This team has been nothing this season if not frustrating. Performances have bounced between exciting, to dour, to promising yet unfulfilling. The season is on the back end, and fans are not sure who this DC United team is, and what we can expect going forward.

The Good:

Fred- Constantly dangerous, hard working, and aggressive. I think that we have to accept that Fred isn’t going to be a prolific scorer, and we should instead expect games like the one last night. He took players on and used his technical ability to make players miss. We lack that for the most part.
Moreno- He only had a cameo, but he held the ball well and added to the creativity of the team. He’s slow, but that’s no surprise. I hope he gets hot down the stretch and can help us advance in CONCACAF and play few but quality minutes in League play.
The Defense- We can’t complain tonight. I’m thinking back trying to remember major errors, and I think aside from an errant pass by Burch, the backline was pretty flawless. Long may it continue.

The Meh:
Quaranta- Maybe its because I expect a lot from Tino, but I thought he was very poor in the final third. Aside from a strong effort on frame, he wasn’t dangerous and often put ball where noone was. Because of the lack of our forward depth, he’s going to need to step up and start putting the ball in the net.
Emilio- His touch is embarrassing, and was stranded for service, which isn’t really his fault. But he can’t create, and on this team right now, we need someone who can. Maybe a little unfair, but he hasn’t been great this season.

The Bad:
Finishing- I don’t know how to fix this. I’m sure they practice, but isn’t happening right now. Maybe sacrifice an animal? I have no idea.

Wednesday night United plays in CONCACAF play against Toluca at home. After losing on the road last week 3-1, DC needs to get three points in this home match. Recently, Mexicans teams have dominated DC, so hopefully Soehn or whoever is leading the team out, can mix in starters and reserves and find the formula to get three points.

This season is past half over, and DC United is tied for second in the Eastern Conference. With a record of 5-3-9, this United team has not blown the doors off, and has shown the ever maddening “flashes of brilliance” followed by the defensive meltdowns reminiscent of 2008. In all competitions, 37 goals for and 26 for sounds like a commanding offense, but throwing out the goal fest US Open Cup game against NY, they have drawn 4 times when they’ve scored 2 or more.

This team needs quite a few things for the total package to go into the Playoffs and win, and to show well in its international commitments. Below, I’ll review them, and I hope to elicit your opinions as well.

Need #1: Left back
Marc Burch and Avery John have both been atrocious. Slow, bad passing, and in Burch’s case, generally ineffective on free kicks and service. Burch’s power is not to be doubted, but he has to actually score occasionally to earn his keep if he’s going to stink in defense. Avery John needs to go. He’s past his expiration date, and his experience don’t make up for his complete lack of speed.

Need #2: CAM or Winger
Santino Quaranta has had a strong year, and is currently being rewarded for it with USMNT caps. Christian Gomez has scored 5 goals in all competitions, and has looked dangerous at times, but has generally showed that he’s lost a step, and can’t be counted on for 90 minutes. Fred. Sigh, Oh Fred. The goal scoring touch has eluded Fred, and for his salary, the team has to be looking for more results. He’s good on the ball often, and can make a creative pass occasionally, but, just not good enough right now. Barklage showed some promise, but he’s out for the rest of the season. This roster is screaming out for an experienced left winger (a la a hungry and eager DeMarcus Beasley) or a young creative midfielder with a scoring touch. We’ve got three roster spots to play with, and one of them needs to be used here.

Need #3: Forward Depth
Luciano Emilio should be the picture next to the word “streaky” in the soccer dictionary. As he has in every year since his arrival, Emilio has gone stone cold, but this time it’s in the middle of the season vs. the end of the season. He has 5 goals, along with Jamie Moreno, but he hasn’t scored since May 16th. He and Jaime have had injury problems, but both look to be fit for Saturday’s game against Colorado. Both he and Moreno have demonstrated that DC need to prepare for life after both of them in the near future, and the players currently on the roster aren’t going to cut it. I liked Ange N’Silu, but recently, he has shown tactical and mental lapses that aren’t acceptable at this level. Boyzzz Khumalo always shows creative flashes, but at least once a game, he’ll make a decision that will make you question his sanity. I’d really like DC to go out and get a GOAL SCORER from MLS, someone where you know exactly what you’re in for. Fred wouldn’t be bad trade bait in this scenario, but we’ll see.

DC has done well for itself considering the amount of ties, but we all want excellence and this team needs to reinforce itself before it enters my favorite new tournament, the CONCACAF Champions League.

What do you think the team needs to do?

UPDATE: Well the team has addressed none of these areas, as today, they added Danny Szetela on a free transfer from Racing Santander. Follow the coverage here and here.

The thing you’ll hear most from any reports you’re bound to read about this match is that Josh Wicks did well, and RSL bunkered. Honestly, that’s about all I could tell you about it, too. DC started out bad, and finished bad.

Fred is continuing his habit of squandering easy chances that need burying. He did well at creating, but that’s not his role, or it shouldn’t be. He was a league scoring champion in Australia, and he’s putting himself in good positions, but he’s just been snakebitten. For like, 2 years. I would say this is the last year he should be in the Black and the Red at his salary, unless he starts putting them away at a prodigious rate.

Jaime was ineffective, and I was glad that Tommy pulled him when he did. Due to the way that RSL had set up, you need an active and physical presence up top, and when Jaime is not supercharged, he is neither physical or active. I wanted N’Silu to get more than a late cameo, as he didn’t have time to settle into the game. He will have to get better at that, because I don’t see him as starting 11 player.

Tino did okay, having decided to play provider at almost all times. Whereas last year I had to yell at him to pass up the shot, that is very much not the case this year. I’d like to see him more aggressive in the final third.

The backline was phenomenal. Jakovic is not long for this league, mark my words. Namoff and Burch, to a lesser degree, were dominant. Combine that defensive presence and goalkeeping against a team with some interest in attacking and you have a recipe for a United victory.

I would be remiss if I didn’t single out Josh Wicks for kudos. I’ll admit, when I saw him in the starting 11, I said, “Well, we won’t see Crayton ever again, then.” I’ll stick by that. I’m pretty sure, as I’ve said before, his mixture of high salary, average performance, and attitude are making him be exit bound. If we can get this kind of performance out of some combination of Wicks and Kocic, we’ll be okay. I’m sure we’d all like to see a more steady hand back there, but we’ll see what the summer window brings us.

I’ve kind of fallen off the map here, and I apologize. I was looking for a co-blogger, but I haven’t really been seeing any output. So, I’ll get back to business here and give you folks something to read at work.

Non Sequitur: A cool post about Dunny’s trip to RFK.

Starting 11
I think Soehn will come out with his normal 3-5-2 like so:

———————-Crayton—————————
————Burch—–Jakovic—–Namoff—————-
——————–Olsen—Simms———————-
——Wallace——————————Pontius——
————————Gomez————————–
—————Emilio———–Moreno——————

If this line-up looks familiar, its because it is the same line-up Soehn has been using all year and will likely never change. I can see Fred, Quaranta, and Barklage coming in for Wallace, Moreno, and Gomez in the 2nd half if we have the lead.

Tommy Talks some Smack:
I came across this quote today on the examiner website: “We thought about training in our parking lot to try to emulate what our game is going to be like,” said Soehn. “But there was a little too much gravel. It’s hard because even if we go onto our [artificial turf] field it’s not even close to how it plays there… it plays too much like grass.”

Hey Tommy, talking smack about the field at Giants Stadium before the game doesn’t count as a reason for you not to prepare the team and then use the turf as an excuse for us losing tomorrow

Fred missed a sitter early in the first half, and Quaranta was not playing his best, despite what Goff’s ratings may tell you. If his goal was to enable others, then we was adequate. If his role as forward was to score goals and be dangerous, he didn’t do as well. He missed 1 easy chance, and 2 or 3 that he should have buried. As a longtime Tino supporter, I suspect he’ll do better as he gets more fit.

Brandon Barklage played the game of his life. He was tenacious in the middle, found himself in the correct spots, displayed Rod Dyachenko like foot skills, and of course, took his chances at goal and found the back of the net. I think we may have found the potential replacement for Gomez, either as he fades at the end of games, or next year.

Milos Kocic got his first start, and it began somewhat rocky. In his first two clearance attempts, the ball went away from him and he was almost caught out. On his third chance, he muffed the ball, and had to be saved by headsup defending. He made 2 or 3 saves, and was saved by the rulebook, after Kenny Cooper’s penalty came off the post and he illegally buried the rebound.

The defense of Greg Janicki and Bryan Namoff was top class. The attempts at defense by Marc Burch however, were not. Unable to string short passes together, and needing repeated bailouts by Janicki, Burch may be playing his way out of the starting LB spot once Avery John gets fit.

MATCH RATINGS: Kocic 6, Burch 4, Janicki 7, Namoff 7, Jacobson 6, Fred 6, Quaranta 5, Pontius, 5, Barklage 8, Khumalo (4 in the first, 7 in the second), McTavish 6 SUBS: Moreno 4, Peters 4, Wallace 5, Jakovic 6

Below Highlights;

Anyway, Chicago is rolling into town tonight, coming off of a strong performance last week, beating FC Dallas, 3-1. The only offense Dallas had was a 60 yard bomb by Kenny Cooper, so the defense showed well. DC as you know, is coming off of a 2-2 draw (robbery) in LA. I never recapped the game, mostly because of my anger over the refereeing. Tonight, DC will look to take the game out of the refs hands, and deliver a strong performance at home.

Unfortunately, some factors may prevent that. Fred, Santino Quaranta, Devon McTavish, Greg Janicki, and possibly Louis Crayton remain out. That is quite a chunk of the roster. Particularly worrisome is the lack of experience on the wings. To counter that, I believe we’ll see Pontius log major minutes, possibly on the left wing. Emilio and Moreno up top, otherwise I think Moreno is going to flip out. Boyzz on the right side, giving us some speed, while giving up some defensive pressure. But that’s ok, because we’ll have Simms N’ Olsen, jamming up the middle. Gomito should light it up in his first game back at old RFK, and the three man backline of Namoff, Janicki, and Burch should be….fun to watch? Hopefully, we don’t see Wicks, but I’ll bet we do.

I’ll be at the game providing Twitter updates, should you chose to follow them. You can find all that goodness here. I should also be back with some pictures, taken with my crappy camera because, in case you haven’t heard, it’s a 100 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN. C’mon, weather. I’m tired of you.

OFFICIAL DC UNITED THE OFFSIDE PREDICTION: DC 3, CHI 3
Chicago has a potent offense, and until we figure out the backline, we’re going to have to outgun teams. That may not be as mad as it seems, because I think we won’t want for goals this season either. But still, be prepared for goals. Not caused by skill so much, but keystone cops defending due to horrible playing conditions.
2009 Record: 0-1
I’ve learned my lesson this week, going with the draw. We’ll see how it all turns out.

Who’s coming with me?

This Sunday, United travels to the Home Depot Center to visit one of the sadder cases in MLS in the last 2 years, the Galaxy. LA, who have been reorganized and retooled an extent by former USA and DC United head coach Bruce Arena, are moving forward this year with a more “experienced” team than last year, with an average age around 30. This never bodes well for a long season, but its better than playing Josh Tudela every game.

LA strengthened its backline through the draft, picking Omar Gonzalez, and thru the transfer market, picking up Donovan Ricketts, the Jamaican National Team keeper.

Goldenballs is set to return in July, and until then, LA is free of the obligation of his salary. However, they’ve yet to spend that money. So, it’s just a gap in their team.

Landon Donovan, fresh off of his German adventure, brings the only constantly threatening force to a team that will be lacking in attacking bite.

Dema Kovalenko has been added, most likely for his oftsited “grit” in the defensive midfield. But enough about LA.

DC travels across the country, already with its usual complement of injuries. Not making the trip, Santino Quaranta and Fred are already sporting hamstring injuries that will keep them out at least until the home opener, in Fred’s case, and the Houston game, in Santino’s case.

Louis Crayton and Bryan Namoff, who suffered leg and rib injuries respectively, will be fit and in the starting lineup on Sunday.

All week, Tom Soehn has said that he expects that DC will come out in a 3-5-2, at least until their attacking width is healthy. Below would be my expected lineup…

Crayton
Namoff———Jankovic———–Burch
Simms—McTavish
Khumalo—Gomez—Wallace
Emilio—-Moreno
I’d like to see Moreno as a withdrawn Forward, in sort of a dual playmaker roll with Gomez, but we’ll see how it rolls forward.

Links and OPO:
Sports Illustrated says that DC will finish in last. I will eat a soccer ball if that happens. The text for those who don’t want to boost SI’s ad revenue..

• D.C. United will finish in last place. Christian Gómez is back, but he lost his form a while back. Gómez and Luciano Emilio formed a strong partnership in ‘07, but two years later, the two players are fighting to recover from poor seasons. D.C. had a terrible regular season but managed to win the U.S. Open Cup. That triumph set United up for failure this year, as it once again will compete in the CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament that sunk D.C.’s regular-season hopes in ‘08.

Soccer America thinks DC loses to LA this weekend.

The Examiner offers all you need to know about the game, including injury updates for both squads (Ricketts, Buddle questionable, Lewis probable, Todd Dunivant and Leonard Griffin (who?) are out. )

MLSNet’s Charles Boehm has a nice piece about the young defense, and the decision to go with the 3-5-2. Here’s Benny,

“The 4-4-2, sometimes with a young back line, it’s confusing,” acknowledged Olsen, moments after his tongue-in-cheek attempt “to duck what formation we’re going to play this weekend” drew laughter from the media in attendance.

“Sometimes three in the back makes it a little bit more concrete for them as far as their decisions,” he continued. “But we’re working on that stuff this week and the coaching staff will take care of that.”

Steve Goff’s paper preview.

Donovan is still sleeping over at DCenters. I’m sure he’ll having something up soon.

Ok, that’s it. It’s game time, huahh!

Official Prediction!!!

The Official DC United Offside Prediction: 3-2 DC.
Your thoughts?

From what I can gather, DC is using this game as a chance to work back in some players coming off of injury. On turf, I’d have to imagine this is not the ideal scenario for such a rehab plan, but you gotta do what you have to do. Marc Burch, who is not eligible for the Open Cup game on Tuesday due to his Red Card in the Chicago match, will be getting a full 90 no doubt. The surprising news, which came in two days ago, that Joe Vide and Ivan Guerrero are not cup tied (due to the extreme early stage of the tournament that San Jose played, and lost, in) and will be available for selection on Tuesday. This is great news for Tommy, when drawing up a lineup that can stifle the hot Revolution. Not to mention the fact they were hard luck losers last night against Chicago, I have a feeling they’ll be out for blood on Tuesday.

But there I go again, talking about New England, instead of the task at hand. Can you tell that I’m not valuing this game very highly? That said, I wouldn’t mind three points, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Santino in his new forward position scoring. New York is coming off of an ego deflating thrashing at the hands of Barcelona. So, maybe we can pile on a little. Or we could steal Samuel Et’o.

Predictions: Despite DC’s (and mine) mind being elsewhere, I predict a 2-0 shutout on the road, with Zach Wells making another statement. Tino scores the first goal, and Fred gets off the schnide with a laser. What do you think?

Update: Lineups…Zach Wells, Bryan Namoff, Devon McTavish, Pat Carroll, Marc Burch, Fred, Clyde Simms, Joe Vide, Ivan Guerrero, Jaime Moreno and Luciano Emilio

Where’s Tino? Peralta?

Poplar Point Perspective, following D’s lead, has written an interesting piece about the incredible disappearing Fred. I think he’s right when he says that the expectations on Fred are much higher due to his talent levels, and that fans expect him to finish the chances he creates. Fred was a goal scorer in Australia, and he was in 2007. He can be again. He just needs a confidence builder. Next time we get a penalty (that won’t decide the match), let Fred take it. I know that won’t happen, but I think it could break his duck, and snap him out of this string of sitters he’s squandered.

Goal.com has an interview with Bryan Namoff here. I read the interview, and thought it was incredibly stupid, until I saw this disclaimer at the beginning…

Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid? Well, our latest feature is basically a Choose Your Own Interview. We contact one player or coach each week, tell him to choose 10 numbers between 1 and 200, and then ask him the corresponding questions from our long list of 200 random questions. If the interviewee selects his numbers wisely, then it’s a piece of cake. But if he selects a question that’s more difficult and, perhaps, a bit embarrassing to answer … hey, unlucky, son.

Makes much more sense now.

There really isn’t anything else to talk about. It’s Fourth of July weekend (aka death of blog readership) so I won’t be back until Monday. Enjoy your break. Eat more than you should.

Some tidbits for you on this Monday morning:

- From the UnitedMania podcast (which I listen to every Monday), it looks like Santino’s hamstring, which pulled him from Sunday’s game in the 25th minute, is serious enough to warrant an MRI. An acronym no DC fan likes to see.
- Here’s a interview with our boy, Ben, on his return and the fans’ support.

-Here’s one of Coach Soehn:

Here’s the wrap up from Comcast.

“I’m disappointed with the way it went in the second half,” said Beckham, whose appearance helped United draw roughly double its usual crowd. “We lost our way. We kept giving the ball away, and we didn’t play well. It was hot out there, but it was more than that today.”

Yes it was more than that, David.

-An interesting post at Booked for Dissent about the difference between Ben Olsen’s return and the plight of Claudio Reyna in New York. He also noticed something about Beckham which made him think very highly of Goldenballs.

- ESPNSoccernet’s Recap of the game. Gotta love this lead-in…

WASHINGTON – The motion of Moreno and control of Emilio trumped bending it like Beckham and the emotion of Landon Donovan in D.C. United’s 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday.

Niiiiice.

- The Washington Times ascribing our success to having Latin players. Okay.

- Goff’s recap. Good as always. The Post also ran a side bar on Ben, which you should check out.

- Behind the Badge with their Quote motherload…a highlight from Ben,

On the fan support
I don’t understand, it I really don’t. These people here are just so supportive of me. All I do is play hard, I like to play soccer, I like this team and I guess they appreciate it. It’s nice to see. It’s emotional. A lot of this stuff you act like it’s not a big deal. But I like to play soccer; this is my living and I want to come back, but again it’s going to be a long road back. But again I’d like to thank the fans for helping me through this and giving me the benefit of the doubt – I get choked up just thinking about it now.

- D’s recap over at Dcenters. Always a good source.

-JCM at Poplar Point Perspective appeared to be pretty pleased with DC on Sunday.

Possibly the best game of the year from this group. Simms was steady. Fred was dangerous. Quaranta, while he was on, was very good running down long balls and making well struck crosses. But, Gallardo was the class of the group. From beginning to end, he was the best player on the field. Just a masterful game from him, and his goal could win goal of the week.

-DCUMD writes with glowing words for most of the team, excluding the same player that I’ve had gripes with for the last three games.

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.

That’s plenty for now. Get back to work!