DC United tie vs Chicago Fire, 1-1

I missed this match in favor of a family function, so the notes below are purely based on highlight clips, news articles, blog posts, and fan comments. What's worse, my DVR inexplicably failed to record the USA WCQ match too.

When I opened up the laptop this morning and saw that the result was a 1-1 tie, I was satisfied. Missing 5 starters against the team that's the favorite to win the MLS Cup this year, a point is a decent result. But then after seeing that we dominated possession for most of the match, and had a great number of opportunities, a tie feels like it could have been so much more.


1. Even though he may have disappeared for a good part of the second half, Luciano Emilio's early strike was well taken and fantastically placed.

2. When so many fans on Goff's blog are calling for United to get the ball to Chris Pontius more often, and Tom Soehn is saying "I don't think we used him as much as we could have", I'm thinking this kid has a real bright future.


1. Josh Wicks definitely could have done better at stopping Nyarko's goal, and his fumbling of a long range shot in the final minutes almost cost us the match. Other than that though, he seemed fairly competent. But I'm ready for Crayton to return hopefully next week.

2. The highlight of the match may have been Ben Olsen knocking over Chicago's fragile DP shortly after he entered the match, and then yelling at the referee to watch Blanco's diving. Now that's leadership!


1. Dejan Jakovic was our biggest liability in this match. He failed to knock Nyarko off the ball on the goal, had too many giveaways, and was involved in some other defensive breakdowns.

2. Was Christian Gomez actually in uniform for this match? I saw his name listed in the lineup, but didn't see him in any of the highlights.

In general though, this actually looks like a pretty good team. Am I right? For some reason, I'm feeling much better about our chances this year than I felt for most of the previous season. The returns of Fred, Quaranta, Janicki, and McTavish will be a huge help, and Soehn is going to have some real tough decisions to make when he's got all of our regulars available. How do you bench Pontius after the opening he's had? I'm also thinking that we may see Jakovic fall behind Janicki, McTavish, and Burch on the defensive depth chart in no time.

Ben Olsen on Elliot

For the second year in a row, Ben Olsen had an interview on Elliot in the Morning today promoting the home opener. Here are the highlights:

On his health: I don't think I'll make it to age 60. Elliot asks if Ben has had a conversation with his wife about what will happen if he's bound to a wheelchair: Yeah she said she's leaving me.

On the team's possibility for success in 2009: We need to take it week to week rather than looking down the line, because we don't deserve to look down the line right now.

On Chris Pontius: He's a young little baller. He was very good in all the games in preseason and I'm glad that Tommy showed faith in him. And Rodney Wallace, the kid from Maryland. Both of them came in and didn't play like rookies. That's great, we've been looking for some good young talent for a long while. Hope it doesn't get in their head a little. Elliot asks "Why don't you being a veteran do your proper job and bash the rookies so they don't get a big head?" Ben: That's already been done.

And on his daughter inheriting his genes: She's got the cutest little monobrow you've ever seen. Hopefully she's not too hairy for a little girl.

With apologies to Rodney Wallace

(Editor's note: This blog post is rated PG-13 for illicit remarks, perpetuating a flattering racial stereotype, juvenile humor, and shades of homosexuality.)

Jair Marrufo should take note. Just because Rodney Wallace probably has an appendage between his legs that resembles a baby's arm, doesn't mean that its a hand ball when the ball hits him in the thigh.

The above picture is evidence.

Wait, what did you think I meant?

DC United tie at LA Galaxy, 2-2

I guess MLS didn't spend much time upgrading the referees this offseason.

If this game is going to be representative of the entire season, then we could be in for another long one. Actually, the opening match wasn't much different from last year. We played hard, we fought, we had some missed chances, but ultimately it was some individual errors and some bad luck that cost us the match.


1. Ben Olsen made his presence known from the beginning of the match, and set an example for the youngsters with his hard tackling. Olsen may no longer be one of the fastest players on the field, but he's still a very accurate passer, and his leadership is evident.

2. For about 75 minutes, our defense was dominant, and a big reason for that was Greg Janicki. DC didn't give up one shot on goal in the first half, and Janicki did well with a lot of quality clearances.

3. Even though he seemed to be missing for the first half hour or so, rookie Chris Pontius proved in his first match why he was taken with the 7th overall draft pick. Pontius took advantage of some weak defending by LA with a perfectly placed shot into the far upper corner of the goal. Looks like we might have a rookie of the year candidate for the first time since 1998.


1. Even though I disagreed with it when I first saw it, Tom Soehn's starting lineup proved to be excellent. I guess the 3-5-2 isn't so evil afterall. The decision to start two defensive minded wingers in McTavish and Wallace was golden. However, I thought the bloody escapades of Janicki and McTavish should have been handled better. From the moment it became evident that both players would have to leave the field, Soehn should have immediately had Marc Burch ready to enter. Instead, United was forced to play with 9 men for several minutes, and an extra defender just might have made the difference in keeping the ball out of our box to avoid that terribly officiated penalty kick.

2. Our two wingers Devon McTavish and Rodney Wallace each had their highlights and lowlights. McTavish was all over the place on the right flank during the first half, sending in some crosses, and also made some good defensive stops. You could clearly see Wallace gain confidence as the match wore on, and he should receive credit for an assist on Pontius's goal. Both of them had a few too many turnovers though.

3. Dejan Jakovic was solid in defense, but he seemed a bit slow to react sometimes. Let's keep our eye on this. Hoping he doesn't turn into Peralta Jr.


1. You can't blame him for the second goal, but two goals on just three shots on target is not a good enough ratio for Josh Wicks. And that was pretty much the worst penalty kick goalkeeping I've ever seen. I'm still predicting that Wicks will be cut at some point during the year to make room for Mediate once Crayton is healthy and Kocic is more experienced.

2. Marc Burch was caught in no man's land on the tying goal. He appeared to be the weak link in defense during his 15 minutes of action.

3. (Late addition!) I know that Luciano Emilio is the typical shoot-first pass-later striker. But when you've got two defenders on you and a charging goalkeeper in front of you, and one of the best offensive players in the league wide open square to your right with an empty net staring him in the face, PLEASE PASS!

All things considered, a point on the road while missing 3 or 4 of our regular starters is nothing to cry about. But in a season where we are bound to be in the middle of the pack among Eastern Conference teams and fighting for a playoff spot, those extra two points sure would have come in handy. I guess United should have thought about that before drafting a guy with a hand growing out of his thigh. Or maybe that was just in Marrufo's head...

Projected starting lineups

United finished the preseason with an uninspiring 2-4 record, with the only two wins coming against USL opponents (who may actually be better than MLS opponents if the Champions' League is any indication). Without dwelling on the past, let's take a look at the potential starting lineups for Sunday's opening match, keeping in mind that Quaranta and Fred will be sidelined with injuries.

Here's what I think we'll see:
------Moreno---Emilio------
Pontius-Gomez-Khumalo
------Simms---McTavish------
Burch-Jakovic-Namoff
-----------Crayton------------

But here's what I would rather see:
--------Moreno---Emilio--------
--------------Gomez--------------
--Pontius-Simms-McTavish--
Burch-Janicki-Jakovic-Namoff
--------------Crayton---------------

But there are many other possibilities. I've said before that I think Burch has earned his spot in the starting lineup, but others disagree, so it may be just as likely to see a back three of Jakovic, Janicki, and Namoff. Also, although I don't know if he's ready to start, we could see Ben Olsen return to the starting lineup at either left wing, right wing, or central holding midfield next to Simms. I'm sold on Chris Pontius from what I've read, but there's also a strong possibility that our other rookie Rodney Wallace could start at left midfield ahead of Pontius.

Regardless of the lineup, the 3-5-2 continues to scare me. It worked with very limited success last year, and abandoning that formation was one of our New Years' Resolutions for 2009. The only instances in which the 3-5-2 worked last year were when we were matched up against teams without much offensive firepower, and with a midfield that knocks the ball around well. Do either of those traits describe the Galaxy? We are playing against a team with the most productive strikers in the league (Donovan and Buddle), but not much else. Seems to me like we'd be better off taking a conservative approach, rather than using one less defender. Of course there are ways that the 3-5-2 formation could work, with the right players. A midfield with wingers who can hustle and play both sides of the ball would be effective. But until United finds a way to convince Josh Gros to unretire and reverses the Guerrero trade, we don't seem to have the right personnel at the moment.

Sorry for the pessimism to start out the year, but I'm predicting a 3-0 loss. Hopefully the boys will prove me wrong.

Are we ready?

The team is down in Charleston, with just a little over two weeks until the start of the season, and with very few questions left to answer. We've got our MIDUN. The developmental roster is set, with Milos Kocic (the new Shawn Crowe or the new Troy Perkins?), Brandon Barklage (the new Dan Stratford or Ryan Cordeiro?), and Ryan Miller (the new Ryan Miller?) signing. The senior roster is just one step away from being set, with Anthony Peters beating out Kyle Veris for a reserve central defensive role.

But did he also beat out Domenic Mediate? Conventional wisdom says yes, but I don't think this is settled yet. Afterall, why invite Dom down to Charleston if we don't have any slots left? 23 out of 24 contracts have been finalized, yet we've got 26 players down in sunny SC competing for the final spot. And while it might be fun to debate the virtues of USL1 standout Nic Platter and the 32 minutes of experience of James Thorpe, don't count out the Dom! Although the acquisition of Jakovic frees up Devon McTavish to be our number 1 flexible role player (a spot that Mediate might have filled if McTavish was stuck at CB all year), I wouldn't mind adding Mediate into the midfield, where we've only got 7 players currently.

The question for me comes down to Kocic. His settling for a developmental contract is troubling. If he were good enough to demand a senior contract, he would. So is he good enough to be Crayton's only backup before we have to turn to the MLS keeper pool? And maybe more importantly, is the club committed to Louis Crayton being our long-term goalkeeper when his contract is up this summer? If the answer to either one of these questions is no, then unfortunately Mediate may have to be sacrificed in order to shore up that role with either Platter or Thorpe.