Debriefing for Match 14.05: New England Revolution

New England Revolution 1 : 1 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

Olsen's head(er) backs up his mouth.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "The statistics are there for all to see. D.C. United out shot the visitors 20-4, including 8 shots on goal to just 2 for the Revs. However, when you play Steve Nicol and his New England Revolution, statistics go out the window..."
Goal.Com, Steven Streff: "D.C. United dominated the game against rivals New England Revolution statistically, as the home side out-shot the the Revs 20 - 4 on the night. But a Shalrie Joseph header in the 50th minute gave New England the lead and forced United to come from behind to earn a point in the 1-1 draw."
DCist, Aaron Morrissey: "United -- in a game that unluckily got away from them -- had the sweetest kind of tie there is."
The Washington Times, John Haydon: "This should have been an easy United win. Its strong lineup faced a depleted New England team missing six potential starters. The home team outshot New England 20-4, but a loss of concentration just after halftime allowed the league's all-time assist leader, Steve Ralston, to set up Shalrie Joseph to head the Revolution into the lead. "
The Washington Post, Steven Goff: "...after squandering several opportunities and yielding an unforgivable goal early in the second half, United needed a late header by Ben Olsen to earn a 1-1 tie before 14,441 at RFK Stadium last night."
Examiner.Com, Ed Morgans: "The goal was the culmination of a second-half battle between Olsen and Thompson, one Olsen told reporters later he was happy to partake in. It boiled over briefly when the two stared toe-to-toe with only an official between them...Thompson also had a couple run-ins with United's favorite referee, Jair Marrufo, regarding fouls and/or cards that should have been called.' He’s a good kid...' Olsen said. 'I figure I’d try to start a fight with him to get things moving. It’s a heated game. He’s a competitor – there are no hard feelings.'"
MLSNet, Charles Boehm: "'It's just one of those games where you can outshoot them 20-4 and they can come away with a win -- they've just got to put one ball away,' said United rookie Chris Pontius, a downcast figure after missing several scoring opportunities. 'They put the ball away first, which gave them a little bit of momentum, too. We didn't finish our chances, especially me.'"
MLSNet, Kyle McCarthy: "'We have to do a better job of killing the game off,' Ralston said. 'There was one stretch where we kept the ball. Instead of trying to go, go, go, we brought it back out and passed it around. It was great, but then we didn't do it again.'"
DC Sports Box, Abram Fox: "That [New England Revolution] defensive-minded formation offered D.C. plenty of room in which to operate, and midfielders Christian Gomez and Rodney Wallace relished multiple opportunities to work the ball down the pitch as the Revolution defense collapsed in front of back-up goaltender Brad Knighton. For much of the first half D.C. was forced to take outside shots on Knighton, but nonetheless the Black-and-Red had several fantastic opportunities off the feet of Olsen, Gomez and Luciano Emilio among others."
Fullback Files, Fullback: "Tommy lays the blame on Simms for the double swap at halftime, claiming he wouldn't have made the Quaranta for Burch move if he knew Simms couldn't go in the second half. Fine, that gets you off the hook for not having a sub available when Jaime came up gimpy ... But that still begs the question: why Burch?...We'll never know."
DCUMD, Shatz: "This looked like Jaime Moreno's best match of the season. Even when playing the final 20 minutes with an injury, Moreno became the first player in league history to score 100 goals and 100 assists, and will probably be the only player to do that in the next 20 years."
QuarterVolley, I-66: "I was glad to see that it was Thompson who Olsen beat to score the goal, and I was even happier to see that after Olsen and Thompson fell to the ground and slid out of bounds, Olsen got up and stood over a prone Thompson, delivering a verbal message even as Santino Quaranta tugged at him in celebration. Just desserts for Thompson, and the last laugh for Olsen. I don’t know who was elected as man of the match for United, but if it was anyone but Ben Olsen then there was an egregious error."
You Are My Minions, Landru: "Gesticulating wildly at the sideline with the 'sub me' motion, Moreno showed that he was so unaware of his surroundings that he didn't realize that he was on the field with three guys who weren't there when he started. Niiiice. There's a talent shortfall on this team, and I'm beginning to doubt the heart of an awful lot of players not named Benny. And I'm damn sure doubting the testes of any coaches named Tom..."
BLCKDGRD, BDR: "...maybe Gomez will round into form (instead of just being round), maybe that was his best game back, but what does that say? It's interesting that after his awful CKs last week he didn't take (m)any last night, certainly none early. And it can't be good that as soon as Soehn made the two half-time substitutes, we turned to each other in 232 and said, uh-oh, Gomez knows there's only one sub left - when does he pull up lame?"

The Good

1. United Plays, then Plays Some More: It is nice to have questions answered in the course of the game, and one question we had written about more than once in this blog was "What happens when United gives up the first goal?" While United certainly didn't play as well as their first half showed, they still did try to fight back and get the draw. And the result was a game that, as a whole, was the best of the season.
2. Come out Firing: Ben Olsen from distance twice. A score of shots fired in the direction of the net. United was trying to score. Possession, as is often noted, is a means to an end, and in this match United looked like a team using possession to find different ways to attack the Revolution. Without the shots from distance, does Rodney Wallace get behind the Revolution back line to nearly link up with Gomez? I wonder.
3. Jaime Moreno Soldiers On: Sub me? Please? What? No subs? Really? Aw... I have quoted Landru's complaint with Moreno above, and I can't disagree with anything he says, except that he stops at the 70th minute. Jaime did appear to be cramping up, and he did fight his way through it, which leads us to...
4. The Machivallian Tom Soehn: There is an interesting discussion over at UnitedMania's podcast about whether Moreno felt too entitled to "start when he wants, leave when he wants." Ed Morgans wrote a fantastic analysis of Tom Soehn's calling out players, and whether it is good or bad. BDR has repeatedly at his site and in our comments wondered about how the players react to Tom. Now, I am putting this in the good section, but it is not necessarily a good thing, just that if we wanted, we could ascribe a very cynical motivation to Tom. Given the subbing theories that we knew of, even if Tom Soehn only makes one sub at the half (pick Burch or Simms, it doesn't matter) then in essence he still felt comfortable not subbing at least one of the propspective fatigue candidates (Moreno, Gomez, Olsen). Earlier in the season we wondered if Tom Soehn would only sub for fatigue, as opposed to tactics. We can see that, at least in this match, Tom was willing to let at least one player (and ultimately two) go the distance whether they wanted to or not. Perhaps that sends a message -- be ready to play. Don't be comfortable with your spot. That is, perhaps, the best interpretation I can come up with.
   

The Bad

1. New England's Possession: Yes, you can argue that New England's B-Team can't be held to the same standard as the A-Team, but even with that caveat, the Revolution consistently made things easier for United by giving the ball away. Further, I would expect a B-Team to be somewhat scrappy in the way they tried to get the ball back, but this team consistently fell back in the midfield. Pressure can't start just outside of the box, it must start, even when bunkering, at just over the midfield stripe.
2. Chris Pontius: To his credit, he acknowledges that he was awful at finishing. That's all well and good. And to his credit, he was very good at finding ways to put himself in threatening positions. Also well and good. And I have applauded his willingness to shoot many times in the past. But Chris, if you're going to do all that work, you must put the shot on frame. If nothing else, you know how sniffy people get, and soon the rumors will start that people aren't passing to you because you can't finish. Do you want that? Yeah, me neither.
3. Crediting the Goal: It was an own goal. You and I both know it. Moreno shouldn't have his 100th assist, and we should remember the goal as coming from Ben's effort, but not one that he, as I understand how goals should be credited, should have the notch for.
4. Tom Soehn Calling Out Clyde Simms: He is right on the facts, but Tom Soehn's comments did strike me as something much better kept in the locker room. It wasn't that he revealed why he made the sub, which was fine, it was the editorializing on "Clyde needed to tell me earlier." It's true, but what benefit is there to talking to the media about that than just having a quiet word with Clyde? Do we have any indication that Clyde isn't mature enough to handle that conversaiton? Not that I know of. If you don't think that Clyde Simms will listen to you in this conversation, haven't you essentially admitted you lost the locker room? Probably not, I think it was, as Morgans indicates, a case of oversharing, but c'mon...
   

Officiating Watch

New England may feel more sinned against here than others, and that's the point. We try to evaluate the officials without bias, and Marrufo's standards for what constitutes a foul were a mystery to me the entire game. While there were no atrociously bad calls I can cite (Marc Burch's fouling Thompson in the corner could have been on Marrufo if the AR weren't a few feet away) I had no idea what a fould was. A heel clip would be called, then wouldn't be called. It was a complete mystery.

Likert Scale Grade: 2 - Below Average

Karma Bank

Bryan Namoff's handball in the box was enough to make sure the draw was within reach. That's one point we would not have had otherwise, so karma change -1 as we burn the favor we were owed earlier. That means we have a neutral (0) karma balance for the season.

Man of the Match

Oh, is there any question? Ben Olsen had the textbook game to show how to be the player that fans of your team will love, and all other teams will hate. We hate yapping and jawing like Olsen does... except when he does it. We can rationalize this as "He's earned it" or "Heart of a Lion" or whatever, but if any other player did the same, we'd want them flayed for our amusement.

Still, he is on our team, which means he's man of the match. Certificates of Merit to Jaime Moreno for fighting through the pain, or at least the exhaustion. To Rodney Wallace for dicing up the right flank of the Revolution midfield in the first half. To Andrew Jacobson, for filling in the second half and recovering his confidence after that goal he helped allow. And to Dejan Jakovic, who had a solid game in the backline.

Final Thoughts

That there is a great disparity of thought on this match is, I think, a good thing. We don't know what to make of this team yet, and certainly that's reflected in this match. I also wonder if this match doesn't have a disparity between watching from home and in the stands. In stands, as all about you share in a mass exercise of depression as the minutes tick away, perhaps the negative feedback was intense as people felt the weight of the team not scoring. On television, at a remove, it was perhaps easier to be appreciate what the team looked like.

It is likely that the above theory is false, but if you want to leave a comment along the lines of "thought United looked bad - was at the game" perhaps we can test it.

We now face Dallas in the U.S. Open Cup. I enjoy the US Open Cup, but feel that again this should be turned over to the reserves at this round. No, there is not the same fixture congestion, but I hate the idea of sending the message that the U.S. Open Cup is the same sort of target that the playoffs, MLS Cup, or Supporter's Shield would be. Let the kids have the playing time and the chance to impress.

Debriefing for Match 14.01: At L.A. Galaxy

Los Angeles Galaxy 2 : 2 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

Two heads not better than one.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Post, Steven Goff: "D.C. United's season opener against the Los Angeles Galaxy was progressing nicely Sunday at Home Depot Center....But in a bloody and chaotic sequence late in the match, United's afternoon took a terrible turn and, two Landon Donovan goals later, theclub had to settle for a 2-2 tie..."
The Washington Times, Joseph D'Hippolito:"Though Los Angeles dominated possession early, United used an unusual play to force a successful penalty kick...Gomez took the penalty kick one minute later and drilled it inside the left post for his first goal...In the 62nd minute, Wallace and Pontius combined to give United a 2-0 lead. Pontius took Wallace's pass, dribbled to open space and curved an 18-yard shot into the upper-right corner of the net for his first professional goal."
L.A. Daily News (et al), Phil Collin:"The first Galaxy goal had United seeing (more) red. The hand must have been quicker than they eye because referee Jair Marrufo ruled that a pass from Chris Klein toward the goal was knocked out of the air by defender Rodney Wallace's hand instead of his thigh. "
L.A. Times, Grahame L. Jones: "When Donovan headed home a deep cross from Kyle Patterson in the 85th minute, it tied the game and earned the Galaxy a point."
Examiner.Com, Ed Morgans: "Going into the match, if you are a United fan and you were told you’d be guaranteed a point at Los Angeles to open the season, you might well have taken it - especially given United’s horrific away form in the league last season (2-11-2, 8 points of a possible 30)."
MLSNet, Simon Jude Samano: "The fact that United went on the road and played the LA Galaxy to a 2-2 tie on Sunday at The Home Depot Center -- despite holding a two-goal lead with 10 minutes to play -- didn't sit well with either the coach or his players."
Goal.Com, Zac Lee Rig: "[Soehn] cited a clash of heads between two of his players as a major turning point. Devon McTavish and Greg Janicki collided craniums as they both went for the same ball. As they lay sprawled and bleeding on the ground, Galaxy continued their attack. According to new FIFA law, only referees are supposed to stop play for injuries, and are to use their discretion about the severity of injury. 'They both have big cuts, deep gashes,' explained Soehn. 'That's why I was so disappointed in the reffing. They've talked about not kicking the ball out of bounds, and it's referee's discretion as to when to stop the game. You could hear that clash. You've got to use common sense and stop the game when there's two guys laying down with bleeding heads.'"
Goal.Com, Andrea Canales: "Noting that both teams were missing key players due to injuries, Arena concluded, 'Maybe at the end of the day, the result is fair.'"
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "DC United played this match with four of their regular starters out of the lineup. Louis Crayton, Santino Quaranta and Fred didn’t even make the trip to California while Jaime Moreno did not get into the match basically because of the late game injuries to McTavish (who eventually subbed out) and Janicki."
The Touchline, Mr. Luis Bueno: "As Goff and others were talking to Chris Pontius, Soehn and Goff had some more words, though it was more Soehn unloading on Goff. Soehn told him to talk about the positives and then dropped this on him: 'Focus on the fucking game,' Soehn said before he stormed off into the coach's office." [NOTE: I'm going to take this with a grain of salt, but it is out there to be read.]
The Fullback Files, Fullback: "Let's face it, Wallace was pretty miserable, and Pontius well-nigh invisible in the first half. But from the opening whistle of the second, both started playing with aggression and confidence and increasingly became influential in the match."
DCUMD, Shatz: "All things considered, a point on the road while missing 3 or 4 of our regular starters is nothing to cry about. But in a season where we are bound to be in the middle of the pack among Eastern Conference teams and fighting for a playoff spot, those extra two points sure would have come in handy. I guess United should have thought about that before drafting a guy with a hand growing out of his thigh."
The Offside: LA Galaxy, NathanHJ: "One last note on the game. Despite have the run of play for the majority of the game, the Galaxy rarely put shots on goal."

and finally...

BLKDGRD, BDR: Is now apparently blocked at my work. Hmmm.... Dissent still carries a price, apparently. I will check in again later.

The Good

1. The Pieces Aren't Spare: United is going to need players to fill in at times this year. So anything that indicates any sort of depth at any position is a needed positive. To that end, Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace both showed well in the latter half of the match. They both need work. Chris needs to be more confident in his pressure. Rodney needs to learn how to hassle an opposing wing player better on defense. But they didn't look like they needed to be hidden by the rest of the team, and if both get better, as rookies should in an ideal world, then both look to have more than enough opportunities to contribute as the season goes on.
2. Chances Can Be Created: I'll get to the defense in a bit, but United will have to score goals this season to have success. This team is not going to post a lot of 1-nil victories. So even if United only managed one goal in the run of play, they still did enough to have made 2-3 goals in the run of play look possible. Yes, this is against an L.A. defense that I would not hold up as an example of the best in the MLS, but that's the point. There are more mediocre and poor back lines in MLS than there are truly elite teams, and United was able to attack from the wing (as on Pontius's goal) and down the middle (Emilio's breakaway off of Olsen's off-side dummy run, the Gomez penalty.) They will need to do this against every team that doesn't boast a top tier defense.
3. Ben Olsen: The captain's armband looks nice on him, and he will try to lead by example. His play did not lack for effort, though I will say more about this later.
   

The Bad

1. Getting to Know You: A new three-man backline is going to have some problems in the beginning. Namoff, Janicki, and Jakovic aren't exactly the most intimidating line-up you can put out there. In this match, it felt each had their moments of being exposed with not enough cover behind them (though, in order, I'd say it was Janicki, Jakovic, and Namoff in terms of culpability.) Distribution from the back line was a consistent problem in both halves. The hope is that they will learn to play together, and whomever is behind them will help keep them organized. However, I should also note that Simms and Olsen aren't quite on the same page yet. Clyde still seemed to have a single holding midfielder mentality, and Olsen as a result wasn't sliding to cover as well as he should have when Clyde was moving forward.
   
   Similarly, both McTavish and Wallace had difficulty closing down the wings, with Wallace being the more noticiable problem if only because of Chris Klein's consistently dangerous crosses. The hope is that this will get settled after seven to ten games, but that's a hope, not a projection. Still, it is something to be prepared for.
2. Josh Wicks, Keeper: Josh seems like a nice guy, and he did seem to at least communicate with his defense, but two notes: As active as he was coming off his line, I felt that he could have been even more active. Also, if you are coming off your line and Alan Gordon is bearing down on you, you must get to the ball even if it means going through one of Gordon's ears and out the other. Finally, I can't think of any actual good saves he made. He was woefully mistimed on the penalty, making it far too easy for Landon to go the other direction, and while he may not have had a chance on Landon's second goal, I'm not sure he can make saves at any point. He's in the bad for now, but it wasn't atrociusly bad. Just unconvincing. His distribution was at least not awful, and sometimes decent.
   
3. Defensive Depth: Let's inaugurate this feature for yet another year. I remain skeptical of Devon McTavish, especially as a fourth option for a three man line after spending most of a game on the wing. Marc Burch, poor man, is a left back, and it showed on the way he was fed to the wolves off the bench.
4. Makeshift LA: While I am pleased that United was able to compensate for its injuries, all joy must be tempered by the fact that LA faced the same problems. Chris Pontius's shot even against proper marking is a goal, but with proper defensive pressure from L.A. it is doubtful he's able to shape that shot. With call-ups to the national side, Chicago may not even show a test of United performing agianst another team's Best XI. Still, take these opportunities to ease into the season, and hope we use that time productively.
   

Officiating Watch

Jair Marrufo is not my favoirte official. Ever. And the penalty to Donovan was a tad ridiculous, but as awful as that call was, he got most of the other calls right. If we was truly looking to settle the score, he could have given penalties twice earlier (on Olsen's tackle in the box, or on Gomez's tackle at the top of the box.) So it's a tad unfair to say he was looking for a way of balancing the ledger. That being said, the call he missed was a howler, and the AR should have called him off of it. At the time, I thought the AR was in his ear that he had seen the handball, so I was even willing to cut Marrufo some slack, but the post-game reporting indicates that Marrufo made the call himself. For everything other than the penalty, he was a good official, even as it pains me to write that. But that call ruined his performance.

Also, I would prefer is MLS officials would understand that the ability to execute a back pass does not constitute an advantage after a foul, but this worked to United's advantage more than against it. Still...

Likert Scale Grade: 2 - Below Average

Karma Bank

We're owed by the gods. The penalty call gives us a pure favor owed to us. +1 for the season.

Man of the Match

Chris Pontius, as a rookie, notches a goal, and assists on the play that led to the Gomez penalty. Much more than I hoped for.

Final Thoughts

From the First Impressions:

"Great! I remember this kind of heady bullshit talk back during the Hudson era. Sure we were crap, but we were a "fist of a team" as Ray used to call that pathetic but headstrong excuse he trotted out week after sorry week. And now I read from you that at least we're "fearless" and "that's plenty"? No, I will continue to hope for more - even if that hope must be expressed in weekly tirades against the mismanagement of this excuse." - Anonymous

This is fair, but I have to draw a distinction between the team on the field and the off-season moves. I am bewildered by some of the off-season movement, so when I look at this team on the field, what I am hoping for is something that makes me think that this team is something other than a bunch of dead men walking. My concern regarding players on the field is that they push themselves to the limit. We can, and should, debate the front office decisions. But the players are not the ones I hold responsible for the front office.

D, you seem to agree with the general commentariat that DCU will be essentially uncompetitive this year. I'm no blind optimist, but I still don't see how we've moved backward overall since the end of last season. The offseason basically traded Guerrero for several unknown players... which is what you have to do in MLS if you want real depth, keep churning the roster with fresh faces until you find people who can stick. Perhaps the total sum of Pontius, Jacobson, Janicki, Jakovic, Wallace, N'Silu, and Peters will equal zero... but much as I appreciated what Guerrero brought to us, if even one of those players becomes a respected regular by the end of the year, then we will have lost nothing on aggregate. -- Grunthos

This is sage and wise. I do not think United will be uncompetitive, but I do not see them as a prohibitive favorite. This team should make the playoffs in my opinion, I just think it won't be a dominating run, and I can't imagine them being a favorite for any trophy this year. Still, New England looks beatable to me, New York appears to be a bigger shambles than DC, Columbus remains a giant question mark, and Chicago look formidable, but hardly unimpeachable. That makes me think 2nd in the east is not out of reach, and 3rd to 4th are more than reasonable.

Still, I have two overriding concerns that will shape my thoughts this season.

On defense, will the team learn a system that works, and how long will that take? We're younger, which is a good thing, but that also comes with a price as we have to allow for mistakes. Add to that a defense that will probably get into card trouble, and we know it's going to be a tough slog later in the year even if the players do get the system down after the first third of the season.

On the attack, Gomez isn't going every match, Moreno isn't going every match, Fred and Tino both can pick up knocks, and Emilio is streaky as high quality bacon. This team needs to score goals, and will have to do it with various players coming into the system. Can it work? I think while I am at least pleased with what I have seen now, I'm not sure we'll have a good sense as to how the season is wearing on players until match day 20. And right now, I'm still more worried in terms of potential success than hopeful.