Revisiting the ADRs

When posting the 2009 ADRs earlier this week, I asked what jumped out at you. Well here's some questions that jumped out at me:

1. Is Dejan Jakovic really all that good? The biggest surprise for me on the whole was Jakovic's even 3.00 rating. After winning three Benny Awards, you would have thought his rating would be among the best on the team. But in reality, a mediocre rating is probably appropriate for the leader of the United defense that gave up more goals than 10 other MLS teams.

2. Why can't we manage to secure a decent goalkeeper? Outside of Steve Cronin's quality performance at the very end of the season, the three goalkeepers that saw action for United in 2009 didn't fair too well on average. And this seems to be a continuing problem, as this is the second year in a row where we didn't have one regular starting goalkeeper earn higher than a 3.00 ADR.

3. How long will Chris Pontius stay in MLS? Pontius's 4.19 ADR led the team among regulars, and is the highest score we've seen from any player in the two years I've been doing this. Surely European clubs, as well as the USMNT, will start to take notice of his talents soon.

4. I guess Brandon Barklage should be our starting CAM next season? Well no. Reader DM pointed out in the comments section that we shouldn't read too much into any ADR with less than 5 ratings, and I agree. But Barklage's perfect 5.00 ADR from 2 ratings tells us that at the very least, he should be invited back to training camp next year to compete for a developmental roster contract (not just cut in the offseason like the team did to every one of its rookies last year).

5. Weren't Jaime Moreno and Ben Olsen supposed to deteriorate this season? Because they didn't. Moreno's 3.62 and Olsen's 3.73 are still well above average. Both have said that they want to return to the team next season, and I see no reason why not.

2009 ADRs

Contrary to popular belief, I don't give player ratings each game just for fun. I also use these ratings to formulate the yearly Annual DCUMD Ratings, or ADRs. Each Top Shelf is worth 5 points, each Call is worth 3, and each Rail is worth 1.

Soehn C R C C R T T R T R C R R R T R R (2.41)

Crayton T R R T (3.00)
Cronin T T C (4.33)
Kocic T C C T C R C R T R (3.00)
Wicks R C C T C T T C R C R C R T R C R T (2.89)

Burch R C T C T R T R C C R T R R C (2.73)
Habarugira C R (2.00)
Jakovic C R C C C C T T R C R R T T (3.00)
James C C T R R C T R T C T (3.18)
Janicki T C R R C R R C R (2.11)
John C R R C T (2.60)
McTavish C R C T C T T (3.57)
Namoff T T T C C C C T T T R (3.91)
Vaughn T R R (2.33)

Allen C R R (1.67)
Barklage T T (5.00)
DiRaimondo C R C R (2.00)
Fred R T T R T T R R T C T C R T C C (3.25)
Gomez R R C T R T C T T T T T T T R C R R T T R (3.38)
Jacobson C R T R C R R R C C T T (2.67)
Olsen T C T T R C C T T R T (3.73)
Pontius T T C T C T C T R T R T T T C T T C T T T C T (4.13)
Quaranta T C T T C T R C T C T R T C (3.71)
Simms T R R R T T T C T T C T T T (3.86)
Szetela T C R C R (2.60)
Wallace C C C R C R T C R C T T C R C T T R (3.00)

Emilio R T T T R T R T R T C T R T C C T C T R C (3.38)
Khumalo T T R C R T T R (3.25)
Moreno R T T T R T T C C R T C T (3.62)
N'Silu T R R T (3.00)
Shipalane R C (2.00)

Anything interesting jump out at you?

The 2009 Benny Awards

The 6th Annual United Awards Reception isn't the only United Awards Reception going on tonight. Because it's also time to announce the winners of the 2009 Benny Awards!

1. The Richie Award for the most underrated player goes to Bryan Namoff


2. The Nelly Award for the best newcomer goes to Dejan Jakovic


3. The Convey Award for the best rookies goes to Chris Pontius


4. The Donnety Award for the biggest disappointment goes to Danny Szetela


5. The Grosy Award for the ballsiest player goes to Ben Olsen


6. The Freddy Award for the biggest story goes to Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace


7. The Harkesy Award for the greatest leader goes to Ben Olsen


8. The Popie Award for the best defender goes to Dejan Jakovic


9. The Etchy Award for the team's MVP goes to Dejan Jakovic


10. The Benny Award for the highest ADR rating goes to Chris Pontius

RIVER OR LIFE: The front office

Stealing on old bit from the late Big O and Dukes Show, we will spend the next month or so playing "River or Life" with members of the DC United organization, starting with the front office, and then moving on to the players, by position. In an offseason that is bound to include multitudes of changes throughout the club, this will be a great way to show the team who we the fans want to see return next year.

Oscar and Chad used this bit to gauge listener reactions to guests and other show personalities. A vote for RIVER means that you never want to hear from that person again - to send him down the river. A vote for LIFE means that you want to keep the guy around - a stay of execution.

I strongly considered adding a middle ground voting choice, but I'd hate to diminish the effects of a clever bit. Besides, "River or life or something in between" just doesn't have the same ring to it. And with such a black and white voting structure, this will give us a sort of approval rating for each player/coach (even though that gimmick has already been used by another popular local blog). But if you're struggling to decide, feel free to use the comment section as your debate forum.

Starting at the top, Kevin Payne has been the team's President and CEO since 1994, before the official start of MLS. Under his leadership, the club has won 13 trophies and remains the most decorated club in the league, despite the disappointment of the past two years.

poll by twiigs.com

As General Manager, Dave Kasper is responsible for assessing and acquiring talent. His early years with the club saw the acquisitions of Christian Gomez, Freddy Adu, and Alecko Eskandarian. Kasper received a lot of criticism last year for going 0 for 5 in foreign acquisitions, but came back strong with the team's best draft class ever in 2009.

poll by twiigs.com

Tom Soehn finished his three seasons as the team's Head Coach with a 54-48-32 record in all competitions, which isn't exactly on par with the tradition of excellence that came before him. The team faced a tough time the past three years with injuries and fixture congestion, and although Soehn still managed to win a Supporters' Shield in 2007 and the Open Cup in 2008, he has taken a lot of criticism from the fanbase.

poll by twiigs.com

DC United tie at KC Wizards, 2-2

Plenty of fans were saying last night that this match was like a microcosm of our season. I disagree. A microcosm of our season would have included DC United grabbing an early lead and taking it into halftime. It also would have included many chances to go even further ahead, but we would have had multiple goals disallowed and/or our opponent would have scored after some poor officiating. And then we would have failed to put away chances to avoid everything coming down to the wire, and we would have been held back by injuries (ok, maybe that last part is true).

What we saw instead was a team that clearly wanted a victory. They fought hard, which is something that we weren't saying much during our three straight home losses just a short time ago. The team unfortunately left too many points on the table over the course of the season, and those opportunities will be second guessed from our couches, rather than from the bounching seats of RFK Stadium. Because our season has come to a premature end.


1. Julius James played well defensively as the center of our three-man backline. But after limping around on one foot and being moved to forward, it was his go-ahead header that will be a lasting image. I'm tempted to throw out all voting for the Grosy Award and hand it to James for that performance.

2. There's no doubt that the game changed at half time with Ben Olsen and Jaime Moreno joining the lineup. Olsen was able to hold more possession in his first 5 minutes than Szetela had in his 45. Moreno scored on yet another PK, and both players seemed to motivate the team to give their all. Which makes you wonder why they both weren't starting in the first place...


1. Steve Cronin made some very good saves in this match, despite looking a bit shaky at times in the first half. I'm not sure what the team will need to do to get him back next year, but they need to find out.

2. I was once again impressed with the effort of Fred. He earned the foul that led to the tying PK goal, and also made some positive contributions defensively despite some obvious cramping late in the match. His red card for a handball to keep the ball out of the net was the correct call, and I think every one of us would have done the same thing.


1. Rodney Wallace was getting beat nonstop by Kei Kamara in the first half, including getting beat on the Wizards' first goal. Wallace came within 2" of total redemption when his potential game-winning shot struck the post, but unfortunately it wasn't in the cards.

2. There were some questionable roster decisions by Tom Soehn, as has been typical over the course of this season. Even the players have complained about the coach's inability to establish a consistent starting lineup. And I just don't understand the decision to leave Olsen and Moreno home from Mexico mid-week, and then start both of them on the bench. It's doubtful though that we will have the chance to question Soehn's lineups ever again.

When the final whistle blew, it didn't feel real. And you could see that on the players' faces as well. It was as if they were each asking themselves: "How did we get here?" How did we take a team with this much talent, and drop so far so fast? You'd be hard pressed to find somebody who would argue that the 2009 DC United team was not better than the 2008 DC United team, yet they were in the same exact position at the conclusion of the season. One point out of the playoffs. Was that because of mismanagement? Poor coaching? Lack of production? Lack of effort? Officiating? Injuries?

You could chalk up our underperformance this year to any of those things. I'm not sure which one was the most crucial, but it doesn't really matter what I think. I'm much more curious about what Will Chang and Kevin Payne think.

Tom Soehn's career in DC will likely end any day now. This makes you wonder if anyone else's career in DC is about to end also. Dave Kasper? Moreno and Gomez? Emilio and Fred? Bryan Namoff?

Surely I'm going to have a lot of write about over the next few weeks. I would much rather be writing more match reactions, but this organization is sure to still keep us bloggers busy.

Last note: I've said it before but I'll repeat it here: If we are changing head coaches we need to do it NOW. The expansion draft is exactly one month away. And I want our new head coach to be the one making the important decisions about who to protect.

Award 9: The Etchy

By defintion, the Etchy Award goes to DC United's most valuable player. The winner of the award should be the player who United can least afford to live without, and who gives the team the best chance of winning. I'm going to present this award a bit differently because I want to give you more choices and less bias.

Last year's rightful winner was Jaime Moreno, whose 10 goals and 10 assists set him apart from the rest of the field. It's much harder to make an argument this season for any player to have set himself apart as much as Moreno did in 2008.

1. Jaime Moreno (8 goals, 3 assists, 23 games)
2. Christian Gomez (6, 4, 26)
3. Chris Pontius (4, 3, 22)
4. Santino Quaranta (2, 6, 22)
5. Ben Olsen (1, 1, 19)
6. Clyde Simms (0, 0, 27)
7. Dejan Jakovic (0, 0, 22)
8. Bryan Namoff (2, 4, 26)

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through Monday, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for the exciting prizes that I announced last week.

Next up: The Benny - Who has been the best player on average this season, as tracked via this blog? Your chance for voting is done. This one is all on me!

Proposed starting lineup for the finale

Given the unfortunate results of the Chicago/Chivas and Marathon/San Juan matches last night, a WIN for DC United on Saturday has now become all the more crucial.  The number of playoff spots at stake just dropped from 3 to 2 with the Fire's victory.  What's worse though is that the loss by Chivas USA means that Columbus has now clinched the Supporter's Shield, and therefore will have nothing to play for in their final match against the Revolution on Sunday.

So if Saturday's match against the Wizards is a must-win, we are obviously going to have to put our best possible lineup on the field.  Given the many different combinations that we've seen from DC this season, that's not easy to determine.  But here are a few things that I think are fairly simple:

1. Steve Cronin should and will start.  After dropping 3 league matches at home in a row with Wicks and Kocic each playing 1.5 matches, Cronin has been a breath of fresh air and gives us our best chance of winning.

2. We're down to 2 1/2 competent defenders on our active roster.  Devon McTavish's strong showing on Tuesday night gave me hope that he could fill in for Namoff at right back for this match and for all of our playoff matches (ha!).  But without McTavish, the only good defenders we have left are Jakovic, James, and Burch (you can guess who the 1/2 is).  This is leading me towards a return to the 3-5-2 formation that had us in first place for a good chunk of the early parts of the season.

3. Ben Olsen, Christian Gomez, and Jaime Moreno will not let this team fail!  Despite his injuries over the years, Olsen has remained our hardest worker and sets an example for the other players on the field.  Gomez has had a tendency to show up big for us in big games in the past.  I'll never forget his performance in the second leg of our playoff series against Chicago in 2007 when Gomez scored one goal, and then came within a handball call away from equalizing the series in stoppage time.  With 8 goals, Moreno is #2 on the team in scoring this season.  More importantly though, his 0.0067 goals per minute is by far the best on the team.  Emilio has 0.0049 and Gomez has 0.0038.  For comparison's sake, Conor Casey has 0.0080 and Donovan has 0.0053.  The question then is why Moreno has only earned 1,190 minutes and 11 starts?  That needs to change if we're going to have a chance of making the playoffs.

4. Boyzzz Khumalo is not a starting winger.  Especially not in a 3-5-2 where the wingers have more defensive responsibility.  I love Khumalo as a substitute to bring speed and energy against a tired opponent late in the match, but that doesn't make him a 90 minute player.

With all that said, our starting lineup for me is looking really freakin' obvious.  I post my proposed starting lineup on Twitter before just about every match, but I've never been 100% right before.  This is the first time that I'll be surprised if I don't get it right.  Here's what we're looking at:

------Cronin------
Jakovic-James-Burch
----Olsen-Simms----
Pontius-----Wallace
--Moreno---Emilio--

There's really no reason why we shouldn't win this game.  Kansas City looked disinterested in defending in their match against the Sounders last week, and I'd hate to think that the combination of Gomez/Moreno/Emilio is less creative and less dynamic than that squad.  Of course we'll need some help from some other teams too, but if we lose or tie to the Wizards, then we do not deserve to be in the playoffs, and it will be a really rough offseason.

Award 8: The Popie

By definition, the Popie award goes to United's best defensive player in 2009. The award's namesake is former national team defender Eddie Pope. Not only is Pope widely recognized as the best defender in United's history, but he is also responsible for the most important goal in United's history.

Last year's winner was Bryan Namoff with over 50% of the vote. It's also telling of DC's defensive struggles in 2008 that the runner-up for this award last year was Devon McTavish, and he had not started a single game in central defense all year until last night.

1. Bryan Namoff is a strong contender to defend his title in 2009 with another great year. He's also contributed to the team with his most productive offensive year to date, with 2 goals and 4 assists.

2. Dejan Jakovic has been the first central defender in years to solidify his position in DC United's lineup, starting every game while healthy. He has exhibited great vision, anticipation, movement, and strength, placing him among the best central defenders in MLS.

3. Clyde Simms may not be a true defender by trade, but he is the team's best ball-winner, and he won the "Defender of the Year" award at last year's team reception.

4. Josh Wicks started 19 regular season games for DC United this year and earned 5 shutouts. His 1.40 goals against average is not among the best in the league, but he appeared to have locked down the starting goalkeeper position for the team before getting injured.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for the exciting prizes that I announced last week.

Next up: The Esky - Who is United's most valuable player?

DC United tie at Toluca, 1-1

Finishing 1-1 against the leader of the Mexican Primera Division on the road is a better result than most of us expected, and probably a better result than we deserved. Still, thanks to some inspired play by a few individuals, and some poor shooting by Toluca, we emerged with a single point.

A win would have secured our spot in the Champions' League quarterfinals, but let's not count ourselves out yet. That spot will now come down to the result of the Marathon at San Juan Jabloteh match on Thursday night. SJJ won't want to finish the CCL with zero points so they are going to try their hardest to earn a positive result, and they played both DCU and Toluca to 1-0 losses. Hopefully Marathon's plane gets delayed again.


1. Chris Pontius opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a brilliant strike. And despite taking what I thought was an injury off a hard Toluca challenge (that went un-whistled of course), he fought hard for 90 minutes.

2. The best defender for United tonight was Devon McTavish. I actually thought removing him around the 60th minute was the wrong move because he'd played so well, and because he's done so well in Champions' Cup/League matches in the past.

3. Steve Cronin continues to raise his transfer price with another excellent performance in net.


1. I mentioned that Pontius fought hard for 90 minutes. Unfortunately that wasn't true for every member of the team, but it was true for Julius James and Fred. Wasn't the best performance for either of them, but each contributed when necessary, and were running until the end despite being clearly gassed.


1. The penalty kick call against Lawson Vaughn was a bit unlucky because the foul was definitely not intentional. But if the player hadn't run around him so easily to begin with, he never would have been in that position. Vaughn was right up there next to McTavish after the first half, but he dropped off considerably in the second.

2. Other than Fred, our first half midfield combination of John DiRaimondo, Danny Szetela, and Boyzzz Khumalo was the worst we've seen all year from DC United. Toluca had no problems dribbling through our midfield, and we weren't able to build any considerable amount of possession. The presence of Simms/Olsen/Jacobson was sorely missed.

With a tie and two days wait until the conclusion of the group stage, the CCL is now out of our hands. Maybe we'll advance, maybe we won't.

What's not out of our hands though is our MLS playoff potential! It's do or die at Kansas City on Saturday. I'm not going to waste my time attempting to write up any playoff scenarios again (you can get that here), but let's just say that a loss or tie leaves us with very little chance of survival.

Two important matches Thursday night - Chivas at Chicago and Marathon at Jabloteh. Each could have a huge impact on our team's future. All we can do on Thursday night though is hope for the best. Saturday is when it's time to take care of business.

DC United win vs Columbus Crew, 1-0

After dropping three straight matches at home to MLS opponents, and with our most consistent defender and our two most dynamic attackers out, most fans didn't really expect DC United to win this match. Especially not against the soon-to-be back-to-back Supporters' Shield winners. And it may not have been an attractive victory, but it was a victory none the less. And it was just what we needed to somehow manage to stay in the playoff race. I'll make the match ratings quick because I want to get to the breakdown of the playoff standings.


1. Steve Cronin in his first match with the team looked completely confident and competent. I wonder what our place in the standings would look like had we acquired Cronin instead of Wicks from the Galaxy in the offseason.

2. Give credit to Julius James and Dejan Jakovic for earning a shut out against the best team in MLS. Luci's goal was nice, but the defense was the real story tonight.

3. Clyde Simms and Andrew Jacobson each played well in central midfield. Simms was all over the field in the first half, and Jacobson was also a strong presense.


1. The early goal from Luciano Emilio may not have looked like much, but it came off of a perfectly timed run to stay onside. Emilio had too many giveaways in the second half though, failing to hold onto the ball when we really needed to maintain possession.

2. Marc Burch had a quiet game tonight, which is better than most of his games recently.


1. Even though the team was playing in a 3-5-2 to specifically take advantage of his talents, Christian Gomez was a complete non-factor in this match.

What's great about the MLS this season is that every single goddamn match in the final week has playoff implications! Even Chicago's playoff position isn't safe. With 42 points, a loss next week combined with a DCU win would put United ahead of them based on our 2-0-1 record against the Fire. The LA-SJ match is the only one that won't necessarily affect a team's playoff status, but will still impact the Galaxy's seeding.

So there are exactly 3 playoff spots still in play, and there is one team at 42 points (Chicago), one team at 40 points (Colorado), and four teams at 39 points. Of the teams in competition, DC owns head-to-head advantages over Chicago and Dallas. We are even with Colorado. And we are at a disadvantage against Real Salt Lake, New England, and Toronto.

What we know for sure is that DC United MUST WIN at Kansas City to have a shot. Also, if any three of Chi/Col/NE/Tor wins, we are definitely out. There's still plenty of scenarios, but here's what I'll be rooting for:

1. Chicago to lose to Chivas on Thursday night
2. Toronto to lose or tie at the Red Bulls on Saturday
3. Colorado to lose or tie at RSL on Saturday
4. Dallas to lose or tie at Seattle on Saturday
5. New England to lose or tie at Columbus on Sunday

So if three of those five things happen, and United wins, we are in the playoffs. Against all odds. It sure felt like our team in 2009 was better than our team in 2008, yet we are somehow right back in the same spot as last year - needing a win in the last week to continue playing.

Benny Award 7: The Harkesy

By definition, the Harkesy Award should go to the DC United player who has been the strongest leader for our team this season. On-field leadership is important, but for this award, it isn't everything. And that would be evidenced by the fact that Ben Olsen won the award last year after playing only 15 minutes. The award's namesake is captain for life John Harkes who was United's captain for the first three years of the team's existence.

1. Jaime Moreno is the team's captain this season, and has always had an uncanny ability to hold the ball, distribute, and take over a match. However, Moreno has apparently only been worthy of 11 starts this season, despite his 8 goals and 3 assists.

2. Ben Olsen leads by example on the field, exuding courage, heart, brains, and whatever Dorothy was looking for too. Olsen has been one of the few players on the team who looks like he has given all he's got every match of the year.

3. Santino Quaranta appears to be poised to take over as the leader of the next generation of players on the team. He has been the most vocal in the media, and has set a fine example for the rookies and other younger players.

4. Tom Soehn is by title the technical leader of the team. Parts of this season have certainly been a challenge for Soehn in assembling a strong lineup every week with injuries to key personnel and international appearances to fend off, but he was able to guide the team to first place for much of the first half of the season before being faced with these issues. Late in the year though, with United falling from playoff competition and dropping multiple home matches, Soehn may have lost his team.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for the exciting prizes that I announced last week.

Next up: The Popie - Who is United's best defender this season?

Benny Award 6: The Freddy

By definition, the Freddy Award goes to the biggest story for DC United this year. This award should go to the individual who has created the biggest stir around DC this season. The award's namesake Freddy Adu wasn't only the biggest story in DC when he was on the team, he was also the biggest story in MLS. Still to this day, the most frequent question we United fans get from non-soccer-fans is "Does Freddy Adu still play for them?"

Last year's award went to Santino Quaranta after Goff's article on his struggles with painkillers gained national attention.

1. Kevin Payne and his very public argument with Adrian Hanauer of the Sounders sent waves through the DC sports community, starting with the full page ads the team ran in every newspaper they could find. This propaganda was a huge success by marketing standards, resulting in attendance of over 17,000 at the US Open Cup Final, but unfortunately did not result in a win.

2. Josh Wicks and his short temper earned him some bad publicity nationwide after stomping on Freddy Montero in the Open Cup Final. And that was just a week after he had a shoving match with Marc Burch in the middle of a game.

3. Christian Gomez returned to DC this season after being an incredible disappointment in Colorado, and he returned with something to prove. Gomez was cast aside last year in favor of fellow Argentinian Marcelo Gallardo, but returned to the team in 2009 earning 6 goals and 4 assists to easily surpass Gallardo's production.

4. Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace may be stars in the making for DC United. These two rookies have taken the league by storm, and are respectively #1 and (tied for) #2 on the team in appearances this year.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for the exciting prizes that I announced last week.

Up next: The Harkesy - Who is the team leader?

Benny Award 5: The Grosy

Before we get to the award, an announcement...

Over the next two and a half weeks, we'll be running a contest here with some pretty cool prizes to give away. And to win them, all you have to do is vote for the Benny Awards! The team's hooked me up with the following prizes: a DC United/Volkswagen team scarf, the 2009 DC United media guide, and a Gatorade/MLS towel. To enter, you just need to post in the Comments section, and somehow identify yourself. You can identify yourself either by posting with a public Google account so I can see your email address when you comment, or sign your comment with your email address, or just send me an email at dcu.umd[at]gmail.com to let me know which comment is yours. Yeah its that easy. There are 6 awards left including this one, and you can vote once per award, so that's 6 chances to win!

I will be giving out the prizes after the last regular season match as follows:

The Gatorade/MLS towel will go to the funniest/most creative comment.
The 2009 media guide will go to the most convincing/intelligent comment.
The DCU/VW scarf will go to a comment chosen completely at random.


Now let's get down to business.

By definition, the Grosy Award goes to the DCU player who you think of as a warrior. To the guy who isn't afraid to lay his body on the line, play through injuries, and do whatever it takes to win. The award's namesake is Josh Gros, whose soccer career actually ended way too early because he was exactly the type of warrior that I just described.

Last year's winner was Santino Quaranta, who was frequently seen playing with a cast on his arm, and played through multiple injuries throughout the year.

1. Luciano Emilio is nominated mainly for his performance at Marathon in the opening CCL match, in which he literally split his head open while scoring. He returned to the field moments later and played the remainder of the match with a bandage.

2. Clyde Simms and Dejan Jakovic each took just about 3 weeks to recover from hernia surgery, an operation that cost Marcelo Gallardo half his season in 2008.

3. Ben Olsen has issues with both of his ankles, his knees, his chest hair, and probably more. Yet after sitting out all but 15 minutes last season, he is back with a vengeance and fighting for the team with every minute that he spends on the field.

4. Greg Janicki got back spasms from sitting on the bench too long and was placed on injured reserve.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for prizes.

Up next: The Freddy. What has been DC United's biggest story this year?

DC United lose to Chivas USA, 2-0

This was clearly a match between two teams going in different directions. Chivas was starting guys like Maicon Santos, Jesus Padilla, and Yamith Cuesta - all who joined the team in August and have already claimed starting jobs. They haven't been afraid to bench their veterans like Razov, Galindo, and Marsch and have instead sought out better players. Pretty interesting contrast against what United has been doing this year.

It's hard to admit but I think we are actually the worst team in MLS right now. I'm greatful that we don't play NYRB in either of our last two matches, because I think they would embarass us too. Just 3 points in 4 home matches, and those came against a Wizards team that couldn't put the ball on frame. We were looking forward to this 5-match home stretch all year, and we've just pissed it away.


No one even close.


1. Chris Pontius and Santino Quaranta were the hardest working players on the field. Pontius was maybe the only player who was involved in the match for all 90 minutes. Quaranta had a really poor first half, being dispossessed multiple times and failing to get to a couple balls. If he had given the same level of effort in the first 75 minutes as he gave in the last 15, we may have scored.


1. Where to start? Milos Kocic for getting beat to the near post on the first goal (sure it was unlucky that it bounced off his back, but he should have stopped it in the first place). Marc Burch for getting beat on the second goal (also unlucky the way the ball fell right to Padilla, but Burch should have cleared it in the first place). Ben Olsen for letting the team down. Tom Soehn for breathing. I'm going to move on and steal a good idea and hit some talking points instead:

I don't know for sure that a penalty kick would have been the right call when Jaime Moreno was taken down, but I definitely don't understand the call that was made. From my view, it looked like there was obviously SOME contact between Cuesta and Moreno, and even if it wasn't enough to justify a PK, I don't think it made sense to give Moreno a card for falling when he got hit while running at full speed. But if the ruling was that Cuesta got all-ball and Moreno dove, or that Cuesta got the ball first and the contact with Moreno was incidental, then shouldn't it have been a corner kick and not a goal kick?

I was not happy with the "Fire Soehn" chants that could be heard throughout the match, even when we were just down 1-0. I'm fine with chanting for Moreno to come in, and I'm fine with booing at half time and chanting "Fire Soehn" after the game. But if BB/SE are going to brag about being the only fans in MLS that sing for 90 minutes, let's please sing in support of United, not against it.

Speaking of Soehn though, I don't understand the roster decisions either. Fullback makes a good point in criticizing the decision to start the same players who produced mid-week. I thought the whole point in starting Gomez and Khumalo ahead of Emilio and Moreno on Wednesday was for our two leading scorers to be at full strength on Saturday. Apparently not. That was a combined 17 goals sitting on the bench for the first half last night in a must-win match. The adjustments during the match didn't make much sense either. Quaranta and Pontius frequently switching places doesn't do much good when they have pretty similar playing styles. What I wanted to see was the team move Khumalo into his natural forward position, where he scored one of his goals against SJJ. Khumalo is fast and can shoot, but doesn't have the defensive ability or creativity to be a regular starter in the midfield. Even New York figured out eventually what to do with a similar player in Mac Kandji. Our coaches aren't that smart though.

The worst feeling was the sense that United didn't have a chance to win. Just 10 minutes in, it was easy to see that Chivas's defense was better than our midfielders/forwards, and it was far more likely that our piecemeal back line would leak a goal than that we would earn one against the best goalkeeper in the league this season. It was a lost cause from the start. And I don't see it getting any better with our last home match against Columbus.

Olsen and Moreno's comments in the Insider's Rewind post could be signs of what's to come. Olsen saying that the team was better without him could certainly be a hint at a pending retirement. But Moreno saying that the team doesn't have rhythm because they change their lineup every week is even more telling. Soehn has lost the team.

So the only thing left is to ponder who our next head coach will be. Curmudgeon is calling for an immediate switch to Olsen. And I've seen other pleas for Moreno and/or Etcheverry. But as savory as it might be to see a United star from years past guide our team back to the promised land, I don't think that's what makes sense for our club. I could see any one of those guys implementing the same "possession oriented" style that we've been using with mediocrity for the last several years. It's time for a change. I was salivating listening to Sasho Cirovski doing the commentary, and would love to see him promoted to the pro ranks, but it's sad that I don't see him taking a job here. Rejecting both those options, who do we turn to? I wish I knew.

Benny Award 4: The Donnety

By definition, the Donnety Award goes to the player who has been the biggest disappointment for DC United in 2009. The award's namesake Matias Donnet came to United in 2006 and was seen as a potential all star due to his pedigree after playing for Boca Juniors, as well as spending some time in Serie A. But Donnet turned into a huge disappointment, playing in only 8 matches for United.

Last year's "winner" by just a hair was the star-studded combination of Zach Wells and Jose Carvallo. These two were brought to DC with high hopes of establishing a goalkeeper competition. Wells won the competition, but then took 17 matches to earn his first clean sheet. Meanwhile, Carvallo looked awful in his few appearances.

1. Luciano Emilio has been a scapegoat for a lot of fans this season. His 9 goals this season leads the team, but that's down from 11 in 2008 and 20 in 2007. Emilio may be a big disappointment when you consider his $750,000 salary, but is he really the biggest disappointment this year?

2. Fred has demonstrated a noted drop-off since joining MLS from Australia's A League. His 2 goals and 4 assists this year is identical to his stats from 2008, but he has not had the impact on games that he was having in 2007, and he now sits solidly behind two rookies on our depth chart.

3. Danny Szetela joined United via the allocation system in mid-July, but has only played in two league matches. Initially we heard that he was benched because of the "coach's decision", which seemed to indicate that he had done something to piss Tommy off. But lately all we've heard is that he isn't playing because he just isn't as good as the other players in front of him. Regardless, Szetela has yet to make an impression on the team, which some might call disappointing.

4. Greg Janicki earned himself a starting job in central defense last year and was in position to be Jakovic's chief backup this year. Uninspiring play and one terrible performance against Marathon instead earned himself a regular spot on the "Not in 18" list, and then eventually on the DL.

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 Grosy - Who is DC United's gutsiest player?

DC United win vs San Juan Jabloteh, 5-1

Last week I made a big mistake in reading too much into the results of a win against a weak opponent. Learning my lesson, let's just say that this match was a pleasure to watch. This is the second time this season United has scored five goals, and it looked like the boys were having fun out there.

Does that mean though that they will carry this momentum into the match Saturday against Chivas? Given recent history, probably not. But for now, let's just enjoy the moment.


1. Christian Gomez looked like an MVP last night. He scored two goals, but it was his run leading to the assist on the third goal that impressed me the most.

2. The energy of Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace was a big part of our victory. I'm moving away from the idea that CP should be our starter on left wing and am solidly back on advocating him as a starting forward. Wallace also added two assists and looked great making overlapping runs throughout the match.

3. Sure it was a weak opponent, but Fred and Boyzzz Khumalo took advantage of opportunities when they were there. Each had a couple flubs also, but our two wingers combining for 3 goals is nice to see.

4. He didn't have to do much, but when called upon, Milos Kocic answered.


1. Danny Szetela played well as a second half sub in a holding midfield position. He actually broke up a couple Jabloteh attacks. I don't think he's really close to playing himself into a spot as a regular starter, but this was definitely an improvement.


None

We're heading back to reality now though with a huge MUST-WIN match on Saturday against Chivas USA. I don't see any possible way for us to make the playoffs with a loss this weekend, so hopefully Tommy will have the boys ready to play. The Revolution loss to Dallas last night continues the theme of potential playoff teams losing to teams out of competition. It's nice to get that help, but we need to do this on our own. If things go right this weekend, we could find ourselves in fifth place. If things go wrong, well, season over.