Episode 4: Carioca spark saves the night

Same eleven for the third straight match, same problems. St. Louis walked into Audi Field with a map of our weak flanks, Kurokawa got carved open, and Durkin buried the goal we all saw coming. Rene waited sixty-two minutes to react. Then Peglow smashes a rocket from twenty yards in the ninetieth and saves the night. The episode digs into my match-day sensations, player ratings, and a peek at our next opponent.

Transcript

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It was the 90th minute. One nil down versus San Luis and in a corner, a ball rebound falls to Jao Peglo, who sends a beautiful rocket to the back of the net, tie the game, and the stadium goes bonkes happy. For the next nine minutes, we almost complete a magic combat in the last action of the game, denied by BAR. Unfortunately, the 90 minutes before the goal from Jau Peglo were again at our stadium outclassed tactically by San Luis and coach Joan Dalmuth. As a disunited fan, I'm gonna keep those memories from extra time and the goal from Jao Peglo, but there's a lot to unpack. Welcome to the Boss Arnet podcast. Let's kick on. This is your host, Ramon. You have to roll the R for this one. Spanish name. Sorry. No excuses. Thank you for giving me a few minutes of your time to talk about the DC United. We just die last night 1-1 to St. Louis. We struggle a lot, but find some magic moments at the end of the game. Let's just type in. Starting 11, 4-4-2 with Johnson in goal, hefty coming back from suspension, Barless Rose and Kurokawa across the back, then Peltola Sarvania in the middle of the pitch, and then Wingers, Hopkins right wing and Peglo left wing, and we got Ortuman on front, high expectations, Louis and Ty. San Luis came strong, mostly with a 4-3-4. They put a lot in the wings, and they put a lot also in the three on top, Tukert, Berg, and Young. Young especially was a nightmare for the 60-something minutes that he played. Excellent off-the-ball run. The attendance was kind of mid on AOD Stadium, especially because you know that uh terrible loss at the middle of the week versus Chicago. But I think, you know, the atmosphere was pretty good during the games, even though we were struggling for the majority of it. And after the Pigla go, the Barra Braba and the whole stadium become our life, and it was a thrill to watch those uh final minutes. Very happy to be on attendance yesterday. Let's just go and talk about the first half. Uh, the first 20 minutes, actually, I think things were working for us. I think we apply a selective pressure, um, especially when they were trying to build from the back, from a goal kick. We were trying to put a high pressure there. If they break those lines, then we fall back to our usual uh mill to low block. I think that pressure especially gives us a breather in the back. And I think we execute the main idea that I see Renee is trying to apply on our attacking side, which is give the ball and most of the situation to the two guys on top. And I think here there's a plan where off the ball, uh, Lewis will be do the running vertically, try to break lines, gravitate in defenders, moving the whole uh back defensive line, and then Ty will be more physical checking in. The problem is this need this ideally needs to be in synchrony, obviously. But now, because it's just a second game that they play full uh as a pair, it's not really working. Uh many of the situations that we have lumbles or just passes to that area. Uh, I saw either Luis doing the off-the-ball run four or five seconds, either before or after that uh Ty was checking in. So that synchrony uh that's supposed to create spaces, it was not really there. We struggled a little bit to get something done, but at least we we we finished some of the situation and get some set pieces. There was a problem at the 20-minute mark. First, uh San Luis started really to settle in. After they start to adapt to our game, to our lumbles, and they start to push the uh front line higher, uh, giving less time and spaces to our two central defenders to actually distribute the ball. And the second one is uh I don't know if this was by tactical or just reaction by the players, but our low blocks start to fall more and more, and or high selective pressure starts to fade in. So by the 35th minute mark, it was a Chicago-esque situation, which most of the game was played on or half, and then most of the time we got at least 10 minutes behind the ball, and we were playing narrow again. They were using the um white areas a lot, especially on the right-hand side. If you see the tape, you know how much we have suffered there. I'm pretty sure their tactical staff was aware of this because Teoshirk and Santos were having a lot of spaces, again, a lot of overlapping combination, and they were crossing the ball. They were also using a lot of horizontal transition, going from our right side, right hand side to our left hand side, especially using the off-the-ball runnings of Young, which was, as I mentioned before, pretty effective. I was just sitting there saying, if we don't do something, um, this is gonna be another Chicago all over again. I mean, the first 20 minutes were fine, but then we were kind of like drawing the last minute. We were finding nothing. Um also that counterattack ability that we show up in the first 20 minutes, at least a couple of occasions where we recovered the ball and we effectively did a couple of passes and find something. Not a great, you know, finishing uh uh situation, but at least something to get a set piece, or at least to push the block uh towers there, um opposition box. It was not working a lot. So when the whistle blows at the 45-minute mark, I was just uh thinking about uh the reaction of Rene. What is he gonna do? Because versus Chicago, the reaction was pretty poor, and I did not see any reaction again for those last 20 minutes, even though he saw the tactic was kind of crumbling. So very interesting to know about what the second half was. Let's talk about the second half then. So the second half went underway. There was no tactical adjustment, same plan, same shape, same problems. No effective lumballs, their front three attackers were applying a very effective selective pressure on our back four. The win game wasn't really there. I think we were hitting a wall in the midfielder, and definitely there was no linkage play with the two guys on top, which is pretty much the keystone of our attacking plan. So our tactics were on collapse mode. Now San Luis wasn't doing that much better, but at least I give them this. Their win play was effective because we were playing the majority of the game in our half. So any recovery that they did, they were already in our half. They also have, I would say somehow effective over um over runs, especially over laps outside. They were stepping or uh final third in a few occasions, not generating too much XG, but the attacking plan was there. The one thing they were doing well was switching the wing play very effectively. And in one of those switches from our right hand side to our left, Kuroka will miscalculate an interception and he gave in a one-two play a lot of space to Young, the right win, which entered to our box, put a back pass, and then Durkin, midfielder, got in and put the ball in the back of the net. We were 1-0 down. As a DC United supporter, the next 10 minutes were pretty green. We had no response whatsoever to their uh tactic. We were playing, in my opinion, too low of a block. We were playing narrow versus a win game, and they're overlapping, as I mentioned, we're at least stepping into our final third. So at the 63-minute mark, there is a finally Rene move the needle. He makes a substitution, he brings uh Peltola out and brings uh Straw in. Straw takes the right win, and Hopkins go to that center attack midfield area. I think with the hope that his running game and his dribbling ability got something for us out of nowhere, really. Now, the 63-minute mark is very important for this game because of their substitution windows. Because as I mentioned before, they were applying selective pressure very effectively. They're from three, their two-wingers, especially, were very effective not only the off-the-ball running, but applying pressure and make their life for our center defenders and our backs pretty difficult. Now, in that substitution window, Coach Johan Dalmet decided to switch to substitute both of the winger at the same time. Tushert as a right winger goes out for Elderman, and then Jung, which was a nightmare for us, he got the assist for their goal, goes substitute by Cordova. They also substitute a center midfielder, they bring out Perez and they bring in Lauren. So from that moment on, I think the adaptation of these two new wingers, it gives us an advantage. Their pressure was not as coordinated as their starting wingers. So we got a little breather, which we use in many occasions to at least start to crack that high pressure line and get more in the midfield area. So little by little we start to push their block and the game to their opposition, to their half. By the 18-minute mark, the game was pretty even, and Renee then substitute Hopkins out and bring Markovic in. Markovich take that CDM position, give a little bit more of an attacking role to Sorvenia, which is a uh distribution focused player, and substitute Kurokawa out and put in fresh leg in Antlee. I think, especially at the 80-minute, 85-minute mark, uh, we got most of the game done now on their opposition half. I think it was maybe by tactical decision on opposition coach Johan Damit to just fight for that one nil, get the three points, get out of there. But we were having other plans in mind because a moment of magic was about to come. From a corner, there is a rebound ball which lands on Joao Pegolo feet about 20 yards out of the goal. He takes half second, looks at the goal, and then hits the ball cleanly, sends a rocket which traveled to the back of the net. And yes, yes. So for the last uh 10 minutes of the game, we got a bonus. In the 92th minute, we got a red card, a second yellow, and we end up playing versus 10 men for the last five to six minutes. It's just full esteem DC United trying to get the comeback. We did a lot. And in the last situation, game the last play of the game, we break lines, get the ball in a great position, put a cross in, there's a loose ball, and our killer Luis Montano got the ball in the back of the net. The Audi field, every single person there just jumped out of their seats. They were high-fiving each other, grown men jumping like kids. It was just a joy to see. Unfortunately, video assistant referee had a gift for us, and it was it caught straw outside, so the ball the goal was uh disallowed. Or fairy tale was not complete, but the moment of joy were unbelievable. So the game ended with high one one I think zooming out, my general key points for this game are just summarized in a question to our couch to a coach Renee whaler. What are the alternatives to your attacking plan? What is the alternative when your direct vertical one or two passes using the wings to link to your two men to the top doesn't work? Because it seems to me that in the last two games it haven't really worked. And I understand. I understand there's an adaptation period. This is not a video game. This is professional football and these things take time. That's fine. I understand we need to play minutes with this formation to get the things done. But you cannot get the team in situations where they're just tactically disadvantaged. And it seems to me that the opposition are getting a template tactical map to actually get the better half of us. And this is play win game, play overlap run and don't use the central areas because we are starting to become a team that defends in low block and narrow, and it's very rigid tactically to change that. So my question is what happened with in the last like in the last two games, you are just losing the tactical battle. Are you gonna keep just burning minutes to get this formation the chance to adapt the players to become familiar? It seems to me that's a good idea for 60 minutes, but if it's not working, you know, you have it's your responsibility to make some changes. And let me tell you, this team has the capability of adapting. Look at the net the game versus Nashville. We apply not selective, we apply high pressure on them all the game. They played very central areas, and we were very, very good at recovering the ball. So it means this team knows how to adapt. As simple as that. So I would like to really see Renee starting to bring a little bit more to the table, a little bit more of a tactic play to the table, because it's his job to get us, you know, to get the players the best chances that they get, and if their starting idea, their starting attacking plan is not working. So you have to do something. You have to bring me a plan B at least, a consistent plan B. And it doesn't need to be a huge difference, but you know, if the two guys in front are not working for 60 minutes, don't hesitate. Bring bring of them uh one of them out. Bring Markovich in, give a little bit more space to Peltola, or just do the same with Hopkins, put a Hopkins in a more central attack in midfield area. Giving uh the team the capability of fight because right now, this low block narrow, as I mentioned four times already, it's just not working, and there's no reaction whatsoever. Yeah, so let's go to the foot mount ratings. So I'm gonna make this session a little bit different now. I'm not gonna go one by one of four players. I'm gonna give you the spicy one, I'm gonna give you the trash can, and I'm gonna give you a surprise. So the spicy one, no surprises, or Brazilian talent, Joao Peglo with a rocket in the 90th minute. He put the equalizer and give us so much life for those final minutes. Obrigado, Joao, obrigado. So a trash can, I will just send there right away Rene. Rene needs to get better, as I just talked about. We need a plan B, we need a plan C. And we have a Q a quick quite a few players in the bench. Not a huge bench, but we have chances there, we have opportunities, we have alternative. I will need to see something other than just looking at the game and go position by position and then just pray that you know the other team just get tired or something along those lines to get something done. We need more tactically. I like the initial plan, but we need more. We cannot just be route one club, you know, vertical one to FC. We need a little bit more. That's what they paid you, Renee. Get us a little bit more. Surprise. Uh, I would say a final minutes, the whole team. Uh, I know we have a fighting spirit in the post-match uh post-match press conference Renee was talking about. By this point, you you should know that even in our worst time, even in our 4-0 losing versus Colorado, Colorado, uh versus Dallas, we show up that fighting spirit. We have it. We just have it. It's not easy to have, it's not easy to get a group of guys who have it, but this guy have it. This guy fight a lot. And it was a surprise to me that we just saw a few minutes uh in the um extra time, these guys just took the challenge and charged forward with everything they got. And I was so happy about it. So that's uh that's my ratings. I would say um let's just talk about the opposition, next opposition, which is the Montreal Impact in a minute. Alright, next opposition, Montreal Impact. Let's talk about a little bit in this last stretch of the pod. The impact comes from a losing game versus uh Chicago Fire. Before that, they tied Portland and before that they beat Orlando 2-0. Um, they usually play 4-3-3. They use the wing a lot, which could be a problem for us. And they have a fairly decent XG amount created in the last three games, around 1.6 uh XG. One thing to mention is even though they got trashed on the last game by Chicago, uh, they did finish a lot of their attacking situations. Not obviously in goal, but they did get to the final line. They got 16 corners in the game. So they know how to finish, you know, their runs. And although we were pretty strong aerial versus, for example, Nashville or NYC, that the last game, this game versus San Luis, we were kind of pretty poor. We only won around 35% of our aerial duels. So we got a little bit of exposed uh in that um side of the game. So if they use the wing a lot, we will have to be uh take a little bit of care of Carmona. He's the right winger. He has four goals and one assist to his tally, a 7.15 by foot mod. And they got a solid forward on Owutsu. He has six goals and five assists to his tally. So he's pretty solid. He's physical a lot. So they will try to cross the ball to him. I have not seen a good rating here to any of their backs. So if they start to use you know overrun overlap it will be a surprise if any of these two guys have a good game but hey we have seen people like Cutman people like Santos get a lot of space so it's another point to take. So this is gonna be the final game before the World Cup pause. I think it's critical that we get a win just to close this stretch at home. We lost pretty bad to Chicago on a rainy Wednesday night. Yesterday Saturday we tied uh with St. Louis but we did not look good as I just give you my impression for 90 minutes. So it's important to us to this project to finish on a hike note before the World Cup. So I really expect Renee to look at the game to look at the stats of the staff the not just not Renee the sta the staff the coaching staff to look at what's going on in the last two games and really don't be that rigid tactically. I think I expect fully they're opening the same 442 and give some time to the two guys in front but if things are not going our way I expect Renee to start to get some new ideas because it's gonna be the third game in a row if Montreal impact use the same tactic template that it's going use overuse the wing give us more of the central area and apply a little bit of pressure just to kill long passing game. So I think that's pretty much it for the pot. Thank you again for giving your host a few minutes now to talk about the game as I promised you this is gonna be very concise quick and pack. Thank you and now I have to say ciao for now hasta la vista buena vista