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Sporting KC vs. D.C. United (SBI Live Commentary)

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By IVES GALARCEP

Sporting KC and D.C. United face off tonight at Sporting Park in a clash of Eastern Conference rivals (8:30pm, MLS Direct Kick).

Sporting KC comes into the match riding high after a thoroughly impressive victory against the Montreal Impact last week. D.C. United enters off a bye week, and will be looking to work out the kinks in an offense that has struggled to generate goals this season. The absence of Dwayne DeRosario (injured) will hurt, but D.C. will be looking to see if young Brazilian striker Rafael can build on the impressive goal he scored against Columbus two weeks ago.

SBI will be providing live commentary on tonight’s match so please feel free to follow the action here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Tonight’s commentary is after the jump):

Comments

  1. “Thomas Floyd: Exactly. You control the ball, you eventually tire teams out and force them into physical and mental errors. Sanchez slipped up after 89 minutes of defending.”

    Unless you get hit on the break, then all your planning and ball controlling goes all the window; see Barca – Chelsea semifinals in UCL ’12 (and many, many other countless examples).

    Reply
  2. Serious question: Does Hamid look so impressive because he has such a kinetic style, or is he really that good? I think he actually could be much more economical in his mvt., but I’m not sure if his current style oversells anything he’s done.

    Reply
  3. Well since I’m in here by myself tonight I’m gonna spread out, really enjoy the extra space, and point out a pet peeve of mine:

    Everyone is lately calling it THE MLS. It’s just MLS. It’s not the Major League Soccer. That doesn’t make any sense. Grammatically it’s wrong. You don’t say the Major League Baseball. But you do say the National Basketball Association or the National Hockey League or the National Football League. The difference is league is the direct object in NFL, NHL, NBA. But in MLS the word league is an adjective modifying the direct object, soccer.

    So MLS. Just MLS. Not THE MLS.

    Reply
      • Lol, thanks for that. I had a good chuckle. I took it seriously but I think you realized he is trolling me and moved on. Ha.

      • If you’re asking me if I have a problem the use of the word “the” in “the MLS schedule”, the answer is no. Because, MLS is modifying the direct object, schedule. The word “the” is the article referring to the direct object, schedule. You wouldn’t say “An MLS,” but you could say “An MLS schedule.”

      • If you’re asking me if I have a problem with the actual MLS schedule, the answer is also no. Personally I like that MLS runs through the summer. Don’t know why particularly. But I just do.

  4. I’ve decided that the one clear cut and dry difference between the quality of MLS and say a league like BPL or Bundesliga etc. is the accuracy and pace of service. If you’re not convince, pay attention to dead ball service and corners et al. The majority of those are floated into the box with no real threat. I’ll take it even further and postulate that most live-action play sees slower and lofted-higher balls played all over the field. There is no real pace, or zing, on most service and long passes.

    I’d argue that physicality and speed of players are similar. Technical ability is still behind, but the gap is closing. But what I see that’s glaringly disparate is the speed of the actual pass or dead ball situation.

    Just a thought.

    Reply
    • Depends on who you’re watching. Right now i feel like the Sounders, RBNY, and actually the Timbers play with a very fast passes and high quality of crosses. Maybe some other teams too but those stand out to me right now. Some of the teams are definitely lacking there

      Reply
      • I definitely concede there are and will be isolated examples of better service. But I’m talking top to bottom, game in, game out.

      • tactical level is higher in the best leagues of Europe. Skill played at speed is higher in Europe. Anticipation of play in Europe is higher. Spain and Italy is generally slower paced with a high level of technique and skill. Biggest difference with MLS and UEFA is tactics.

      • For example in this game, I’ve counted 4-5 weak crosses that the D easily gobbled up and only one challenging ball that made the D second guess

    • Maybe I should be ultra clear about my statement:

      In no way shape or form do I believe that MLS matches any top European league (except possibly in physicality/athleticism). But when I watch BPL games early n the morning and then watch MLS games later in the day, the most glaring difference between them and us is what I said above: pace of service. To me it just sticks out like a sore thumb with a humongous splinter in it.

      Everything else I know is still higher over there, but it doesn’t beat me over the head with the discrepancy

      Reply
    • Your probably using tonights game as the basis for your comment. What you don’t know is that there was a nasty little breeze that was playing havoc with anything in the air tonight. So while you may or may not be correct in your assessment tonight wouldn’t be a good example.

      Reply
      • I did use tonight’s (last night’s) as some of my examples for my overall argument. But, I’ve been saying this to my family and friends for a while now and finally thought to share it with y’all. Maybe i am wrong, but it’s just an opinion and what I see.

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