First Impressions -- San Jose Earthquakes 2 : 2 D.C. United

Test yourself for self-delusion: "A point on the road is a good thing." Right?

No, none of us are that deluded. How about this? "The most frustrating thing about this match was giving up a two goal lead." Any buyers? I see a few hands out there.

But, of course, that's a comforting delusion as well. The fact is, United could have been down two goals at half time, and a point would still be a disappointment. San Jose is not a good team. San Jose is an awful team. If it weren't for a certain franchise in Jersey, you could say things about them being the worst team in the league. It is not as though their talent was superior to United's in any way. They are scrappy, yes, I will give them that. They hustle. They have some speed. But on the ball there is nothing that impresses me.

No, if you're mad about United dropping a two goal lead, it is because you don't want to face the fact that United didn't beat a team that has 13 points this year. That's less than a point a game. And that's a really bad team.

What's so upsetting to me is that they beat a United team using a tactic that normally United can exploit: Close marking and high pressure. Normally that allows United's short passing game to warp an opposing team out of their shape, but instead United in the second half was bewildered on how to break out. After connecting on some long diagonal switches in the first half, it seemed United has fallen in love with the tactic and couldn't let go of it. And so suddenly they found themselves bottled up, incapable of setting up possession in midfield, and looking to hit the perfect long ball. They had the talent. They know the tactic. But they failed in putting it out there.

The absence of Clyde Simms should be noted here. You may not see him as excelling in distributing out of the back, but his strong positioning in transition helps move the ball around side-to-side. When Ben Olsen was gone, it seemed that United's midfield consisted of Szetela and Wallace in the middle. That's one player who has his first game with the team, and another who I think has played more minutes on the wing and at left back this season (though the left back thing seems to have stopped). Chris Pontius moved from forward to wide midfield to center mid and back to forward all in one match. And this constant shifting meant United never really owned midfield the way a five man midfield should.

So, I can whine about the giving up the lead, but I'd much rather whine about losing at all. United lost points that teams in 10 other matches did not drop. And even on the road, it is a bit unforgivable.

I am on the road in Buffalo for the CONCACF match, so if anyone knows a bar with FSC, let me know.

First Impressions - San Jose Earthquakes 2 : 1 D.C. United

So Moreno is hanging out with Butch and Sundance, and Emilio's hurt, and I'm thinking, "Well, with Crayton in goal and the steadying presence of Bryan Namoff, Peralta and the new infusion of energy from Joe Vide, perhaps we can eek out a goal on a counter while keeping San Jose at nil." Except, of course, we have neither Namoff nor Vide nor Peralta, and Martinez was clearly watching his "Best of Facundo Erpen" highlight reel. Well then, perhaps some creativity in the midfield from Fred? No, he's gone too? Well Gallardo is back. Sort of. And Tino has been playing well... and... we're going to get killed, aren't we?

And to be fair, San Jose did everything they had to do. They got up two goals, and were almost on the verge of turning this into a rout. One more goal from either O'Brien or Huckerbee, and I think San Jose could have put up five on us. But instead, United kept trying to withstand their own mistakes, and San Jose's occasional surges, and claw their way back. Rod Dyachenko, who really I rarely talk about except to talk of how useless he is... well, he had a good game. Really. So did Tino. And right now I'm higher of Zaher than McTavish (of course, I'm vindictive that way. When the analytical part of the mind kicks in, I realize that Martinez caused the first goal, but Zaher didn't help to cover the second run into the box.)

So United lost. And the rest of the season will not be an easy fight for the playoffs. Craig Thompson was perfectly adequate, if not exactly good, coming on for Francis Doe, who was also mediocre in the same way. Ryan Cordeiro, Pat Carroll, and Mike Zaher made good use of their time, the same way some bit actors on Law and Order actually manage to make you remember their acting while someone like Roy Scheider or Michael York chews the scenery. Ivan Guerrero and Luis Crayton continue to demonstrate that they were good acquisitions (you can fault Crayton a bit on the second goal, where it seems he was fooled by a bouncing changeup of a shot.)

I will say this: Frank Yallop has proven exactly how good a coach he is. He's worked San Jose from a joke to a threat in half a year, something that RSL is just now becoming. He knows how to shape a team. And whatever he paid Mo Johnston for Darren Huckerby, it was a bargain, as Huckerby has now had great games every time I've seen him on TV (which, admittedly, is only twice now, but the stats from the other games make it seem like that's enough to get the picture.)

It's a loss. It sucks. But unless we fired Tom Soehn and replaced him with George A. Romero, this team was doomed simply because of the losses of personnel, and the fact that San Jose is a better team than either Chivas or RSL were in their first seasons. So we've got two goals right now: Make the playoffs (doable) and make it out of the Champions' League group (also doable). Give me those things, and we'll call the season decent enough, right?

Debriefing for Match 13.14: San Jose Earthquakes

D.C. United 3 : 1 San Jose Earthquakes

Six Word Novel Recap

Gonzalo Martinez's right foot of DOOM!

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "D.C. United had plenty to savor from its 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes yesterday at RFK Stadium, a result that extended its unbeaten streak to five and pulled the club into a three-way tie for fourth place in MLS's Eastern Conference....But from Coach Tom Soehn's perspective, United (6-7-1) was fortunate to escape with a third victory in a row. He agonized over a bland first half and then watched goalkeeper Zach Wells make another critical blunder."
The Mercury News, David Lifton (!!): "The Earthquakes had the better of play through much of the afternoon before losing 3-1 to D.C. United in a Major League Soccer match Sunday at RFK Stadium."
The Washington Times, John Haydon: "The deadlock soon was broken when Simms scored in the 50th minute...The lead vanished a minute later, however, when Wells failed to hold on to James Riley's cross. The United goalie tried to reclaim the ball, but it bounced to John Cunliffe, who tapped it home...United was back in the lead four minutes later when Martinez whipped in a blistering shot from 16 yards after speeding away from midfielder Ronnie O'Brien."
MLSNet, Charles Boehm: "...the Black-and-Red overcame a sluggish first half and a poorly-timed error from goalkeeper Zach Wells to earn their fourth win in the last five games."
MLSNet, Charles Boehm: "McTavish found himself playing a central role in the game's next pivotal moment, too, when the United utility man reached a loose ball well before James Riley some eight minutes from full time.The Quakes defender had already committed himself with a rash slide tackle aimed right for McTavish's ankle, however, upending his rival and drawing a swift decision from referee Alex Prus, who produced a red card and patiently waited for the prone Riley to get off the turf before brandishing it in his direction for the meaty challenge."
Center Line Soccer, Jay Hipps: "It was a result that the Earthquakes will have to chalk up to experience. All week, the team’s coaches and players spoke of the importance of bringing the proper aggressive attitude to each match, and they succeeded in unleashing that determination against DC. Attitude alone can’t win matches, though — there needs to be quality as well, and in that, the Quakes were lacking."
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "There is a school of thought in most sports that says the sign of a good team is getting a result when they are not playing at their best. I think United's 3-1 win over San Jose this afternoon firmly puts their win in that category"
BLCKDGRD, BDR: "I'm tired of typing 'good teams win games they ought to win' because United is not yet a good team, and a decent team beats United yesterday. United is not good enough, cohesive enough, organized enough, or fluid enough to take halves off against anybody.' Good teams stomp teams they ought to stomp' is not the same as 'good teams gut out games they ought to win.' The second United begins to think they are all that, they aren't. "
MLSNet, Chris Snear: "in the end, United have more talent in most of the critical areas than the Quakes and therein lies the primary difference between the two clubs, which was evident United's 3-1 win against the Quakes."
DCSportsBox, Abram Fox: "In a reverse of the age-old adage, it was the moveable object against the stoppable force. " [That's a decent line.]
The Far Post, Mark McClure: "I still think United is an ordinary team that is benefiting from a series of home games against weak opponents. But now things get interesting . . . LA and then Chivas (Mexican kind) come to town for the next two games. (That Open Cup game in between doesn’t count and you know it.) Two wins from those two games will convince me United is legit."
The Fullback Files, Fullback: "It wasn't just on the goal that Gonzalo Martinez was bombing forward. And what a peach of a goal it was! Fullbacks everywhere will be putting that one in a replay loop on the HD sets tonight."
DCUMD, Shatz: "The past two weeks, DC has beaten the teams that they are supposed to beat. And that's good and continuing to do that should get us into the playoffs. But it's not inspiring a whole lot of confidence that we'll do very well in the playoffs, or in international competitions."
Behind the Badge, The Management: "[San Jose defender Kelly Gray says...] I hate to say luck but we got a couple of unlucky plays where a little deflection causes a goal."
The Offside: San Jose Earthquakes, Sean: "I hate to play the optimist once again, but if a couple deflections go our way (or don’t, as it were), I think we have a much different game on our hands."

The Good

1. Gonzalo Martinez: Lovely game on both sides of the ball. Most of the time when a back on the sidelines is facing his own goal, and there's high pressure coming his way, I get nervous if he doesn't immediately execute the back pass to the keeper. Martinez's ability to turn under pressure, which we have seen regularly the past few games, is a higher risk move, but one that pays off with better possession at midfield. Add to that a wonderful goal, just a fantastic strike from the corner of the box to the far post, and it was a lovely opening hour for him. The last thirty minutes, complete with a fouls in a dangerous area and a poorly timed tackle for a yellow-card, make this not quite the best effort possible, but it was still damn good.
2. Tom Soehn, Realist: I was going to kick my radio is Tom Soehn started to talk about how good a game this was, and how his team gritted out a result. The fact that Tom was also disappointed in his players, and that he was willing to make changes all game long, speaks well of him.
   

The Bad

1. Fred: Yeah, looking through the game again, he had an awful game. Far too many give aways, and not a good looking performance when he was pulled (legitimately) from the match. You're better than that. You can use the pacifier in goal celebrations provided you don't ever actually act as a spoiled child, and that didn't happen in this game.
2. Lt. Zach Wells: The knives are out for Zack (listen to the United Mania podcast for a great example), and really, he does deserve every bit of flack for the goal that he allowed. Trying to recreate a Randy Moss one handed end zone grab is never a good idea, that ball should have been punched out twenty yards. That being said, he avoids demotion for some areas of good: A strong save on Ivan Guerrero in the first half, and twice coming off his line to do just barely enough to save a goal. In the first instance, he managed to get enough of the ball to send it out for a corner, and in the second he at least bought time and angle for Devon McTavish to get back. So let's not forget those as well. Still, it was an awful goal that he gave up.
   
3. The huge ever growing sucking hole that lives in the center of our defense: Okay, Perralta had a better game, but here's my question. To my mind, our two weakest defenders are Perralta and McTavish. That's why I'd rather put Martinez in the middle and Burch on the left, sacrificing some good left back work for a stronger center presence for better cohesion right in front of our shaky keeper. Of course, tactically, Tom Soehn may well have made the right chance against a weak San Jose offense, so I'm not up in arms about the choice this week. But against Los Angeles next week? Clyde Simms will have to stay at home more, or something, because we are going to be carved up otherwise.
4. Midfield Depth: We have two wing players with Olsen absent - Tino and Fred. That's it. Cordeiro hasn't established himself as a consistently viable option, McTavish and Mediate are downgrades, and Burch is an acceptable left back but awful left wing. To think what this team would be like if we hadn't signed Tino is a worry. If there is a shopping list for the summer transfer window, a center back and a left winger should at least be considered at this time. Or perhaps Quavas Kirk, or Murphy, or Cordeiro will improve to the point of earning the spot. But it is a worry. Fred will get five yellows at some point this season, and Tino getting another suspension is not entirely out of the question.
   
   On another note, the Gallardo-United mix is not right. Yes, Gallardo is making smart plays at times in feeding the ball in, but really, the rest of United is not really adjusting to his game. Also, Gallardo is not adjusting his game for the rest of United. There's a disconnect there. Two great tastes that don't go great together yet. BDR has this covered from the Gallardo is good perspective, but I think there's another side to the coin as well (or, being as there are so many of us, the same side of two different coins?)
   

Officiating Watch

Alex Prus has a game that managed to disadvantage both teams. There were a ton of fouls not called on both teams, though DC probably got the better of it. Still, he created at atmosphere that positively encouraged James Riley's reckless tackle, and it made me sick. You could tell it was building. I'm saying, this was a poor performance all the way around. Awful. The ARs were fine, except for Alex waving off their flags at times he should not have. Alex Prus, today's Worst... Person... In the World!

At least, until Matt Reis does something new.

Likert Scale Grade: 1 - Bad.

Man of the Match

Gonzalo Martinez, congratulations. Merit award Gallardo. Notes of censure to McTavish (missing his runner), Wells (circus catch, or not as the case may be), and Fred.

Final Thoughts

Take the win, take the points, and take the tongue lashing from your coach. Los Angeles is coming. Now, under the rule of "Soccer-sometimes it just has to be contrary to your expectations" I expect a low scoring game next week. A 1-0 or 0-0 game. Really. I do.

That being said, I'm also now willing to say Tom Soehn's job is safe for the rest of the season, but that's about it. His job does not have, and should not have, security beyond the last game played. Still, that's a much longer horizon than he did have. It means I'm not evaluating him result to result, which is the situation we were in a few games ago.

Five hundred, by the international break. It's important to remember that would have been a disappointment pre-season, but right now it is the best we can hope for, and seems like a major fight back. Seems that way. But the second half of the season is going to be tougher than the first half, and that's something else to remember. It's not going to get easier in August and September.

First Impressions - D.C. United 3 : 1 San Jose Earthquakes

I know that I should feel bad keeping these three points for D.C. United. It feels like I found a wallet full of twenties at the side of the road, and decided to pocket the cash before looking up the address on the license inside.

Actually, that's a lie. Two months ago, if United had played the exact same way as they did this afternoon, don't you feel like the result would have been a drubbing at the hands of San Jose? It had all the hallmarks - moments of slipshod defense, long stretches where United couldn't challenge keeper Joe Cannon, awkward give-aways at midfield, yet this time United ends up on the right side of the 3:1 result. Part of that is certainly luck: San Jose had two shots rattle off the frame of the goal. That being said, part of it is attitudinal. Since Chicago, this team is looking for ways to find things to go right instead of anticipating the next slip-up.

This was not an awful game for United, I'd say it was a few steps down from what we've been seeing, so let's call it below-average. And let's admit that San Jose was, especially for an expansion team, a credible side that if a few things go right for them, they walk out with at least one point.

Tactically, United did seem to have a plan of attack. Gallardo was finding runners. United had success attacking the flanks, but couldn't execute a final pass into the middle for the entire first half. Defensively, there were problems. Perralta and McTavish never held the center of the field as well as they should have, and Clyde Simms found himself pushing too far up at moments when Gallardo had moves to one of the sidelines. San Jose, as a result, created multiple chances right down the center of the defense.

Most of that is attributable to the starting line-up. With Quaranta out, Soehn decided to Burch to left wing, Martinez to left back, and start McTavish in the middle. Which is, to be fair, a completely defensible decision. While Martinez is certainly a joy to watch when he gets forward, I feel that United is better served keeping Martinez in the middle, leaving Burch at left back, and starting McTavish at left wing(or perhaps now Cordeiro, who rarely looked dangerous but didn't look bad either at left wing). Left wing, however, continues to be a problem when Tino and Fred aren't the ones switching sides. The worry for me is that the defense pairing in the middle has to work, and it's better with Martinez than McTavish right now.

One note, quickly, about Alex Prus - He had a horrible match as center ref. The box score reads that San Jose fouled D.C. by a 2:1 margin, which is ridiculous. DC was fouling more, and Alex Prus wouldn't blow the whistle if even the slightest hint of advantage existed. As a result, San Jose had to be confused about what the standard of a foul was, and as things escalated with more and more 50:50 challenges, and 75/25 situations, not resulting in a foul call, San Jose saw no reason to hold back from riskier challenges. After all, D.C. wasn't paying a price. Which is my way of saying that James Riley is certainly to blame for his red card offense, but he was also disserviced by the examples that Alex Prus was setting.

So let's start wrapping up by saying this -- I'll take the points, thank whatever random forces of luck brought them too us, and move on from this match. The United defense is still a concern, the offense is not entirely there, but the midfield was decent. I'm thinking of Martinez for man of the match, both for his goal (what an amazing strike) and for some nice turns under pressure he executed in the defensive end. Then again, he did look kind of bad the last thirty minutes of the match, so perhaps not. We'll see. Other contenders could be Fred, Jaime, and Clyde, but Clyde seemed a bit out of sorts tonight.

Wells one gaffe surrendering the San Jose goal was bad. Ridiculously, circus clowny bad. But other than that... Well, he actually was okay. Other people for potential censure are McTavish, but he did save one goal, Namoff, and Perralta. Ditto March Burch on the wing who was as lost as a Rose Mary Woods guitar solo.

So hey, let's take the points. Even we are deserving of gifts. And a win, even a bad one, is better than a loss, even a good one. Right? Right.

One game to .500, and it's against the player who makes me call myself by an initial on this blog. Dig it.

Someone will say goodbye

The unprotected players list has been delivered (HT: Mike H.), and Bobby Boswell won the final immunity challenge as he is protected, leaving Vanney unprotected. Christian Gomez is also protected. Does that mean that United thinks Gomez is staying around another year? Not necessarily. Recall that in the 2005 expansion draft, Ryan Nelsen was left unprotected in the first round, but protected in later rounds despite it being a foregone conclusion that he was heading over the England.

Now, the conventional wisdom has decided that Brian Carroll or Greg Vanney are the most likely to be selected, but there are a few other players that we should at least give some consideration to the idea that they might not make it back. First among them is Rod Dyachenko. Rod was selected by FC Toronto last year, and we traded a first round pick to get him back (in a trade that fleeced United, especially when we learned that Dyanchenko would have problems getting across the border.) Now he's unprotected again, and I would hate to see history repeat itself. Rod is helped by the fact that Brian Carroll and Greg Vanney are both more likely to go, but if Frank Yallop wanted to move in a different direction I could see Dyanchenko fitting his plans. I can also see Yallop wanting a Jamil Walker type player for a few years, which means that while everyone sees Kpene unprotected, I can imagine him selecting Nicholas Addlery simply on the basis of knowing what to do with him. Of course, the talent shown to date makes the Carroll/Vanney choices more likely, but such a choice wouldn't stun me.

Of the unprotected list of players we've seen in the Starting XI, I would be stunned if Stephen DeRoux or Domenic Mediate were taken. Both have had good moments this year, but neither is assured of even making the team next season. There's a similar story with Justin Moose, who I seem to believe in more than most people, but a speedy player on the wing might be attractive to Yallop, since there's not a whole lot of that in the rest of the field that I would want to take a chance on.

Conventional wisdom is likely to hold. Carroll is most likely, followed by Vanney. But I would think that the rest of the list would be Dyachenko, Moose, Kpene, and Addlery, in order.

Wednesday High Priced Latte Coffee

U-17 PROGRAM ROLLING: The DC United U17 program is in the SUM U17 Championship game after defeating the LA Galaxy U17s. There they face the Kansas City Wizards. Click on the link for a nice picture of Etch talking to the lads. the U17 program and Youth Academies are something we're trying to learn more about (we've asked for an interview with John Maessner, and will let you know if we ever get it.)

CHRISTIAN GOMEZ WILL NOT START FOR MLS ALL STARS: Fine with me. We'll talk a bit about the all-star game, and we may be sending some thoughts over to our friends at The Lord of the Wing, since we'll be able to see the game and they won't.

NEW QUAKES CORPORATE SPONSOR IS BAD IDEA JEANS: The idea that San Jose may be announced as an expansion city without a stadium plan in place strikes me as incredibly foolish. There's a whole lot of risk and downside to this idea, and I'm not comfortable with it at all. Get the Quakes back, sure, but put them in an environment to be viable, or don't bring them back at all.

FREEZER FROZEN: I know we were supposed to get the Freezer out to you yesterday. I'm hoping for today, but I'm a bit swamped with Other Life Matters at the moment. You are all eligible for a full refund of your monthly fees.