The hounds have had a disappointing year, finishing with a 6-10-2 record, tied with New Hampshire and Long Island for sixth, in the USLD2. The only team below us was the Northern Virginia Royals with only two wins, although they did show improvement near the end.
Cincinnati, just missing the post-season, gave their fans reason to be proud and have much to look forward to in 06.
As for the hounds, much work has to be done to prepare for next season. I feel that the top priority should be making sure that head coach Ricardo Iribarren returns next season.
Of course, it was a big disappointment with the way the 04 season ended, having one of the best records in the league (19-3-1). Falling to sixth place this year was frustrating and I hope none of the teams in this year's playoffs goes thru what we went thru last year, in the post-season. I think that was a crime.
As for the 05 season, I caught up with Ricky after the Columbus game and asked for his thoughts on the last game.
"I thought we played really good, especially after last night it's really hard to play that way and play against a really good team like the Crew and I think we performed good, it was a good show. Even without the goals, we had the chances, we had a couple chances too and hopefully the people enjoyed the game and had a good time tonight."
I asked his thoughts about coaching against the Crew;
"Nothing, I was coaching my team against the Crew. I'm always going to be thankful to the Crew for allowing me to come to this country and they got a great location, they got a great stadium they got great practice facilities, I think the greatest organization in the MLS. Unfortunately, we will not get to play them(there), so thanks again to them for letting us play a great competition tonight and giving the people of Washington a chance to watch some good teams."
In regards to the melee after the contest, "Part of the game. Frustration heats up, part of the game.
His thoughts on the season, "We had a lot of chances, we missed a lot of chances, we made some mistakes, cost us games because we lost every game by one goal, it's a learning experience for everybody and everybody's still learning this game and we've got to keep working and do a better job learning about soccer and get a better fix on next year on wherever I might be or this place is gonna be."
I think the hounds will be much better if we hold on to everyone, especially Ricky. Losing the 4 players showed how important they were to us so we need to keep as many as possible. Hopefully the hounds will be back near the top next season and I hope to see Falconi filled. Until then, it will be a long offseason for hounds fans.
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