DCU Aftermath (Gros Speaks)
(By Kevin Wolf - AP)
And yes, for a while there I was wondering whether DCU would outscore the local NFL team.
First of all, a major tip of the cap to Washington Post newcomer Paul Tenorio, who not only wrote a great game report but also brought us tons of post-game extra bonus quotes. Turns out, Paul is a former honorable mention All-Met soccer player, which means his expertise in these matters far exceeds mine (I quit after two years of junior varsity scrubdom).
Also, I would gladly solicit player ratings from those of you who saw this one, in person or on TV. The debate on the previous thread centered on whether Bobby Boswell should have started in place of Greg Vanney; thoughts? Also also, Bob Cohn of the Times wrote a very interesting BB profile for Sunday's editions; worth a look. Despite the fact that Cohn referred to me as "a reporter." Also also also, someone below wondered about the MLS record for assists. It is Steve Ralston with 116. On Sunday, Jaime moved into a tie with Cobi Jones for fifth all-time, with 89. Also also also also, despite the fact I flubbed this the other day, I believe DCU is now within one point of clinching its playoff berth (Columbus/Colorado have max 46 points).
As for the reserves, a 1-1 draw with N.E., with Guy-Roland Kpene scoring the equalizer (from Nicholas Addlery) after a Miguel Gonzalez PK. With Shawn Crowe sidelined, two-time USL2 Goalkeeper of the Year Ronnie Pascale of the Richmond Kickers got a bit of work.
Because these are exceedingly lengthy, I'll post the quotes after the jump, again, with thanks to Paul.
Josh Gros on being back: "It's been a long two weeks. Been to a bunch of doctors and finally found out he cleared me to play. So it felt good to get out there and play."
On whether he suffered any ill effects in the game today: "No, they had me on medications to prevent migraines so hopefully that works."
On whether what he thought were concussions in the past may have just been migraines: "Every time I had an occurrence they called it a concussion so I assumed they were all concussions....It may have been some concussions were migraines."
Were you ever nervous for your career: "Yeah, absolutely, because I've had four occurrences this year where my vision got blurry, I was throwing up, I just felt terrible. It was scary, but hopefully there won't be any more migraines."
Tommy Soehn on Gros returning to the lineup: "Josh gives you everything he's got. He can open up your defense by stretching you. He works his keister off. He's a guy that we're happy to inject back in. [I'm] happy for his sake as far as confidence, to get a game under his belt to feel confident again and play [all 90 minutes]. I think he could have went another 90. Fitness is not an issue with him."
Soehn on his club's depth: "I think I want to focus on us. I still give our guys a lot of credit. We've played a lot of games, and we've injected guys in and out of the lineup, and everybody's kept a really positive attitude. I think it showed today. When you have the ability to bring in Bobby [Boswell] and Brian Carroll and Benny Olsen into a game, coaches have a luxury. And all of those guys affected the game. We injected a little energy. We've had a lot of games and a lot of travel and I know at a certain point it would affect some people. Fred ran out of gas. Fred put in a lot of energy early, we had guys we could bring in that were fresh and that was a big important step. And I give our team a lot of credit in a lot of ways, because they're resilient. We've been through a hard schedule and I've pushed them pretty hard; they've responded."
Soehn on the fact that United committed 20 fouls to New England 's five: "In the end you control what you can control. And what we tried to do was make it compact, and make it hard to play through you."
Soehn on whether this is the high point of the season: "We still have a long way to go. But we've continually brought new guys into the picture. The system stays the same, but the pieces keep changing. But again, I thought the three subs in the game really impacted the game. We were able to bring seasoned veterans in with experience and a lot of teams don't have that ability. Of course, we want to keep it going but there's a lot more games to go."
Soehn on why Boswell was not in the starting lineup: "We have to manage. Every three days we have a game, we have to manage that. We have an open relationship and I told the guys that [Devon's] going today because he's fresh. Devon sat out his share and I though Devon was a great piece today. He was fresh and you have to continue to do that."
Soehn on how much home field advantage would mean: "Look at our fans. We've got the best fans in the league. It's always playing like you have an extra guy. It's real important, having the final here in D.C., and the more games we get here obviously the better our chances are."
Brian Carroll on his assist [what's the golazo version of "assist?"]: "I don't even know who scored. I just got it atop the PK spot. I was happy."
Carroll on getting mobbed for the assist: "I think everyone was tired and they were just happy we got a two-goal lead. So we could just relax a little bit."
Carroll on guys coming off the bench to contribute: "Any time you have people like Bobby and Ben and myself coming off the bench to help the team, it shows it's a deep squad. And guys have pushed one another and helped this team contribute to the wins we have so far."
Carroll on competition for starting jobs: "I think it makes everybody better. It makes our team better, it makes individuals better and it makes you play better on game day."
Emilio, through an interpreter, on Moreno: "When he's on the field, people respect him. Overall I think that when Jaime's on the field, the team is more feared and respected."
Emilio, through an interpreter, on approaching the single-season record: "I didn't know about the record, but if it's a possibility that I can break the record, I welcome it. But that's not my main concern. My focus is to play well for the team and for the team to win. But if there's an opportunity to break the record, obviously I would welcome it."
By Dan Steinberg |
September 9, 2007; 10:59 PM ET
D.C. United
Previous: Matchday 24: Revs at DCU [Updated] |
Next: Final Preparations for U.S. Women [updated]
Posted by: Eugene | September 9, 2007 11:11 PM
Great game, and a great day for sports in DC! I loved Jaime's goal, how he waited for Reis to dive to the near post and then calmly knocked the ball in to the other side.
DCU Match highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjswXuPJdts
Posted by: Shatz | September 9, 2007 11:16 PM
Emilio has:
18 goals in 23 league appearances
4 goals in 4 CONCACAF appearances
0 goals in 0 USOC appearances
0 goals in 4 SuperLiga appearances
22 in 31 games, overall.
Posted by: Goose | September 10, 2007 12:05 AM
22 in 31 is striker quality far beyond all reasonable expectations. That's a kill rate WELL above average. To do that with the variability around him with all of our hammy problems, as well as our early season predilection for a central north-south style is phenomenal. I would love to see what would happen with a more potent wing service than what we have now.
Posted by: LeesburgSoccerFan | September 10, 2007 12:15 AM
Great game, I liked Rongen's comments on how Olsen is our enforcer. I think that's spot on. He was gassed against Dallas, either jet lag or accumulated fatigue I don't know, but he wasn't answering the bell when they amped up the physical play, unfortunately nobody else on this squad has that mentality, so it's him or nothing. In this game, his insertion swung the momentum right in our favor, hardnosed without being stupid and enough skill to get the job done. He's definitely the heart and soul of this squad.
Not so happy with Rongen trying to pin the blame for Twellman's goal on Burch, clearly that was on Vanney, when the center forward scores from the penalty spot it's not the left back's responsibility. Vanney is to my mind our 5th best defender and should be coming off the bench. Soehn's comments about needing to rest guys are understandable in a general sense, but why does Boswell need rest now? He just had like 4 games off before his Dallas start. Boswell and McTavish should be our starting center backs unless someone is hurt or genuinely needs a break. It seems like whenever Vanney gets matched up one on one in space he gets burned.
Great game by McTavish by the way, one of his best so far, that goal line save with the head was crucial, maybe you can say NE's scrum goal was his fault, but that would be harsh. Simms, Burch and Namoff awesome as usual. Carrol's run and cross was sick, who knew he had it in him?
ok, wth, I'll do ratings (6 average):
Perkins 6 (didn't look as sharp as usual)
Namoff 7 solid
McTavish 7 ditto
Vanney 5 Twellman goal on him
Burch 7.5 solid defending, crossing wasn't spot on but he contributed to the attack and was part of the build up for a couple goals.
Simms 7 the guy does all the little things
Fred 7 clinical finish, and decent build up play, got outmanned some by the tall back (smith?)
Gomez 7.5 Senor stud
Moreno 9 one of the best games I've seen from him in a while. He shot twice! Scored once! Did he lose possession once? The ball just sticks to his feet, genius.
Gros 7 decent two-way play, nothing spectacular, so good to see him back.
Emilio 7.5 about as quiet a 2 goal game as you'll see, the first was more on Gomez and Olsen, but he gets major props for supporting Carrol's mad dash and finishing it off.
subs:
Carroll 7.5 what!?
Boswell nr
Olsen 8 ummm, who do I see about a man-crush?
Posted by: uranderson | September 10, 2007 12:50 AM
"And yes, for a while there I was wondering whether DCU would outscore the local NFL team."
They did! If you convert DCU's points to pointy ball points they scored 28 today. And if you gave DCU 3 extra points for every ball they shot over the goal I think they scored a total of 46 points. Redskins only had 16, and 9 of those (more than the QB had) came from a guy who kicks the ball.
Great job by Emilio today and it was good to see Gross back in the action. Again, how is Emilio not going to justify a DP salary next season? If DC won't give it to him someone will.
Posted by: Southeasterner | September 10, 2007 2:11 AM
I'm going to go from Goff's "5 = average" system:
Perkins - 7
Namoff - 6
McTavish - 7
Vanney - 5
Burch - 6
Fred - 6
Simms - 7
Gomez - 7
Gros - 6
Moreno - 8
Emilio - 7
Olsen - 7
B. Carroll - 7
Boswell - NR
Moreno was the clear man of the match. It was fitting that, after the pre-game tribute, he had his best game for us this season (and possibly back to 2005). Emilio took the second goal well, while the first was a bit more accidental. Carroll's run to set up the 4th goal was as awesome as it was unexpected. Seriously, how often is Carroll going to go on a 60 yard run with the ball in which he brushes off a sturdy shoulder challenge, blows past a 2nd man, and hooks in a perfect cross? The fact that the dastardly Jay Heaps was one of the men beaten made it all the sweeter.
All in all, this was an impressive offensive showing. I could have done without Vanney leaving Twellman that much space on the first goal, but I thought that was the only real egregious error at the back. Dorman and Joseph weren't particularly involved in the attack, which always bodes well when you're playing the Revs. I was glad to see us really focus on playing through Moreno as a team, knowing that with the Revs' 5 man midfield there would be less space than usual for Gomez.
Also, how did the Revs only get 5 fouls called against them? Shalrie Joseph must have gotten away with 8 clear, obvious fouls (often on Moreno). Khano Smith seemed to really embrace the freedom to throw consequence-free elbows at Fred over and over again. Okulaja is a disgrace, and has been for a long time.
Posted by: Chest Rockwell | September 10, 2007 2:15 AM
I realize he had the advantage of coming in fresh with some tired legs on the field, but Carroll's run and assist were sublime. Too bad Emilio didn't seem to notice it.
LOVE the output he's giving us, but I would have liked to see him acknowledge Carroll instead of ignoring him and doing his own thing near the team benches.
Nitpicking? Maybe. Just saying.
Still, great to see the team bounce back after the Revs took the lead. Good to see the fight they displayed - lord knows it was hot out there. Now, let's not assume the last six games are easy. We still have plenty of work to do and there is always room to improve.
How much does last season's late slide help the psychology of the team THIS year at this point in the season?
Posted by: spectre | September 10, 2007 6:12 AM
That last goal was beautiful! I think Emilio went over to Carroll after the game.
Posted by: m | September 10, 2007 6:38 AM
What does Shirley Joseph need to do to get a yellow card?
Posted by: ff | September 10, 2007 9:09 AM
while Lucigol (Emiligol?) didn't run to thank Carroll the rest of the team all did. I thought it was a little comical that Luci ran to the bench to celebrate with Fred while everyone else ran over to pick up Carroll.
And I agree with everyone that Moreno was clearly the MOTM. I was very impressed with how hard he was working and moving the ball.
Posted by: Glenn | September 10, 2007 9:16 AM
On spectre's point: It was nice to see, however, that the rest of the (onfield) DCU players went over and mobbed Carrol.
Posted by: Tweaked | September 10, 2007 9:43 AM
Until reading the match report, I didn't realize that Carrol burned Heaps. It makes the assist even more beautiful to watch.
Posted by: I-270, Exit 1 | September 10, 2007 9:47 AM
Dan,
The playoff situation: a United win on Wednesday eliminates Columbus, Chicago, and LA from catching United. Salt Lake and Toronto were eliminated this weekend.
For more, I've got a thread on BigSoccer that I update regularly:
Posted by: Kim | September 10, 2007 9:54 AM
A great complete game by united. We score first, fall behind and the open 'er up and finish them off. Finally Moreno gets a goal in the run of play, and it was a beauty! The confidence he has in the box is amazing. he just sat there and waited for reiss to make his move and then slotted it away!
Rankings (5 average, do the math)
Perkins - 6.5
Namoff - 6
McTavish - 7
Vanney - 5
Burch - 6
Fred - 6.5
Simms - 7.5
Gomez - 6.5
Gros - 7
Moreno - 8.5
Emilio - 7
Olsen - 8
B. Carroll - 8
Boswell - 6.5
steinbog, are we going to get a national team thread or should we discuss amongst ourselves here? keep up the good work.
Posted by: J-Mart | September 10, 2007 10:06 AM
what a bunch of whiners:
http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/articles/2007/09/10/its_not_their_day_at_rfk/
Posted by: Rocko | September 10, 2007 10:43 AM
Olsen 'clipped' Kano? Would that be the same Olsen who was laying face down in the grass after Khano came flying in to clatter Olsen and *shock* Abby Okulaja didn't call it?
What a bunch of Whiners. They had the ref on their side, the second goal they scored was a series of fouls. I think they actually fouled that ball into the goal and even then it didn't cross the line, and they still couldn't get it done. Oh well, class won out.
Posted by: DCAustinite | September 10, 2007 11:07 AM
What? You mean DCU and the Washington Nationals both won on the same day?!?
When was the last time *that* happened?? :-)
Posted by: Juan-John | September 10, 2007 11:44 AM
re: whining.
Whatever. The amazing thing about that game was that DC didn't score 8 or 9 goals instead of just 4. The Revs have major problems on the wings (Ralston - age, Smith - suckiness) and at the back (the problem is less clear but the Revs have given up A LOT of chances this year. It wasn't a huge deal until yesterday because most teams blunder the chances, much like United in the first half. In the second half, United found their finishing and that was that.
Posted by: New England Guy | September 10, 2007 11:45 AM
Anyone else thinking Emilio may top RDA's 23 goals to become our single season leader? Our remaining 6 games are: RSL, Chicago, Toronto, KC, Chicago, Columbus. Not a lot of real tough defenses there. I think Emilio finishes with 25 goals, an incredible total. BTW, who is the all-time MLS single season leader?
Posted by: grotus | September 10, 2007 11:51 AM
B. Carroll - 7 - um - HELLO. 8 or 9 is more appropriate!
That was by far the best assist in the league this year. 60 yard run - schooled two defenders - right to Emilio's head and watching heaps fall into a HEAP - priceless!!
Posted by: bobf | September 10, 2007 11:51 AM
"Benny is a smart player and got away with a cheeky one," Smith said. "There were three officials right there and I don't know how it can be missed."
Maybe because it wasn't a foul? Also, how about Reis grabbing Olsen by the ankle in the box while Reis is scrambling on the ground trying to scoop in the ball he mishandled?
Posted by: dcca | September 10, 2007 11:57 AM
Khano knows he fouled Olsen in that play anyway. He's got no leg to stand on. And if it happened in front of three officials who saw it, maybe its not a foul?
Making Heaps suffer is so grand.
Great reporting from the newbie.
Posted by: DCAustinite | September 10, 2007 12:18 PM
TT is leading Emilio in the GOTW race right now. Really think Carrol/Emilio deserve this one. Please vote and Vamos United!
-K
Posted by: -K | September 10, 2007 12:31 PM
All-time single-season goalscorer for MLS is Roy Lassiter...he scored 27 with the Mutiny.
Posted by: DE | September 10, 2007 2:36 PM
grotus - the single season record of 27 was set in the inaugural season of 1996 by Roy Lassiter of the now-defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny. He was working with the great Carlos Valderrama, who could pass 40 yards on a dime from midfield - which was where he usually was, not ever having run more than 10 feet at a time.
Remember though, that the standard of play was lower. Only seven times in the league's 12 year history has a player eclipsed the 20 goal mark. Three of them were in that first season as teams were building from scratch.
Posted by: spectre | September 10, 2007 2:39 PM
Re the earlier comments on Emilio's behavior right after his second goal, yes, he is selfish. He whined after getting taken out of the Dallas game because he did not score even though his teammates scored four goals. When he scores a goal, he celebrates himself excessively. All he wants to do is score lots of goals.
In other words, he is a classic striker. We pay strikers to be selfish. Emilio is having a hell of a season and I could care less if he wants a little glory for himself. It was a great crowd yesterday and I think he wanted to celebrate a little with the fans.
Posted by: J | September 10, 2007 3:41 PM
The play of that last defender on Carroll is a great teaching video for youth coaches -- it looks like he assumed Carroll would run out of bounds and therefore let up for two steps.
Posted by: gringo | September 10, 2007 3:57 PM
By the way 18,ooo fans? That is awsome, considering:
1. Sunday game
2. Redskins first game of the season ( a home opnener no less) is going on.
3. A full strength US squad is playing a Full strength Brazil squad.
Normally I'd be using that list to an excuse for only 10 k showing up. 18K is astounding, and they got a great game. As far as the league goes, this year feels different.
Posted by: DCAustinite | September 10, 2007 4:05 PM
I was at the game and I have to say it was an impressive crowd. For what its worth, it felt like 20-25,000.
Posted by: New England Guy | September 10, 2007 4:37 PM
Soehn: "I though Devon was a great piece today."
Well, all along I thought Boz was sitting because of something unrelated to soccer that happened. Maybe instead it's why Devon moved ahead of him. HHHHMMMMMM!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 10, 2007 4:38 PM
"Normally I'd be using that list to an excuse for only 10 k showing up. 18K is astounding, and they got a great game. As far as the league goes, this year feels different."
-----
My math may be completely off on this, but I did a quick calculation of the attendance at MLS games pre- and post-Beckham during this season so far (not including the Beckham game itself).
In the eight home games against MLS opponents ONLY (i.e. NOT including DCU's international games at RFK) prior to the Beckham game, the average attendance according to my (quite possibly shaky) math was 17,722.
In the two MLS home games since the Beckham game, average attendance was 18,833.
Obviously it's way too early to tell the exact impact of Becks' arrival (and I know this is a ridiculously small sample that doesn't include the attendance numbers for New England's and New York's home games), but I thought I'd put this out there and see whether or not my math stands up to the scrutiny of the awesome readers/contributors of this blog.
Posted by: Juan-John | September 10, 2007 6:52 PM
well, some people who bought tickets for the Beckham game had to buy 5-game packages. Were those two matches part of that package? I think it mainly has to do with the fact that the team is winning and playing really well right now and it's fun to watch.
As for NE's complaining about the referee. That is totally laughable. 20-5 foul count tells the whole story. There is no way they can say the refs were against them. Not only that I am still not convinced NE's second "goal" ever actually crossed the line. And the replays seemed fairly conclusive regarding any offside/not offside issue on the first goal. The play right before that where Moreno was called offside was a bad call because he was actually not. So NE can whine that Fred was off, but I suspect they aren't whining that Moreno was not offside when he was called off. You play a high line sometimes you get burned. Relying on an AR to be right 100% of the time is idiotic. At least Twellman is man enough to admit that they just plain got outplayed.
Posted by: Glenn | September 10, 2007 8:51 PM
This complaining about Olsen-Smith is really annoying -- even if it was a foul, it's hardly like it gave DC a clear breakaway that couldn't be stopped. It was just a small call that could go either way and DC played great right after to get a goal.
Posted by: RB | September 10, 2007 11:46 PM
no kidding, it was borderline, and the only reason Olsen was on the ground to begin with was because Smith bulldozed him. The big man was playing hyper-physical all game on Fred, then when he tried the same on Olsen, Benny gave him a taste of his own medicine. Live by the sword, die by it.
their nutjob coach didn't have a problem with the ref turning a blind eye to an entire first half of jersey pulling, elbows and shoves by Smith.
And Fred's goal was clearly onsides, talk about sore losers.
Posted by: uranderson | September 11, 2007 12:05 AM
Nice commentary, Spectre.
Great game. That was one big win. Too bad we didn't take of Chivas. With a relatively weak field remaining for the rest of the season it seems we're in the catbird's seat if we continue to play well
Biggest negative is allowing 4 goals in the last 2 games. Defense is looking pretty good though.
On a side note, I think any commentary on Emilio celebrating with Carroll is a bit off. Carroll went into the boards, Emilion continued his course of run during his celebration. I don't think there's much to make of that. When he got pulled off last week and showed his disappointment it's not selfishness, it's hunger. What else could we ask for?!?
Posted by: Kire | September 11, 2007 12:08 AM
Re: NE Whiners
Last 2 matches (one home, one away):
United 8, Revs 2
The refs didn't create that aggregate scorline. Case closed.
Posted by: Throwin | September 11, 2007 9:15 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Any idea how many goals Emilio has scored this year in all competitions for DCU, including the CONCACAF Champions Cup, U.S. Open Cup and the SuperLiga? I'm also curious to know how many total appearances he has had for United in all competitions, anyone keeping track?