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Post 13 Mar 2012, 11:23 am

Well, that was a little depressing. It actually looked a lot like last years Union team. Great first half and then fall apart in the second half.
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Post 13 Mar 2012, 1:59 pm

I am officially pissed off at Nowak. I've been reserving judgment, as most SOBs are anti-Nowak, but that was a disgrace.
LeToux scores, and the Union flounder.

Although, that stupid field is ridiculous. It's a dumb gimmick, and I don't think it should be regulation size to have the penalty boxes cover 3/4s of the field.

I don't want to see Lopez on the backline again. Gabe Farfan is much better.

And Freddy Awho?
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Post 14 Mar 2012, 2:10 pm

Although, that stupid field is ridiculous. It's a dumb gimmick, and I don't think it should be regulation size to have the penalty boxes cover 3/4s of the field.


Strictly speaking there's no set size for a football pitch, although there are minimum and maximum sizes. Sounds like this one is right towards the smaller end. Arsenal's old stadium used to have a very narrow pitch as well, and you see it all the time with older grounds or lower league teams in England. It can be a deliberate tactic to negate better teams by denying them width.
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Post 14 Mar 2012, 3:35 pm

Guapo wrote:I am officially pissed off at Nowak. I've been reserving judgment, as most SOBs are anti-Nowak, but that was a disgrace.
LeToux scores, and the Union flounder.

Now you are sounding like a typical Philadelphia fan :wink:

I am willing to give it a couple more games before I throw up my hands completely,.
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Post 15 Mar 2012, 11:02 am

lol. it's a sickness. Well, I'm not going to say he needs fired, but if this season turns out as badly as that game, he should be.
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Post 15 Mar 2012, 11:03 am

Randy, what are your thoughts on DC this year? Is Davies with the team again?

Who does everyone expect to win the east and west?

I'm guessing that Houston will win the East, and RSL in the west.
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Post 15 Mar 2012, 7:01 pm

Do you think it would be beneficial to put Kitchen on the backline? I don't remember DC having a particularly good defensive corps, but I haven't kept up. He's going to be playing as a defender for the Olympic team, so why not?

Regarding RSL, it must be Kreis. They're not a particularly glamorous team, but they get the job done. I saw them a few times in the preseason, and they all work hard.

I agree that the East gas gotten worse, but with the weighted schedule, a few teams might rise to the top. I'm hoping the Union can win out in division games. Western Conference games are minimized. Then, as we all know, the playoffs are another season. I don't see LA playing like they did last year. I think the loss of Ricketts is going to be bigger than people are crediting for. Gonzalez is hurt. They will be easier to score on.
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Post 15 Mar 2012, 7:05 pm

Russ,

I'm not mad at Nowak so much because we lost. I'm mad because I didn't see solid play from anyone. Freddy Awho is lazy again, but he was far from the worst. We got rid of our work rate leaders, in LeToux and Paunovic. It seems like it showed.

Hopefully he'll start Keon and Torres next game (assuming Roger is cleared).
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Post 16 Mar 2012, 8:11 am

Jeff,

Actually, I think what we saw over the offseason and in this game is just more of the same from Nowak. If you think about it, the Union didn't go more then 2 games with the same starting XI. Even when we had a game where the team played well through both halfs and scored solidly, there would be a different starting XI the next game. It was almost as if he was coaching some kids team in a league that requires all team members some playing time.

Now I understand that maybe there are different lineup for different opponent styles, but you got to settle starters so that they develop a rhythm that meshes and starts to work well. I think that is why our D-line was so good last year. They (including Faryd) were basically the only ones with any consistancy so they could just know what everybody was going to do. Where you are continually swapping your midfielders and forwards around, that instinctual knowledge has a hard time developing.

I also disagree that Paunovic was a work rate leader. I thought he was lazy. As a matter of fact, I think that is why he retired. He was brought here expected to be a veteran leader producing a lot and he didn't feel like being that any more.
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Post 18 Mar 2012, 4:10 pm

Sitting your Team Captain? Really. And then replacing him in the Centerback position with an Outsideback? And of course, a completely different starting line up from last week.

This game is very aggravating. Put the freaking ball in the damn net.
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Post 19 Mar 2012, 12:09 pm

Strike two.

Sitting Califf may end up being a bigger problem than this game. Nowak said he was hurt, but Califf denied it. That sounds like a problem to me. Nowak went with a 3-5-2. I actually like that formation, but it doesn't matter if they can't put the ball in the net.

And, to me, if a team consistently plays worse in the second half than in the first, that's a coaching problem.
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Post 19 Mar 2012, 9:21 pm

I didn't hear Nowak saying Califf was hurt. Before the game the announcers said Nowak's comment was that it was for no reason other then to try something different. I think he wanted to get Albright in the line up. Which is great. He looks like he played well. But why not sit Lopez, who isn't that great to begin with, instead of your team captain.

I also thought the team played decently in the second half. The goals were because we have a young, inexperienced Goalie. The first Rapid goal went right through his hands. The second he misread and stepped forward when he should have stepped backwards. If we still had Mondragon, the first game would have been a 1-1 tie and this one would have been a 1-0 victory.

But I am beginning to agree with you that it could be a long season.
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Post 20 Mar 2012, 12:10 pm

I read it here

They didn't play terribly, but they were up a man for most of it. That, to me, wasn't an impressive display. I was hoping that Pfeffer was going to come in. I don't know why we haven't seen him.

At least none of these were conference games. I did think that losses can be better than draws, but they have to get some urgency in these games. I don't mean urgency for the season, but urgency for the game. We go to Chicago before LeToux comes back to PPL.
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Post 20 Mar 2012, 12:56 pm

Randy,

I was wondering where Russell went off to. Ok, well he's good. So maybe they can work it out. Somebody's gotta make the playoffs in the east. lol
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Post 09 May 2012, 4:12 pm

So I think I figured out what is wrong with the Union. They are all too young and lacking in self confidence. They have some really good players in both the mid-field (Jeff I have learned to really appreciate Keon Daniels) and up front. Michael Farfan can do some amazing things with his feet and a ball. However, the problem is nobody seem willing to take the shot. Everybody passes it off to someone else.

Normally, I would love to see this level of team work. Especially since most professional sports are teams are full of prima donas. However, it is getting a little ridiculous. I think I read some where they are averaging 2 shots on goal a game. Come on guys. Take some shots.