Photo: Marjorie Elzey
From my view in the nosebleeds of Audi Field, it was a broken up and scrappy win for Philadelphia in the nation’s Capitol. Although not a stellar performance, a win is a win. To the ratings….
Player Ratings
Andre Blake – 7
Another clean sheet on the road for the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. Made a big save on a shot from Paredes outside the box. Another solid night for the netminder.
Olivier Mbazio – 5
Wasn’t really put into vulnerable positions in defense, but struggled to piece together passes with the midfield. In the Union’s system, they’ll need more from their outside back.
Jakob Glesnes – 7
A good night for the centerbacks, didn’t give up many grade A chances. Glesnes seemed to know where D.C passes were heading before they were hit. Put his body on the line to block a few shots.
Jack Elliott – 6
Used his big frame to put some of the D.C headers wide of goal. Wish he could clear some on the initial cross. Like Glesnes, not much to complain about on the road.
Kai Wagner – 5
Similar outing to Mbazio, struggled to link with the midfield, which Wagner usually excels at. Didn’t give many looks defensively, helping keep the clean sheet.
Jose Martinez – 5
A nice night for El Brujo coming off of suspension. Slotted back into the starting lineup and put out fires. Couldn’t really find Monteiro or Burke up top though.
Alejandro Bedoya – 5
Didn’t offer his usual offensive attacking abilities much in the match. More focused on keeping possession and keeping the clean sheet in the 2nd half.
Jamiro Monteiro – 5
A lot of dirty running on the night for Jamiro. Didn’t get the ball enough and was getting frustrated, leading to some fouls. Put in the energy to be effective.
Leon Flach – 5
Flach proved his versatility in the midfield his match, switching from left mid to defensive mid in the 60th minute. Nothing overall bad or worrisome from Flach. Still willing to tackle anyone and anything.
Kacper Przybylko – 7
Credit to Kacper for not stopping on his goal, a well timed run in behind for the finish. Outside of that, not much else for striker muffin. Cleared the box on corners, showing defensive responsibility.
Cory Burke – 5
Didn’t find the ball very much, but Burke showed some hustle and heart putting his body in the way. Won the ball en route to Kacper’s goal, but a deserved sub.
Subs
Sergio Santos – 4
The game called for Santos earlier than he was introduced. Not much doing for the Brazilian, but made some hard runs and tried to draw some fouls.
Daniel Gazdag– 4
Hard to be harsh on the new man who arrived, well two days ago. Had some nice touches and bite to him. Appears he’ll fit in well with the side. Similar to Borek Dockal in his brief outing.
Matt Real– 5
A brief stint for Real coming on for Monteiro. Did his job defensively to see the win out and not give away any dangerous fouls. Seems to be more of a midfielder now.
Player of the Match – Kacper Przybylko
The man who owned the only goal of the night. Made a good run and finished when everyone else stopped. Tough between him and Glesnes, but a striker gets the benefit of scoring.
Geiger Counter
Timothy Ford– 4
Calls seemed to favor the home side throughout the night, but got the goal correct on review. No big decisions from the ref on the night.
Mbazio really struggled with making the simple pass in midfield to maintain possession. There was one time toward the end of the second half where Bedoya was open in front of him and all he had to do was pass in a straight line… but instead it went right out of play. Felt like I was watching 2014 Union.
Felt like Mbaizo played one of his best defensive games this season, which is saying something because he’s been very good. The passing problems and his possession awareness for anything that isn’t a cross or 1v1 situation is lacking, and those turnovers have been brutal.
His game was a tale of two steps forward, one step back. He does the dirty work, wins the battle, and then gives away possession. Must’ve happened four different times last night.
I thought the U struggled trying to find the correct entry pass throughout the game. Always seemed to rush the attack, particularly in the last 20 minutes of the game. Thought the referee was abysmal, even by MLS’s low standards.
I thought it was interesting that Curtin pulled Martinez a minute or two after the yellow card (which was a pointless yellow considering he was lucky not to get one a moment earlier for picking the ball up after a foul call). Hopefully Curtin was sending him a message to get his head in the game next time.
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Gazdag’s first appearance was certainly better than Dockal’s.
Never mind the last line in my comment. I was thinking Barnetta rather than Dockal.
Actually Martinez received a yellow but Glesnes committed the foul
Did not Martinez kick the ball away after the whistle had blown?
Pretty sure Brujo got the yellow for kicking the ball away
I think Martinez’s yellow was for kicking the ball away.
Exactly. If Martinez got one for a hard tackle, it wouldn’t have been as bad as a stupid one for kicking the ball away.
I know we never rate the coach but this is a game where I think Curtin got it wrong. I know he is a “this is how we play and we will play it no matter the opponent” but in this case we simply looked unprepared and didn’t even make small tweaks to make it easier on us.
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Firstly, Burke and Kacper starting. I don’t understand why. Well I do, both are playing well enough in isolation. But they are the same player. They do the same things, mostly. I don’t think I recall a SINGLE time either of them stretched the back line, which you think would be an obvious mode of attacking a back 3. Santos needed to start. But unfortunately, even when he came on he was ineffective because by that point our midfield was invisible, more below.
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It was cute seeing over star signing get a jog out, but Curtin must have been as blinded by his shiny new toy as we were. Once Gazdag came on (which also pushed Monteiro to the left) we lost all cohesion and midfield connections. Gazdag did not cover ground like Montiero did and was basically invisible the whole game, which meant we had no outlet at the 10. It was dangerous and if we lost I think we would complain about this bad move more. After he came on, it was basically 100% DC until the end of the game. He never drifted to the right to give an outlet to Mbaizo/Bedoya, and I counted several turnovers on that side of the field that I put on Gazdag for not being an outlet like Monteiro was.
What is the subtext of sending Ilsinho under the knife to repair his groin surgically?
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What is the subtext of getting Daniel Gazdag 20 minutes late in a 1-0 match that could easily have been lost?
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To me Curtin is preparing his players now for what comes after the three weeks off in June.
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After June 20 he had another meaningful break, but it is now filled by the SCCL semis and the consequent schedule adjustments.
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WE still don’t know why Tanner spent $200, 000 GAM on an international slot, since Oravec’s slot seems available for Gazdag.
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But squad depth to confront the July through October is now much healthier than it was in March.
Interesting questions!
Looking at the prior transfer rumors, Gazdag, Flatch and Findlay were correct.
Other names put out there earlier this spring/winter: Alfredo Morales, Jan Vodhanel, Tomas Romero (HG rights), Nicolas Demartini.
I don’t, but maybe you all know if they have already made other moves or still make sense based on who has already been brought in.
This was one of the most boring Union games I’ve watched. One moment of brilliance from jamiro and some scrappy defending held the victory, but this was just so sloppy. Martinez and Santos have proved themselves to be divers who will scream and roll around to waste time, but its gotten to the point where it looks coached now with Jamiro and other players joining in to grind out the win. Ref was terrible, as highlighted by the Martinez yellow card for a foul committed by Glesnes, and then when kai crossed the ball straight into someones face it was a drop ball instead of a throw in. No need to check the monitor on the goal either, VAR should have told him to declare goal asap as nothing subjective about the decision. I want to see bedoya sit a game with a diamond of Flach and Jamiro flanking above martinez and Gazdag in the 10 with Santos and Kascper striking.
question…. when your whole team essentially scores a 5 and you win, that’s a good thing right?
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kinda unlike when the point guard has 15 rebounds, 15 assists something not done in the league since a 7’2″ center in the 60’s….but what people want to talk about is him missing all 6 free throws.
My thought in the game was that DC kept trying to get a perfect header thinking that anything casual was being snapped up by Blake. He had 7 saves and maybe 1 of those was hard
+1 this.
Wonder what the Blake factor is here? Most of the DC misses seemed like they were aimed at corners.
Wonder if they figure nothing easy gets by Blake.
Lots of numbers guys on this page. Anyone know if there is a statistically significant difference in shots vs shots on target against the teams with the top goalies in a league? i.e. against top goalies do players feel like they have to hit a corner?
a striker who does not consistently aim for the corners soon loses his job