The breadth of this experience was on display Sunday afternoon. After a solid performance last Thursday against Marathon at home, DC came out against a team that hadn’t won at home in eons, in a game that HAD to be won. The first half, I turned to my fiance, saying that the team hasn’t looked this good in a while. They were working triangles, making smart runs, and generally showing some sorely missed flair. We were hard done to not have scored in the first half, but I dismissed the poor finishing as par for the course, and hoped we’d figure it out.

Then the dark cloud (figuratively and literally) moved over RFK and sat there.

Josh Wicks came out aggressively (for a change) and made contact with Ryan Johnson instead of the ball, dislocating his shoulder and spraining his knee.

Now, would the team react with fire and battle to keep the lead? Or would they fold like a lawn chair? Guess which one happened.

The team fell apart, with a free kick goal that was hard to be stopped and a Marc Burch disaster that led to goal number two. (To be fair, Soehn threw Burch to the wolves after not playing for weeks). They threw the kitchen sink at San Jose after Soehn finally brought in Christian Gomez with 10 minutes remaining, but too little too late.

No heart. No strength. No playoffs.

I’m in the same position as I was one year ago where I thought not getting in the playoffs may be better for the team in the future. The front office was able to hold off the fans, by promising greater accountability and better results. We got neither, and this year looks to be another year without playoff soccer. If we don’t make it this year, we’ve forced some changes.

The only thing to get out of the rest of this season is to advance in Champions League (which is doable) and to see what we have with the rest of this roster for the rest of the MLS season. By default, we get to see what Milos Kocic is made of, and I want to see players like Shipalane, Habarugira, Szetela, Jacobson (and N’Silu at Toluca). If these guys can’t make the best of their opportunities, then they need to be cut loose. Going into the close season, changes will need to be made, and the new CBA agreement will have a lot to do with it. Higher salary cap, DP’s not counting against the cap, and higher pay minimums mean a restructuring will be necessary and possible.

I’ll do what everyone else is seemingly doing and give me thoughts about the roster, and what we should do with them.

Goalies
Wicks- Keep him. He’s shown that he’s capable, and is an affordable option. The reason we suck is not Josh Wicks.
Kocic- Here’s his opportunity. Run with it Milos, and you’ll be here next year. Be horrible, the picture is less clear.
Hamid- Keep obviously. Maybe loan him out?

Defence
John- Adios, buddy. Coaching maybe in TnT?
Habarugira- If he gets a runout for the rest of the season, we should be able to see what we have. If we don’t play him, we should keep him until we figure it out.
James- I’m torn on James. I’m not impressed all the way, and I think what has been said about him before holds true. Athleticism only gets you so far, and he seems to have some mind lapses that you can’t have in that part of the field. I’ll go with cut him.
Vaughan- Keep him. Valuable backup, and with more experience in the team, will be a good asset.
Burch- If you can find a better LB in the offseason, trade him. He’ll have value somewhere, but he gets burned too often and he isn’t dangerous enough going forward to look past that.
Jakovic- Lock him up. Throw away the key.
Janicki- Reserve. Too slow, nice guy, but not cut out for MLS.
McTavish- Useful as a guy off the bench, but should not be relied on for major minutes. If a better option can be found for his spot at an increased salary, make it happen.
Namoff- Concussion news is scary, as we’ve seen in the past. Hopefully, the prognosis is good and he’ll return to the same form. Keep, but watch out for problems.
Wallace- Keep.

Midfield
DiRaimondo- Waive. Not good enough.
Szetela- Who knows? Hopefully we get to find out, particularly if Olsen retires, he’ll be necessary.
Allen- Waive.
Shipalane- Keep, has something that the team lacks, speed and the ability to attack defenders. Needs to be coached more, but that’s the easy part.
Barklage- Keep. Looked good before injury, and is a good option.
Fred- Ah, Fred. He who has so much talent, but produces so little. As much as it’s hard to say, Fred needs to go. Can’t finish, gives the ball away, and isn’t good enough at crossing the ball to be retained as a pure winger.
Gomez- Keep for one more year. With more speed around him, Gomez can still be dangerous. He also steps his game up internationally, which we’ll need next year.
Jacobson- Play him for the rest of the season, flashes of talent, but may be able to find someone better at his salary.
Ben Olsen- Pay cut, and keep. He still has aggressiveness and bite, shown against Marathon, but can also turn in stinkers like San Jose. Has a role to play, but not at 200k plus.
Pontius and Tino- KEEP.
Simms- I don’t love Simms, but he’s consistent. No more CB, and I see him as value, but he needs to level out his play and try to get forward occasionally.

Forwards

Emilio- Reduce salary, find him a suitable strike partner, and keep. If he isn’t willing to take a pay cut, then let him go. Too inconsistent, and too reliant on others to score.
Moreno- Not a 90 minute player any more. If he can accept that, keep him. If he can’t, offer him a job in the organization.
Khumalo- Keep. Needs work on his finishing, but he’s a talent, and cheap.
N’Silu- Sorry buddy. Waive.

What do you think about all this? Want to see DC make the playoffs? Care about Champions League? Fire Soehn?

I just heard from my source (the same one that said the Real Madrid was confirmed, and then it was later on in the week he said it would happen), that Ben communicated to a confidant that he was done playing due to the pain he was experiencing. The acquisition of Danny Szetela makes all the more sense now, which lends some credibility to the report.

If this is the case, I believe DC is still on the hook for Olsen’s remaining salary, but will have another roster spot available. Of course, this neglects the fact that all of us have probably been pushing to the back of our minds; that Olsen while still a serious talent and the heart of the team, was living on borrowed time, and crippled ankles. If the report bears out, then I hope the supporters will wish him well and send him off in a proper fashion.

We’ll see how this plays out.

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.

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

Houston is not considered to be a contender this year, with losing DeRo, and not many more additions. The team is getting older, and not any faster. DC needs to get on them early, and then close the game down. Wicks should be out with a hip flexor, so either we will see the return of the great Louis Crayton, or we see the debut of Milos Kocic and the exploding head of Louis Crayton on the bench. According to Goff, Crayton said he was 150%, but Soehn had his doubts.

In case you’re curious, we’re 2-3-1 all time against Houston, and 2-0-1 at home.

MLS Net preview.

This preview recounts the rainy horrors of last year’s attempts to play Houston at RFK.

OFFICIAL DC UNITED THE OFFSIDE PREDICTION:
Last week, I called the draw and got the score way wrong. For accounting purposes, we’re going to just count the result, and I’ll keep a goal differential between what I thought we’d score, and what we did.
Since thats the case, I’m 1-1 for the season, with a -3 goal differential.
THIS WEEK: Houston 1- DC 2. Let’s go United.

What do you think?

Disclaimer: I am a Nationals fan, one that knows we suck. A lot. I used to blog about them, but then the suck was overpowering, and I’d prefer to watch them suck in virtual silence

Dan Steinberg over at DC Sports Bog just posted this nugget.

You read that right. An MLS team get more viewers on TV than does a team in the Nation’s Capital playing the National Pastime. Granted, one team is in ascendance, and the other is in ruin, but it’s a nice accomplishment for MLS however you slice it. I’d even trumpet this if I was DC United.

There are many factors for why this is the way it is, which I don’t have time to fully get into (such as HD vs standard cable, availability of MASN, etc), but I’ve gotta say I haven’t missed a DC game on tv yet, and can’t say I’ve watched more than 10 games this whole season.

Also, in a sad note, Benny O went under the knife today, and will be out at least a month. My guess is he’s done for the year, but we’ll see. I hope I’m wrong.

A movie from Steinberg:

Dan Stratford also had knee surgery today, and will miss 3-4 weeks.

- Confirmation on the earlier injury news, with Goff confirming that Santino Quaranta is out 2-3 weeks. But that’s not all. Jaime Moreno tweaked his groin muscle, and will not be available for selection. Big deal, you say. We’re playing a USL team, how could we not win, you say.
Well, it’s been a little bit since we’ve won the cup. Try…1996. Yeah. You were a lot thinner then.

- DC has signed Craig Thompson. Who’s Craig Thompson, you ask? A good question, if ever there was one. Craig has played for DC in two reserve matches, and has yet to score. He played in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (Praise be to Google) and scored 18 goals in 22 games last season. He plays right midfield, which is an area we’ll need some depth in the upcoming weeks. He’s taking the spot of the retired Jeff Curtin.

As I said above, DC have performed very poorly in Open Cup play in the last few years. Last year, Harrisburg (Yes, the Mighty Fighting Harrisbergians) swept DC out in their first match. This year, DC comes up against a team who is last place in their division, and missing Steve Guppy (DCU alum) due to a red card in a prior match. DC is coming off a physically taxing victory on Sunday, with injured starters. The team I’d like to see start the match would be…

Doe—-Emilio (1st half, sub with Stratford in M)
Burch—-Simms—–Gallardo (Cordiero subs)—–Kirk (Olsen?)
Zaher——–Martinez——McTavish——Namoff
Wells
Radio: WFED (1050 AM) and WACA (1540 AM, Spanish)
I think that lineup would score a few goals, and likely not give up too many. Maybe give Fred minutes if he’s feeling up to it. Doing this lineup, it becomes clear how few reserves we have in defense. Hopefully, this is remedied before Superliga, or our backline will be run down for the second half of the MLS season and playoffs.

Prediction: DC 3, Rochester 0.

Thoughts?

Update: Here are some links for you to peruse this morning..
Goffster’s preview.
The Examiner’s focus.
The Express.
And this editorial about Sunday’s game.