DC United @ Orlando City: Preview, time, and how to watch
DC United look to keep the good times rolling as they hit the road to take on Orlando City tonight. The Black-and-Red are coming off a win in the Atlantic Cup rivalry on Wednesday night, and they look to move closer to the playoff line.
The team will have to do without captain Lucas Bartlett, who will serve a red card suspension tonight after picking up two yellow cards on Wednesday night. And with so many matches approaching, head coach René Weiler will have to figure out which combinations he can put on the field to go to the max for ninety minutes.
“It’s about the workload and I have to manage it with the team,” Weiler said after the Red Bull match on Wednesday night. “We have to find the freshness, but we have also to find replacement for Lucas Bartlett. He played now [some] very good games with our team, and he’s scored a lot of goals. He is dangerous with the set pieces.”
DC United beat Orlando 3-2 back in April, but Orlando City has added some personnel since then. Notably, former Atlético Madrid and France midfielder Antoine Griezmann moved to Orlando and has helped them maintain playoff position. Currently, Orlando sits seventh in the Eastern Conference table, but are just five points above the Black-and-Red, who are in 12th. A win would keep DC in close range, so it’s important to try and capture the win to bring them into position to hopefully take advantage of an important week that’s approaching.
DC United @ Orlando City
Location: Inter.co Stadium
Kickoff time: 7:30pm ET
Available streaming: Apple TV
Lineup (I’m not even gonna try to guess who is playing where here):
Johnson, Nono, Hefti, Kurokawa, Peglow, Stroud, Baribo (captain), Nealis, Rowles, Dozzell, Servania
Pretty sure Stroud is going to operate in the “fuck the fans” position, that seems to be where Renee likes him these days
Avilez, Castillo, and Turner are available on the bench, I believe merely so Weiler can grimace in satisfaction as Stroud and Servania keep them off the field.
Avilez was ready last time, Weiler’s insane.
Rowes needs to avoid a yellow tonight or he’ll be suspended for accumulation.
My God, the TV listing of the lineup was correct. He’s actually chosen to start Servania as the second forward. I wish I had a fetish I could reward that strongly on demand.
Fetish is a surprisingly good word for the impulses Rene seems to be serving.
For too long, I’ve been trying to assess what on field reasons these choices might have, and then what personal quibbles he might have with players who are objectively more talented and effective,
But I’m coming to the conclusion that this is Kubrick production, and as sustainable long term.
Well crap…
Both a nice set of choices/passes/moves by Orlando there, and some impressive ball-watching by our defense. 1-0 Orlando if you’re following on the radio.
So how bad is this loss gonna be?
We’re not playing badly overall, it’s been a pretty even match. But they have better talent, they’re playing at home, and we’re without a couple of important pieces.
If we keep our heads up, it doesn’t have to be a rout. Not that that will help much in the grand scheme.
And Orlando scores again, with one of the flukier flicks you’ll ever see. A blind backheel feed that just happened to curl past Johnson and into the net.
Love how even the commentators are calling out how stupid it is to have Servania as a forward
Baribo has to get a touch on that.
PK!
Penalty for DC!
Penalty to DC. You don’t normally see the ref call that out of the box scrum during a corner. MLS randomness. shrugs
Baribo converts.
2-1
Crepeaut guesses the right way, but Baribo buries it still.
Orlando gifts us with an absurdly undisciplined pk tackle, Baribo brings us back within one.
Which puts Weiler in the unenviable position of going into the second half with the task of winning, this time with players he should have started.
I respect a lot of what Weiler has done. The team has consistently fought hard throughout the year (we’ll just forget about Knoxville, shall we?), and the broader tactical ideas have been sensible. He’s turned a center defense I don’t think any of us had any confidence in, into one of the most reliably competent pairings in the league (albeit with a limited ceiling). His knowledge of the J-League has netted us two excellent-value fullbacks, turning an erratic weakness into an everyday strength.
Commaspacebut
If he sends Servania back out in the second half to continue uselessly cruising around in a vaguely forward-ish position, thereby forcing us to effectively play a man down, I’m gonna have to side with hoping Weiler leaves at the end of the year. This is absolute professional malpractice. You could play Stroud or Peglow or half-speed Ordaz or, FFS, Nono or Markovic or even Peltola up there and get more than this. You could sensibly play the same 4-3-3 you used on Wednesday and support Baribo with a rotating selection from midfield. This is something like the 18th best option out of 20 for solving the problem. I just.. I don’t even.
And yet, unbelievably, that’s precisely what he has done.
I thought we could maybe have another offseason where the club makes more signings in the vein of Kurokawa, Hefti, Nono, and Dozzell, and truly explore the DP market, but that assumed that, when he turns, it’s an “it not working out” souring.
But no, this is far more intense than I could imagine. It’s a goddam psychodrama.
Servania must have something incriminating on Weiler. That’s the only explanation.
Hopkins subbed in for Stroud
Baribo scores, but it’s called offsides. VAR is looking though
Confirmed off
Orlando scores again. 3-1
Well I dont expect us to come back now with that horrendous give away by Rowles that Greizman buries
Wow. That was a Jeff Agoos grade turnover.
Avilez coming on for Servania
A bit late, that, Rene, for recovering my respect. Not that you care, but still.
I can hear him thinking, “Now Peltola REALLY can’t come on and make things better,” and I’m lodging an official complaint to this situation, because I’m full up on psychoanalysis of malignant madmen who control the things I care about.
Dear lord, it’s Peltola.
Maybe this is the time frame he feels it won’t matter?
I need this to end.
Peltola and Ordaz subbed in
Baribo now on a yellow, which means we’re dangerously close to having something happen in stoppage time that absolves us of tuning in next time.
That’s game been game for a while. But show me that was onside.
No clue how that could be be onside. Maybe Rowles was slow to step, and kept it somewhat close, but even then, I don’t see how that was onside.
Good morning. While we were discussing Peltola and René‘s weird doghouse decisions, maybe worth noting that Pirani scored a goal last night for San Diego and Jacob Murrell scored a brace in a 2-1 win in Scotland
Yes, and Mikey Varas, the manager who couldn’t get along with Hirving Lozano, was extremely complimentary about Pirani’s attitude with his team.
Sad state of affairs