Ben Olsen, never one to mince words, was obviously not pleased with his team’s performance last night — a 2-2 home draw against Chivas USA which, it has to be said, was well within United’s grasp.
“We played like boys,” said United’s head coach. “Not just in the second half. I thought in the first half, we played soft, we played naive.”
Olsen, who also called his side’s performance “inexcusable” and “unacceptable,” is trying to send a message to his men: get your act together, or you’ll be sitting out the postseason, once again. The message comes after United’s couldn’t hold a two-goal lead against a team that it just beat 3-0 in Los Angeles 11 days ago.
Things were looking up for United after a stiff opening half-hour. In the 39th minute, Dwayne De Rosario got on the end of a pretty free kick from Andy Najar to put the home side in front. Then, shortly after the restart, De Rosario got a touch to Santino Quaranta’s corner kick, redirecting the ball into Ethan White’s feet. White tapped in to give United the vital second tally. But Juan Pablo Ángel’s second-half brace (scoring at 57 and 69 minutes) wiped that lead away and sent the home side scrambling in search of a winner.
United had a chance to win the game in the dying moments, but De Rosario’s stoppage time penalty was pushed aside by Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy. (To be honest, Chris Penso’s decision to award De Rosario the penalty was a rather questionable one; Chivas supporters will call Kennedy’s save karmic.)
In the long run, it’s the kind of match that United really needed to get three points from. The team’s games in hand that put it at a logistical advantage in the mad scramble for the Eastern Conference’s automatic playoff spots are quickly drying up quickly. With seven matches remaining, the club still has played fewer games than the rest of the league. But the team must overcome an anemic home record if they want to make the playoffs for the first time in several years.
“Part of it’s youth, part of it’s complacency,” admitted the manager. One imagines, considering the manager’s tone, there will be far less of the latter the next time United take the pitch.
