Worrisome if not distressing. Minus DeRossario, minus Woolard (replaced by some journeyman with two workouts with the club) against arguably one of the top three clubs in MLS, on the road (in a tremendous venue), and the result was predictable, including the admission that the score wasn't as close as the game. That's not what was worrisome. Any result would have been a surprise.
Here's what: it looked like Kansas City was playing eleven on five. There were three Kansas City players swarming any United player on the ball, no United players on any Kansas City player on the ball until the ball was within 25 yards of United's goal. Shatzer thinks this a tactical deficiency on Olsen's part, and yes, sure, but I wonder how much of it is United's lack of athleticism versus Kansas City's. Man for man, Kansas City was bigger, stronger, faster. They swarmed because they could. United panicked on the ball because they had too. Here's what's worrisome: United looked like the proverbial minnow good teams dispose of handily by brute routine effort.
Few bullets:
- Someone is going to take out Kitchen. He's dirty (and I'm not thinking about when he was shoved into the goalie and the scrum insued - three minutes later he's tracking Kamara back around midfield, Kamara backpasses to a defender, the ref turns his head, Kitchen both whacks Kamara in the head and whiplashes Kamara's ankles). He's also United's best player, but he's dirty.
- Santos out with a toe, Salihi out with a "virus," I don't care, Long Tan sucks. Sucks.
- Harkes was calling out Boskovic for being soft, wimpy, and when Boskovic was subbed out at half I wrote in notebook another failed audition, though Goff says in match report he left for kneeknock. But watching Branko that first half my thought was, what a dumb motherfucker I am.
- Saragosa sucks. Sucks unto suck.
- This is why this team is at least a year away - they would have lost this game with starters. Their second-stringers suck, and in MLS, you need good second-stringers. United doesn't have any.
- Harkes sucks. I miss The Bow-Tie, and The Bow-Tie sucked.
- Nap's home.
Here's Goff. Here's Webb. Life is busy for Fullback. All best to him and his. More later, or not.
UPDATE! Here's Landru's game analysis and retort to this post. We agree about Kitchen. Counter-retorts, no, I'm off to test-drive a Honda Fit w/Planet. She's never - never - given me a reason to say no, but dang, how come she gets a new car?
