Even when we deserve a point, we don't get one

Win, loss, or tie, the result of this match didn't matter much to me as far as the CCL goes. We're just not a better team than Saprissa or Marathon, so even if we'd managed to beat Cruz Azul at home, we still had relatively no chance of advancing out of the group stages. But this match had a larger meaning than that. A win in this match would have been a great start towards building some momentum for the final 4 games of the MLS season. It would have reminded the players that we are actually still a good team. But for a totally unlucky and undeserved goal. It's kind of nice for the reserves to be able to say that they should have beaten a Mexican team. But it would have been nicer if they actually had.


1. Our center back pairing of Marc Burch and Greg Janicki had a really good first 80 minutes. The final 10 were a bit hectic, but I think you can probably attribute that to the whole midfield staying farther up to try to grab a goal back.

2. I loved this lineup from Tom Soehn. Finally, he is punting the CCL. And the starting lineup was smart anyway because (and I mean no offense to our veterans with this) guys like Thompson and Vide are always going to put forth more effort than guys like Peralta and Simms in this kind of match. Most of the players we saw tonight are unlikely to play on Saturday, so they had no qualms about giving their all. And Soehn is giving guys like Dyachenko, Wells, and Kirk the chance to fight for their rights to stay on the team next season.


1. If Jaime Moreno had given that kind of effort this past weekend, then we might not be in the same situation, and he probably wouldn't be suspended for two games.


1. I think it's unfair to fault him with the goal just because of a bad cross, because afterall, there were a lot of bad crosses in this match, but Craig Thompson got beat too many times. Just about every good opportunity our opponents had came on Craig's right side.

2. I wasn't as impressed with Quavas Kirk as Bretos was. A speedy winger that can't cross might be better suited for a track team. I much preferred the Zaher/Cordeiro combination to Thompson/Kirk.

3. I might as well copy and paste this into the post for just about every match he plays: Just too many giveaways from Rod Dyachenko.

There's no reason to get depressed about this result, because we weren't going anywhere in this tournament anyway. It's the MUST WIN match on Saturday that I really care about. Since we totally didn't deserve to lose this match, let's cross our fingers and hope that the Soccer Gods will repay us with a win on Saturday, and maybe losses by RSL and Colorado too!

A respectable performance, but still no points

After 60 minutes of this match, I was all ready to come on here and say I was wrong about wanting to punt the CCL. A goalless draw would have been a wonderful result. But as is typical with this club, we let up 2 soft goals off of shotty defending. And now we're staring up from the bottom of a fully stacked group.


1. The best man wearing black last night was again Bryan Namoff. Once we have 5 healthy eligible defenders, it's hard to predict who the 4 starters will be. But we do know for sure that Namoff will be one of them.

2. Gotta give some credit to Tom Soehn. He sent out a pretty good lineup that played admirably well, while still allowing Quaranta to rest, and removing Fred and Simms early. Of course I'd be singing a different tune if Emilio or Guerrero or somebody had gotten injured.


1. Two reserves stepped up and played well, and that's Craig Thompson and Rod Dyachenko. Thompson saved a goal early with a clearance that went off the post, but he was the one who got beaten on that play anyway, so it's hard to rave about it. Dyachenko played well as the transitionary player between the defense and attack. Thompson may have earned a few more Convey votes in this match, and Dyachenko may have earned a few less Donnety votes.


1. Gonzalo Martinez was constantly getting beaten on the left side throughout the entire match.

2. When the tallest players on the field are Marc Burch and Gonzalo Peralta, that second goal really should NOT happen. Pretty sure it was Peralta's man who got a head on it.

3. I expected more out of Luciano Emilio and Fred. Anything really. Like maybe at least a few more shots on goal? With their keeper clearly being uncomfortable, it would have been nice if we'd been able to test him.

So what does everybody feel now about our chances of advancing and what our lineup should be for the remainder of the tournament? It would not be looked on kindly by Management (and by the home fans at RFK) if we rolled out a starting XI filled with reserves next Wednesday. But I have no problem adding one or two more reserve players to the starting lineup as the CCL continues, and as our chances of advancing get slimmer, and as the playoffs draw closer.

On the bright side, DCU's play was inspirational, despite earning 0 points. And going into Sunday's match at Dallas, we're just one Designated Player shy of full strength.

Award 4: The Donnety

By definition, the Donnety award goes to the player who has been the biggest disappointment this year. Yes, harsh, I know. But this award's definition could probably be interpreted in a couple different ways. And because I love controversy, of course I will leave that interpretation up to you. Do you give the award to a guy who has played well at times, but hasn't lived up to the hype or to his high salary? Or do you give the award to a more marginal player who was expected to take a step forward this year, but instead took two steps back? The award's namesake Matias Donnet came to United in 2006 with star potential, having previously played in the Serie A, and having won numerous championships with Boca Juniors. But he made only 8 appearances in DC.

1. Many fans have expressed their disappointment with Marcelo Gallardo this year. There's no question that he's made some positive contributions this year while on the field, but does his 4 goals and 3 assists in 14 league appearances justify his Designated Player status and his $1.8 million salary?

2. After some really encouraging minutes toward the end of the 2007 season, I don't think I was the only one who felt like Rod Dyachenko was poised to have his breakout season in 2008. But now he seems less and less likely to be invited back to the team next year. As a quick reminder, not only did we trade a first round draft choice to Toronto (which they used on Pat Phelan, now of New England), but we also chose to protect Dyachenko last year over Brian Carroll in the Expansion Draft.

3. We heard a lot of hype this offseason from Payne and Kasper about the possibility of having a goalkeeping competition between Zach Wells and Jose Carvallo. As it turns out, the competition was over who could get cut first. Carvallo won. And Wells now seems to be restricted to Champions League duty for the remainder of the season.

4. The forward who made the smallest contribution this year was Franco Niell, who spent only a short time with the club. Niell did manage to score a goal in the Champions Cup, and had a wee bit of success in the Reserve Division, but he spent most of his time with United on the ground.

poll by twiigs.com

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

I guess the better team doesn't always win

A tie at home against a lesser Western Conference opponent certainly should feel like a loss. Somehow for me though, this one doesn't. Maybe it's because we outplayed Dallas, to the point where I think we really deserved the win. This felt like it should have ended at 2-1. Oh well. I guess we'll just have to steal back those extra two points when we play them again on the road in two weeks.


1. That's two weeks in a row now where the standouts for me were Ivan Guerrero and Santino Quaranta. Guerrero's effort throughout the match, but especially on Tino's goal, made a huge difference. He laid it all on the line, and may have even injured himself falling into the advertisements after his awesome assist. Quaranta has really come on strong since Superliga, and added his fifth goal of the year.

2. Jaime Moreno continues to make a plea to be considered for the MVP award this season.


1. Louis Crayton was 10 minutes away from earning Man of the Match in my book, that is until his failed dive to block the cross leading to the Fire's second goal. He made a lot of great saves tonight though.

2. I'm not sure whether to truly hold either of them at fault, but I feel like Marc Burch and Gonzalo Martinez each may have been able to do more to stop the second goal. But both looked good through most of the match.

3. I liked the starting lineup. But there was one move made by Tom Soehn that was just inexplicable to me. Our left midfielder gets injured, so you replace him with Dyachenko of all people?! A move that forces Quaranta, who had been excellent all day in the middle, out of his natural position to cover on the wing. You make that move while up a goal and while having two legitimate wingers in Cordeiro and Thompson sitting on the bench?! D brings up a good point too in asking why Zaher and Carroll were both left off the gameday roster behind Dyachenko and Doe. Most teams would have subbed in a more defensive minded player when up a goal with 15 minutes to play. Not Soehn. He went for Dyachenko.


1. It was a poor touch and a costly mistake by Devon McTavish that led to the first goal. I'm starting to look ahead to which players will be protected in the expansion draft this offseason, and wondering whether McTavish might be left exposed in favor of guys like Burch, Quaranta, and Guerrero.

2. I do believe that Rocha should have been Rod Dyachenko's man to cover at the back post. Seriously though, why was he in?! Do you think Craig Thompson would have let that happen? WHY?!

Aw well. A decent performance by a still somewhat limited team doesn't help us much in the standings, but does still give me hope that we may be able to put together a decent run in the CCL and/or the MLS playoffs. Soehn's starting lineup for this game though does seem to indicate that we will be taking the Champions League fairly seriously. Fred and Emilio started this match on the bench, but it's a pretty safe bet that they'll both be starting on Tuesday, and so may Gallardo and Peralta.

I think we all saw this coming

In a match where we were missing Emilio, Moreno, Namoff, Fred, Vide, and Peralta, a loss wasn't necessarily surprising. I guess the bright side is that we escaped without any more injuries! Also, I saw tonight that we've got some young players with a lot of heart, and that's got to count for something, even if it didn't earn us any points.


1. The best player wearing white tonight I think was Ivan Guerrero. He showed up to play against his former team.

2. It was no coincidence at all that Santino Quaranta scored within the first 5 minutes after Gallardo left the field. It's becoming more and more evident that center attacking midfield is Quaranta's natural position.


1. That was a bit of a break out performance for Ryan Cordeiro. He had two great chances immediately after entering the match, but both went just wide. It would be nice to see him put a couple more on target, and he still needs to play better defense if he wants to crack the starting XI.

2. I'm hoping that the fantastic hustle that earned him an assist on Quaranta's goal will be enough to give Rod Dyachenko some confidence again. But still, he could win awards for having the worst first touch in all of football.


1. In general, that was just poor team defending by Gonzalo Martinez, Marc Burch, and Mike Zaher on Alvarez's goal. Martinez lost the ball (I wish I could use the adverb "uncharacteristically" here, but that just wouldn't be true) leading up to the first goal, and then again soon afterwards on a play that almost led to another goal. Burch looked better once they switched to the 3-5-2 in the second half, but he was caught in no-man's-land without a marker on both goals. Most of the chances in the first half came on Zaher's side, and he was the guy who should have been marking Alvarez on the first goal. Huckerby's goal was well deserved though.

All in all, we turned in a valiant effort while shorthanded, so you can't fault the club too much for this one. When we were down 2-0, it didn't feel right, but 2-1 is probably the correct score. Ultimately, this wasn't a very heartbreaking loss, mostly because we all saw it coming, and more importantly, because the Red Bulls lost too so it didn't really affect our place in the standings. Let's hope the team is back closer to full strength in time for the Champions League to begin in just over a week.

Champions again!

In a season that's had its fair share of ups and downs, we've finally got something to show for it! Maybe a title in the US Open Cup wasn't necessarily the goal for this season, but it's certainly an accomplishment the team should be proud of, and most importantly, its great that United has fought its way back into the international picture.



1. Santino Quaranta is making an excellent case to be our regular center attacking midfield whenever Gallardo is absent (or after he retires?). Quaranta was instrumental in both goals tonight, and was in my opinion our man of the match.

2. Since we haven't seen him in a little while, I'd forgotten what I love most about Fred. Those quick diagonal runs from the outside totally changed the match and caught the Battery by surprise. Fred missed his first chance but hit on his second.

3. Credit to Tom Soehn for the lineup decisions tonight. This is a point that Bretos brought up, but getting Fred in in place of Vide just before halftime gave him a chance to get acclimated to the tempo of the match before the break. That decision could have made all the difference in the world.


1. Just after I got finished hyping up Marc Burch for fending off Dane Richards, he has to go and get beat by Chris Williams. Other than that though, Burch was quite possibly our best defender in this match. I think the dude might really be starting to "get it".

2. Maybe Ivan Guerrero was such a non factor on Saturday because he was saving all his energy for the Cup final? This guy made a big impression tonight.


1. As is typical, just too many giveaways from Rod Dyachenko.

So we should be able to expect this level of play from United for the rest of the season right? Not quite. I'm with Fullback on fully expecting a letdown on the road against San Jose this weekend. Because that's just the way this season has gone.

But this United team that we've all had our doubts about over the past two years has finally gone and WON something. Finally! So let's take the next couple of days to enjoy it, because this season is far from over, and we've still got another Cup to win!!!

The matches I missed

For the record, here are my player ratings from the two matches I missed while on vacation, based only on descriptions of the games given by Fullback, BDR, and Goff.

8/10/08: 4-1 loss at NYRB
Top shelf: Jaime Moreno
Call: Fred
Rail: Zach Wells, Pat Carroll, Marc Burch, Devon McTavish

8/12/08: 3-1 win in USOC Semi-finals vs NE:
Top shelf: Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio, Santino Quaranta
Call: Brian Namoff, Zach Wells, Ivan Guerrero
Rail: None

The other big thing that I missed while I was out was the formal acquisition of new starting goalkeeper Louis Crayton, and the other transactions surrounding that move. As we've all seen so far, if nothing else, Crayton is certainly more confident and more decisive than Wells has ever been. From what I can gather, he also seems to be quicker, and with better hands.

Part of the fall out from the acquisition of Crayton though was the departure of our friend Dan Stratford, and the demotion of Joe Vide. Goff speculated, and I tend to agree, that cutting Strats probably had more to do with his foreign player status than his actual ability, which is unfortunate, but a necessary evil due to the discriminatory roster requirements of MLS. I liked Stratford, and although he didn't show much in his one league start, I saw more from him on the Reserve pitch. Unlike some other players (*cough Kirk cough*), Dan was involved in every play when on the field. I think he even wore the Captain's armband for the Reserves in one match I saw early in the year against Chicago. Strats being injured for the past two months also may have had something to do with his dismissal.

The popular sentiment following Stratford's departure was "Why not Dyachenko?" Now I don't think the club has any plans on cutting Dyachenko, but I do think sending him down to developmental status instead of Joe Vide would have sent a better message to the team. I really just don't understand why Vide would be signed to a senior contract to begin with, only to be knocked down three weeks later. So much for rewarding hard work.

Reserve review

I considered making the hour drive to RFK on Sunday morning to see the DC Reserves in action, but decided to play an impromptu game of tennis for the first time in 8 years against by brother-in-law. The good news: I still got it. The bad news: The Reserves lost.

But just in reading the summary of the match, there are several juicy tidbits that could have an impact on the first team:

1. Rod Dyachenko didn't even start. In a Reserve match that already had the team short-handed due to injuries, you would expect the team's supposed #2 CAM to be in the starting lineup, right? Nope, he entered in the 70th minute. Starting in his place was a guest player named Kenny Anaba. To Rod's credit, he did earn the team's second goal. But unless he has some injury that's yet to be disclosed publicly, this is a REAL BAD sign for Rod. He may have played his last match in a United uniform.

2. Two players returned from injuries in this match. Dan Stratford played about 30 minutes. And then there was the shocking appearance of Jeff Carroll for 15 minutes! It's possible that United will have a lot of players getting healthy for the stretch run into the playoffs.


3. If the lineup was posted correctly in the team's write-up of the match, then Gonzalo Martinez started this game as the central defensive midfielder. Very interesting.

4. The center back combination of Dane Murphy and Brandon Owens doesn't appear to be very effective.

Raining on the parade

This was the first non-Open-Cup game of the season that I didn't see either in person or on tv, and that's probably a good one. Because aside from maybe the match at RSL early in the year, this was easily DC's worst performance yet. I should have taken the Fullback approach and prepped for this game with some red wine, or better yet, I should have been taking in the game with my arch nemesis Jose.


None


1. It sounded like Bryan Namoff bailed us out quite a few times on the defensive end, although I didn't stay up to hear what happened on Ching's goal.


1. I was thinking early in the match that Gonzalo Martinez was having his worst in a United uniform, and then he caps it off with a red card. Not good. But that's okay, because we have loads of talented defenders waiting on the bench right?! It's not like Chalo was getting beat by Donovan or anybody of stature either. Brian Mullan? C'mon!!

2. Fred was given an opportunity to shine in his beloved CAM role, but he failed miserably. DC had no possession in the midfield, and I've got to think that the reason for Carroll being yanked was Fred's poor performance. As I've said before, we're just better off with Fred on the wing. Hopefully others will start to realize that too.

3. It's clearly a sad state of affairs when the answer to our problems in the midfield is Rod Dyachenko.

I'm still not ready to write this team off, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, obviously, is the injuries. Getting back Gallardo and Peralta will be huge. Secondly though, this team has already had its share of ups and downs this year. Right now they're down, but they'll go back up again. It's just really unfortunate that this match didn't happen when it was first scheduled when we were on a winning streak. But this was not a must-win game for us. Those are coming up immediately following the all-star break, when we've got 4 conference games in a row.

With the All-Star game looming tonight, and United now enjoying a week-and-a-half break, I'll be taking the opportunity to do some mid-season reviews. Stay tuned.

One less tourney to worry about

Due to a limited budget, I haven't made it to too many United games this year, but this was a game that I feel was probably much better to watch in person than on tv. Good atmosphere at RFK as always (and the lights stayed on!), but it seemed like less attendance than usual. All in all, a pretty exciting game, including a frantic final 10 minutes that had my usually quiet section standing throughout.


1. Credit goes as usual to Jaime Moreno and Luciano Emilio for the second goal. Most of the stadium was yelling for Jaime to shoot, but instead he lays the perfect touch to Luchi for the goal.


1. Ok so Francis Doe can score. That's not something we tend to take lightly around here, but I still see where all the Kpene comparisons are coming from. Sometimes Doe has a tendency to try to outdo himself. He needs to learn that the cheeky backpass or the underside-of-the-foot-flick is not always necessary; that sometimes the better option is a simple trap and pass or a through ball. Doe has good vision, but his talent lets him down sometimes, and he isn't always on the same page as the rest of the team. Um... nice goal though.

2. At least I'm not the only one eating his words about Craig Thompson. I'll give in that his positioning and tactical decision making is greater than Moose's. I'd still like to see him lose the ball a bit less though.

3. One month later, I totally get what Fullback meant about seeing Fred play in person. He works a lot harder off the ball than comes across on tv, tracks back well, and is often making a run that isn't always rewarded. Seeing it live, I personally thought Fred played well, yet I'm also not at all surprised to find the rash of comments against him on the Insider. After seeing this game, I totally disagree with those who would suggest that Fred should be our starting CAM whenever Gallardo is injured. With Olsen out and McTavish permanently in central defense, Fred is the only player we've got who is good at making dangerous runs from the outside.


1. A poor game from Marc Burch, clearly not fully comfortable in his role in central defense against a team whose only offensive weapon is the counterattack. I could put Martinez, McTavish, and Namoff down here too for overall poor team defending, but each of these three made a couple of good tackles as well. Burchy didn't.

2. What more is there to say about Rod Dyachenko? I guess just that it's unfortunate that he is having his worst year as a professional in his third season with the club.

As far as gauging where we stack up against the Mexican clubs, I'm still unsure. I think we were better than Chivas and Atlante at creating opportunities, and even though we lost both matches, I think our attack as a whole was better than theirs. But the Mexican clubs are much more organized, and defend better as a team. They are so quick to pressure our players when trying to just maintain possession in the midfield. And at times when DC is content to pass the ball around the opponent's third, waiting for the perfect chance, Atlante was also waiting for the perfect chance - the perfect chance to touch the ball away and quickly counterattack, thereby taking advantage of our slower defenders, which turned out to be our weakness tonight. We failed in the Superliga, but given an entire season to play in the Primera Division, United may fall into the upper half of the table, but would most likely not be championship contenders.

Ah well. I had Superliga below Open Cup on my priority list, given what is at stake. So now Saturday's match against Houston can be treated as if it were a Reserve division match. It will be nice to see James Thorpe get a chance between the posts, and maybe some of our other youngsters like Murphy, Barlow, and Zaher will get a chance with the "first team". I also liked some of the teamwork and chemistry I saw between Cordeiro and Quaranta, and hope to see more of that developing.

And as I write this, I hear Lindsay Czarniak saying that United's Superliga chances are "virtually over". Well if Lindsay says it, then I certianly can't argue.

Still not quite better than the Mexicans

Just got finished watching the match immediately following my three hour drive home from Virginia Beach. At least I should say I just got finished watching 81 minutes of the match. I missed the rest thanks to the lights at RFK delaying the match past 10:00 pm. What's with that anyway? That's just embarassing. Anyway...


1. Luciano Emilio was once again the best player wearing a United uniform in this match. Trouble was that he was being marked by the best player wearing a Chivas uniform. Emilio still managed to score one goal and create many other scoring chances. I really hope he didn't just play his heart out in this match as a sort of audition for the Mexican league next year.


1. I thought the two young Americans Devon McTavish and Marc Burch played adequately well in central defense. Neither were at fault for either goal, and both were involved in solid scoring opportunities on the other end. Why can't Burchy get the ball on frame when shooting free kicks during games that are actually televised?

2. Zach Wells had another good game, although still not a clean sheet. With Peralta out, this was the first match where Wellsy actually looked like the leader of the defense.

3. I didn't like the starting lineup that Tom Soehn utilized, but I did like the changes. His halftime lineup is probably what we should have started the match with.


1. Rod Dyachenko started out the match by averaging one giveaway every five minutes. That ratio dropped slightly after the first 20 minutes, but only because the team stopped passing him the ball. Don't get me wrong. I like Rod. But I like him only as a roleplayer. I like him coming on in support of Moreno or Gallardo in the 75th minute to provide some aggression and energy in relief of tired legs. I don't like him as a starting CAM.

2. This was my first time seeing Craig Thompson. He gave the ball away too many times too. He seems to be a speedy, hard-working, short right winger. But not quite as speedy, as hard-working or as short as Justin Moose. So if we were looking for that type of player to fill a role on the right wing, why is Thompson here when Moose is gone?

Overall, this was an exciting game, and certainly not one to feel bad about losing. This wasn't like the Pachuca road match earlier in the year when we lost after getting dominated and not generating any opportunities. We certainly had opportunities, with two struck posts, and a penalty kick that was left unconverted only due to a fantastic save. This game served to prove that one of the best teams in MLS in midseason form is basically on par with one of the average teams of the Mexican top division in preseason form. That might be a bit unfair to United, but I'd like to see them win on Tuesday night before I say anything better.

As for the lineup, I think we need to try something slightly different on Tuesday. Praying that Peralta is healthy enough to play, I'd like to see McTavish moved back up to right wing again. He's had some success there in international competitions before! And I liked Doe/Emilio up front with Moreno behind them much more than I liked Dyachenko's tenuousness.

USOC Player ratings

Since I didn't witness the match myself, the following player ratings are based on excerpts taken from comments written about the game on the Soccer Insider:


1. "For me, Marc Burch was by far the player of the match, and not just because of the 2 goals. Through much of the game, he was among the most active player on the field. In the second half, filling in for Martinez at left back, he kept frustrating the Rhinos' attack, making some impressive tackles and reversing the flow of the game." (ho). "Of course, Burch has to get man-of-the-match for his brilliant grass-cutters. I think he might have even quick-kicked the goalie on the second one." (Fisch Fry)

2. "Pat Carroll was quite good at right back (and offered strong throw-in ability) and then did well in the middle in the second half." (Goff). "Pat Carroll and the new guy Thompson were very good. In Pat, it is nice to see a fullback who can use both feet." (bubbles)


1. "Rod Dyachenko had some nice moments, but disappeared at times in the middle of the park." (Goff) "Rod D did have one scintillating play, where he kicked the ball off the head of a Rhino turned and blasted a shot on net from at lesat 35 yard. Every once in a while he flashes something that makes you sit up and say 'Oh ho! That must be what they see in practices that they like so much.' " (Fisch Fry)

2. "My favorite player of the match was Ryan Cordeiro. He had a few poor touches, but he was the most consistently menacing player for United. With a different offensive philosophy that always looks to go over a defense, Cordeiro would have gotten some breakaways to go with his strong runs on the flank. He also delivered some nice passes." (Fisch Fry) "Cordeiro I thought had a great game - if someone in midfield was a better passer, he could have been very dangerous. He made dozens of great runs, but was only passed the ball twice. " (Lonnie)

3. "I was also impressed with Craig Thompson. I was worried Thompson's size might be a problem, but he handled everything that came his way, and made some good distribution passes from the back." (Dsmac) "Thompson: first touch was nervous. Seemed to calm down after that. Nothing spectacular, nothing horrid." (Old Colt)


1. "I thought Quavas Kirk was awful. Besides the lack of technical ideas, he was severely lacking in fitness. After minute 70 he was done. Cordeiro had to cover alot of space behind him." (Lonnie) "I agree that Kirk's technical ability was lacking. He was put through on a well-timed run and a beautiful ball from [Stratford], but couldn't control it for what should have been a goal." (I-270 Exit 1)

Burchie bombs United into the Quarterfinals

I missed the match entirely. Wound up going shopping with Mrs. Shatz in advance of our Ocean City trip. First full-team match that I've missed all year.

But we did get some answers to the questions that I posed yesterday:
Does [Soehn] choose to start the highly paid Quavas Kirk in this match, or keep using him only in the safety of the Reserve division? Yes! Kirk played 90 minutes on the right side of midfield.
Do we dare give another start to the recently demoted Jose Carvallo? No! In fact, James Thorpe was on the bench ahead of Carvallo. Clearly he won't be around much longer.
Is it worth risking further injury to Ben Olsen just to get him some field time? No! Despite his 15 minutes against LA, Olsen is still not ready for extended action.
Are rookies Jeremy Barlow, Pat Carroll, Dane Murphy, or Mike Zaher worthy of their first appearances with the first team? Only PC saw action in this match. Murph and Zaher were on the bench, and Barlow was left off the roster completely.

Since I didn't witness the match, I'll be accepting suggestions for the Top/Call/Rail categories from anyone who managed to attend the match. My thoughts based solely on the play-by-play are Top Shelf for Marc Burch (obviously), Call for Rod Dyachenko (3 shots on goal), and no Rails. I'm not sure that this clean sheet for Zach Wells was enough for me to release the ban on all defenders from the top shelf category, since Wellsy only had to make 1 save.

Agree? Any additions? Please feel free to add your suggestions into the comments section.

In the meantime, I did get to witness the end of the Houston Dynamo versus Charleston Battery match on USLlive.com. Good to see a lower level team have the testicular fortitude to convert four straight penalty kicks and send the defending MLS Cup Champions packing. Also congrats to our old pals Jay Nolly, Nick Addlery, and Justin Moose. Each played 90 minutes in propelling the Vancouver Whitecaps past Toronto FC in the Canadian Champions Cup.

The replacements

Just when it appeared that United had found its best starting XI, we have to go and get two players ejected. I guess we all know that players are going to have to sit out a game here and there for disciplinary reasons, but two at once can be brutal. Especially when those two are your highest paid player and most consistent player. So who should step into the starting lineup in place of Marcelo Gallardo and Bryan Namoff? Pick two of the following:

Franco Niell
Rod Dyachenko
Dan Stratford
Ryan Cordeiro
Marc Burch
Quavas Kirk
Domenic Mediate

What I do NOT want to see is Tom Soehn simply inserting the guys who play CAM and right back for the reserve squad. That would be Rod Dyachenko and Quavas Kirk respectively, but neither have enough of my confidence to start a first team match. I'd rather see the team try something just a bit "out of the box".

As for my choices, I'll go with the two guys pictured on the left border. Yeah, the Terps. I've got Mediate in central defense next to Peralta, with McTavish in Namoff's slot on the right. But more importantly, I've got Burch on the left side of midfield to help Martinez with the most dangerous player on the Red Bulls right now in Dane Richards.

But my idea of trying something new involves a couple of things. First of all, it's Jaime Moreno as the chief playmaker, a role for him that I think we can all agree was pretty fruitful in the final 35 minutes at Chicago. And secondly, I'd like to see Santino Quaranta in the middle. But not as a forward or a CAM per se, but as more of a holding midfielder in front of Simms but behind Moreno. Quaranta has good vision to take advantage of space when its shown to him, but where he's failed this year is in sending quality crosses from the outside, and in tracking opposing wide midfielders into the box. I think giving Tino a chance in the middle could take advantage of his strengths while minimizing his weaknesses. And if we find that he is actually a good fit in that role, then Soehn should take note and use him there in those RARE circumstances where United needs to use a 3-5-2 formation.

So my starting lineup for Saturday looks something like this:
----------------Wells----------------
McTavish-Mediate-Peralta-Martinez
----------------Simms----------------
Fred---------Quaranta---------Burch
---------------Moreno---------------
----------------Emilio---------------

What's yours?

United escapes with a deserved victory

Who would have thought that United's first road victory of the year wouldn't come until June, against the Alpha Dog of the league Chicago? In the first half, this match felt like a couple earlier in the year, where DC dominated possession and had probably double the scoring opportunities, but failed to finish. But the team pulled ahead in stoppage time, with both goals scored without our supposed best player.


1. Everyone across blogland is lamenting the return of goalscorer Luciano Emilio. If you had showed United's first goal to me without identifying which player is which, no way I would have guessed that Emilio was the set up guy and Moreno was the finisher. But that great play by the Golden Boot winner is what may have triggered the start of a playoff run.

2. Maybe I'm just a bit nostalgic during DC United Championship Week on Comcast, or maybe I regret a bit of my criticism of his captaining abilities earlier in the year, but I was really happy with the performance of Jaime Moreno last night. His leadership up front made a huge difference.

3. I'll give a shoutout to Ryan Cordeiro for his role in the winning goal. He earned credit for the assist. And even though I was yelling at the tv for Emilio to reward Cord when he was wide open, knowing that the rookie has the ability to beat a keeper, Cordeiro still deserves credit for being in that position to keep Busch in the middle of the net instead of cheating towards the near post against Emilio.


1. I actually thought Zach Wells had his best game in weeks. Can't necessarily fault him for the first goal, and maybe this comparison is a bit unfair, but I can't help but think that Troy Perkins would have stopped it. Other than that though, I thought the backline was much more organized and Wells was effective at stopping crosses and corner kicks.


1. Marcelo Gallardo's inability to control his temper lands him down here. Compare Gallardo to what Blanco would have done in the same situation. Blanco wouldn't have retaliated against Prideaux; he would have stayed sitting on the ground for three minutes and complained when the referee finally decided to come over. Also, is it just a coincidence that both United goals were scored after Gallardo left the field? Just something to think about. Of course the counterpoint is that playing 10-on-10 meant there was more space in the midfield, but a part of me feels that the team became more organized in the attack once Gallardo left the field and Moreno assumed the responsibility of playmaker.

2. Not that he had necessarily a poor game, but I really hope that the absence of Gallardo next week doesn't lead to the automatic insertion of Rod Dyachenko to the CAM spot. I hope Soehn has learned now that Dyachenko is barely up to that role for 20 minutes, and is not the answer for 90. I'd rather see either Fred move into the middle, or Moreno move back with Quaranta moving up top. Either way, it's an additional winger like Cordeiro that should be added to the starting XI, not Dyachenko. And by the way, what happened to the mohawk? I kind of thought it fit his style of play pretty nicely.

So with that, United earned 4 points out of 2 road games against who everyone thought were the two best teams in the league. Not too shabby. Now with the team returning home for three straight against New York, San Jose, and LA, I'd like to avoid overconfidence, but there's no reason to believe that the team can't come away with 7 points, which should put them squarely back into the playoff race, as early overachievers Toronto and Columbus continue to return to earth. The next test will be against the Red Bulls, without Gallardo and Namoff, but a team that we have a tendency to dominate at home. Who will get a hat trick without Olsen?

Outplayed and outcoached

I'm slowly starting to calm down enough to admit that that was a pretty exciting and fast-paced game. But for United it was again a tale of two very different halves. Or maybe I should say a tale of the first 30 minutes and the last 60 minutes. Preki made tactical changes at halftime that clearly worked. Tom Soehn made the tactical change of deciding to sit back and try to preserve a 1-0 victory for 60 minutes against a team with some good attacking players. He decided that it would be best to play a possession game, even though his possessing midfielder wasn't 100%.


1. I considered leaving this space blank again, but Marcelo Gallardo does deserve some recognition for his goal. He's still learning to play with the 'Merricons around him. Which is hard to do when you're on the ground most of the match. Although Blanco doesn't seem to have the same problem.


1. At the end of the first half, I thought that Gonzalo Martinez was having his best game of the season. The 4-4-2 formation was really allowing him to use his speed to get forward into the midfield. He was aggressive as hell and held his own against Harris for most of the match. But he missed a crucial stop on Chivas's second goal, which could have cost the team the match, and I'm not sure that he crossed the center line once in the second half.

2. After being specifically called out by management and the coaching staff last week, I thought Santino Quaranta put out a much stronger and more energetic performance tonight.


1. Domenic Mediate looked like... well... he looked like a right midfielder who was forced to play center back. I guess we shouldn't have expected much better? I was really disappointed to see Mediate standing around with his hand up calling for offsides on the third goal instead of marking his man. I hate that! Does a player calling for offsides ever actually influence a referee?

2. I really think that we might need to put to rest the idea of bringing in Rod Dyachenko as the first substitute in midfield every match. All year he has looked to be one second too slow every time he has to make a decision. This leads to a lot of fouls and a lot of giveaways. I understand that Gallardo isn't fit enough yet to go 90 minutes, but I'm at the point where I'd rather see Stratford than Dyachenko.

3. I was all ready to come on here and give Tom Soehn props for putting together a good starting lineup that played really pretty well for 30 minutes. But that's about as far as it went. Because the tactical decision to sit back and defend a single goal lead has NEVER WORKED in this league.

So we might as well start the countdown. If this persists, and there's no reason to believe that anything will change over the next few days, it will be exactly one week from today that Tom Soehn will be out of a job. That's Sunday May 25. And that will already be too late.

One more thing... All of the fouling on Gallardo isn't going to stop anytime soon. And that's because the opposing teams know that they can get away with it. That would NEVER happen with Ben Olsen on the field! Atiba Harris's second foul on Gallardo wouldn't have happened, because Olsen would have already shoved him to the ground after the first foul. We need a player to step up and fill that enforcer role. Early in the year it looked like that would be Peralta, and sometimes I think that it might be Burch, but he draws yellow cards too easily.

Ugh. It's hard to lay your heart on the line for a team that doesn't have one.

I was hoping my 100th post would be a good one

DC United suffered its first back-to-back shutouts since *gasp* the 2005 Eastern Conference semi-finals. Talk about bad memories. Let's get this over with.


No one really stood out to me actually. Even the beautifully consistent Bryan Namoff seemed pretty pedestrian.


1. Jaime Moreno was one of the only players on the team who showed a noticeable bit of passion. Not that his service was any better, but I liked the leadership to call Burch off on a couple corner kicks late in the match to do it himself.

2. I thought Gonzalo Peralta did a good job of frustrating Blanco and the Chicago attack for most of the match. But I'd also like to take this opportunity to coin the term "Gonzoball." It's when a center back aimlessly boots the ball down the field, rather than work the ball up through short solid passes or utilize room on the flanks.


1. I just don't understand how Rod Dyachenko can look like an all-star in Reserve matches, and look like nothing more than a scrub with the first team. Again though, he was the only player who was successful at drawing fouls near the opponent's box. But Roddy Dice is a red card waiting to happen.

2. When Franco Niell first came to DC, I figured he would be about the same as Guy Kpene. Likeable, but can't score worth a damn. Kpene was polarizing - you either loved him or hated him. But I was wrong about Niell. And not just because he scored a goal against Pachuca. But because no one really seems to like him, or have any confidence in him.

3. Again, it's hard not to question the formation. Against the best offensive team we've faced yet this year, Tom Soehn doesn't roll out the 4-4-2, or even the 3-5-2. From what I could tell, he rolled out what I could only call a 3-4-3. I don't think either goal can really be faulted to one player in particular. Both were due to Fire players not being marked tight enough. Or maybe just finding those huge open spaces behind the midfield.

Now I don't think I'll go quite so far as to be the first United blogger that I know of to officially rev the engine on the Fire Soehn Express. But I do think I'll hop in the shotgun chair and buckle my seatbelt, because I can see D reaching the keys towards the ignition as we speak, and I'm going along for the ride. It might be too long to wait though to make that call after the Chivas match as he's suggesting, because remember that we've only got a real short week of practice after that before the road leg of the Toronto miniseries.

By the way, was I the only one who felt like John Harkes sounded like he was auditioning for the job through his commentary tonight? By all means Kevin, give him a call!

Round 1 to Gomez

In the first match between the two players who will be linked in the minds of DC fans for the rest of their MLS careers, Christian Gomez dominated United and Gallardo with two assists. Even Facundo Erpen scored a revenge goal, in a match where he had shockingly zero bicycle kicks.


1. Bryan Namoff - Had a couple goal saving tackles, and looked totally badass with the bandage over his head in the second half.


1. Francis Doe - His first touch of the game, he got the ball around midfield, carried it all the way up the left sideline with three Colorado players on him, and won a corner kick. He then immediately went into the locker room and was never seen again. At least as far as I could tell.

1. Let's just make this simple and list the entire midfield. Marcelo Gallardo, Clyde Simms, Rod Dyachenko, Santino Quaranta, and Marc Burch - Gallardo was ineffective, not even challenging the keeper on corner kick or free kick attempts. Simms seems out of place in the 3-5-2. I like him better in the bruiser role in the 4-4-2. Not sure he knows what to do with himself with Dyachenko next to him. Speaking of the Russian, I don't think he had as poor a game as a lot of the overreacters on the Insider are claiming, because he did win two free kicks in good spots, but he also gave the ball away a lot. Quaranta kept up the hustle, but did nothing on offense. Burch played alright, but his crosses were always off the mark.

So despite playing with one more midfielder than the opposition, we were still dominated in the middle third. That right there is a really bad sign. But a worse sign is that Soehn continues to roll out the 3-5-2 regardless of the situation. Coaches always talk about how its important to be able to play successfully in more than one formation. I believe we have the team to be able to do that. So why not take advantage of our personnel and tailor the formation to the situation. Playing at home against a team that is weak offensively: that's a good time for the 3-5-2. But playing on the road against a team with a proven (and vengeful) MVP leading the attack, in a game where we would probably have been happy with a nil-nil draw: not a good time for the 3-5-2.

Also, with Chivas's 0-0 draw against Houston yesterday, DC United is now officially THE ONLY team in the league without a clean sheet. And with Blanco, Rolfe, and Chicago coming to town in just four days, it's hard to be confident. But now I've also done a bit more research and stumbled across another jaw-dropping stat. DC United is also THE ONLY team in MLS with no away goals.

It's not really hard to see where the team should go from here. The injuries to Olsen, McTavish, Fred, and Mediate are certainly cutting down on our options. But still, I feel like we're all just sitting here, waiting for the chemistry to develop on its own. Well we've been waiting for almost two months now. How much longer is it going to be? For me, I'd like to go back to the proven strategy that worked so well last year. It's simple, really. It's Burch and Namoff as the wing backs, with two regular starting center backs, but with an occassional rotation of McTavish into that position. It's Clyde Simms as the lone defensive midfielder, behind our #10, with Fred on one wing and Olsen on the other when he's healthy, and any number of other talented options when he's not (Quaranta, McTavish, Mediate, Kirk). And of course, it's the Godfather of Goals and the Golden Boot winner up top. We're out of the crowded portion of our schedule, so I think that with a single solitary starting lineup, with only minor changes when necessary, we will see the chemistry develop much quicker than we have with the frequent changes that we've seen over the past two months.

It will be hard to overcome the negative though in a short week of practice before a game against a quality Chicago opponent. So for now, I pose the following question to the public... Which stat is more troubling... That DC United has ZERO clean sheets, or that DC Untied has ZERO away goals?

Strong win isn't enough to secure the Ben Cup

I was really surprised to see United's players so happy after this match. Earlier in the year, the team was knocked out in the home leg of the Champions Cup after a victory that wasn't enough to earn them the aggregrate win. And the same thing happened tonight, as United falls 5-4 on aggregrate goals in the 2008 Ben Cup.

Seriously though, it's strange how starkly different this match was from the match played by the same two teams just two weeks ago. DC United dominated, especially in the second half. Let's just hope this result won't be followed up by a series of letdowns like the last time we had a 4-1 victory at home. Still, despite the resounding victory, I would have liked to see Emilio notch a goal, to get his confidence up, and I would have liked to see the team earn a clean sheet, to get the back line's confidence up.


1. Jaime Moreno - Two goals and two assists for the Godfather of Goals! Might Jaime be in the running for player of the week?

2. Marcelo Gallardo - The 3-5-2 worked well here, allowing Gallardo and United to really control the midfield. And a rocket of a finish on the fourth goal. Might Marcelo be in the running for goal of the week?


1. Santino Quaranta - Nice work to find space and get open for his goal, and to finish it smoothly. Tino proved that we don't necessarily need McTavish in to score from the right wing. His crosses and long distance shots left a lot to be desired though in this match.

2. Marc Burch - Really a nice cross to set up Gallardo's goal. Looked like Burch and Martinez were having some trouble communicating at times though, leaving an RSL player open a couple times.

3. Rod Dyachenko - Still needs to control himself a bit more to resist some of those cheap fouls. But I thought Rod played pretty well. I didn't like the move of bringing in an attacking midfielder for a defensive midfielder (At the time, I would have preferred the left-sided Ryan Cordeiro), but Rod proved that he has the ability to play holding midfielder behind Gallardo.


1. Dan Stratford - I'm not going to give Strats a hard time, but he could have played better, and I doubt this will be his last start this year. Stratford was employed as a means to shut down Kyle Beckermen. Well as it turns out, the team didn't really need anyone to shut him down, because he sucked in this game. Which won't help the ol' fantasy team.

Last comment... Take a look at this image, and then take a look at the tagline that has always graced the heading of this blog. Does Thomas Rongen read DCUMD?




Highlight video coming soon once YouTube learns to handle it.