Burch

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November 8, 2008

The 2008 ADRs

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In my last post, I claimed that Tom Soehn had an ADR this year of 3.11. What does that mean? Is that good or bad?

Well as readers of this blog know, I've been passing down player ratings of either "Top Shelf", "Call", or "Rail" to players after every match. I've also been tracking those ratings over the course of the year, and displayed all of them here. Click to continue reading...

November 2, 2008

The End... of the CCL

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Remember how our trusted front office brought in all these talented foreign players with the hope of giving us a better chance to advance in international competitions this year? With United finishing the Champions League with just 1 point in 6 matches, that seems like a distant memory. This was more like the team we've all grown used to after watching the Champions Cup and Superliga earlier in the year. Click to continue reading...

October 22, 2008

Can we laugh about it yet?

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Last night I was pissed. Today, I'm over it. We weren't going anywhere in the CCL anyway, so unless Martinez's injury is significant, we really didn't lose anything important yesterday. I'm ready to just look back at that match and laugh. Because really, what a freakin embarassment for CONCACAF that was. Click to continue reading...

October 16, 2008

One down, one to go

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What a wild ride. How is it possible that after all the injuries, all the mistakes, all the questionable decisions, and all the unlucky breaks, I can still go to mlsnet.com right now and see United currently in the playoffs? Pretty strange turn of events. It just seemed so fitting for this season to officially end on a stupid individual mistake that cost us a goal to a team that didn't deserve one. Click to continue reading...

October 2, 2008

Even when we deserve a point, we don't get one

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Win, loss, or tie, the result of this match didn't matter much to me as far as the CCL goes. We're just not a better team than Saprissa or Marathon, so even if we'd managed to beat Cruz Azul at home, we still had relatively no chance of advancing out of the group stages. But this match had a larger meaning than that. Click to continue reading...

September 25, 2008

A respectable performance, but still no points

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After 60 minutes of this match, I was all ready to come on here and say I was wrong about wanting to punt the CCL. A goalless draw would have been a wonderful result. But as is typical with this club, we let up 2 soft goals off of shotty defending. And now we're staring up from the bottom of a fully stacked group. Click to continue reading...

September 21, 2008

Continuing the downward spiral

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As frustrating as it was to watch this team on a roller coaster ride that had its share of ups and downs the past few months, I would trade the past three weeks for that roller coaster. I'm not going to argue that we deserved to win this match, because clearly we didn't, but it sure made it hard for us to have a chance when we suffered from the worst display of officiating that we've seen all year. Click to continue reading...

September 17, 2008

Another international disappointment

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I was wrong when I suggested earlier that DCU would probably be taking the CCL seriously, since they had rested Emilio and Fred for the Dallas match. Instead we sent out an even weaker team tonight, that included the reappearance of Zach Wells! Goff says it's because Crayton had a sore knee, I'm not so sure. Click to continue reading...

September 14, 2008

I guess the better team doesn't always win

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A tie at home against a lesser Western Conference opponent certainly should feel like a loss. Somehow for me though, this one doesn't. Maybe it's because we outplayed Dallas, to the point where I think we really deserved the win. This felt like it should have ended at 2-1. Oh well. I guess we'll just have to steal back those extra two points when we play them again on the road in two weeks. Click to continue reading...

September 7, 2008

I think we all saw this coming

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In a match where we were missing Emilio, Moreno, Namoff, Fred, Vide, and Peralta, a loss wasn't necessarily surprising. I guess the bright side is that we escaped without any more injuries! Also, I saw tonight that we've got some young players with a lot of heart, and that's got to count for something, even if it didn't earn us any points. Click to continue reading...

September 4, 2008

Champions again!

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In a season that's had its fair share of ups and downs, we've finally got something to show for it! Maybe a title in the US Open Cup wasn't necessarily the goal for this season, but it's certainly an accomplishment the team should be proud of, and most importantly, its great that United has fought its way back into the international picture. Click to continue reading...

August 31, 2008

When did the Red Bulls get good?

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Who ever said that 0-0 matches aren't exciting? That had to be the most competitive match between these two clubs in a couple years. Usually we dominate these matches, and the last one against the Red Bulls should be thrown out, but I can't think of a time we've ever played them to a scoreless draw. Click to continue reading...

August 20, 2008

Roller coaster continues

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Despite knocking on wood as often as possible, I hate to admit that I called this. DC United was consistently crappy early in the year, and was consistently victorious just before the start of Superliga, but at all other times of the season, we've been horribly inconsistent. The team once again failed tonight to string together victories. Click to continue reading...

August 16, 2008

Stealing an ugly one

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I remember writing before the season started that we would probably have to win a lot of games 1-0 this year. Well it took five months and a goalkeeper change to finally do it.

I got back from a great week at Ocean City today and opted to purchase the discounted $9.95 MLSlive package, which will probably be used only to watch tonight's match and next Saturday's. Click to continue reading...

August 3, 2008

Cleaning the sheets

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How's that for a confidence booster? With only 7 of our normal starting 11 in the lineup, and only 6 guys starting who started against KC in the season opener, United somehow came together to produce a big win and their first shutout of the year. With a first look at the starting lineups and the revelation that Ryan Pore was starting at forward, I kind of had a feeling that this could finally be THE ONE, and the team did not disappoint. Click to continue reading...

July 20, 2008

Still not discouraged

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To finish in last place in the tournament that we all had charted as our lowest priority this year isn't exactly a tragedy. It's a little bit disheartening, but not discouraging. Because I think the team played quite well, considering our current injury status and packed schedule. And I also think we showed more and maybe deserved better than the 3-1 loss last night and zero overall points in Superliga. Click to continue reading...

July 15, 2008

One less tourney to worry about

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Due to a limited budget, I haven't made it to too many United games this year, but this was a game that I feel was probably much better to watch in person than on tv. Good atmosphere at RFK as always (and the lights stayed on!), but it seemed like less attendance than usual. All in all, a pretty exciting game, including a frantic final 10 minutes that had my usually quiet section standing throughout. Click to continue reading...

July 13, 2008

Still not quite better than the Mexicans

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Just got finished watching the match immediately following my three hour drive home from Virginia Beach. At least I should say I just got finished watching 81 minutes of the match. I missed the rest thanks to the lights at RFK delaying the match past 10:00 pm. What's with that anyway? That's just embarassing. Click to continue reading...

July 2, 2008

USOC Player ratings

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Since I didn't witness the match myself, the following player ratings are based on excerpts taken from comments written about the game on the Soccer Insider:


1. "For me, Marc Burch was by far the player of the match, and not just because of the 2 goals. Through much of the game, he was among the most active player on the field. Click to continue reading...

July 1, 2008

Burchie bombs United into the Quarterfinals

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I missed the match entirely. Wound up going shopping with Mrs. Shatz in advance of our Ocean City trip. First full-team match that I've missed all year.

But we did get some answers to the questions that I posed yesterday:
Does [Soehn] choose to start the highly paid Quavas Kirk in this match, or keep using him only in the safety of the Reserve division? Click to continue reading...

June 29, 2008

The win they needed

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After a couple of underwhelming victories the past few weeks, this win was just what United needed to not only continue their unbeaten streak, but also gain some confidence going into Superliga. Recently, United has been beating lesser opponents while giving up too many goalscoring opportunities. But in this match, against inarguably one of the most talented offensive teams in the league, DC dominated possession, dominated the scoreline, and performed admirably well on defense. Click to continue reading...

June 22, 2008

United streaks continue

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DC United can now boast of a 4 game unbeaten streak. But how about a streak of 2 underwelming wins at home against weaker opponents? Makes you wonder how this team will fare against a much better team in the Galaxy next week.


1. Clyde Simms extends his goal scoring streak to 2 games, and has another solid performance in the midfield. Click to continue reading...

June 16, 2008

Continuing the series domination

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I'm a bit late writing this due to numerous festivities that resulted from my sister-in-law's wedding this weekend, not the least of which included a couple of hangovers, so I'll keep my comments brief since several other smarter analysts, wittier writers, and merciless bloggers have already opined on the match. Click to continue reading...

June 11, 2008

The replacements

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Just when it appeared that United had found its best starting XI, we have to go and get two players ejected. I guess we all know that players are going to have to sit out a game here and there for disciplinary reasons, but two at once can be brutal. Especially when those two are your highest paid player and most consistent player. Click to continue reading...

May 14, 2008

MLS fantasy tips

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With the MLS Season 1/4 over, my domination of the "DCU Bloggers Unite" fantasy league continues! Actually, I lie. The Decimators started the year in sixth place out of seven when the seventh place team has yet to earn any points, and I've been in second place to our pal Six Yards North up until just this weekend. Click to continue reading...
DCUMD @ 05:19 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Burch, Crew, DCU, Fantasy, Fire

May 4, 2008

Round 1 to Gomez

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In the first match between the two players who will be linked in the minds of DC fans for the rest of their MLS careers, Christian Gomez dominated United and Gallardo with two assists. Even Facundo Erpen scored a revenge goal, in a match where he had shockingly zero bicycle kicks.


1. Click to continue reading...
DCUMD @ 07:04 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail (Links: 1 out)
Tags: , Burch, DCU, Doe, Dyachenko, Namoff, gallardo, gomez, quaranta, rapids, simms

April 26, 2008

Strong win isn't enough to secure the Ben Cup

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I was really surprised to see United's players so happy after this match. Earlier in the year, the team was knocked out in the home leg of the Champions Cup after a victory that wasn't enough to earn them the aggregrate win. And the same thing happened tonight, as United falls 5-4 on aggregrate goals in the 2008 Ben Cup. Click to continue reading...
DCUMD @ 09:25 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail (Links: 1 out)
Tags: , Burch, DCU, Dyachenko, RSL, Stratford, gallardo, moreno, quaranta

April 5, 2008

Marc Burch on the Junkies

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Our boy Burchie gave an interview on the Junkies yesterday morning. Listen to it here (4/4, Segment 10) or download it here. For a transcript of Marc's previous interview with the Junkies, check out the Edgell archives.

Burch on Ben Olsen: "He could shave before he gets to practice and then by the time he leaves he's got a full grown beard. Click to continue reading...
DCUMD @ 10:12 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail (Links: 1 in)
Tags: , Burch, DCU, Olsen, UMD, quaranta

April 4, 2008

Salaries

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The MLS Players Union just released the annual salary figures for the league. For easy reference, below are the guaranteed salaries for each DC United player currently under contract as of 3/31/08:

DC Barlow Jeremy D $ 12,900.00
DC Burch Marc D $ 33,000.00
DC Carreiro da Silva Fred M-F $ 242,000. Click to continue reading...

March 30, 2008

The season started? That wasn't just another scrimmage?

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Someone must have forgotten to tell the DC United players that last night's match against Kansas City was actually the season opener, and not just another scrimmage. Really though, I can see why they would make that mistake. Maybe it was that the stadium reminded them of the high school field that they played in in Texas. Click to continue reading...

March 17, 2008

Is Burchie the bomb?

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Definitively yes! Or at least the potential is there for Marc Burch to really emerge as a weapon this year. For a few reasons...

I had a moment of realization during the Harbour View game last week. It was in the second half, and Burch had just gone on a long overlapping run behind Fred. Click to continue reading...
DCUMD @ 08:48 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail (Links: 1 in, 1 out)
Tags: , Burch, DCU, Fred, Martinez, Peralta, Vanney, boswell

March 12, 2008

Mediocre start to the year

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Last night's match saw the debut of my new player ratings system. And tonight: the debut of my player rating icons...


1. Marc Burch - So energetic in both halves of the field. I see a theme developing this year with the Burch/Fred combo. More on that later.
2. Clyde Simms - Looked like the best player on the field at times. Click to continue reading...
DCUMD @ 09:16 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail (Links: 1 in)
Tags: , Burch, Champions, DCU, Emilio, Fred, McTavish, Namoff, Peralta, simms, wells

July 26, 2007

The Pitch Sneezed: DCU 1-1 Morelia

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I'm late on this one so there are plenty of recaps out already. DCenters, BDR, QuarterVolley, Fullback Files, and An American's View all have good stuff.

This game made me realize that we need depth up top more than we need it at back. Gros, McTavish, and espeically Burch showed very well considering how long they've been playing those positions. Click to continue reading...