After the first 15 minutes or so, my friend Joe started talking about how confident he was. He broke all kinds of rules about daring the soccer gods and such. Of course, DC United scored their first goal about 30 seconds later. However, the goal at the end of the first half I completely lay at his feet. the soccer gods have spoken. On any given Saturday, even Columbus...you know the rest.
A word about that first Crew goal. The reaction by the crowd was pretty cool. Dead silence. Almost as if to say, "Huh." It's the first time in months a team has come into RFK and tied up United. Made for a fun second half though.
The Good:
- Josh Gros was amazing in the first half. He was everywhere. Best game in a month for him.
- Nice save by Perkins when he made himself big and stopped a great chance by Columbus to tie the game at three.
- Great shot by Carroll the Elder. Excellent way to score the first of the year.
The Bad:
- First time in a while the defense wasn't great. Just average. Losing Erpen didn't help matters.
- Adu clearly wasn't happy being subbed out. It's fine to be disappointed, Freddy. Just don't show up your coach.
Grades:
Forwards (Adu, Moreno) B
They were fine. Nothing spectacular.
Midfielders (Gomez, Gros, Carroll the Elder, Olsen, and Simms) A-
We finally got to see the triple defensive midfielder lineup. Sure, on paper Olsen lined up outside. But he played most of the game towards the middle. Gomez, Benny and Carroll the Elder all tally. Benny steals his from Gomez who was having a little trouble pulling the trigger in the box. Wonder if anything was said in the locker room about that.
Defense (Erpen, Boswell, Namoff, and Perkins) B-
Two goals at home is not their best effort, but the first one was kind of a fluke.
Subs (Wilson, McTavish, Walker) B
Not sure why Walker was hanging back and Moreno was up front. I'd much rather have Moreno in the midfield than Walker. His first touch leaves a bit to be desired. Wilson was fine replacing Erpen. McTavish must be very impressive in practices because he keeps getting minutes over Moose.
Overheard in Section M-32:
We were sure we saw McTavish sitting with his parents in the mezzanine. Then he was on the field. Maybe he has a twin brother, or at least one who looks just like him.
Discussion wandered to whether MLS should switch to a September-May schedule. I am in favor if a few things happen. No playing from December 15-February 15. Too damn cold in most of the USA. I know FIFA is pressuring MLS to change the schedule to one more like the rest of the world. As long as the teams have places to play, I think it works. Getting games on TV could be an issue with college football dominating Saturdays. Maybe a weekly game on ABC on Sunday at 4? How about 11 AM, before the 1 PM NFL kickoffs? Or 6 PM Saturday? The good thing about MLS is you know how long the games take to play. You can schedule one 120 minutes before the kickoff of a game and be sure you won't go over in to the next program.
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