Weekend thoughts: FA Cup, DC United & Other stuff.
So I went to Summers to watch the 2007 FA Cup Final along with about 200 or so other people. The match was ok, more of a boxing match with neither side really being able to take the other out. Ryan Giggs' no goal was hard to take as it looked from my seat like Cech had pulled the ball behind the line before Giggs hit him. Had that been the ruling, the match would have at least gone to PKs, which I would have favored Van Der Sar over Cech.
IMHO, neither side really showed that they deserved the win, more because they were too evenly matched. United had several good runs of play, but their passing wasn't the greatest. Several times Chelsea players only had to take an extra step to pick up the ball because a United player was just waiting for the ball or the pass was too soft. Chelsea on th eother hand looked like they were more comfortable putting as many people behind the ball as they could and hope to spring Drogba. Not sexy football, but Jose football.
Ronaldo, again, IMHO, failed to really show up. His judgement when he had the ball was very lax, trying to take on 100 Chelsea players instead of passing off to anyone of the other 10 red shirts out there. There were several times in my mind that had Ronaldo passed the ball, I think United would have had much better shots at the goal.
In anycase, both of these teams showed why they finished 1-2 and why the rest of the league was chasing them the entire season. I can't wait to see them face off in the Community Shield.
Later that day, DC United took on Toronto FC and picked up 3 vital points with a 2-1 victory. I was only able to watch the first half and I was really unhappy with what I saw. Maybe it was getting used to the carpet that they were playing on, but United's passing and effort wasn't that great. The second half seemed much better once Jamie was dropped into the midfield. I always thought that Jaime should have been dropped into the midfield and have United play a 4-4-2 with Eskandairian and Emilio up front, Moreno, Gomez, Fred and Olsen in the middle with Erpen, Boz, Namoff and Gros in the back. UNfortunately Esky is in Toronto so we haven't got him anymore, but that would have been my pick for this season.
DC United have another week before they face the defending MLS Cup Champs at RFK. Moreno will be out of that match, so it will be interesting to see if Soehn puts Fred or Kpene in the withdrawn forward slot. Considering how well Kpene has done in the last few matches, I would like to see him up front with Emilio.
So DC United are now in 5th place in the East, 3 points behind Chicago. Considering how New England and RBNY are collecting points hand over fist, this 3 match unbeaten streak couldn't have come at a better time. The Houston match should be a tough one and United follow it up with a trip out to HDC to take on the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy have been playing pretty good football, but they haven't been able to pick up any real points, pretty much like United. That match should be a sluggfest, especially if LA fail to pick up points today against Chivas USA or at the Rapids next week.
IMHO, neither side really showed that they deserved the win, more because they were too evenly matched. United had several good runs of play, but their passing wasn't the greatest. Several times Chelsea players only had to take an extra step to pick up the ball because a United player was just waiting for the ball or the pass was too soft. Chelsea on th eother hand looked like they were more comfortable putting as many people behind the ball as they could and hope to spring Drogba. Not sexy football, but Jose football.
Ronaldo, again, IMHO, failed to really show up. His judgement when he had the ball was very lax, trying to take on 100 Chelsea players instead of passing off to anyone of the other 10 red shirts out there. There were several times in my mind that had Ronaldo passed the ball, I think United would have had much better shots at the goal.
In anycase, both of these teams showed why they finished 1-2 and why the rest of the league was chasing them the entire season. I can't wait to see them face off in the Community Shield.
Later that day, DC United took on Toronto FC and picked up 3 vital points with a 2-1 victory. I was only able to watch the first half and I was really unhappy with what I saw. Maybe it was getting used to the carpet that they were playing on, but United's passing and effort wasn't that great. The second half seemed much better once Jamie was dropped into the midfield. I always thought that Jaime should have been dropped into the midfield and have United play a 4-4-2 with Eskandairian and Emilio up front, Moreno, Gomez, Fred and Olsen in the middle with Erpen, Boz, Namoff and Gros in the back. UNfortunately Esky is in Toronto so we haven't got him anymore, but that would have been my pick for this season.
DC United have another week before they face the defending MLS Cup Champs at RFK. Moreno will be out of that match, so it will be interesting to see if Soehn puts Fred or Kpene in the withdrawn forward slot. Considering how well Kpene has done in the last few matches, I would like to see him up front with Emilio.
So DC United are now in 5th place in the East, 3 points behind Chicago. Considering how New England and RBNY are collecting points hand over fist, this 3 match unbeaten streak couldn't have come at a better time. The Houston match should be a tough one and United follow it up with a trip out to HDC to take on the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy have been playing pretty good football, but they haven't been able to pick up any real points, pretty much like United. That match should be a sluggfest, especially if LA fail to pick up points today against Chivas USA or at the Rapids next week.
Labels: Chelsea, DC United, FA Cup, Manchester United, MLS
posted by Brian at 4:18 PM
1 Comments:
Man I miss Summers. I also miss all the Scots watching Scottish league at Flanagan's.
Gotta find me a place around here to watch soccer.
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