D.C. United 1, Columbus Crew 2 - Match Review & Player Ratings

The goals didn’t come from his side, and he provided some nice service from the right. Here’s a wacky thought: do we trot Korb and Zayner out at right back next year and move Kitchen into the defensive midfielder role?

I was pondering giving Woolard a hard time because of the OG, but now that I actually think back on the match, he probably was our best player (defender, anyway). He handled the physical Crew strikers better than I would have imagined if you told me before the match he’d be playing CB! He was chippy a gave as good as he took. Plus the own goal wasn’t really his fault. More of a wrong place at the wrong time kind of thing, at least from what I could tell on the replays. It wasn’t an awe inspiring performance, but on a day of “meh” performances, not too shabby.

Since we gave DeRo an unprecedented 6 in a previous rating, can we ponder giving a 0? We’ll call it the Joey.

Yes, it’s early, but MS raised the topic by discussing the future of the defense. It’s easy to envision a much-improved D with the maturing of the young players.

But what about the front line. DCU has vastly improved its goal total this season, largely because of Davies and DeRo. But what of next season? Do either or both return? When will DeRo begin showing his age? Will Davies be able to play a full match at top speed?

Wolff has become a part-timer. Ngwenya is useless. Pontius, assuming he recovers to full form, plays well up top, but will Olsen play him there? How long does it take for Brettschneider to develop? DCU has some serious offseason moves to make at forward.

Let’s not even think about the midfield — and when Europe comes calling for Najar.

DCU on its best day is soooo much better than the Crew on its best day. But they’ll make the playoffs and we probably won’t.

The same is true about the Union, but with a few less o’s.

I don’t think we’re in such a bad spot. Maybe it’s my natural tendency to never get too high or too low, but some of these comments read like we’re where Chivas or San Jose are (right on the brink of elimination).

3 home games and a road match against the worst team in MLS. We almost got something in Columbus despite starting a back four that wouldn’t keep a clean sheet in the Reserve League.

I agree that we are running out of time, but we’re also not in big trouble yet either. We don’t play a single out-and-out good team for the rest of the season. Vancouver’s lack of maturity and slowness in midfield is something we can exploit all day long. Chicago has been good of late, but they also struggle with a lot of what we can do. Portland is like a slightly inferior version of us. Sporting, for all their home wins, are hardly road warriors and are still soft defensively.

Every single one of our remaining games can be won, and if we’re being honest, should be won. The schedule is very kind for us; we just need to take advantage.

If NYRB wins tonight and we lose in Vancouver, then we can start worrying. Right now, after coming within inches of a road draw against a team playing like their lives depended on it, I’m not ready to panic.

Thoughts on every player:

Hamid: Not much he could do about either goal, and I thought he came off his line well when needed. Given the back four we had, things didn’t look as chaotic as I feared they would, and he deserves some of the credit there.

Korb: Not bad for someone who has been out for so long. His late cross that De Ro nearly headed in from the top of the box was what Burch is supposed to be able to do from the left, but strangely never does. Duka might be the weakest opposing left midfielder he’ll face all year, though.

Kitchen: Did a lot of brave, Julius James-style defending. Likely the top reason we stayed somewhat organized. Also looked good playing defensive midfield when we moved to the 3142 late. Not a perfect game, but better than his early-season outings at center back.

Woolard: Scored a nice goal, and played a lot like Kitchen did, blocking shots and battling. The own goal is just poor luck more than anything else. Slightly behind Kitchen in my book, but maybe that’s because he was stuck dealing with messes created by…

Burch: Very poor game. Other than one precise long ball for Davies, Burch didn’t contribute to the attack and his defending was worse than his normal mediocrity.

Najar: Not a very good first half hour (lazy pass nearly gave the Crew a goal early), but improved with every passing minute. Best player on the field over the last 15. Horribly unlucky to hit the bar in stoppage time.

Simms: See earlier post. One additional note: Could have gotten 2nd yellow card just before halftime, though I thought 1st yellow was bogus since Ekpo had clearly fouled Simms just before. Baldomero Toledo didn’t screw us on any big occasions, but he got numerous small calls wrong throughout the game.

De Rosario: Inch-perfect free kick gave us our first goal; that ball couldn’t have been better. Could have been better in the 1st half, but was involved with nearly everything we did during the late-game push for a goal.

Quaranta: Poor game overall, but his first half actually wasn’t bad. Made a superb run – coordinated with Davies and Ngwenya checking deep – to create a partial breakaway (should have put the shot on goal though), had a great switch to Najar, and also drew the attention of James (allowing Woolard to run free and score our goal). That said, he also faded out of the game on offense, and his defending was nowhere near good enough. When that’s the quality he has over Da Luz in the battle for that spot, an outing like this is a severe disappointment.

Ngwenya: Worked even harder than usual, and that actually generated some offense. Still, his tendency to always check back left us in almost a 4141 instead of a 442, and he again brought markers closer to De Ro. Not a perfect outing by any means, but better; if he’s going to have to be used, this should be the bare minimum for him.

Davies: Kind of isolated due to Ngwenya’s fear of being anywhere near the goal. I liked seeing him try to take people 1v1, but most of the time the smarter thing to do was to try holding the ball up or carrying it wide to allow support to arrive. Our lack of possession for the first hour of the game was a big part of why Davies didn’t contribute much.

King: Not bad. Worked hard to support people when we were in the 3142, but seemed unable to contribute more than that.

Da Luz: Got himself involved over the last 15 minutes, though the fact that he wasn’t having to defend at all helped. He was playing the right way, though, looking for combinations while staying wide enough to prevent Columbus from totally clogging the middle.

Wolff: Provided a significant spark to the offense, regardless of the formation change. His ability to play more quickly than Ngwenya is just as vital as his not always checking away from goal. The 10 day gap will help him get fit; I think he can be particularly useful against Vancouver.