DC United lose to San Jose Earthquakes, 2-1

This weekend had set itself up really nicely for DC United. After losses by Seattle and RSL, and ties by Colorado, Chivas, and Toronto, DC United only needed a home victory against the worst road team in the leauge in order to move into 5th place. But the underdogs continued to impress. Not only did United lose, but they really deserved to lose. They were a close offsides call away from being tied at the half.

The turning point seemed to come when Josh Wicks dislocated a shoulder, the latest in a string of injuries that has made our playoff run much more difficult. With our two best defenders out, and now our best goalkeeper walking to the locker room wearing an arm brace, United apparently lost all confidence, and gave up two unnecessary goals. And now we'll finish the season with a grand total of 1 point in 2 matches against the Earthquakes and their Western Conference worst record.


1. Chris Pontius was our most dangerous player today. His overlapping run and cross to Moreno set up the first goal. But it was his bicycle kick late in the match that really set Pontius apart, as it should have tied the match if not for a goalline save by a San Jose player. When all of the other older United players faded away, Pontius was the only player still running hard and getting himself into good positions. It was just earlier this week that I suggested that Pontius should be our regular starter at left wing for the rest of the season, but his best position is still forward, so it's kind of hard to say.

2. For two matches in a row now, our hardest working player has been Ben Olsen. His creativity and high soccer IQ started the play that led to Pontius's bike, and he also started the sequence that led to Moreno's goal.


1. Jaime Moreno scored our lone goal in this one, but then he was entirely absent in the second half, which isn't what I like to see from our captain.


1. Really poor effort from Lawson Vaughn. Twice Ryan Johnson should have been marked by Vaughn when he put the ball into the net. One of those times the goal was disallowed for offsides, but Vaughn was just standing around on the winning goal instead of marking Johnson on the rebound. Before the Marathon match, I thought that McTavish would be our regular replacement for Namoff at right back. I'm not sure why our coaching staff thought that a guy who hasn't played a league match in 2009 was a better option.

2. Apparently Luciano Emilio isn't one to believe in momentum. Nor I guess is the entire United team. After an epic two-goal performance earlier in the week, Emilio couldn't get a ball on target despite multiple chances.

3. It's hard to truly fault him for either goal, but I don't think it's just a coincidence that Josh Wicks was pitching a shutout, but San Jose scored two goals as soon as Milos Kocic came on.

4. Julius James really didn't need to give up a foul at the top of the box in the 58th minute. It was that foul that led to the Quakes' first goal. And Marc Burch's defensive gaff leading to the Quakes' winning goal could be a huge detriment to our playoff chances.

And with that loss, DC United's playoff chances just got a whole lot tougher. With a win, we would have been in fifth place, the first wildcard slot, and would have been in complete control of our destiny for the remainder of the season. But with a loss, we remain one point behind the Revolution (who have still played two fewer matches), and two points behind Seattle and Chivas.

The good news though is that we play against Chivas USA at home next week, while Seattle are on the road against the red hot Columbus Crew. So with the right results, we still have a good shot, but we can't keep letting good chances slip away. Regardless, it looks like everything is going to come down to the last weekend again. And I guess we shouldn't really be surprised by that.

Benny Award 3: The Convey

By definition, the Convey Award goes to DC United's rookie of the year. The award's namesake is Bobby Convey, who coincidentally is on the other side today. Convey was very promising in his short time here in DC, and started 18 matches his rookie season, which sounded like a lot until this year.

Last year's Convey Award went to Ryan Cordeiro with a huge 76% margin. Cordeiro now plays for USL-2 Real Maryland, and the only nominee still in the league is Mike Zaher. Pretty good chance that will not be the case with the strength of our 2009 draft class.

1. Chris Pontius was the leading contender for MLS Rookie of the Year early in the season, and with 4 goals, he is tied with Zakuani for most goals by a rookie. Pontius has played in most matches at forward, but has also seen time at right wing, central midfield, and now looks to have secured a job starting on the left wing.

2. Rodney Wallace has emerged as the most versatile player on the team. He has started at left wing, left back, but mostly in central defensive/holding midfield. With appearances in 25 of 26 games this season, Wallace has been very productive with 3 goals and 3 assists.

3. Brandon Barklage looked well on his way to becoming a fan favorite with his exciting play-making style. He had two goals in two Open Cup matches before injury unfortunately forced his season to end early.

4. Milos Kocic lost the goalkeeper competition to Wicks, but his potential has been clear in his 2 MLS starts, and in shutouts in the CCL and Open Cup.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and feel free to argue for your choice in the comments section.

Up next: The Donnety - Which DC United player has been the biggest disappointment in 2009?

DC United win vs Marathon, 3-0

This win was exactly what we needed. Nothing will inspire confidence in a team fighting for playoff position like a multiple goal victory in which we were clearly the better team.

The offense is clicking, and oh yeah, that's 3 shutouts in our last 4 matches. With a makeshift backline at that. Is it possible that DC United is peaking at exactly the right time? In 2006 and 2007 we peaked too early and faded late in the regular season, only to bust out of the playoffs before advancing out of the Eastern Conference. With the talent that this team has up front, and with Jakovic and Burch both hopefully to return to the starting lineup on Sunday, I see no reason why we can't be one of the leading contenders to reach MLS Cup.


1. When Luciano Emilio is hot, he's hot. How's that for analysis? Within the first 10 minutes of the match, Luci was getting chances, but missing them. In the second half, he just didn't know how to miss. His first goal came from a well directed header off a John cross, and the final goal was all Emilio, beating the Marathon keeper 1v1.

2. I'm not sure if DC was poised to pull away in the second half already, but the insertion of Jaime Moreno couldn't have hurt. He got off to a slow start, but his goal was just classic Moreno. He is still one of the best in MLS in that position in front of the goal because he is just so cool and collected.

3. So a 4-4-2 formation with two attacking wingers and two holding midfielders? I think this is what a lot of us had envisioned when United moved away from the diamond 4 midfield, but it's never looked as good as it looked tonight. The combination of Chris Pontius on the left and Santino Quaranta on the right is perfect for this formation. Pontius started the sequence that led to the first goal with a run up the left side, and Quaranta's smart touch to Moreno earned him an assist on the second. These two should be starting in these positions for the remainder of the MLS season. It's telling that Fred wasn't even on the 18-man roster.

4. Avery John and Lawson Vaughn both played well as our two fullbacks. John conjured up his inner Burch on his assist to Emilio for the first goal, and also shut down every attack on that side of the field. In his United debut, Vaughn certainly didn't look like a guy playing his first match in 2009, and he did well in replacing the unreplaceable Namoff.

5. Give credit to Josh Wicks, Julius James, and Clyde Simms for earning 3 clean sheets in our last 4 matches.


1. I didn't quite understand the removal of Tiyi Shipalane before halftime, but it seemed to work in Soehn's favor. Shipalane performed well getting forward, as I think we all expected against an inferior opponent. It probably won't be until next season that we get to see what he can do against another MLS team.


None.

In the Insider's poll earlier this week, only 23% of voters predicted that United would advance in the Champions League. Now all it will take next week is a United victory at home over SJJ and a Toluca victory on the road over Marathon. Both are very likely at this point, and then all that will be left will be a meaningless faceoff between the B teams of DC and Toluca, with both having already clinched a spot in the next round. The quarterfinals won't be held until the week before the start of the 2010 MLS season, so no need to worry about fixture congestion at this point. It will be tough to advance further than that, but I think most United fans would be satisfied with the progress of at least moving past the group stage.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The more important match is this weekend against San Jose, who have already done us a lot of good by tying the Rapids twice in the last week. Look for United to put out the strongest starting lineup we've seen in months on Sunday. A win is all we need, but I think I'll be surprised if we win by anything less than 2 goals.

Benny Award 2: The Nelly

By definition, the Nelly Award goes to the United player who has made the most significant positive impact in his first year with the club. The award’s namesake Ryan Nelsen became a starter shortly into his first season with United, and would go on to guide the team to an MLS Cup in 2004.

It’s a testament to the total failure of our 2008 acquisitions that not one of last year’s nominees is still on the team. The winner, Louis Crayton, was the only player to make it onto the roster at the start of 2009, only to lose his job to one of this year’s contenders.

1. Josh Wicks has earned 5 shutouts in 18 starts for DC this season, and has at times looked like one of the top goalkeepers in MLS. Wicks is a good shot stopper and controls his box well. It’s only because of some mental errors and a bad temper that leads some fans to question whether or not he is a long-term solution. I’d put my money on Josh Wicks to win a fight against any other goalkeeper in the league.
2. Dejan Jakovic joined the team this off-season from the famed Serbian club Red Star Belgrade, and also looks to have earned a starting role for the Canadian National Team. This young defender has taken a leadership role in our backline, and has the patience to distribute out of the back without turning the ball over (a rare quality on this team). It’s hard to imagine how poor DC would be without Jakovic, but it might also be hard to give this award to any defender when United is still the fourth worst team in the league in goals against.


3. Chris Pontius the rookie from UCSB has appeared in all but one league match this season, and gives the team a versatile option at either forward or midfielder. With 4 goals and 2 assists on the season, Pontius has looked best when playing up front with good service from Quaranta on the wing.


4. Rodney Wallace the rookie from Maryland has appeared in all but one league match this season, and gives the team a versatile option anywhere in the midfield. Wallace’s aggression, speed, and fitness level has benefited him even when occasionally filling in at CDM, but he has done the most damage (3 goals, 3 assists) from the left wing.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and feel free to argue for your choice in the comments section.

Up next: The Convey – Who is DC United’s rookie of the year?

Benny Award 1: The Richie

By definition, the Richie Award goes to the most underrated player on the United roster. The award's namesake Richie Williams was probably the hardest working player on our championship teams in the 90s, but flew mostly under the radar when compared to the better known players.

Last year’s winner by a wide margin was Clyde Simms, earning over 50% of the vote. This year’s nominees are:

1. Clyde Simms continues to be one of the best defensive midfielders in MLS, while still going virtually unnoticed in the national scene. Simms is a great ball-winner, and this year has even done well when occasionally forced to take on a new role as central defender and leader of the back line.


2. Bryan Namoff was the runner-up for this award last year, and has very quietly had his most productive season ever with two goals and four assists, all while being our most consistent defender. It still makes no sense to me that Namoff is repeatedly passed up for USMNT duty in favor of guys like Marvel Wynne.


3. Marc Burch earns his first Benny Award nomination by virtue of being the lowest rated DC United starter in the eyes of most fans. But does he deserve to be rated higher? Burch has improved defensively every year since being converted to a left back, his left foot continues to be a weapon when serving long crosses in from the back, and let’s not forget the Burchie bomb, which earned him a goal against Dallas just a couple weeks ago.
   
4. Jaime Moreno owns the record for most career goals in MLS, but this year he hasn’t really gotten the respect that he deserves, even from the coaching staff. Moreno has only started 10 games so far this season, but he is still second place on the team with 7 goals (just 2 behind Emilio, who was started 20 games). Sure, some of those goals may have come from penalty kicks, but Moreno has scored 2 more goals than Blanco this year, and has the same number of goals and assists as Ching, yet he only gets a fraction of the national media attention that they get.
   

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and feel free to argue for your choice in the comments section.

Up next: The Nelly – What new addition has made the biggest impact for United this year?

Clyde Simms versus Julius James

I started writing this as a reply to the comments in the last match reaction, but I figured this discussion worthy of its own posting, and what better format to use than my infamous Versus feature.

The theory here is that one of these two players will be starting next to Dejan Jakovic when the Canadian returns from hernia surgery. The team has apparently fully abandoned the 3-5-2 formation, as they rightfully should have, and our regular center back pairing in Jakovic's absense has been Simms and James. So which one should start next to Jakovic for the final few weeks of the season (and maybe the playoffs??)? Let's look at what each one brings to the table:

Clyde Simms has been one of our most consistent players over the past three years, and brings a much higher soccer IQ to the backline than does James. He may not be the same physical specimen as James, but he should bring better positional sense, while still having the speed and strength to keep up with the better attackers in the league. My initial concern with using Simms at CB is that we lose his ball-winning ability at CDM, but that doesn't seem to be as big a concern anymore since Rodney Wallace has really stepped up to fill that role while Simms has been playing deeper back. So the argument against Simms then is Fullback's point that with Simms and Jakovic you have two players who like getting forward into the midfield too much to close down attackers early. My rebuttal is that with Simms and Jakovic, we have two intelligent and experienced players who should know when to go forward and when to stay home. I feel like when one of them moves forward, the other will always be smart enough to stay home.

Julius James is probably one of the two or three most physically gifted players on the team. He's faster than Simms, he's bigger and taller than Simms. James definitely has potential, as Fullback pointed out. But the time to get him more seasoned is not the final 4 games of the season. I'm all for bringing James back in 2010 and letting him compete for a starting job at that point, but for the remainder of this season, I want the two best players RIGHT NOW playing this spot. One of United's biggest problems in 2007 and 2008 was that they suffered from mental errors. Whether our backline was McTavish-Boswell or Peralta-Janicki, we had a tendency to play well for about 88 minutes of a match, but give up a goal or two thanks to some isolated mistakes. We've already seen the same thing happen with Julius James starting.

I'm not saying that Clyde Simms should be starting at central defense long term. He's just too good a defensive midfielder to permanently convert. But for the remainder of the 2009 season, I'm all for starting our best 11 players. And I don't think James is in that best 11 right now. My best 11 looks like this:

Yeah I've still got Emilio at top. That might be an argument for another day ;)

The Benny Awards 2009

Ah yes, it's the day we've all been waiting for - the return of the Benny Awards!

If you're new to this blog, then you will learn that the Bennies consist of a series of categories, each with four United players nominated. You the fans get to vote on the winner for each category, and the winners are revealed at the end of the season. You can vote up to once per day per category, and once again, you cannot vote for yourself! Here is the schedule for when the voting will begin for each category:

1. The Richie - Friday, 9/18/09
2. The Nelly - Tuesday, 9/22/09
3. The Convey - Saturday, 9/26/09
4. The Donnety - Friday, 10/2/09
5. The Grosy - Tuesday, 10/6/09
6. The Freddy - Friday, 10/9/09
7. The Harkesy - Tuesday, 10/13/09
8. The Popie - Friday, 10/16/09
9. The Etchy - Thursday, 10/22/09
10. The Benny - Tuesday, 10/27/09

All winners will be revealed the week or two after the conclusion of the regular season.

During the voting for the Nelly last year, after I unfortunately left Santino Quaranta off the list of nominations for an award that he probably would have won, it was decided that I should consult with you guys before finalizing all the nominations. I have a pretty good feel for who should be nominated for most awards, but here's a couple that I'd like to solicit your help on:

The Richie - Who do you consider to be most "underrated" players on United's roster? Doesn't even necessarily have to be a starter, but who do you think is given less credit than he deserves?

The Grosy - This award goes to the player who you look at as a warrior - a gutsy player who ignores injuries, overcomes adversity, and leaves it all on the field. Who does this describe this year?

The Freddy - I sometimes have a different perspective on things as a blogger, so what do you think were some of the biggest storylines for United this year?

I appreciate your help. Please tune in on Friday for your first chance to vote in the 2009 Benny Awards!

DC United win at San Juan Jabloteh, 1-0

This 1-0 win reminded me a bit of another 1-0 win less than a week ago against the Wizards. United was clearly the better team, and our defense did well in shutting down some opportunities, but a big part of the victory can also be attributed to a weaker team failing to get any quality shots on target. You could say that they fredded away all their chances. Meanwhile, DC went up early on a converted penalty kick but failed to score for the rest of the match.

For only traveling to T&T with 16 players, Soehn apparently decided to take this match seriously because we started the 11 best players we had. But with several guys playing outside their best positions, they were not able to leverage their talents into very much chemistry.


1. He disappeared for long stretches of the match, but Christian Gomez scored our only goal, almost scored another on a header only kept out by a pretty good save from the SJJ keeper, and should have had an assist when he found Shipalane in space late in the match.

2. Clyde Simms was once again the more competent of our two central defenders. So with Wallace filling in at CDM adequately, and Olsen and Jacobson now both healthy enough to share time, what are the chances that Simms will remain in central defense even after Jakovic returns from injury? A Simms/Jakovic combination might have the highest soccer IQ of any other central defense in the league. It's definitely something to consider heading into the final playoff run, and would at least cut down on the mental errors that we've seen from James.

3. Devon McTavish reminds me sometimes of a poor man's Namoff. He made some good defensive plays, sent in some excellent crosses, and pops up in the box every once in a while with a chance on goal. It would have been easy to assume that McTavish was playing RM for how much ground he covered on that side of the field, and he was often more involved in the attack than Szetela.


1. Some tense moments due to the play of Milos Kocic, Julius James, and Avery John. Kocic is a competent shot-stopper, but he struggles with his decision-making. James and John each had too many giveaways, but were very good defensively to help us preserve the clean sheet.

2. It's not his best position, but Chris Pontius filled the left wing role very well. He ran at defenders, and also got back defensively when necessary. I see no reason why Fred should start at LM while Pontius is on the bench ever again.


1. For all the fans who have been calling for Danny Szetela to start, do you still think this guy is our future? I don't want to put too much weight on a single performance since he hasn't played a meaningful game in several weeks, but this match certainly did not give me the impression that Soehn was wrong to bench him. The knowledgeable Chest Rockwell suggests that Szetela would have done better in the middle, so I guess I'm willing to give him one more chance.

2. In his first DC United appearance, Tiyi Shipalane missed a chance to put us up 2-0 by hitting a weak shot straight at the keeper late in the match. I don't think that playing a forward at the top of a 4-4-1-1 is going to be Shipalane's best position though. I'd like to see him playing out a bit wider next time. But mainly, I'm just extremely disappointed that he chose to wear his shorts properly.

So... um... Is it just me or do we actually have a shot at advancing in the CCL this year? If Toluca beats Marathon tomorrow, we'll be only a home victory over Marathon next week away from second place. Is that enough for us to shift our focus away from league play to try to advance in the CCL? Not in the least. But we played well against Marathon in Honduras for about 80 minutes until we janicked away our shot at a road tie. After that though, it's back to reality with a must-win home match against the Quakes next weekend.

Check back in tomorrow for a big announcement here at DCUMD. Until then, let me know in the comments section what you think about my proposed Namoff-Simms-Jakovic-Burch back line?

DC United lose to Seattle Sounders, 2-1

Feels like I just wrote that same headline 2 weeks ago. I don't mean to try to use this as an excuse, but it's worth pointing out that the last match Seattle played was here in DC on 9/2. In the mean time, United played two other matches during that week and a half that the Sounders were resting.

After a terrible start from United, I felt similar to the way that BDR felt earlier this week - like this match could have easily gotten out of hand. We were lucky to only be down 1-0 at halftime after a totally lackluster performance where DC had no shots on goal.

The second half was a different story though. The second half appeared to be showcasing two of the better teams in MLS in a fight for home field advantage in the playoffs. That may not be entirely true, but United was getting the better of play, and going into the 70th minute or so, there was a certain sense that this match was not going to end 1-1. It didn't.


1. Rodney Wallace gives the team something out of deep central midfield that Clyde Simms does not. They both bring a lot of aggression and awareness, but Wallace's superior athletic ability was definitely on exhibit tonight. He might not have Simms' ball-winning ability, and doesn't distribute as well either, but Wallace's quickness, athleticism, and scoring touch earned him a goal single-handedly.


1. While the stats haven't been showing it lately besides his poached goal against KC, Luciano Emilio has been fighting hard for us up front the past couple weeks, although he hasn't necessarily shown the greatest touch or speed.


1. Josh Wicks should have done better on the early 1v1 goal by Zakuani, and was beaten high to the near post by Montero for the game winner. When a goalie gets beaten at the near post, he's probably not going to get a very high rating on here.

2. We are continuing to miss Jakovic while learning that Julius James is not the answer we've been looking for at center back. James should not have allowed Montero to get off such a clean shot for the game winner.

3. It's hard to truly blame him for the first goal when he obviously doesn't have the speed of Steve Zakuani, but Bryan Namoff was beaten fair and square for Seattle's first goal.

4. Just not enough attacking flair from Jaime Moreno or Santino Quaranta in this one. Both were more likely to give the ball away than to create a scoring chance all game. I'm ready for Chris Pontius to take over as our regular starter at withdrawn forward. Moreno has been better as a sub most of the season.

And with that, United finishes the week with just 3 points from two home matches. I would have been satisfied with 4, but we sure could have used the full 6. Still, all is not lost with two more winnable home games upcoming against San Jose (family day) and Chivas USA (college night / WCQ deal). The final team to get into the playoffs in 2008 did so with 37 points. And while it looks like it may take more than that this year, United is currently sitting at 36. Toronto's win over Colorado hurt a bit, but we still control our own destiny.

Another roster reset

Never before that I can think of has DC United made so many roster moves so late in the season. It's obvious that the team is trying to make a strong push for the playoffs, and trying to put together the best roster possible before the acquisition window closes for the season.

Since we last spoke, the team has made a couple new moves, including the signing of Lawson Vaughn. So for clarification, here is the roster as it currently stands:

Senior (20):1 Wicks, 2 John, 3 Habarugira, 4 James, 5 Burch, 6 Jakovic, 7 McTavish, 8 Namoff, 9 Vaughn, 10 Szetela, 11 Fred, 12 Gomez, 13 Jacobson, 14 Olsen, 15 Pontius, 16 Quaranta, 17 Simms, 18 Shipalane, 19 Emilio, 20 Moreno.

Developmental (4): 1 Kocic, 2 Wallace, 3 DiRaimondo, 4 Allen

Also on the roster:
Brandon Barklage - Season-ending Injured Reserve
Ange N'Silu - Disabled List as of 8/14. Eligible to return 9/27 vs. San Jose
Boyzzz Khumalo - Disabled List as of 8/25. Eligible to return 10/14 vs. Columbus
Greg Janicki - Disabled List as of 9/11. Eligible to return for second match of first playoff series
Bill Hamid - Signed a Generation Adidas on 9/2. Eligible for the Developmental roster next season

Hopefully that helps clear things up. The most interesting part of this is that with N'Silu eligible to return after today's match, United is going to have to make a roster move to stay within the 24-man limit. Either N'Silu will have to be cut, placed on IR, or someone else will have to be cut or placed on the DL. My guess is he'll be cut, but we'll find out soon enough!

The Fifth Sixth

This is the fifth in a recurring series where we look at the DC United season, five games at a time.

Results: 2-1-2. 4 GF, 4 GA

Standings: Third place in the Eastern Conference

Statistical Leaders: Josh Wicks (3 clean sheets); Namoff, Burch, Moreno, Emilio (1 goal each), Gomez (1 assist)

Most frequent lineup:


What we liked:

• Discovering our starting XI – I’ve often wondered during this season if we’re ever going to have a single consistent lineup that can be used every week. It looks like we’re finally stating to see that, and surprisingly enough, that lineup is going to be a 4-4-2. While I might not necessarily agree with all of the starters in every match, at least the coaching staff is finally starting to decide who they want to count on to be their regular starters, and that is happening at the perfect time with the playoffs just over a month away.
  
• Josh Wicks, the savior – Wicks has come a long way since emerging from the three-man goalkeeper competition to be our starter. And while the team only earned 5 clean sheets in all of 2008, Wicks alone has now earned 5, including 3 in this set of matches. He made a lot of key saves to preserve the scoreless draw late in the Galaxy match. We saw two on-field blowups from Wicks during this period, which is something to look out for, but his play speaks for itself.
  
• United can score on corner kicks – Throughout this team’s history, they have struggled to score from corner kicks. Prior to 2009, I think maybe the only corner kick goal ever scored by United came off the head of Eddie Pope in 1996. But suddenly every corner kick is now a scoring opportunity for United. Bryan Namoff scored his second corner kick goal of the year in United’s win over Chicago, and the winning goal sequence against KC also started with a corner.

What we didn't like:

• Lack of scoring – United did not score in the run of play during these five matches. It’s incredible that we had a winning record during this stretch when the team was only able to score on corners, free kicks, and a penalty kick. With the attacking firepower of the likes of Emilio, Gomez, Quaranta, and Pontius, that’s just not acceptable.
  
• Coaching inadequacies – Some of this is due to injury, but Coach Soehn continues to play some of his players outside of their best positions. Simms at CB? Wallace at LB? Olsen at RW? Quaranta at forward while Pontius is in the midfield? And what was Fred doing on the field anyway while Chris Pontius was sitting on the bench? It’s sad to point out that Jaime Moreno only started 1 league match during this stretch, and Pontius only 2.

Defining moment: The moment that sticks out to me most clearly from this five-game stretch is unfortunately the handball by the LA Galaxy that was not called. And that was after Emilio was shoved over in the box earlier in the match. Maybe someone could debate the foul on Emilio, but the handball was indisputable, and it was even used as an example of a bad call by the USSF. We saw so many non-calls in that match that I think we may have won if only a United player could have picked up the ball and ran rugby-style into the goal. Anyways, a penalty kick in the 85th minute of a scoreless game would have virtually guaranteed us a victory, and two extra points in the standings sure would have looked nice about now.

Overall impression: Last time I wrote the following: “United's 1-2-2 record in the fourth Sixth is a bit misleading, because this stretch of the season also included three Open Cup victories to return DC to the Final, and a home-and-home series victory over Firpo to return DC to the Champions League group stage.” This time its exactly the opposite. United had a winning record through the fifth Sixth in MLS action, but while also losing two CCL matches and the Open Cup Final. Despite our current place in the standings, United remains in a precarious position because every other team but one has played fewer matches than us. But with four out of the last five matches at RFK in front of its adoring fans, DC definitely is in control of its own destiny during the final playoff push.

DC United win vs KC Wizards, 1-0

That wasn't exactly how I wanted to see us play against one of the worst teams in the league, but a win is a win, and somehow I still feel like we earned this one. It definitely took this team 30 minutes or so to settle in, and gave up way too many chances during those first 30 minutes, but we looked like the better team in the second half, and ultimately we prevailed.

Thoughts on the surprising back line? A lot of fans have been clamoring for McTavish and Wallace each to get a chance in defense, and they both did tonight. Both were adequate, but probably not spectacular enough to unseat Jakovic and Burch when they return from injuries. I really didn't understand the move of taking off Julius James in favor of Avery John and moving Simms from CDM to CB, but it seemed to work out, because I only counted one scoring opportunity for KC after that change. I think the most likely back line for Saturday's match will be Namoff-James-McTavish-John.


1. It's unfortunate that he doesn't get credited with an assist, because it was the hard work of Chris Pontius that created Emilio's goal. Pontius really put himself in danger and got hit by Hartman and a defender in the process of sending a diving header off the post. Hopefully Soehn is starting to realize also (as I've been saying for months) that our team plays its best when Quaranta and Pontius are on the field at the same time. These two combined for three or four good chances tonight.

2. The predator Luciano Emilio made a return appearance in this match, poaching the winning goal after Pontius's header deflected off the post. Emilio had two great chances to put away the game late too, once on a perfectly timed run to beat an offside trap in the 81st minute, and then again in the 88th minute with a lob over Hartman's head which was clearly goal-bound if not for being cleared off the line by Conrad.

3. Bryan Namoff also deserves credit for an assist, as it was his cross to Pontius that set up the goal. This guy is really turning into a huge asset on corner kicks. He was also our most consistent defender tonight and helped us preserve the shutout.

4. Props to Tom Soehn for a nice and creative starting lineup. He also did well at recognizing how little Gomez was contributing and replaced him with Olsen at the half. And even though I didn't understand the John for James move at the time, that did ultimately seem to shore up the defense. Although that may have been more due to Kansas City running out of gas to attack.


1. The two surprise defenders Devon McTavish and Rodney Wallace each filled in admirably. McTavish demonstrated some Jakovicesque traits, occassionally starting the ball up the field or making runs into the midfield in transition. I might even go as far to say that McTavish looked like the more competent of our two central defenders, making me wonder if he should be the one to start alongside Jakovic when the Canadian returns from injury. Wallace had his ups and downs in his first MLS start as a left back. I questioned whether the best time to try Wallace in defense was in a match where Jakovic was not there to help guide him. Wallace got beat a couple times for some shots on target, but he did look excellent when pushing forward, and also was a big help in killing off the game with his aggression when moved to CDM after John entered.


1. Christian Gomez was largely ineffective and I wasn't surprised to see him subbed out at the half. I think it's time to move on from the days when it used to be a requirement to start Gomez and Moreno at the same time.

Inefficiencies aside, this was exactly the result we needed to kick off our five game home stand. Not just a win, but also a clean sheet to give our defenders some confidence back. And oh look! Suddenly we jumped from out of the playoffs to #3 in the East! Just in time for my Fifth Sixth posting later this week! Even though we've played one more game than just about everyone else, we're still in a very good position to make the playoffs with the schedule remaining, and as I expect New England and Chivas to continue to drop off. Next up: Seattle on Saturday, then another double match week with home games against Marathon and San Jose.

DC United tie at FC Dallas, 2-2

So my DVR inexplicably taped nothing but a black screen, and calls to Comcast expectedly got me nowhere (their proposed solution: turn it off and turn it back on). So this reaction will be based solely on MLSnet highlights and comments in the Insider.

With our remaining schedule chock full of home matches, a tie on the road is certainly not the end of the world. And we're now technically in the playoffs if the season ended today (tied with New England and Chivas, but with a better goal differential) although there are several teams who have played less matches than us. So the overall result is fine. What is troublesome though is that we SHOULD be better than FC Dallas. Outside of Cunningham, we're a much more talented team. But from what I saw, these two teams were fairly evenly matched. And since FCD are not a playoff team, that's not good.


1. Our most dangerous player on the field was Santino Quaranta. He's really starting to put this team on his back and emerge as a leader for the younger generation of players. It's questionable whether that should have been a penalty kick when Tino was taken down in the box, but the ref certainly didn't have a good enough angle to be able to say that he dived, so it was well earned in my opinion.

2. Marc Burch hit three awesome free kicks in a row, each with a good chance at scoring. The first two resulted in chances for rebounds, and the third one went in. The good thing about hitting free kicks low is that they don't go over the bar that way. This might sound obvious, but it would be a lesson well learned for other players.


1. Interesting choice by Soehn to put Clyde Simms in as a central defender. At least he was the better of our two central defenders this night. I remember the team trying Simms as an outside back in 2007, but has he ever started as a CB before? Still not sure why McTavish hasn't played as a defender all year.


1. Joining Janicki and Habarugira in the list of defenders who have had a terrible match in the past month, please welcome Julius James. He was responsible for both goals, gave up another shot to Cunningham which went off the post, and could have been called for a penalty kick.

2. So what did you guys think of Tom Soehn's 4-6-0 formation? My back line would have been Namoff-James-Burch-John, but having Simms in there instead was fine defensively. The problem then though is that you lose Simms' ball winning skills in the midfield. This lineup was essentially 3 true defenders, 4 defensive midfielders, and 3 attacking midfielders. Not a winning combination, and not what in line with my recommendation. I mean it's fine to have a global strategy of going for 3 points at home and 1 point on the road, but did we really have to make it this obvious?

Well that's all I got from the five minutes of highlights. Anyone who watched the game care to elaborate more?

Next week brings two home league matches for us, first against the Wizards on Wednesday (college discount night) and then a rematch against the Sounders on Saturday (social sports night). Anything less than 4 points next week would be extremely disappointing, and 6 points is very possible as well.

How to develop a lineup

So I'm watching the Redskins get killed in yet another preseason game and I'm thinking about the strategy that they've used over the years in developing their rosters, and how that compares with DC United.

The Redskins have a tendency to sign players that they think are good, and then try to make them fit within the system of whatever coach they have at the time. We've seen this repeatedly with Jason Campbell. The team drafted him because they liked his arm, with no consideration for how he would fit within the offense of Joe Gibbs or Al Saunders. And then when the team was looking for a new offensive coach, did they select one who would work well with Cambell? Nope, they picked a coach in Jim Zorn whose offense requires a certain skill set from a quarterback that Campbell does not possess. Oh and let's not forget how the team took an all-pro right defensive end in Jason Taylor and moved him to the left. And now they're trying to do the same thing with Brian Orakpo.

Compare that with DC United and you get the exact opposite. It's like they overthink their lineup instead. Tom Soehn's strategy over the past few years has been to try to tailor his starting lineup to the number of quality starters he has at each position. So when the team has a lot of attacking midfielders, but not very many defenders, Soehn's idea is to start as many attacking midfielders as possible, and as few defenders as possible.

I went back and found this quote in the Soccer Insider on 3/17/09:

Said Bryan Namoff: "Just because there are so many new faces, our ability to stay more compact defensively is better right now in that 3-5-2. During the long run, we might compare to other teams a little bit better with a 4-4-2, but at this point in time, the 3-5-2 position allows us defensively to be a little stronger."

Sounds to me like the main reason we used a three-man backline early in the year was because... We had new faces? Now that we've had essentially the same roster for almost a whole season, isn't it time to move away from that?

So which strategy is better? Neither. More a balance between the two. I would much rather see United pick a formation that fits our style of play and stick to it. Then put the best players on the field in the right place within that formation. But equally importantly, if we don't have good enough defenders and if we don't have the two-way wingers to play with a 3-5-2, don't use it.

After our results in Chicago, I think we'll start to see the 4-4-2 formation more often at this point. In fact, I think we probably would have seen it last night if Julius James was available. But wait... Should we let the absence of one player determine our formation? Or should we select a formation first based on matchup and then select the players? Any of the following backlines would have worked better last night: Namoff-Janicki-Jakovic-Burch or Namoff-McTavish-Jakovic-Burch or Namoff-Jakovic-Burch-John. By the way, why hasn't McTavish played defense at all this season?

DC United lose to Seattle Sounders, 2-1

We win trophies. But not all the time.

Great atmosphere at the stadium. My section was in between the Barra Brava and the Seattle supporters, and it was cool listening to the fans trying to out-sing each other. The fans in the sections who don't normally stand and sing were all standing and singing a lot more than usual.

I hate to say it but I guess the Sounders deserved to win. Which is disappointing after all the trash we talked. But Seattle won a trophy in their first chance just like DC United did. Now if they can just win 13 more, maybe they'll have an argument at being the greatest club in MLS.

1. Clyde Simms was in the right place at the right time to score DC's only goal.

1. Josh Wicks was the reason we were still in this match through 70 minutes, but then he was also the reason why we didn't have a good chance to get back into it after we went behind. Wicks looked like a superhero in the first half with all those great saves, but it was absolutely inexcusable for him to stomp on Montero afte giving up the goal. We learned from the Blanco incident last year that MLS will not suspend players for their actions in the Open Cup, but I wonder if United benches him temporarily as punishment.

1. I'm not going to make up my mind as to what I think Tom Soehn's fate should be until after the season is over, and neither will ownership, and neither should you. But this loss certainly makes it much more likely that he will not make it into 2010 as our head coach. His only chance at this point is to win the Eastern Conference Championship. Numerous issues with Soehn's starting lineup. If you were following me on Twitter, you'd know that my starting lineup included Wallace and Quaranta ahead of Olsen and Moreno, and I stand by that. This team is best when Quaranta is playing right wing and Pontius is playing forward. When is the coaching staff going to realize that? And at some point, Moreno and Olsen are no longer to be among our best 11 players. I'm not exactly sure if that point has come yet, but I'm also not certain if the coaching staff is going to be willing to start either of these guys on the bench when necessary. The other issue was the formation. It became clear to me about 15 minutes in that the 3-man backline was not working. But the team made zero adjustments. And I didn't feel like having a fifth midfielder was doing us much good either. Makes you wonder what the lineup would have looked like if Julius James was available.

2. FREDSUX

3. I wonder if the game would have gone into overtime at 1-1 if Wicks was still in instead of Milos Kocic on the second goal. He's much less decisive and doesn't distribute effectively either.

4. The free kicks of Christian Gomez were a constant disappointment. For as many chances as he had, I would have expected at least a couple shots on goal.

That's all. Time to concentrate on the league. As with any professional sports team, DC United has a tendency to let us down immediately following an emotionally draining match like this one. It will be up to Soehn to make sure that doesn't happen on Saturday. And then we actually have a full week off (!) before we get a chance for revenge against the Sounders.