – United did not give up a goal in the first 15 minutes this game, but their first half play still leaves something to be desired. They looked flat and uninspired, and injuries to both starting strikers did not help.
*Dax McCarty – Dax has been playing decently, and if it said “Kurt Morsink” on his jersey, no one would be complaining. However, he is Dax McCarty, and he is not playing like a national team caliber player right now. Also, his crosses have been and remain terrible; too bad United can’t run in Quaranta any time Dax steps up for a free kick.
*Joseph Ngwenya – I think that every pass he made went backwards. There is something to be said to trying to keep possession, but sometimes you have to run at goal and just see what happens. I would rather see Santino Quaranta or Blake Brettschneider come in instead of Ngwenya.
*Charlie Davies – Davies did not do himself any favors under the watchful eyes of Bob Bradley. He had a heavy first touch that blew a goal scoring opportunity, and was otherwise absent until he got injured. However, as a DC United fan, I wouldn’t mind if Davies missed the Gold Cup.
*Terry Vaughan – Missed a red card, missed the real penalty, gave a very soft makeup penalty.

Overall

A point is about what DC United deserved; if they had played like the did in the second half in the first, they might have pulled out three. United is still growing as a team, with a super young back line and the forward 6 still learning to work together. 5 points out of 9 at home isn’t great, but it is decent. Progress is being made, but it needs to continue. After the friendly with Ajax, United needs to come out and try and take the game to the Portland Timbers. This second third of the season will really determine the fate of this year’s team.

May 14, 2011
Quick post before kickoff

Sorry folks, I’ve been busy with conferences for work and the like. But I’m back and will be drinking whiskey and watching the game tonight. I liked the Stephen King experiment versus FC Dallas, and wouldn’t mind seeing it again, especially if the defense can remain as solid as it has been for the past two games. So, here’s who I think will start:

Hamid
Kitchen White Jakovic Woolard
Najar King McCarty Pontius
Wolff Davies

With the defense, why mess with success? This is the defense that has allowed only one goal against two of the top teams in the West, whereas the defense with Marc Burch and Jed Korb gave up eight goals in a two match span. I still think we will see Perry Kitchen revert to the midfield at some point, not this year, but right back seems to be suiting him well for right now. It allows him to be more on the ball, rather than trying to boss the middle with speed and strength.

Bossing the middle with size and strength is the job that Ethan White now does, and he has been doing it well. The player who was seen as a raw, developmental project is bearing fruit quickly. We were all told that signing White out of the academy was like getting another first round pick, and how right they were.

With Bob Bradley in house, Charlie Davies has ever reason to want to put on a classic display. I’m going to go bold and say that United will win 3-1, with a Davies brace and Najar scoring his first of the year. Vamos United!

May 14, 2011
Groundhog’s Day

I could just repost my entry from last week, but that wouldn’t be very fun, now would it? As everyone is obviously aware, defense is still the problem for United (and for other DC area teams as well). But how much can be done with the current roster? United has Jed Zayner, Perry Kitchen, Dejan Jakovic, and Marc Burch as their starters. With Jed Zayner reinjuring his hamstring, United is back to having Chris Korb in the lineup. As was evidenced in the game against Houston, Jed Zayner was not ready to return. But what else can they do? Rodrigo Brasesco seems to have proven that he is not the answer in the center or as a fullback. Brandon Barklage is a midfielder who is decent cover at the back, but has not yet proven he is a defensive starter in this league. However, the way things are going, Olsen might want to give him a chance. Daniel Woolard may be a marginally better defender than Marc Burch, but he is the same type of player (without the benefits that Burch brings going forward). Would Ben Olsen really do the three rookies and Burch back line? He might by the end of the season. Regardless, this is a season of youth, and that will bring both incredible and facepalming moments.

But there is a game tonight against the Seattle Sounders, who have gotten hot after starting the season with two losses. Here is my lineup prediction.

Hamid
Korb Jakovic Kitchen Burch
Najar Simms McCarty Pontius
Davies Wolff

One of these days, I am going to predict that Andy Najar will start and I will be right. I think United need his tenacity and his work rate, so I think he gets the start. Otherwise, the lineup looks fairly similar to what has been run out all season. I am hoping for a 1-1 draw, but my realistic side says a 2-1 loss. Prove me wrong!

May 4, 2011
Late breaking news

Welp, without Branko Boskovic traveling with the team, tonight’s lineup will look pretty familiar. I’m still hoping for a shakeup on defense, and that is looking more possible with Jed Zayner traveling, and I am still hoping that Andy Najar will start. I am not going to call this the lineup that I expected, because I expect Burch to play and Najar is no slam dunk, but let’s call this the lineup that I hope to see.

Hamid
Korb Kitchen Jakovic Zayner
Najar McCarty Simms Pontius
Davies Wolff

April 29, 2011