RIVER or LIFE: Goalkeepers

As voting on the DC United defenders draws to a close, we seem to have finally found the most polarizing player on the United roster. No one should be surprised that that player would be Marc Burch, who is currently sitting at exactly 50% River and 50% Life at the time of this posting. Moving on now to our final edition of River or Life for DC United players, we turn to the goalkeepers, where there may be a few more difficult voting decisions to make. A reminder for those who are new, a vote for River means to send him down the river, and a vote for Life means to keep him around next year.

Joining the team in 2009 to very little fanfare, Josh Wicks was acquired via trade as what most of us thought would be a stopgap while Louis Crayton recovered from injury. As it turned out, Wicks did so well to impress the coaches and fans that he was named the team's regular starter. He made some big saves for us this year, but his occasional lack of discipline and mediocre 1.40 goals against average might not be enough to keep his job safe in 2010.

poll by twiigs.com

Milos Kocic was drafted by United in the second round of the 2009 MLS Superdraft to be the team's goalkeeper of the future. Apparently the future is not now, because DC didn't have enough confidence in him to give Kocic a starting role late in the season after Wicks' injury, turning instead to a USL player as a temporary replacement. Kocic did look good at times though when given a chance in early Open Cup and CCL matches.

poll by twiigs.com

United acquired Steve Cronin via loan from Portland in a last ditch effort to make the playoffs and advance in the CCL. While the USL Goalkeeper of the Year allowed only 3 goals in 3 matches, it still wasn't enough to do either. DCU might have a hard time retaining Cronin for the 2010 season since he is not under contract with the team and will surely garner interest from other clubs after a great year. Makes you wonder what our record would have looked like if he was in a United jersey from the start...

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Signed late in September from the DCU Academy, Bill Hamid didn't see any action with the first team in 2009, but could be given a chance to compete for a spot on the gameday roster in the near future. All we've heard from the front office is that Hamid is big, quick, and has excellent leadership ability. I don't know about you, but it sure makes me feel old to look at Hamid's bio and see that he was born in 1990.

poll by twiigs.com

RIVER OR LIFE: Defenders

Continuing the series where we vote "River" for players that we want to see DC United cast away and we vote "Life" for players that we hope will return, let's take a look now at DCU's defenders. I have a feeling this group will prove more interesting than the defensive midfielders, who received mostly favorable ratings.

Voted the team's MVP and defensive player of the year, Bryan Namoff had his most productive season for United in 2009 with 2 goals and 4 assists. Losing Namoff to a concussion late in the season may have been the beginning of the end for United's playoff hopes, but we've heard good indications so far that he will be ready for the start of 2010.

poll by twiigs.com

The Canadian/Serbian import Dejan Jakovic was very impressive in his first year with the club, starting every match when healthy and emerging as the leader of our defense. The whole team struggled at times when playing with only 3 in the back, a formation that Jakovic himself expressed some dislike for. It will be interesting to see how he does if given a full season with a running mate in a 4-man back-line.

poll by twiigs.com

Despite being the most frequent scapegoat for the team's defensive failures, Marc Burch was the preferred starter at left back for the entirety of the 2009 season. Before this year, I was fond of saying that Burch's play had improved every year since being converted to a left back. This was true in 2007 and 2008, but I'm not so sure it was true in 2009.

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Julius James had the honor of being traded for Dwayne DeRosario, but he never really caught on in MLS until joining DC late this season. James had some good games and some bad games, which probably puts him better than average on the scale of central defenders we've seen the past few years.

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The acquisition of Avery John was supposed to give Burch some competition at left back, especially since John had done well when playing in a 3-man back-line previously with the Revolution. That competition didn't last long, but John was still able to give the team some veteran defensive depth and fill in when necessary due to injuries.

poll by twiigs.com

A former starter for Chivas USA, Lawson Vaughn joined the team in September, and was called on almost immediately to help fill the void at right back that was left due to Namoff's injury. His play was adequate enough to earn him a roster slot with some MLS team next year. But will it be with DC United?

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Greg Janicki impressed many of us when joining the team on loan from Pittsburgh late in 2008, but his awful 2009 campaign caused him to be benched, and then to be placed on injured reserve for back spasms that were apparently suffered as a result of sitting on the bench too long. Unfortunately for Janicki, his terrible performance at Marathon may have been his last with the club.

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The young and much heralded David Habarugira displayed some quickness and physical ability in his few appearances with United. You would have thought the Burundian International could have earned more appearances for himself when our back-line suffered multiple injuries, but that never materialized. Does anyone else remember the name Ibrahim Koroma? Yeah, I didn't think so.

poll by twiigs.com

RIVER OR LIFE: Defensive Midfielders

The voting for attacking midfielders has gone pretty much as anticipated so far, with heavy support for three fan favorites in Quaranta, Pontius, and Barklage, and an obvious dissatisfaction with Fred and Allen. The only moderate surprise to me has been that Gomez and Szetela are not both closer to the 50/50 mark. Moving on now to the other half of the midfield...

As expected, Clyde Simms led the team in minutes played for the second year in a row, and was a critical part of our midfield. Obviously Simms' main role was in breaking up the attack of our opponents, but he wasn't asked to do as much offensively this year, which was a step down from his 2 goals and 2 assists in 2008.

poll by twiigs.com

After playing just 15 minutes last season, Ben Olsen came back stronger than most of us would have imagined in 2009. Although he seems to have lost some pace, Olsen's calmness and high soccer IQ served the team well as he often acted as the leader of the midfield. He has expressed interest in playing again next season. Now if we could just work on that temper...

poll by twiigs.com

At just 20 years of age, Rodney Wallace showed immense talent and potential in his 25 starts (tied for third on the team). Wallace split time between left wing and defensive midfielder, playing both roles with speed, aggression, and skill, if not always tactical awareness. He might even get more of a chance at left back in the future.

poll by twiigs.com

Returning from an uneventful stint in France, DC United's 2008 second round draft choice Andrew Jacobson played well when given the opportunity to fill in for Olsen or Simms in central midfield. Jacobson also demonstrated that he has the ability to shoot a heluva long ball, but needs to work on his accuracy (8 shots, 1 shot on goal).

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Devon McTavish saw time as a right wing, central midfielder, and central defender this year, but didn't really catch on as a regular player in any of these roles. While he's never been mistaken for the most physically skilled player on the field, McTavish is an asset for his versatility, and has always had a knack for getting himself into good positions, while making very few mistakes defensively.

poll by twiigs.com

The former fourth overall draft pick John DiRaimondo did little to impress for United while playing in early Open Cup matches and earning just 45 minutes of MLS action. On the plus side, he did score the game winning goal for the Richmond Kickers in the USL-2 championship match. Is it possible that he'll be spending even more time with them next year?

poll by twiigs.com

RIVER OR LIFE: Attacking midfielders

We've covered the forwards, and we've covered the front office. Heck, our front office results actually have been 100% correct so far, with Tom Soehn leaving the team and Kasper and Payne set to return. We'll have to wait a while to find out if our forward results are correct, but in the meantime, let's see what everyone has to say about our attacking midfielders.

Just remember, a vote for River means that you want the player banished from DC, and a vote for Life means you hope to see the player back next year.

The biggest question before the season was whether Christian Gomez would be more like his usual self in United uniform, when he used to earn around 10 goals and 10 assists every year, or more like himself the year before in a Rapids unifom, when he earned only 3 goals and 6 assists. The answer was somewhere in between.

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Santino Quaranta started the season fast with 5 assists in the first third of the season, and earned a return to the US National Team picture with an appearance in the Gold Cup. But he faded later in the year, and injury forced his season to an early end.

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The MLS Rookie of the Year candidate Chris Pontius was tied for the team lead in games played, but more importantly, he also won the prestigious Benny Award for the highest average player rating on this blog.

poll by twiigs.com

Scoring just 2 goals and 4 assists in each of the past two seasons, Fred has found the MLS to be a bit more difficult than Australia's A-League. Fred is a talented player who has never really fit into DC United's system. Hard to say whether or not that's really his fault though.

poll by twiigs.com

One of the few benefits of finishing so poorly in 2008 was that we received an allocation slot high enough to acquire Danny Szetela when he returned to the league mid-season. Szetela had an apparent falling out with the coaching staff and only had limited playing time, mostly outside of league play.

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DC's third round draft pick Brandon Barklage had a very promising start to his MLS career, scoring goals in two consecutive Open Cup matches, and looking good in relief of Gomez as a central attacking midfielder in his 4 brief MLS appearances, before falling to injury.

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Ely Allen was selected in the second round by the Galaxy and started 11 matches for them last season. This former U-18 National Team player didn't see any time in MLS this season, but did have a few appearances in the Champions League.

poll by twiigs.com

RIVER OR LIFE: The forwards

The first round of River or Life with the DC United front office has gone pretty much as expected so far, with Tom Soehn just 0% Life, Dave Kasper over 50% but not convincingly, and Kevin Payne somewhere between 50 and 100. Now let's see where the forwards on the roster stand.

The thing about playing River or Life is that its somewhat up to the voter's discretion how you want to interpret the two choices, and I think that's going to come into play for a lot of us with some of these forwards. For example, if you think that the team should retain Luciano Emilio but only at a substantially decreased salary from his 2009 earnings, is that a vote for River or a vote for Life? That's totally up to you. Just remember in general, voting Life means that you want the player back with the team next year, and voting River means that you don't want to see him in a United jersey any more.

Since winning the MVP award in his first season in MLS, Luciano Emilio has failed to approach the 20 goal mark that he set in 2007. His 11 goals last year and 10 this year still make him the highest scoring player on the team, but it's questionable whether or not United has been earning a high enough return from Emilio to justify his $750,000 yearly salary.

poll by twiigs.com

The team captain Jaime Moreno constinues to be one of the most visionary players in the league, and even though his playing time has decreased substantially, Moreno's 9 goals and 3 assists seem to indicate that he's not done yet. This 14 year veteran is eager to return to the team for at least one more season.

poll by twiigs.com

After a promising start to his MLS career in 2008, Boyzzz Khumalo's 2009 season was unfortunately shortened due to a nasty wrist injury. He hasn't quite been able to nail down a regular starting role with the team yet, but has looked good at times playing mostly as a substitute either at forward or on the right wing.

poll by twiigs.com

Ange N'Silu started the 2009 season strong with United, earning a goal and an assist in some early appearances filling in for Moreno or Emilio, but he faded pretty quickly from the team's plans, due most likely to his apparent lack of teamwork with other players. Many of us continue to question the team's decision to let Francis Doe depart in favor of N'Silu for roughly the same salary.

poll by twiigs.com

Tiyi Shipalane won a spot on the United roster late in the season after impressing the coaching staff when playing against us with the Harrisburg City Islanders in the Open Cup. He didn't get much of a chance to establish himself since joining the team on loan, but his speed and creativity could give the team a different attacking style from what we are used to seeing.

poll by twiigs.com

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