6 Word Novel Recap: “ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ, Off the post!”
The thing that came to mind as I watched this game from my new favorite section of 303 was that Sigi had turned on Team Pressing on high, and moved them to the very defensive setting on Fifa. United players had 0.5 second on the ball before they were attacked with flying arms and legs, and the United players would usually oblige and give up the ball.
Luckily for DC, Seattle looked about as lost as they did in the final third. The game was basically, “Long ball, interception, short pass, foul, free kick, interception, bad pass, throw in.” At one point, there was a scrum in front of Seattle’s goal and my wife said that it looked like a youth soccer pack. It really did.
The post was probably Inanimate Object of the Match, with two saves. Hamdi Salihi, who I’m really gonna need to start scoring because I like him so much, had a square ball from Nick DeLeon to put in, but rung the top of the crossbar. If I’m picking nits, the ball was a little behind him, but if you’re a goal scorer, that’s gotta be in the net.
Mr. Marc Burch, who was booed emphatically when he entered the game at the end, almost played the villain to a tee, when his header smacked the bar. That would have been the most bitter pill imaginable, so lucky for us all, that’s not the narrative this AM.
PLAYER RATINGS
Joe Willis: 6
Wasn’t called on too often, but did a good job at stopping crosses and directing his defense. He finally got a little rowdy on the field, which it a good thing to see.
Daniel Woolard: 6
He got called out, and for the most part, he met the challenge. Although in Woolard’s case, meeting the challenge is not making any giant mistakes.
Dejan Jakovic: 7
Man of the match for me, Jakovic shut down Freddy Montero, received the silliest yellow card I’ve seen so far this season for a tackle, and made me forget about Brandon McDonald for 90 minutes. As an aside, after the silliness of McDonalds suspension for a yellow card last week, I’m wondering if Jakovic can get his yellow overturned for what was clearly a ball first tackle?
Emiliano Dudar: 6
The thing I still get from Dudar is that he’s tall, and he likes to go up for corners. I’m always afraid that he’s going to kick someone in the box, but he hasn’t validated that fear. Yet.
Robbie Russell: 5
Yeah, this is getting to be a problem. Russell, who I assumed was going to be a massive upgrade to the defense has looked really, really old and out of his depth at time. He came off with a knock in the second half, replaced by Chris Korb, so it remains to be seen what his outlook is for next week. However, Korb is not really an upgrade. Aside from our centerbacks, our outside back options look like what happens when you spend all your money on forwards in MLS Fantasy.
Perry Kitchen: 4
I thought Perry had an awful game passing the ball. His pass completion had to be around 50% (Edit: 31 passes completed, 19 intercepted. Not great) and he looked off the pace a bit. Perry needs a rest.
Dwayne De Rosario: 4
Part of this was a function of Alonso’s defense, but De Ro looked baaaaad last night. Wasn’t on the same page with his teammates, wasn’t creating his own chances. Just looked completely neutralized.
Danny Cruz: 6
I could watch this guy play every week. 100 MPH all the time, and he also has some skill. Imagine if Andy had his engine….
Nick DeLeon: 5
A step down from last week, as I think Seattle game planned for him better than Dallas did. Wasn’t awful, just not impactful.
Hamdi Salihi: 5
As mentioned before, I need Hamdi to score. He didn’t, again.
Maicon Santos: 5
He was always going to have this game after he exploded in Dallas. He held the ball up excellently, though. So, good job Maicon!
SUBS
Branko Boskovic: 5
I thought he did better this time than he has in his previous substitute appearances. I say that because you were actually aware of his presence last night, and that can’t always be said. One thing I do not understand is that once he starts the attack, he will just stand near the center circle, with no effort to get into the attack. Not a fan.
Chris Pontius: Meh
Chris Korb: Meh
