It wasn't pretty but Chivas USA beat DC United 1-0 on Monday afternoon. The goal was scored in the second half by Arnolfo Salazar.
Probably the most memorable thing from the game, at least for me, was Jesse Marsch's altercation with Luciano Emilio. Well, it wasn't much of an altercation really. Emilio tackled Marsch visciously from behind, a challenge that easily would have drawn a red card had the game been a regular-season match. Instead, it drew only a yellow card from the referee.
But it drew quite an agitated response from Marsch. After Emilio tackled Marsch, the Chivas USA midfielder stood up, pushed Emilio away and yelled, quite loudly "motherf***er!"
Emilio didn't really do much but stand there. Marsch immediately hobbled to the bench, where he promptly picked up a Gatorade bottle and threw it at Emilio. Marsch was some 20 yards from him and the bottle didn't come close to do enough damage, but the point was made.
Soon after that, Brad Guzan told the referee that that should have been a red card and the referee yelled back to him "Quiet."
A little later in the half, Emilio ran into the box after a loose ball but Guzan knocked him down and snatched the ball. I was half-expecting, though, for one of Chivas' field players to take a run at Emilio and maybe tackle him from behind to see how he likes it but nothing came of it. If this were a regular-season game, perhaps it would have been different. If it were the NHL, gloves would have most certainly dropped.
Anyway, Chivas USA ran out this lineup:
Brad Guzan; Jorge Flores, Claudio Suarez, Jim Curtain, Alex Zotinca; John Cunliffe, Jesse Marsch, Gerson Mayen, Sacha Kljestan; Atiba Harris, Ante Razov.
Only Flores played the whole game. He moved to left mid for the second half and did okay. There were a few times he could have shown a bit more creativity but overall he held his own out there.
DC United had the following lineups (they too made wholesale changes in the second half):
First half: Jose Carvallo, Marc Burch, Domenic Mediate, Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, Quavas Kirk, Ryan Cordeiro, Marcelo Gallardo, Luciano Emilio, Jerson Monteiro, Patrick Carroll.
Second half: Zach Wells, Devon McTavish, Gonzalo Martinez, Brandon Owens, Josh Gardner, Justin Moose, Grady Renfrow, Daniel Stratford, Fred, Jamil Walker, Jaime Moreno.
Chivas USA played all subs and trailists in the second half yet they outplayed DC United for large stretches of the half. Arnolfo Salazar scored the goal on a counter. Chukwudi Chijinju got the assist.
After the game, Marsch had his ankle taped and was his otherwise usual self and I even joked with him about throwing the Gatorade bottle. I told him he couldn't have made it as a baseball player with that sort of arm and accuracy.
LB, not Chivas related, but any signs from the game on who the next young ex-Galaxy (easily in double digits now) will be to make a name for himself and bite us back with the chance playing for DC: Burch, Kirk, or Gardner?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was going to post something on the Galaxy connection in the game. I didn't have a chance to talk to any DC players but I would have liked to have talked to either Gardner or Quavas. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteBurch will probably contribute more this year. The door is open for him to step in and get some serious playing time, whether it's in MLS play or any of the other four tournaments DC is in.
I like Quavas' upside. He's also got a shot of playing, but his learning curve has to accelerate. He spent a lot of time injured and not playing for the Galaxy, and that needs to change soon if he's going to develop.
I think Josh Gardner can be useful but I'm not sure about DC. They seem to have a lot of midfielders and Gardner doesn't really distinguish himself from the others. I could see him ending up on an MLS roster this spring, though. The Galaxy could use him.
It was stupid of the Galaxy to get rid of Gardner. He was developing quite nicely and we could really use him at left mid.
ReplyDeleteSame old Chivas, always throwing bottles.
ReplyDeleteIt's not surprising that Chivas "outplayed DC United for large stretches of the half."
ReplyDeleteMoreno, Fred and McTavish are the only players listed on their second half line-up who regularly played any meaningful minutes in 2007 - for any pro team. The eight others guys on the field are either rooks, journeymen or coming back from severe injuries.
Prepare for Marc Burch to have a breakout year this coming season.
ReplyDeleteWatching him game in game out last season he was showing some great promise. A wicked left foot and an eye for the long ball. He has some work to do on defense but he's getting there. I believe the guy could work his way onto the national team especially since the LB position does not have too much depth.
RP we only had Jorge Flores in the second half. He was the only player on the pitch with Chivas USA that played any minutes last season. Flores came in after Savage got hurt, if I recall, it was about 15 minutes into the 2nd half. So if you are going to give excuses because your team lost, at least make better ones. It's only a scrimmage.
ReplyDeleteMichoacano
What goes around, comes around, Jesse.
ReplyDeleteMarsch is just lucky that Benny the Enforcer wasn't there.
ReplyDeleteAs a United fan, it's frustrating to hear that we were outplayed in the second half by mostly subs and trialists when we had guys like Moreno and Fred on the field. Ah well… Just the preseason right?
Marsch proved once again that he is just a thug in a soccer player's uniform. I was appalled by his stupid macho act kicking Beckham on the ribs/stomach (see here
ReplyDeletefor an excellent analysis from a refereeing standpoint.
Tackles from behind (that are only slightly overly aggressive) usually lead to a caution, not a send-off; offensive and abusive language, accompanied by bottle-throwing is 100% send-off material.
Yes and you should also be appalled that you have a pud team. E-lay sucks.
ReplyDeleteGO Quakes!
And like most galaxy fans they can only talk smack behind the computer!
ReplyDelete