Continuing the downward spiral

As frustrating as it was to watch this team on a roller coaster ride that had its share of ups and downs the past few months, I would trade the past three weeks for that roller coaster. I'm not going to argue that we deserved to win this match, because clearly we didn't, but it sure made it hard for us to have a chance when we suffered from the worst display of officiating that we've seen all year. And for the second match in one week, we saw a red card go to a central defender on a challenge that deserved a yellow at worst.


1. Boyzzz Khumalo scored his first MLS goal, and was maybe our only attacker to look dangerous for any sustained period of time. What do you guys think of the nickname "Z3" for him?


1. As pissed off as I was at the midfield in general, I've got to hand it to Santino Quaranta. He showed a lot of heart, clearly playing through some significant pain, even a eliciting a Curt Schilling bloody sock reference from Bretos. I'm just worried though that some longer term damage could have resulted from Soehn leaving him in too long.


1. Sorry, but I will not be joining the Louis Crayton apologists from this match. Sure he made some great 1v1 stops, and maybe there was only one goal that you could truly blame on him, but he let in five goals, which hasn't happened to us in over two years. That's unacceptable.

2. This is one of those matches where you'd tend to hold the entire backline accountable. But McTavish did manage to score a goal, so it's just Marc Burch, Bryan Namoff and Gonzalo Martinez for this one.

3. But worse even than the defense was the midfield. And that's Clyde Simms, Ivan Guerrero, and Fred. I have a feeling that the team of Fred/Simms/Quaranta/Guerrero is the best foursome that we've got for most of the rest of the season, and this was their worst match collectively. Simms looked like he belonged back in Richmond the way he was abused by Donovan. The wingers didn't have horrible matches, but I expected much more. When the speedy Guerrero is on the same side of the field as David Beckham, we should be using that to our advantage. Becks may still be a world class crosser, but Guerrero should have been able to beat him up the left side all night, if only the team had tried. And I only saw Fred make one of his patented diagonal runs in this match, and he was called offside for that one.

4. Tom Soehn was straight up out-coached by Bruce Arena. Arena knew enough to take advantage of our lack of speed in defense, and Soehn did nothing to adjust. Of course he was hampered for most of the second half thanks to the Beckham Rule (You know, the one where you automatically get sent off if you knock him over?). I also thought the 77th minute was way too long to wait to bring in your first offensive substitute.

I'm normally very optimistic about this team, but I think we've reached an obvious crossroads here. Even with the 3-7 start, and the mid-season roller coaster, I never really had any doubts that we'd miss the playoffs. Until right now. This is the first time all year that I'm thinking DC has about a 50-50 shot at making the playoffs, and that's scary.

So with that said, I'm ready to punt the CCL. We really have no shot of winning at Marathon, even if we sent our best lineup. So really, why bother? I would have no problem with Moreno, Emilio, Fred, Quaranta, Martinez, Namoff, and Crayton all heading home to DC until the weekend. None of these players should be forced to see action during the remainder of the CCL, as they need to be as healthy as possible for the playoff push. And I sure hope Peralta is close to recovered, because Burch's suspension really necesitates his availability for our big road match this weekend.

By the way, what kind of shitty scheduling would cause the only two professional sports teams that I'm emotionally attached to to both be playing Sunday afternoon in Dallas this weekend?

The win they needed

After a couple of underwhelming victories the past few weeks, this win was just what United needed to not only continue their unbeaten streak, but also gain some confidence going into Superliga. Recently, United has been beating lesser opponents while giving up too many goalscoring opportunities. But in this match, against inarguably one of the most talented offensive teams in the league, DC dominated possession, dominated the scoreline, and performed admirably well on defense. United struggled early in the year in international play, but after this big win in a great atmosphere over a good team, the team may finally be ready to make something happen in Superliga.


1. Luciano Emilio extends his goal scoring streak to 5 games by adding another 2. Now with 10 goals on the year, Emilio is back on pace to score 20 for the second year in a row, and is tied with Buddle for 2nd place in the league. With Donovan likely to miss a good bit of time on national team duty, Emilio should now be considered the favorite to win the Golden Boot for the second straight year.

2. What a perfect cross to assist Emilio on his first goal by Marc Burch. I gave him a hard time in my review last week, but in this match, when Quaranta left the pitch and Fred moved to the right, DC was able to take advantage of LA on the left side moreso with Burch than they had with Fred. Burchie was also just an inch or two away from a free kick score that rattled the crossbar.

3. It was disappointing to see Santino Quaranta come out after 25 minutes of fantastic soccer. He earned the penalty kick in the 5th minute, and made several great runs in his short time, and also made a good stop on defense. There was a very noticeable drop-off in play on the right side once Quaranta departed and Fred moved over.

4. Props to Tommy Soehn for rolling out his top lineup and using his substitutes I thought much more effectively than LA.


1. Although they all made some key stops during the match, I think any one of Zach Wells, Gonzalo Peralta, or Devon McTavish could have done better to stop Buddle's goal. Wells looked confident making some great saves, and for the first time looked like a decent starting keeper. Peralta's whiffed clearance and McTavish's inability to get a touch were the main causes of the goal, but Wells could have reacted a bit sooner too. This defense was just inches away from their first clean sheet, and it would have been wonderful to earn it against the top scoring team in the league.

2. Marcelo Gallardo was largely uninvolved for most of the first half, at least at times when he wasn't smacking Donovan in the nose. By the way, shouldn't ABC have done better to dump out Landon's cursing? Anyway, Gallardo redeemed himself later in the match with a well-taken goal.


1. In my love of creating controversy, I'm going to put Fred down here today. This was his second match in a row that I think he underperformed. My comments about Burch and Quaranta above show clearly that Fred was the weakest link on the wings in this match. His assist to Emilio's second goal was well-placed, but I think Emilio could have had a hat trick today had Fred played the ball across the front of the goal to him instead of taking a weak shot right at Cronin earlier in the second half.

With this win, United moves solidly into the playoffs, now sitting in third place in MLS with 22 points. But more importantly, they are now beaming with confidence, ready to go on a run in Superliga, and are once again finally a reasonable candidate to win the Supporters' Shield. Also, how great was it to see our talisman Ben Olsen running around on the pitch again? And so unexpected. I'm curious to see how Soehn will use Olsen in the Open Cup match on Tuesday.

With this match being shown on national TV before the Euro final, with the obvious draw of David Beckham, I bet that DC United earned a lot of new fans across the country today. People who tuned in to see Donovan and Beckham didn't see very much of them in the second half, did they?. Any fan of the sport who isn't necessarily a big MLS fan who watched this match saw two good teams, but only one team good enough to pull off the victory, and only one team that fought hard for 90 minutes instead of giving up after 75.

On Clean Sheets

I'm not concerned with the fact that DC United finds themselves in last place in the Eastern Conference after 5 weeks. Because as others have pointed out, the MLS Regular Season is long and forgiving. Nor am I concerned with the team being in the bottom third of the league in goals against, despite having played against some pretty weak opponents.

Here's where I'm concerned... The following teams have earned clean sheets so far this season:

Week 1: Columbus, Colorado, Kansas City, New England

Week 2: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

Week 3: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, RSL

Week 4: Dallas, Kansas City, San Jose, Toronto

Week 5: Columbus, New England, New York, Toronto

Notice anyone missing?

That's right. DC United (along with Chivas) is the ONLY TEAM in the league thus far that does NOT yet own a clean sheet. That's embarassing. The expansion Earthquakes have one. Hell, Toronto finished in last place last year, and they've got two! New York's best defender is Bobcat Goldthwait, and they have two. Even LA has one, with their defense anchored by a United reject and a Portuguese hack.

And it's especially disappointing given United's high level of play in certain matches. They just haven't been able to close out any matches without letting in a late goal. It might not really seem like a big deal to give up a cheap goal when you're already up 3-0 or 4-0, but it's hard to see that happening very often this year. I'm much more concerned that United will continue to give up cheap late goals, even when winning a close match with only one score.

It would be unfair to blame Zach Wells for the lack of a clean sheet. Remember that Jose Carvallo started in goal during the forgettable 4-0 loss to Real. Wells' Goals Against Average of 1.5 is actually not horrible. Some people might like to blame Gonzalo Peralta, but I won't go there either. If anything, it starts at the top. Coach Soehn has got to find a way to keep his players motivated to close out these games.

So if given choice, I would rather see a 1-0 victory over Colorado this Sunday than another freakin 4-1 win.

Out West

Seems to be a stark difference between the East and West in terms of the changes that sweep through each conference each season. DC, New England, and Chicago seem to be in contention every year in the East. But in the West, there's one team at the top, and then there's everyone else beating each other up. This might be the season to change that.

1. Chivas USA
+: Chivas look to improve on their already second-best-in-league defense by adding defensive midfielder Raphael Wicky.
-: None. Chivas didn't give up one player who started more than 12 games for them last year.
(): Ante Razov will try to rob Jaime Moreno of his all time scoring title this year, but will probably lose some minutes to newcomer Alecko Eskandarian.
=: Chivas are like the New Orleans Hornets of the MLS. Very quietly occupying first place by emphasizing defense and the fundamentals. They seem to be the only team in the West that, like DC, built itself with enough depth to withstand the rigors of international tournaments in addition to league play.

2. Houston Dynamo
+: Former Defender of the Year Bobby Boswell hopes to keep Houston as the league leader in defense, but might not even make the starting XI with Patrick Ianni around.
-: Houston lost two of their top four scorers in Nate Jaqua and Joseph Ngwenya, both to Austria of all places.
(): Stuart Holden is coming off an impressive tournament with the U23 National Team, and will be looked upon to step up to fill Ngwenya's void.
=: A third straight MLS Cup certainly isn't out of the question for Houston, as their defense, along with goalkeeper Pat Onstad, will keep them in every game. But Houston hasn't done enough to fill the voids left on offense, instead turning to unproven reserve Chris Wondolowski at forward.

3. LA Galaxy
+: LA added to its group of internationally reknowned goal scorers this offseason with Carlos Ruiz.
-: Supposedly in order to get under the salary cap, LA was forced to cut a lot of part-time starters, but most notably, Kyle Martino.
(): Of course all eyes will once again be on David Beckham to rescue this struggling franchise.
=: Maybe I'm crazy, but I think LA has just enough firepower to find its way into the postseason in a conference with only two good teams. Hopefully the coaching will improve this year too.

4. Colorado Rapids
+: My feelings haven't changed on . He remains the best player in the league until proven otherwise.
-: Colorado cut their captain Brandon Prideaux for unknown reasons. Defense could be an issue for them this year, and I don't think Jose Burciaga is the answer.
(): Herculez Gomez and Nicolas Hernandez should see their statistics increase with the arrival of Gomito.
=: Unfortunately, as we all found out in the playoffs last year, Christian can't do it by himself. Colorado should be able to sneak its way into the playoffs, but won't get very far.

5. Real Salt Lake
+: RSL followed the DC model and brought in a whole slew of players from overseas, including Kenny Deuchar and Yank Abroad Nat Borchers.
-: The team lost their heart and soul Eddie Pope and their lead comedian Alecko Eskandarian. Makes you wonder if RSL will try to fill their void by acquiring other former United players Brad North and Kiki Willis.
(): Representing the Arundel Wildcats, Kyle Beckerman should benefit from having some more talent around him.
=: At least the appearance is that Garth Lagerway finally has the team on the right track. Their foreign acquisitions don't seem to be as targeted as United's, but hey, it's a start.

6. FC Dallas
+: Duilio Davino will try to help out a weak defensive group.
-: Dallas's only legitimate scoring option Carlos Ruiz is now in LA.
(): Kenny Cooper hopes to have a full year of scoring for once, but somehow I doubt it.
=: Not to say that Ruiz is very popular, or even very talented, but Dallas will surely miss him, and they will probably take a step back this year.

7. San Jose Earthquakes
+: The expansion team will look for Ronnie O'Brien to lead the attack. Hmm… Good luck with that.
-: San Jose was expecting Clarence Goodson to be a starter on defense, but he bolted for Europe. Smart move.
(): The Earthquakes were wise to bring in Ryan Cochrane from Houston to run the back line as center defenseman.
=: The Quakes actually have a decent midfield if you look at it, and Cochrane and Cannon should keep at least some teams from running up the score, but it's still hard to see them finishing anywhere outside of last place.

With all the infusion of international talent in the league this year, there are a lot of question marks. Who will be this year's surprise like Juan Toja? And who will be this year's disappointment like Denilson? Whatever the case, my predictions are sure to go up in flames by May.

Quavas Kirk

Is Alexi Lalas even a fan of the Galaxy? A trade like this makes me wonder if he really has much interest in winning.

Ok let me back it up. I guess if you're looking at the Greg Vanney / Quavas Kirk trade purely in terms of on-the-field talent, it's actually pretty even. Vanney started most of the year for DC, and should start and provide a bit of veteran leadership in defense for the Galaxy, a group that gave up the second most goals in the league last year. Kirk is young, fast, and talented, but he's currently "unrefined". Sure, he started five games for LA last year, but let's be real... Jeff Carroll could have started five games for LA last year too.

But unfortunately for LA, there's a lot more to this trade than just on-the-field talent. And that's where DC wins, and has won this whole offseason. Two things that LA apparently didn't take into consideration:

1. Greg Vanney obviously wasn't going to play for United this year. In any other sport, that would drive his price down. It's a whole supply and demand type thing. Like last year when Randy Moss obviously wasn't going to play for the Raiders, his price went down and the Patriots only had to give up a fourth round draft pick to get him. I was only expecting to receive a second or third round draft pick at best for Vanney. This is a major bonus.

2. Quavas Kirk remains a Generation Adidas player, meaning that his $111,000 salary will not count against the salary cap, and more importantly, he is eligible for a spot on the Developmental roster. I'll never understand how the Galaxy can manage to fit Vanney's salary under their cap, along with all the Beckhams, Donovans, Xaviers, Ruizes, and Martinos of the world.

But enough about the ineptitude of the LA front office. What does this do for DCU?

Well obviously it's a bit more depth on the flank. Kirk could maybe compete with Dominic Mediate for playing time. And this could also potentially affect our ongoing 'Mil versus Moose debate, making Justin Moose just a bit more expendable.

But I'm going to make a prediction here. With Kirk's size and speed, he seems to be exactly the type of player that Soehn and Company like to try to convert into a wide defender. It worked for McTavish and Burch, it didn't quite work for Gros or North, but I think they will give Kirk a try in the back at some point.

This also means that we've got some real competition now for the final of 10 Developmental roster spots. Judging only from the scrimmage match reports that I've read, I would guess that Tony Schmitz, Grady Renfrow, and Ardalan Attar might be the ones in trouble.

I wonder if Quavas Kirk could turn into a leader for the team. Maybe someday he will even be able to wear the Captain's armband. Then we would have to call him.......... (That was just too easy)

Perkins move

I probably sound like a curmedgeon. Because I hate change. But I've come to love Troy Perkins over the past two years, just as I've come to love Christian Gomez.

The words I keep hearing are that Joe Cannon is the most consistent keeper in the MLS. He's just had bad defenses in front of him. Of course the Goals Against Average stat isn't really a totally fair way to judge a keeper, but it's just about the only stat for a keeper that you've got. So based on my own calculations, here are the goals against averages for the top keepers in the MLS over the 2006 and 2007 seasons:

Jeff Conway - 1.05
Pat Onstad - 1.05
Brad Guzan - 1.10
Troy Perkins - 1.11
Matt Reis - 1.25
Kevin Hartman - 1.32
Joe Cannon - 1.57

Hmm.

Ok, so Cannon probably brings a bit of veteran leadership to the defense that Perkins probably lacks. I get that. But my favorite things about Perkins are his speed and his aggresion. He charges at defenders and intercepts long through balls better than any keeper in the league. Maybe that makes this a minor upgrade, but not worth it if we have to pay Cannon double.

This raises a couple questions… Is United making this trade because Troy wants to go to Europe? Or is United sending Troy to Europe because they want Cannon? We have quite a few problems that we need to address this offseason, but I'd disagree with anyone who said that the goalkeeper was one of our major problems. So I'm hoping it's the former.

But most importantly… Who will United be giving up? Boswell? Vanney? Draft picks?

The Donovan Rule

I've written before that I don't like the idea of Juan Sebastian Veron as a replacement for Christian Gomez. Because Gomez is a proven commodity as the best player on this team. Maybe Veron will be even better, but in my opinion, probably not.

Well all reports are indicating that Veron is close to signing with DC (for something around $15 million?) and that negotiations with Gomez are not going well. We've all seen this coming a long time, but it's scary to think that at this point its probably greater than a 50% chance that this will come true.

Gomez wants more money, and is considering playing in Saudi Arabia or some crap to get it. Well I think we can all respect the desire to earn more money, but why can't DC pay him more? If Veron is worth $15M, we don't think Gomez is worth $1M if that’s what would keep him here?

But then the problem becomes the salary cap, and the Designated Player rule. And that's where my problem with the whole situation lies. The DP rule was originally written to say that each team would be allowed one DP, but that all players currently earning over $400K would be grandfathered in for the 2007 season. Now that has been extended to 2008? What that means specifically is that the LA Galaxy are allowed to fit both David Beckham's and Landon Donovan's salaries under the cap, essentially having two designated players. But a team like United is only allowed to have one DP, because Gomez wasn't earning more than $400K before 2007. So now they're not allowed to pay him more than that.

The DP rule is nicknamed the Beckham rule. Can we nickname the 2008 extension the Donovan rule?

Waiting by the phone

If I get a call later tonight and am asked to be the new General Manager of the San Jose Earthquakes, here is the list of players I will select (assuming I can negotiate myself a reasonable starting salary...)

GK: Kevin Hartman
DEF: Alex Zotinca, Ryan Cochrane, Brandon Prideaux
MID: Kyle Martino, Ned Grabavoy, Brian Carroll, Andy Dorman, Ivan Guerrero
F: Abe Thompson

I'm taking Hartman because even though he's up there, he's still got a lot less gray hairs than Onstad, although I'm hesitant because of his GAA in Kansas City. My three defenders are starters with their current clubs, and with Prideaux I'm getting someone who has been his team's captain, and will be my team's captain.

The midfield was the hardest. But with Martino, Guerrero, and Dorman, you're getting three versatile guys who have all played in several different spots. Carroll is coming off a down year, but could still start for most clubs in the league, and Grabavoy has the skills to lead the attack. Of course Andy Dorman is a concern to leave MLS completely, but I think he's worth the risk. I know I've been saying all along that San Jose would be crazy not to take Rod Dyachenko, but I think with Grabavoy available, Dyachenko becomes a bit redundant, and Carroll is easily the best defensive midfielder available.

Not too many good forwards on there, but at least with Thompson I'm getting a UMD alum! Notice I didn't take anyone from the Red Bulls. Hmm...

OK, now here's a list compiled from all the comments on the Insider, adding in my own, of who are the popular choices to be selected. This list is far from scientific because I think there's a lot of commenters on there that selected more (or sometimes less) than 10 players, and most of us gave very little regard to salary concerns. So read into it what you will.

Chivas: Burpo (1), Cunliffe (4), Nunez (3), Perez (1), Zotinca (2)
Chicago: Curtin (3), Guerrero (6), Gutierrez (4), Thorrington (1)
Colorado: Cancela (1), Casey (7), Hernandez (1), Petke (3), Prideaux (2)
Columbus: Grabavoy (13), Guenebaum (1), Herron (1), Thomas (1)
Dallas: Gbandi (1), Goodson (2), Oduro (3), Pitchkolan (1), Rhine (1), Thompson (6)
DC: Carroll (8), Dyachenko (3), Kpene (2)
Houston: Ashe (2), Cochrane (5), Onstad (3), Waibel (1), Wells (3)
KC: Burciaga (7), Colombano (1), Hartman (4)
LA: Gray (3), Hamse (1), Martino (6), Mathis (1), Tudela (3), Xavier (1)
NE: Dorman (7), John (4), Riley (4)
NY: Doe (2), Goldthwaite (1), Magee (2), Vide (6), Wolyniec (1)
Salt Lake: Brown (2), Kipre (1), Watson (2), Williams (1)
Toronto: Boyens (1), Lombardo (3), Pozniak (1)