Mross

count me in. I wanted to go to Burn match up but things didn't work out. Is the match going to be in Wilmington?

yea where is the game?

Pardon the thread interuption but, I have an update on our Quarterfinal opponents, DC United.

In a series of events Wilmington's better than 50-50 chance of defeating DC United have improved.

1) Bobby Convey has been sold to Tottenham Hotspurs.
2) Hristo Stoichkov is out 2 to 3 weeks with an injured knee
3) Marco Etcheverry's stock is so low DC would trade him for a pack of bubble gum.
4) Ali Curtis has been traded away from DC...he didn't score much but he was extremly fast.
5) The guy they traded him for is Ronald Cerritos, who is cup tied with Dallas, so is ineligible to play in the Open Cup with DC United.

If DC gets pounded this again this weekend Nick Rimando may suffer a dip in confidence.

That's it for now.

CC, who can figure DCU and Hudson? Seems they take a step forward then one or two back. All of your points are well taken, but they still can put pretty good players on the pitch. Hudson can put good players on the field, but can he put a good team on the field? That is the big question now and I think it is anyone's best guess. My two cents. I don't see anything happening that will have a quick positive change at DC. I still see DCU as the favorite, but I do see doors of opportunity for the Hammers. My experience is the Hammers do a pretty good job of making the most of those little opportunities. I will be very, very surprised if this is not a close game with the Hammers in it till the end. And I do see it possible they come away with a win.

My general thinking on this is that DC has only recently made a charge into a playoff position and will be looking to protect that by playing mainly role players. I wouldn't be surprised if Rimando wasn't even in the net.

CC, Hudson has DCU in a very awkward position as pertaining to the Cup. Hudson's role players have seen very little PT this season. Hudson seemingly blaming the system, lack of reserves and reserve matches. DCU fans blame Hudson for failing to quit complaining about what isn't and dealing with what is. The end product is Hudson's refusal to give young players meaningful PT coupled with the MLS salary cap and limited rosters now put Hudson in a position of playing unused and inexperienced players should he want to save his regulars for the playoff run. All this certainly helps the Hammers chances. How DCU addresses this game is going to be very significant to the outcome. Without Convey and Stoichov, and if Ecth hasn't returned to form, if Hudson tries to slide by with his subs, I honestly see the Hammers as the favored team. It will be interesting.

From the latest MLS injury report:

D.C. UNITED – OUT: F Devin Barclay (L sesmoid surgery), D Mike Petke (R broken talus), F Santino Quaranta (R MCL sprain), M Eliseo Quintanilla (R MCL sprain), D Milton Reyes (L ACL surgery), F Hristo Stoitchkov (L menisectomy); QUESTIONABLE: GK Jorge Geddes (R ankle sprain)

With the two Q's and Mike Petke now out I would say Wilmington has a 75% chance to win this match ...i'll try and stitch together a line up later today.

After taking a look at DC United's roster, I see that they only have 14 (+2 temps) players on the roster currently available for action...if the USSF allows it I expect that DC will pull in some A-League players who are not cup tied...that means Richmond Kickers. I expect that their roster will augmented by Mike Burke and David Testo, and one Richmond defender...or maybe Andrew Kish from the NVA Royals. Who ever DC adds will probably come at a premium as Richmond is in a very tight playoff race and would probably not want its players exposed to injury for nothing and a pocket of good will.

DC United's likely starting lineup...

K Rimando
D Stokes
D Prideaux
D Nelsen
D Namoff
M Kovalenko
M Etcheverry
M Olsen
M Carroll
F Stewart
F Eskandarian

Sunday DC lost away to San Jose...

Roster:
D.C. United -- Nick Rimando, Galin Ivanov, Ryan Nelsen, Brandon Prideaux, Bryan Namoff, Ben Olsen (Trevor Perea 86), Dema Kovalenko, Earnie Stewart, Jose Alegria, Ronald Cerritos, Alecko Eskandarian (Marco Etcheverry 77).

Substitutes Not Used: Brian Carroll, David Stokes, Doug Warren.

As you can see DC traveled with a 16 man roster.
Thoughts:
* Cerritos is cup tied to Dallas...
* Doug Warren is Rimando's back up.
* This means DC is limited to 14 effective players.
* Trevor Perea isn't even listed on their roster, Stokes is a defender and Carroll a midfielder.
* After seeing Richmond's match against Syracuse I am somewhat more dubious that DC would call any Kickers in for this match. One of DC's favorite players on that team left the match with an injury anyway.
* Without Stoichkov DC has lost its last two games. Though they've lost these games to the top two clubs in the MLS.
* Against San Jose, DC posted only 6 shots with 1 shot on goal.
* DC is more oriented to the defense, but have not yet figured out that they need to be a counter offensive club, prefering to work possesion and slow build ups.
* If Wilmington adopts an aggresive midfield and a solid defense with an eye to quick and fast counters with Zarate, Keen, and Carmichael then I fully expect a Wilmington victory.
* If Wilmington is not able to harrass DC in the middle third and allows them space in the defensive third then this is going to be a bad night for Wilmington.
* DC will send in 50-50 balls if simply harrassed in the middle third, while Wilmington doesn't need to win the battle in the middle to defeat DC we at least need to work them into low percentage situations.
* Fouls at 30 yards would be perilous...DC still has good dead ball people in Stewart and Kovalenko.

CC, when is the game set to start. I have half a mind to take off and come down to the game. I know this is going to be a good game. I do not discount DCU, they have good players. I just do not see them playing well as a team (btw, I am a DCU fan and do follow them)at this time and I am sniffing a Hamerhead win. And, I am going on record of saying right now, a Hammerhead win will not be an upset.

Which, I know is a stretch to put in this thread, brings up a point that is really bugging me. Carolina dropping to PDL. I just see that Wilmington, LI, and Carolina (and obviously other finalist, but I didn't see them play) were very close to putting teams on the field competitive at any level in the US. The games I saw this year between, LI, Wilmington, and Greensboro were as entertaining as any I'd seen short of the Champions Series (even as a preseason warmup, those guys are just at a different level). I'm going to miss that.