Time to turn all my sporting attention to DCU!

No one looked very bad tonight, and there were good games (from my untrained eye at any rate) from Najar, Castillo, Christman, and Talley.

One thing that I’d like to address was Curt Onalfo’s ejection. Talley had made some innocuous tackle that looked tough but mostly clean, and was whistled for a foul. He took exception and had some harsh words for the referee. Then Onalfo came over and started yelling at the ref to call the fucking game, and telling him to go fuck himself. Since the stadium was so empty, I could hear Curt pretty clearly, and it surprised me because everything I’ve heard is how he’s so positive and upbeat. Well, Curt got run, and part of me is thinking he did it to fire up the team. United has lacked spark all season, so why not try showing some passion from the bench? Honestly, it was the first thing this season that really impressed me about Onalfo.

A couple minutes later, the Barra started up with their “We’re all in Onalfo’s Army” chant, which I loved. It was the first time I’d heard it all season, and took it as a sign that maybe we were starting to embrace our coach. Look at how fired up he is! He got tossed for us, so let’s win the game for him! But then they started chanting, “Ben-ny Ol-sen!” and I realized they hadn’t declared themselves part of Onalfo’s Army; they were part of Benny’s Army. Since Olsen was now presumably in charge for the rest of the match.

I gotta say, that really disappointed me. I love Benny as much as any fan, and I’ve been as discouraged with Onalfo as any fan. But it’s still only been four games, and he’s still our head coach. He finally did something that made me, as a fan, want to follow him, and our loudest supporters are throwing him under the bus and cheering for some other guy. That doesn’t really speak to the kind of “support” that I want to give my team.

1. Onalfo got sent off fairly early - which means the assistant coaches took over. Which means, effectively, that Ben Olsen was our head coach for close to 60 minutes.

Also for the record - I was in the Supporters section when we started the Army song, and it was more funny than anything else - I think it DID start off as Onalfo, and then we all kind of realized at the same time that Olsen was arguably our head coach at that point in the game. The “awkward high-school crush” that the Eagles and Barra have on Benny lends itself to such things. Plus, the simple mechanics of it - “we’re all IN Onalfo’s” is still trying to take root while “we’re all PART OF Tommy’s/Benny’s” is still stuck. I heard some people singing for Tommy on accident.

I agree with the fight shown by Onalfo and I’m glad that he showed some, but honestly I had no idea he had been sent off until I saw something about it on Twitter (which I was checking for Caps updates). Of course, I also liked his post-game reaction to the Caps loss (he was apparently incredulous) - it’s nice when DC teams support each other.

2. Andy Najar is absolutely the real deal. One play in particular (other than the deft chip over the Dallas back line to set up Cristman’s 1st goal): Dallas guy is trying to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick, and Najar reverse-nutmegs him to steal the ball away and take it toward the goal for a cross. Nothing more came of it, but DAMN that was a nice piece of skill. And he’s 17.

3. Boyzzz Khumalo had several plays where he really could’ve played a nice through-ball for Najar, Cristman, or Castillo, and instead he kept his head down and either tried a terrible cross or back-passed it. And the forwards were calling for the through-ball. Perhaps this is why he does not start, among other things.

4. Jordan Graye was getting absolutely schooled by Brek Shea. I’d also note that our back line consisted of a single “ideal” starter - Wallace, and he didn’t play very well. McTavish had a good game, however.

5. Hartman: Thanks for the gift.

I had forgotten what winning feels like.

It feels really good.

Should that tarnish our victory? HELL NO! But it bears mentioning.

Or am I SOL since I missed it yesterday?

Check the Goffblog.

Is it viable? I’m not sure. Dallas struggles to defend with their A team, and this was the B side. Najar was up against Alexander, for example; will he succeed against guys like Alonso or Birchall (who, going off topic for a second, is playing superbly and getting no attention)? What about pairings like Mastroeni and Larentowicz? I liked what he provided on the night, but this will probably be one of the easiest games to play attacking midfield that we’ll see all season.

I think we’ll see a 442/4231 hybrid in the short term, with Moreno as the withdrawn forward/attacking midfielder. Quaranta and Castillo can be given more offensive freedom with Simms coming back, and I think we’ve got to find a way to keep Barklage’s energy in games (especially when the other option is Morsink, who still can be neutralized by simple high pressure). A big factor, to me, was that Cristman was more effective than Allsopp has been in terms of leading the line and holding the ball up. Those are huge factors for everyone else underneath him. Just like last year’s team played at half-speed because Emilio doesn’t offer speed or size and needs 10 years to make the right decision on the ball, this year’s team has suffered because Allsopp hasn’t meshed with the team and Pontius is in poor form as a forward.