United Quotes and Comments
TOM SOEHN
On his trip to Poland: "Right now, we have no Polish players."
On playing in Toronto: "It's a pretty hostile environment. It's going to be great for our league to have that kind of fan support. As we look to give our guys experience, hostile environments like that will make you a better player. ... So much of progress is the mental part and playing off emotion, and you can see they had a lot of emotion [Saturday], and a lot of that was sparked by the fans behind them."
On training this week: "Yesterday was pretty good. Today we looked a bit tired because we went at it pretty good yesterday and they competed really hard."
On Fred and Simms injuries: "100 percent the last two days."
On McTavish: "He hasn't trained yet. Devon's history is as a slow healer, so I'm not sure how much more time that means for Devon."
keep readin' below...
On lineup options: "We will use the whole week to gauge who is where, who fits with who and who is doing well. ... It's great for a coach and sometimes tough for a player."
On Gros: "He's done pretty well, especially early in the games. It seems like, in this last game, he got tired at the end, and I think that is the main reason he got beat. But Josh is eager to learn and he works hard at it. Today we spent some time in spots where he can make it easier for us to play out of the back. His positioning when it breaks down, he needs to anticipate things a little bit faster. We will work on it and make him better. So far it's been good and over time it will get better."
On Casal: "Offensively, he's got a lot of talent. The side he still has to adapt to is the defensive side. Obviously, when you are in a structured environment, every guy plays a role in pressure, killing lanes, staying with runners. He still has to develop, but offensively he is a threat and he's hard to stop."
On Fred: "Fred's been making a lot of progress. The guy works hard. I had some concerns about his defensive shape, but against New England, I thought he did a great job. He not only caused problems in the attack, but he was the first one back. He's reassuring us more and more that he is a complete player....We have smart guys behind him too with the idea that if he pushes forward that we cover. It's not too different than when Freddy was on our team. Freddy had more of an attacking mentality and how we covered when he went forward. Unlike Freddy, Fred has a better engine to get back, so in that sense, it has been a real positive."
On facing Alecko: "Alecko did a great job for us while we had him. It was just time for us to go separate ways. He can still punish you; he's a great goal scorer. We know what his strengths are and we'll try to take them away. I'm sure he will be hungry to make an impression and make us feel that we got rid of him for the wrong reasons. ... He still text-messages me all the time! It's goofball stuff -- that's him."
By Steve Goff |
May 15, 2007; 12:59 PM ET
D.C. United
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Posted by: Logan Circle | May 15, 2007 2:16 PM
Great Stuff Mr. Goff. Those quotes directly answered some earlier questions. You need to get extracated from Nationals coverage entirely so we get some more 4 post days. :-) (Hilareous Logan Circle)
Posted by: LeesburgSoccerFan | May 15, 2007 2:25 PM
Steve, do you invision Fred starting on Saturday? Is he healthy enough to last 90 or is he coming off the bench?
Posted by: Chico | May 15, 2007 2:27 PM
Some pretty good zings at Adu by Soehn. Aces!
Posted by: Borth Nethesda | May 15, 2007 3:17 PM
From all indications, Fred will start. Not sure how long he will play -- 60, 70, 90?
Posted by: Goff | May 15, 2007 3:18 PM
Anyone out there know what makes someone a slow vs. a fast healer? Would JOB be described as a non-healer? ;)
Also, I see that TFC plays tomorrow and then again Saturday. Fatigue might be a factor for them.
Finally, you have to give props to the 20k fans TFC had at their last game. The seat cusions being thrown all over after their goals. Nice!
Posted by: Dan | May 15, 2007 4:05 PM
"Headgear on Headgear battles..."
I hope it's not amateur wrestling in the center circle. If so, the Post will have to send another reporter.
Posted by: I-270, Exit 1 | May 15, 2007 4:09 PM
"If so, the Post will have to send another reporter."
If Goff is getting sent to Women's NCAA Basketball regional tournaments and Nationals games, how much lower on the totem pole can you get? They'd be getting double duty for him without travel expenses. It's the sports editor's dream come true.
I view the Fred vs. Freddie comments about getting back on defense being complementary to Fred's work ethics more than a slam on Freddy. He's gone; we've cleaned the toilets with his old jersey; we've moved on.
Posted by: LeesburgSoccerFan | May 15, 2007 4:22 PM
I am still pissed off about the Bradley hiring. This is going to set us back 10 years now in our development of the national team.
Posted by: DC United Fan | May 15, 2007 4:29 PM
"If so, the Post will have to send another reporter."
If Goff is getting sent to Women's NCAA Basketball regional tournaments and Nationals games, how much lower on the totem pole can you get? They'd be getting double duty for him without travel expenses. It's the sports editor's dream come true.
------
??????
Posted by: Goff | May 15, 2007 4:34 PM
Mr. Goff, I mean no disrespect. :-) You are A-plus when it comes to soccer reporting, but you kinda get the shaft on the other assignments.
Posted by: LeesburgSoccerFan | May 15, 2007 4:57 PM
to me, all non-soccer assignments are the same
:-)
Posted by: Goff | May 15, 2007 4:59 PM
Goff Secret: Cover soccer just to get the opportunity, nay PRIVILEGE, of covering women's minor league bumper pool.
Posted by: Arrrlington | May 15, 2007 5:01 PM
Yes!
Posted by: Goff | May 15, 2007 5:04 PM
Before we cry a river of empathy for Goff, please remember that last summer he was in Germany for World Cup 2006 and, likely will be in South Africa . . . if that's low on the totem pole, count me in.
""If Goff is getting sent to Women's NCAA Basketball regional tournaments and Nationals games, how much lower on the totem pole can you get?""
Posted by: delantero | May 15, 2007 5:07 PM
I like covering all sports (well, most sports).
Posted by: Goff | May 15, 2007 5:18 PM
can you do poker too, god knows I am into poker lately
Posted by: koolcaio | May 15, 2007 5:27 PM
Dan,
Yes, you are correct in that JOB is a "non-healer". What is a fast healer??? Example: Wolverine of the X-Men.
Posted by: Dave the Wave | May 15, 2007 5:38 PM
Dan's post reminds me...Steven, whatever happened to John O'Brien? His contract with Chivas last year was only for that season as I recall. Is he just a free agent? Did he retire? Is he in hiding?
Posted by: Chest Rockwell | May 15, 2007 5:41 PM
thanks for the updates...nice shot at Freddy. It doesn't sound like many of Freddy's former teammates are sorry that he's gone.
The Casal quotes were interesting. Maybe he'll become a player...
Posted by: jj | May 15, 2007 6:10 PM
goff,
simms a starter? or has caroll been let off the hook once again
Posted by: jay | May 15, 2007 6:18 PM
as far as i know, carroll will start again.
we'll see.
o'brien is a man without a club, attempting to find another place to play. his career might be over, though.
Posted by: Goff | May 15, 2007 6:56 PM
This is why baseball is awful. Can you imagine knitting at a soccer game?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502208.html
Posted by: Hoost | May 16, 2007 8:13 AM
This is why baseball is awful. Can you imagine knitting at a soccer game?
The question is why does ESC let knitting needles into RFK? Those are definitely weapons and could do major damage.
Posted by: song 219 | May 16, 2007 10:45 AM
Here's a question: How long (as in minutes and hours) does anybody here think that after the last out is recorded this September at the last Nats game (with a fairly comfortable assumption that they won't make the post-season) before the work crews come out and start ripping up that adjustable pitcher's mound and restore the field to a FIFA-quality soccer pitch? Will it take place while the Nats players are still autographing balls and bats and passing them out to the crowd?
Posted by: Juan-John | May 16, 2007 11:09 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
I'm looking forward to some heated Headgear on Headgear battles as Esky and Gros meet up.