More alumni to haunt us?

Looks like former DC United forward Guy-Roland Kpene will sign a developmental contract with Houston Dynamo and rejoin former DC defender Bobby Boswell. I wasn't a huge fan of his when he was here, seems he had more potential than actual payoff. But compared to Niell and Doe, I'm not convinced either is that much of an upgrade over Kpene. At least on the surface, Doe and Kpene seem to be very similar forwards. Granted, we haven't seen much of Doe ...

Forward Guy-Roland Kpene, who came to the Dynamo on trial a couple of
weeks ago seeking a senior contract, was back with the team Tuesday.

Debriefing for Match 12.27: Toronto FC

D.C. United 4 : 1 Toronto FC

Six Word Novel Recap

Five quality goals; only four enjoyable.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Post, The Bog Man: "After being greeted with enthusiastic ovations from an announced crowd of 25,174 [coming on as subs in 2nd half], Moreno and Olsen immediately created a dangerous chance, with Olsen heading Moreno's cross back in front of the goal to Christian Gomez. The latter's bicycle kick fizzled, but it was a sign of things to come... United received some bad news in the closing moments when Fred limped off the field with a groin strain. He will accompany the team to Mexico but said he was not sure whether he would be able to play."
The Examiner, Criag Stouffer: "Luciano Emilio became the league's first 20-goal scorer in five years and D.C. United extended its unbeaten streak to 11 matches with a 4-1 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday night."
UnitedMania, Mike Martin: "United was just warming up to their dismantling of the hideously poor Toronto defense however. In the 67th minute, Clyde Simms slid a perfect through ball to Jaime Moreno sneaking in behind Tyrone Marshall, and heading dead on goal with only the keeper to beat, no one makes it look easier than La Bomba who easily notched his 112th goal slipping the shot almost carelessly under the Toronto keeper..."
MLSNet.com, Charles Boehm:"United finally responded with a set of chances around the half-hour mark. First holding midfielder Clyde Simms -- apparently still wearing his shooting boots after hitting the game-winning goal on Wednesday -- cracked a long-distance effort that beat Stamatopoulos but skimmed off the top of the crossbar. Then Marc Burch lifted one of his trademark left-footed crosses to the far post, where Guy-Roland Kpene got his head to the delivery but drove it straight down into the turf instead of on goal."
BlackDogRed, BDR: "As exhilirating as that 2nd half was, it shouldn't have been necessary. Maybe those 45 minutes won't negatively affect Olsen and Moreno this Tuesday night in Guadalajara, but the plan was clearly to give them both the night off, and when the starting eleven farted the first half away, Soehn had no choice: dropping points against an expansion team at home is beyond inexcusable. But beautiful goals, three of them, Burch's and Fred's and Emilio's (Moreno 's was nice, but not stunningly beautiful), and the proper response, in the 2nd half, by a superior team with championship ambitions against an undermanned and overwhelmed expansion team."
DCist.com, Matt Bourque: "After five minutes revving their engines, D.C. United poured on four goals in 19 minutes. Twenty subsequent minutes of possession soccer sealed the win. It was as if Toronto's ragtag band of rebels mounted an attack upon the imposing imperial fortress before United's fully armed and operational battle station systematically obliterated its invaders."
Mistake By The Lake, stillkicking: "The first twenty minutes of the game at RFK showed TFC in rare form. Yes, in recent games, Toronto has had stretches of good play, (1st half against the Crew, many moments in Dallas) but this seemed to be a level above recent top gear. The passes were crisp from the back, the midfielders were moving forward with confidence, there just seemed to be opportunities in the air. And sure enough...... Carl Robinson hit a beautiful free kick and scored his second goal of the season."

The Good

1. Section 471: Arriving at the RFK box office at 6:45pm to purchase 3 tickets doesn't usually put you in the 400 sections. It has taken me until now and some reading around to the other DC United blogs to figure out why this was. I guess the crowd was a bit larger on Saturday evening because the game was only being shown on HDNet. (And maybe Summer's was only showing UFC - who knows.) Section 471 started good and got great. Not only were all 4 goals (all 5 actually) scored in our end, but we had an outcrop of The Screaming Eagles in our section and more attractive women than my single friend could shake his $7 beer at. People were singing and clapping and the mood was energetic. Especially after Fred's goal when I fell up the stairs twice doing some crazy celebration sprinting thing.
2. The Goals: Let's face it, those were some quality finishes. BDR doesn't think so, but Moreno's goal, for me, was classic Moreno: beat the trap, settle the ball and don't rush anything. Wait for the keeper to commit in some way and then confidently finish it. mistake by the lake thinks Jaime was "way" offsides and I can't tell by looking at the highlights package, but it may be that the lowest defender kept Jaime on. But I think that "way" offsides is too harsh. Emilio's goal was especially sweet because those are the type of balls that can easily be sent into section 471 (see: Jaqua, Nate).
   
3. Marc Burch: He says, "All the guys have been telling me to shoot, and it felt good to finally get up there and hit one." He really cracked it, and that was great to see. But he played well the whole game and was dangerous from the left side with that left foot of his. I called him out last week after Chicago, so he must have read my post and taken my advice to heart. I'll take full credit, thanks.
4. TFC fans: The expansion club's supporters are the gem of the league and to see (we actually heard them first; we were in the ramp to the 400 level and they were marching into the stadium from lot 8) such a large contingent traveling with them was impressive. They eventually settled in somewhere near section 430 with a huge Canadian flag. They certainly enjoyed Carl Robinson's goal. It seemed that everyone of them had a scarf and a jersey. Full credit to you people and to the TFC blogger in the comments section of the First Impressions entry for this match, who seems like a very nice person. Oh look, it is stillkicking. He's all over this recap today!
5. Predictions: Looking over the DCU blogs, a lot of people were predicting stuff. And there were a lot of good predictions.
   
1. JCM @ Poplar Point Perspective says, “Predictions: DC United 3:0 Toronto FC [correct goal differential], Chivas USA 2:2 Chicago Fire [correct], New England Revolution 2:1 Colorado Rapids [correct goal differential]"
   
2. edgell supporter @ The Edgell Supporters says, "1. We are the better team and we show it [check], 2. Fred and Emilio get back into the swing of things [check], 3. The new, non-infield grass is down [the pitch did not seem to be a factor] and 4. Burch from distance [check]

The Bad

1. The First Half: Moreno, Olsen, Carroll and Namoff (injury) were all on the bench to start the game and it showed, even though Emilio, Fred, and Gomez are three of our biggest threats and playmakers. It seemed like United was trying to force things through the middle too much and doing it sloppily. TFC's midfield was able to bunch up in the middle third and intercept passes or accept giveaways leading to many promising counterattacks.
2. Set piece goal: Coach Soehn says, "You can't get beat keeper side and Troy [Perkins] knows that and we addressed that and we have to make sure that doesn't happen again, because that has been twice now. I guarantee that won't happen a third time." Even I'm a little scared now. I love Perkins as a keeper and he had a great match overall, but I think giving up this goal, especially to a sluggish Toronto side is not good. The distance from goal of that free kick was such that there should have been enough time to react to it, but at the same time, there was a lot of movement on that ball, so I tend to think that Perkins did about as well as he could.
3. Guy-Roland Kpene: I like this kid. He seems like a hard worker and he has speed. (One of) His first assist(s) came early in the season when United was still struggling and ever since then I've held a special place for him, rooted for him and wanted to see him get minutes and play well. Maybe part of it is just my bias towards anyone in a black and red kit. But against Toronto he seemed to be either a cause of or a symptom of the poor first half for DC and when he was subbed for Jaime at half time, all I could muster was a "meh". It will be interesting to see if he gets any more minutes this season outside of the reserves as the games become more important. I'd love to see him stay with United but he's gonna need to improve in order to earn more minutes.
   

Man of the Match

Clyde Simms again, I think. Merit Awards to Olsen and Moreno for the 2nd half spark, Burch for the tally and Perkins for some big stops.

Karma Bank

+1 for the season entering the game. I can't see any karma points accrued or burned in this one. Leave your thoughts on this in the comments.

Final Thoughts

Giving three points to a visiting Toronto squad would have been bad. It certainly wouldn't have killed us in the SS or playoff race, but it would have been one of those losses that a quality team like United just doesn't give. At halftime, I was nervous. Usually I feel confident that we can at least equalize if not pull out three points, but in this one I saw little in the first half that would give me my usual confidence. If we hadn't gone down 1-0 with poor 1st half play, Moreno and Olsen may have rested the entire night; who knows. Maybe Gomez would have woken up in the second half; who knows. But when you have veterans like them, it nice to see them do exactly what you need them to do: provide a spark and score a goal. This was one of the most exciting and enjoyable matches I have been to and I was so proud of my team. Vamos.

Countries, Counties, Clubs

As United prepares for the game against Toronto, multiple stories that I'd like to draw your attention to this morning.

PARENTS, MEET THE KIDS #1 - CASAL: John Haydon in the Washington Times with a profile of Kasali Casal:

"The more work I do defensively, the more minutes I will get," Casal said... "Right now I'm supposed to be in Nigeria training, but because I've been doing so well here I want to cement my first-team spot," Casal said. "So I don't want to really leave at the moment."

I highlight those particular quotes because it is a stunning change of attitude compared to some previous midfield projects DC United has seen. Casal, in his public statements, seems to be taking the coaching guidance to heart, and is willing to embrace it even if it means changing his style. His focus is on the club, and on his role with the club. You have to like that.

PARENTS, MEET THE KIDS #2 - KPENE: Brian Westfall writes a quick getting-to-know-him type piece on Guy-Roland Kpene. One of the things that I note is that Kpene seems to have a lot of people pulling for him, just from the number of comments we got on him when he was first drafted. To that end, I hope he does well. Both Casal and Kpene are in the real early stages and I don't want to heap expectations on these players for this season. If both manage to find roles to play, even quiet ones with few minutes, and can compete for some significant playing time next season, then I have to consider them a success.

PARENTS, MEET THE KIDS #3 - ARGUEZ: Bryan Arguez started the game for the US Under 20 team and was substituted at the half. Which means he wasn't responsible for giving up the goal that led to the 1-0 Argentina win. Of course, DC United former head coach and current color commentator Thomas Rongren coaches that team.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT: Part owner of D.C. United Will Chang may be interested in an English team, including investing "on behalf of D.C. United." I don't know what that would mean, as the idea of DCU owning part of another team seems... ludicrous, but in a strangely enjoyable hallucinatory type way. Still, the sense I get is that we're a long way from anything happening on this front, so I simply note it and file it for later consideration.

ATMOSPHERE: Jeff Bradley really isn't someone who feels all warm and fuzzy about DC United or our fans that often. So I will note that in his column on the best MLS related atmosphere he has felt, the phrase "At D.C. United" is used twice, the only time such a designation is used more than once. Add to that his discussion of the traveling support in the 1999 MLS Cup final, and it's clear that even if he doesn't want to come out and say it, realistically he knows which team's fans are numerous and passionate enough to consistently bring it. While the league and outside observers fawn over Toronto's support, which is certainly impressive and worth of the praise it is getting, it is important to remember that DC has been doing it for twelve years. In fairness, so have a few other teams (and some have not).

NO MORE BEARS! The Screaming Eagles and other United Supporters that appeared in the Arlington County parade get a shout-out as "a group of D.C. United super-fans." Nice. Congratulations to all that represented their Civic, and Club, pride in Arlington.

GRoK Rock

First, thanks to everyone for chiming in as I had a crisis of faith yesterday. Matchnight's sudden closing just had eerie echoes of some of my own thoughts, so it kinda got to me a bit more than it should have. I appreciate everyone's kind words, and look to continue giving you the best I can. Okay, enough sentimentality, onto the important stuff:

BANK! The big news is Troy Perkins gets Paid. It says something about this league that fundamentally I judge salaries in comparison to my own. It is a just world where the 2006 MLS Keeper of the Year makes more money than I do, and an unjust world if he doesn't. I pretty much apply that rule to most things MLS. For instance, it is an unjust world in which first year players make less money than I did my first year out of college. For one thing, I didn't make a hell of a lot, so for them to be paid worse seems ridiculous. I find that this self-centered rule of thumb works well. It certainly makes me more inclined to cut Jay Needham some slack. I know there are those who think this is a mistake. It's certainly a mistake if you think this is a long-term ability growth move. But Needham struck me as a smart guy when talking with him, and a year as a starter in USL will get him more visibility, and a better paycheck, than a year as an MLS reserve defender. If he's still in the USL a year from now, it probably is a gamble that didn't pay off, simply because the ceiling of what he can achieve is so much lower. But as a move for one year, I can't blame the guy.

KPENE SAVED, KPENE EARNED: I'm not sure what to make of this, but check out the four last comments on our admittedly brief comments on the supplemental draft. For whatever reason, Guy-Roland Kpene has a bunch of people chiming in to talk about how good he is. I can't say why, but it is interesting. It seems like friends of Kpene really want DC United to give this kid a chance, and if putting in a series of comments on a fan blog helps them do that, then by all means. As such, we are officially dubbing Guy-Roland Kpene the "DCenters Official Supplemental Hopeful of the Year." Plus, you should really check out the link from that "City" commenter. Brilliant, in a strange sort of way.

Supplemental Draft is Done

The Supplemental Draft was today. This can be an important draft as some nice players can be found in these rounds. Last year's pick of Devon McTavish is probably the most recent example of this occuring for D.C. United. However, I am a bit confused with United's picks this year. They picked up another goalkeeper and an international forward.

The goalkeeper is Shawn Crowe who isn't on Buzz's radar. DC took him with the 11th pick in the Supplemental Draft. He is from Florida International, which is the same school that Bobby Boswell hails from. Apparently DC has decided to let Crowe, McIntosh, and Robles fight it out for the 2nd and 3rd goalkeeper spots. I think this is an idication that the powers that be at DCU do not think that Nolly will be coming back to the States.

The forward is Guy-Roland Kpene of Division II champions Dowling College. He was taken with the 37th pick of the Supplemental Draft. If anyone has seen this guy play, please tell us about him in the comments section. He didn't even make Buzz's Top 56 Forwards. All I have is that he got Division II Second Team All-American honors and scored 25 goals with 10 assists in just 24 games. I think this is another Ssejemba type move by United. They have the Y-I spots for him, he can obviously score at a lower level, they are taking a gamble that his skills will apply at a higher level. It didn't work out for Ssejemba and I doubt that it will work out here, but it is better than drafting somebody who will be a solid reserve that will never see the game day roster.