On the homefront

‘Olsen’s Orphans’ need to find a home and find it quickly.

Right now D.C. United is teetering uneasily on the edge of playoff contention and threatening to tumble into the abyss of the “there’s always next season” lowlands alongside an increasingly red-faced Steve Nicol and two Canadian teams that fire their coaches more often than Charlie Davies changes goal celebrations.

Fifteen games remain in D.C.’s regular season, a significant but precarious amount for a team that struggles with consistency. That lack of consistency is often the mark of a young team, but it doesn’t help United fans’ blood pressure that the team has decided to show that inconsistency in one of the more frustrating ways possible. With over half the season in the rear window, it’s been on the road that D.C. has hit its high water mark, with impressive results at Portland and the recent win at New York, not at the safe(citation needed) confines of RFK Stadium. At home is where one would think D.C. should be at its best, a young team in front of its own fans and on a familiar field, yet United has failed to play with the confidence one usually associates with the home team. Dealing with the pressure of expectation and results at home has been D.C.’s main shortcoming.

If D.C. is going to make the playoffs the results at home will have to improve. Of their fifteen games left, seven are at RFK, and four are against teams lower in the overall standings(Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, and Portland). All four of the teams listed are currently under .500 and have just two road wins combined. These are the games United is expected to win, yet they are a major reason behind D.C.’s slow slide down the table and out of the play-off spots. San Jose, Houston, and New England would have fallen into that same category when they came to RFK, struggling teams with poor records on the road, but all have come out with results that left Ben Olsen looking ready to explode.

There’s no place like…Red Bull Arena?”

Can D.C. turn this poor run of home results around? With the mid-season additions of Dwayne De Rosario and Brandon McDonald the team now is better equipped to despite the recent struggle since their arrivals.

Brandon McDonald adds a calmer presence in the back, he’s an organizer and a capable player on the ball. His pass completion percentage since joining D.C. has been is near 80%, while his current defensive partner Ethan White’s more rushed approach sees his passing percentage dip to 75% in the same period. With the possible return of Dejan Jakovic nearing, the team will be even stronger at building up play from the back, something essential for a team that lacks a true target-man and relies on the possession game to generate its offense.

In the other half, Dwayne De Rosario is a match winner and has shown real flashes of skill since joining D.C., but the team’s flow in the final third still lacks the sharpness that comes with familiarity. With Chris Pontius and Charlie Davies in a bit of a slump, it doesn’t make the transition any easier for D.C.’s new number seven. Now thare Davies and Wolff are struggling with injuries, it would be an ideal time for Pontius to find his early season form to help push D.C. back into the heart of the playoff spots.

That return of form will need to come soon, though. The window for the playoffs tends to close quickly, leaving teams and fans outside in the November cold collectively scratching their heads wondering, “where the heck did the season go” and “so…when’s the next draft?”

D.C. still can turn a promising season into a positive one. A good run toward the finish line and into the playoffs could hasten the progress of a team with potential to a team that can compete near the top of MLS. And it won’t take against the odds results away from home, the playoff run can be completed on the foundation of wins at RFK, a task that this team is more than capable of completing- they just may need to watch some road game tape to find out how.

Category: DC United Team News, Major League Soccer