D.C. United 3, Philadelphia Union 2 - Player Ratings
by Martin Shatzer on Sep 30, 2011 9:57 PM EDT
in Match Reviews & Reax
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The two goalscorers for D.C. United each deserve credit for keeping us alive. For this team to stay hot enough down the stretch to sneak into the playoffs, these two players will need to continue to be at their collective best. Dwayne De Rosario's goal was most impressive because United had just targeted him on a corner kick attempt just seconds before that was whistled dead. So the Philadelphia Union defenders knew exactly where Da Luz wanted to go with the ball, and they still couldn't stop DeRo. His header was spot on.
Meanwhile, the run from Andy Najar was certainly highlight reel worthy, but more for Najar's fitness, the power in the final shot, and the lack of Union defending than anything else. It wasn't in itself an unbelievable play. What was unbelievable to me was that no one stepped up at any point to challenge Andy until the ball was already in the back of the net. Not even Zac MacMath.
That was quite a well-taken corner kick from Austin Da Luz to serve up De Rosario with the opportunity to remain the Golden Boot leader. We needed more from the right wing position during the run of play though. Da Luz seems quite a distance behind Najar in his defensive responsibilities. And I really miss CP13.
Were the goals his fault? No. Did he make some other tough saves? Yes. Was his distribution improved, including even earning an assist on Najar's goal? Why yes. But Bill Hamid allowed three goals. Do better.
Its April 1 2007, and the phone rings. "Hello. Tommy? Its Piotr. Congrats on the great beginning to your season. You guys are well on your way to winning another Supporters' Shield. Unfortunately you'll never escape my shadow, but it will be a great start! Okay listen. There's this forward, local kid, Maryland alum. Marc Burch. You should totally trade for him and make him a left back! Yeah. Haha! A forward as a left back. What? Nah. There's no way I'll be coaching a different MLS team four years from now and totally expose Burch's deficiencies as a left back. You're getting way ahead of yourself Tommy. I doubt you'll be coaching in D.C. by then anymore anyway. Glad you agree. Thanks, bye."
This game was lost by United in central defense. That is readily clear. Ethan White seemed to have forgotten his head on this trip up I-95. Oh no wait, there's his head, its facing the wrong way and getting hit by a ball to give Sebastien Le Toux a free shot on goal because Brandon McDonald couldn't keep up with him. They were both awful last night. With more focused defending, United escapes with at least a point. And maybe more importantly, we keep Philadelphia from earning three.
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Yes, if everyone's healthy, Da Luz shouldn't be in the starting XI
But I prefer to focus on the fact that he hasn’t been awful, he’s given us a couple of assists, and more importantly we got him from the Red Bulls for practically nothing. De Rosario gets the headlines, but Da Luz was another pick up from That Team Up North that has provided some necessary depth. After a game like this one, it’s good to still have fun at Red Bulls’ expense.
So do you think Da Luz belongs above Quaranta on the depth chart?
I don’t. I understand the need for a rotation, especially when Tino is less than 100%, but I think Quaranta should be our top choice on the left so long as Pontius is unavailable.
Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekly Columnist for SB Nation D.C..
by Martin Shatzer on Oct 1, 2011 9:45 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Right
Quaranta is ahead on the depth chart, but I’m not totally enamored with Santino anymore either. It was more that we were able to get a player that provides credible depth for nothing, and New York got (somewhat) fleeced. I can enjoy that.
by Brendanukkah on Oct 1, 2011 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions
According to several odds sites I've visited,
DCU needs to earn at least 8 points in their last 5 games to get in to the playoffs without help. We have games against Columbus, Vancouver, Chicago, Portland, and KC. Can DC get 3 wins or 2 wins and 2 draws from this bunch? Absolutely. The big question becomes, which DCU team will show up for these games?
by DCUFaninMissouri on Oct 1, 2011 7:43 AM EDT reply actions
On the bright side
We haven’t lost 2 in a row since April, when we got embarrassed by NY and Houston in back to back games. We’ve been consistently mixing up the win, loss, tie, so be afraid Columbus. Be very afraid. We may tie you!
Further into the bright side, we have gotten 8 points out of 5 matches in the not so distant past. We did it in August (if you substitute the 9/10 match against Chivas for the postponed Timbers match), and we also did it in July. And I buy the 8 more points theory. No one really knows, but 46 points has been my fuzzy target for a couple of months now.
pressed post too early
My fear is that we don’t have the necessary depth to pull it off. The reason for my pessimism after the Philly loss was that if we could have taken 3 points out of that match, we’d have been in sweet comfort heading into October. With mid week matches in the last 2 weeks (and the week we’re in, for that matter), our lack of talented depth and the nagging injuries to key players will make it tougher than we’d like to think, given the weaker nature of some of our opponents in October. We can definitely still do it, but I think it’s going to come down to that last match against KC @ RFK. Oh, how sweet that’ll be.
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