Game 24 - DC United 4:2 New England Revolution

Apologies all around for not posting a preview. I'll try to make up for it in this game review.

After attending the Redskins game Sunday, I watched the HD replay on Comcast. I'll go into my machinations for how I decided to go to the Redskins game instead of United vs Revolution below, but I want to say right now that this was the first home game I had watched on TV in a few years and the coverage was 100% better than ESPN's Thursday night games. Kudos all around. The picture was gorgeous, the commentary was good, and no technical glitches which caused me to miss large portions of the game. So I avoided any way of finding out the score ahead of time (same for USA vs Brazil) and settled in to watch a lot of soccer at 8 PM. I found the starting lineup curious in that I thought Boswell had played well since his return to the starting lineup and Vanney was the one due for a rest, and I was shocked that Gros was not only available but starting. I would have thought he would have done one game as a sub before being put back in the starting lineup. Maybe Olsen really needed the rest, but with Real Salt Lake visiting on Wednesday, I would have thought that was the game to rest Olsen. (Although, I am reminded of a similar line of thought by the coaching staff which may have contributed to United's loss at RSL earlier this year.)

The game started well again with United scoring first. When was the last time United didn't score first? I need to look this up. The last time United failed to score the first goal in league play was against NYRB on July 22nd, nine games ago. Overall, the last time United conceded the first goal was in the SuperLiga semifinal against LA Galaxy. Not bad. The fact that in both situations they lost via shutout is not a pleasant statistic, however. The two goals New England scored were both deflections and the first one was comical in it's unluckitude. What was great to see was how United was able to rebound from their first deficit in a while and push ahead to the three points. United is now four points clear of the league. With winnable games at home coming up, United is in spectacular position to claim their second consecutive Supporter's Shield. More on that in the RSL preview later today.

The Good:

• Emilio is making a case for MLS MVP. It's really down to him and Angel right?
• Fred slots home his one chance.
• Moreno scores in the run of play.
• Gros plays the full 90 minutes with no ill effects.

The Bad:

• The inability to clear the second goal off the line.
• The full Sunday schedule (United, USA, and Redskins), more below.

Grades:

Forwards (Moreno and Emilio) A

Emilio now stands on 18 goals and is the clear favorite for the Golden Boot and has to be one of the three named as finalists for MLS MVP. Moreno had a beautiful assist on Fred's goal and also scored #110 himself.

Midfielders (Fred, Gomez, Gros, and Simms) A-

Gros played with excellent effort and you could see that he is a much better midfielder than left back. Gomez and Fred had a good game pushing forward for the tying and go ahead goals in the second half. Simms was steady as usual.

Defenders (McTavish, Burch, Vanney, Namoff, and Perkins) B

Vanney needs to do a better job of marking the opposition's best forward. The first goal doesn't happen if he is a yard closer. The second goal may or may not have crossed the line. I have no idea.

Substitutes (Olsen, Carroll, and Boswell) A

Olsen and Carroll assisted on goals and Boswell settled the defense. Excellent work about the subs. See I can say something nice about Carroll.

Begin Rant

Last year, the Redskins were playing the Cowboys at the same time as United was playing the Eastern Conference finals. My friend who goes to the United games with me and I both chose United. The fact that United lost and the Redskins won in dramatic last second fashion, didn't cause us to regret the decision. Sunday, the Redskins were opening their season and United was playing the first of five games at home down the stretch. Playoffs are guaranteed for United at this point, and I decided to go to the Redskins game. My friend did me one better and flew to Chicago to watch USA-Brazil. I don't regret this choice either. Here is the thing though. Why schedule them head to head? United hasn't played a Saturday night home game since July 14th. Everyone knows the NFL was opening their season this weekend. Would it have been that difficult to decide that there would be no home games in NFL cities on Sundays when making the schedule last winter? There is only one Sunday MLS game a week. Put the games in LA for the month of September. Chivas and LA Galaxy can host two games each on Sundays and allow fans who like both the local NFL team and the local MLS team to not have to give up one of their tickets. I am a season ticket holder of both teams and I really get upset when a minimum of effort isn't given by front offices to conflicts like this. For a Saturday night game, there would have been 5,000 more tickets sold. Up against the NFL, you miss out on the crossover fans and the portion of the 93,000 people who go to the Redskins games who also go to United games like me. End of rant.