United Loses To Columbus Crew, Ends Undefeated Streak At Six
by Martin Shatzer on Jun 26, 2025 10:23 PM EDT
in Match Reviews
Email
Print
It felt rather odd watching this match after being so focused on the World Cup for the past two weeks.
And I love MLS. MLS is awesome. But there are major differences in style and talent between MLS soccer and international World Cup level soccer.
One thing that's not different between the two levels though: Referees make mistakes. Terry Vaughn made a big one tonight. Guillermo Barros Schelotto had about as clear a handball as you're ever going to see in his touch just before scoring the opening goal.
But we can't blame this loss on Vaughn, as much as Thomas Rongen wants to. The ball should have never been in that spot to begin with. And honestly, if Schelotto was one foot to the right, he could have trapped the ball with his chest instead of his hand, and we wouldn't have had any complaints.
The bad call was crushing though. It was the kind of call that can change a game. Change a season. Remember when Chris Pontius scored against A.C. Milan and we talked about how it felt like a turning point in the season? I hate to say it, but the blown call resulting in Schelotto's goal felt like a turning point too, but in the wrong direction this time. Hopefully the team proves me wrong though on that one.
Troy Perkins was a big reason why this match was so close. He made several quality saves, holding on to the ball when any number of World Cup goalies probably would have given up a rebound. But his decision to come out on Emilio Renteria's cross to Schelotto left the goal exposed.
This team will live and die by the feet of Santino Quaranta and Chris Pontius this year. When those two are on, United is winning. When those two are constantly putting their shots over the bar every time they touch the ball near the 18, D.C. just isn't going to win. There were also times when I felt like Quaranta and Pontius weren't on the same page as Adam Cristman. The lack of a consistent striker pairing has plagued United all year. I liked Cristman up top. Let's leave him there and see if he can get in rhythm with our other attackers.
I was surprised to see Jordan Graye in the starting lineup since he wasn't at full strength in practice during the week and didn't even make an appearance in United's friendly against El Salvador last Saturday. I don't know if it was lack of fitness or what, but Graye didn't have it tonight, and was frequently abused by Renteria on Columbus's right wing. Graye wasn't within 20 yards of the play when Renteria sent the ball across the face of the goal for the first score, and he failed to mark Eric Brunner for the second. Clyde Simms also could have done better to prevent Brunner's goal.
***
In a match that featured the winners of the last four Supporters' Shields, the biggest difference tonight was finishing. The teams looked fairly evenly matched in goal, in defense, and in the midfield. But one team put their opportunities on frame, and one team didn't. Time to get to work on that.
We don't have long though. United will host the Richmond Kickers in the Open Cup round of 16 on Wednesday night at George Mason University. Perkins said in his post-match interview that the Open Cup is important for them this year, as it might be the only way that D.C. can save their season. Let's hope that shows on Wednesday.
Tweet
12 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Cristman's miss
off of the turnover when Padula (I think) tried to pass back to Hesmer killed too. If that had gone in I believe this would have been 3 points for United.
Detroit4Lyfe
by handsomerob1 on Jun 26, 2025 10:37 PM EDT reply actions
James has a hamstring injury?
When was that announced? That would actually be a relief, because when he put his head into that towel, all I could think was “ACL.”
I agree that Vaughn’s blown call, while a crucial point in the game, should not be our major gripe here. We could have had 3 goals by halftime. If we could finish, we could endure these poor calls. As things stand, our poor finishing means that games are always going to be one bad call or one unlucky bounce away from going against us.
Still, it’s a whopper of a bad call. I paused my TV to see the handball, and also couldn’t help but notice that Vaughn had a perfect look at it from all of 20 yards. Shades of Jair Marrufo calling Wallace for a handball against LA last year. From that range, a qualified referee should be able to easily see the handball. Referees do undergo sight tests, right?
by ChestRockwell on Jun 27, 2025 2:16 AM EDT reply actions
"James has a strained hamstring"
And that’s according to the DCU twitter feed.
Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.
by Martin Shatzer on Jun 27, 2025 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Not good
but not as bad as it seemed during the game as Chest suggested.
Detroit4Lyfe
by handsomerob1 on Jun 27, 2025 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Whew
That’s a relief. On the other hand, I believe we’re down to 6 defenders who are able to play (and Burch probably still has a lot of fitness work to do, not to mention getting sharp enough in games).
by ChestRockwell on Jun 28, 2025 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions
P.S.
I’m not too nervous about this being a turning point that sends us back to the record-setting losing pace of our start. The team had the right response to the goal and created a few more chances (even as the Crew had clearly boosted their midfield play). The lack of a proper finish, or in one case a bad final ball, was what hurt us. It wasn’t that we gave up or let our heads drop.
I think we’ll continue to be a decent team for the next few weeks, but a team that can’t quite afford to be wasteful of early chances. Once Boskovic comes aboard, we’ll get to see whether he can add the additional element that boosts our attack from being rather predictably direct. One way to cope with needing many chances to score, if you can’t find a finisher, is to just create more chances. It’s not ideal, but it would be progress.
by ChestRockwell on Jun 27, 2025 2:23 AM EDT reply actions
Graye is a promising right back who has been pressed into service on the left side. Hopefully Burch makes it back to full fitness soon. If James is out for a few weeks, I would insert Rice into the mix. Pena is too old and slow.
by dc army on Jun 27, 2025 10:31 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Plus/minus ratings for this game
James 0
Pena -2
Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.
by Martin Shatzer on Jun 28, 2025 10:24 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Plus/minus not a very good indicator
I’ve never bought that approach to judging players. If Player A makes a terrible backpass that allows a goal, why should that blot Player B’s record? If Player A keeps making that kind of mistake, obviously he sucks. That shouldn’t mean that everyone unlucky enough to play alongside him also sucks. Clyde Simms shouldn’t be seen as a worse player because he had the unfortunate circumstance of playing alongside Kurt Morsink for most of the first half of the season, for example. This is more a general comment on plus/minus, not specifically about Pena vs James.
Onto that, then: Pena wasn’t at fault on either goal, and James probably wouldn’t have been able to do much to stop either goal. The issue was that Columbus started playing better in midfield and we couldn’t match them there. That increased the pressure on the defense over the last 35 minutes. Combine that with a lost mark on a set piece by Graye, and a 2-0 loss isn’t much of a surprise. That’s where the -2 comes in, not the substitution. I’d start James over Pena at this point, but that sub wasn’t the problem.
As for Pena or Rice, I’d say it depends on the opponent and Pena’s fitness. If Pena can’t go 90 minutes, you pretty much have to start Rice. We can’t burn subs on defenders during the hot summer months. However, if Pena’s fit, you should consider the opponent. If we’re talking about a team that emphasizes direct play, speed, and/or size, then Rice is probably more appealing. If we’re facing a team that is more tricky and clever, then I’d lean towards Pena.
by ChestRockwell on Jun 28, 2025 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions
James > Pena
I think we can all agree on that for the time being.
But no I don’t mean to imply that decisions should be made based on plus/minus ratings. But I do think the James-Jakovic pairing has been a big part of our resurgence. The Sounders match was the best I’ve seen James play in his career. Pena wasn’t directly respnsible for either goal, but James has been all over the place. Pena was fairly idle on the first goal, while James may have had the speed to get out to Renteria to at least make his cross more difficult.
Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.
by Martin Shatzer on Jun 28, 2025 8:19 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Pena
If Pena can’t go an entire 90 as a defender, why don’t we release him and pick up someone who can? Despite his pedigree, it is worrying that he can’t finish out games. At this point I’d almost rather take a chance on a USL 1 defender (not USL 2 as we did with Janicki) We originally got Simms from the Kickers right?
by Irrlicht on Jun 28, 2025 2:39 PM EDT reply actions
Our “mini resurgence” started when we went to younger, faster players because of injuries to Pena and Talley and because Onalfo finally put King in for Morsink. Even when our DP arrives, I would play him as a withdrawn forward and keep King and Simms working together.
by dc army on Jun 28, 2025 10:52 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
- Start posting on Black And Red United
- Black And Red United on Facebook
- Follow @blackandredU
- Subscribe to Black And Red United Stories
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2011 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
