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The Pitch
Showing entries for Category: Columbus-Crew
Showing entries for Category: Columbus-Crew
DCU reserves 3, Crew reserves 2
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Not bad at all, as brutish reserve games go -- even avoided getting sunburned -- and well done to D.C. United, which came back from 2-0 down for the victory (and, by the way, redeemed themselves from an abysmal showing last month against Richmond). You want the official stats, go Behind the Badge. Here's my take: 1st half CLB -- Quavas Kirk OG -- caught in a bad spot -- right in the middle of the goalmouth -- on a cross that was flicked off a Crew player's head 2nd half CLB -- Jason Garey from Brad Evans DCU -- Dan Stratford -- laser from 25 yards DCU -- Jeremy Barlow -- Mike Zaher makes a nice spin move to shake his defender, ball slides across, looked like a dummy by Franco Niell, Barlow sends it home, lower left corner DCU -- Ryan Cordeiro -- nice work at pace after being fed on the counterattack by Rod Dyachenko Columbus was robbed of a PK in the 2nd half when Guilherme Só was taken down by Zaher, but the referee had already had enough to of Só's mouth -- having yellow-carded him earlier in the half -- and just let the play go... Incomplete DCU player thoughts: Dominic Mediate -- played well at central defender Jeff Curtin -- pretty solid in one half, still coming off injury Quavas Kirk -- good toughness on the wing Stratford -- efficient in the middle Rod Dyachenko -- great, needs to show it with 1st team Barlow -- playing centrally from halftime, improved steadily as game progressed Pat Carroll -- very few mistakes at right back Columbus player I liked: Andy Iro -- what a beast in the back -- big, strong, athletic -- will be a force when he's fully fit, likely to supplant Chad Marshall sooner rather than later |
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Crew 2, DCU 1: quotes and thoughts
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D.C. United simply isn't close to its best at either end. Let's take the defense first: What seemed most confusing to me last night was that the communication on defense hasn't improved. Perhaps fatigue plays a part, but there were still a number of instances where players were either bumbling into one another or unclear about each others' moves. I asked DCU head coach Tom Soehn if the lack of organization surprised him: "It should’ve been better than it was, and they punished us when we didn’t do a good job." Similar to last year, though, the defensive pressure in part has come about because United can't generate enough offense. Defender Marc Burch: "We just need to finish our chances. When we get these scoring opportunities, we need to score. We need to keep balls out of the net, but it takes a lot of pressure off you when you put away your first couple chances." Not quite sure what United's formation was in the second half -- putting Franco Niell in for Burch, and Rod Dyachenko in for Jaime Moreno made the offense quicker and more direct, but also more haphazard. And despite the overload of attackers, D.C. managed just one shot on goal. Again, Soehn: "We never needed to get to that point. We needed to finish our chances when we had them because we had plenty of opportunities to score and open them up. Once they had that, it’s hard to play when they’re packing it in. "We found openings, we just didn’t finish our chances. That seems to be the story of the last few games. I don’t want to keep going back to tired legs because it’s getting old for me, but we need to rest, and this week we’re going to work really hard to make we’re clinical in the areas where we need to be clinical." Also got a couple comments from the Crew. Both guys I talked to referenced last year's 3-2 regular-season final victory at RFK: Robbie Rogers, on Columbus' mix of youth and experience: "I think it's perfect. The veterans are the generals on the field, directing us, and we try to run as much as we can. I think it’s a perfect blend of old guys and young guys – I don’t know if they want me to use the words 'old guys' but I think it’s working out." Chad Marshall on the match-up with Luciano Emilio: "I’d never played against him. I was out for the matches against them last season. It was a tough test. He’s a good player, a big body, he’s strong. But I like the physical match-up so it was fun to bang around in there. We watch a lot of video on him. We know he likes to get in the box. That’s where he’s dangerous. As long as we can keep him with his back to goal, and without him running at our defense, that’s where we’re going to be successful." |
Brian Carroll's return to RFK
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Brian Carroll told me yesterday that tomorrow night he plans to acknowledge the Barra Brava, and I assured him they'd salute him back. That okay with everyone? In any case, here's my piece on Carroll in today's paper. In our conversation, he preferred to stay focused on the task at hand with the Crew and was reluctant to talk too much about his departure from DC United. He said his new teammates have been great and the transition to Columbus has been smooth. As you'll read in the piece, however, Jeff Carroll, for one, is pretty sure BC will carry some extra motivation into tomorrow night's match. He also played down the Crew's early season success, especially in light of what he knows will be a tough trip to RFK. Clyde Simms said it would be like practice to line up against him... One tidbit that didn't make it online: Brian has never played against his youngest brother, Pat Carroll, and only once faced Jeff while the two were in college, playing for Wake Forest and St. John’s, respectively. “That game ended in a 2-2 tie,” said Brian. “I don’t know what our parents are going to do this time.” |
Craig Stouffer
The Washington Examiner's Craig Stouffer blogs about soccer.
The Washington Examiner's Craig Stouffer blogs about soccer.
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