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?

Player Ratings
Wicks- 5 (Partially at fault for first goal, made two nice saves)
Habarugira- 4
Burch- 5
John- 0
James- 5 (Not too shabby.)
Jacobson- 4
Simms- 4
Allen- 2
Pontius- 6
McTavish- 3
Moreno- 0
SUBS:
Quaranta 6
Fred 5
Namoff 6

Last night, DC United made me forget I was angry. They made the words about “respecting international competition” that sounded so hollow the week before seem real. They met the standard that the DCU teams of the past had set. And I couldn’t be more pleased.

There are a number of words to describe last night’s game against Firpo. Sloppy. Choppy. Average. I’d rather look at the game from an emotional and mental standpoint than a technical one. Aside from Gomez, most of the players didn’t show well. Fred especially was poor in the midfield. However, after 90 minutes on Saturday, a majority of the team showed what they could do with their backs against the wall. Some, like Ben Olsen, a guy I thought had to be on his last leg, gut through 120 minutes, and score his penalty. Heart of a lion, indeed. Gomez was brimming with confidence all night, and as many people said before, raises his game when DC plays internationally. That will be key in the upcoming games. You hope that in the league games when we have to play 4-4-2, we could rest Gomez, but we’ll see.

DC was determined last night, and it showed. And I’m proud of every one of them. And now, I’ll even allow myself to be a little excited about the Real Madrid game on Sunday.

What did you all think?

Man, I am pissed.

The first half was honestly the worst 45 minutes of soccer I’ve ever seen. I’m counting Screaming Eagles pickup games in that assertion. Boyzzz was just bad. He made one nice backheel pass, but other than that he was a wreck. Tino can’t get back soon enough.
The man I tipped for early retirement had a stinker of a first half as well, with errant passes all over the place. The backline was a mess, including the brain fart of a back pass on Namoff’s part. I’m trying to think if anyone was being effective in the first half…nope, I don’t think so. So for the first half, everyone gets a 1.

Now the second half was an entirely different matter. Moreno mercifully replaced Khumalo, and his short passing ability enabled a PK, and converted in a emphatic way in the upper 90.
The second goal…will be in contention for GOTW. If not for Donovan/Esky’s strike on Thursday, he’d have it sewn up. A diving header that corner hunted redeemed his bad first half, and he added tough defense and playing 1-2s all up and down the wing. Burch had his best game of the year, contributing on both ends. He still gets a little turned inside out on some plays, but he’s not killing us with those mistakes.

EMILIO SCORED A GOAL! You could tell he was as excited as my Shift key, with the great interplay between Jaime, Christian Gomez, and the sweet finish by Emilio. Let us hope its the beginning of a hot streak as he plays his way back into full 90 minute form.

Gomez was MOTM, and he deserved it. He was pumped, and it showed with his creativity and aggressiveness. He appeared angry that Masteroni got kicked in the balls, and then didn’t immediately jump up. But maybe I missed something from the stands.

We’ll just rate the second half, as we already know what everyone got in the first half.
Wicks 6, Burch 7, Janicki 5, Namoff 8, Olsen 7, Gomez 9, Fred 7, Moreno 9, Emilio 8, Pontius 6, Simms 6. Subs: McTavish 6, Wallace 7

What did you think?

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.

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;

The short list of players who didn’t piss me off?
Emilio, Doe, and Quaranta. My boy Tino came back too soon, and I’m sure put himself out for a few more weeks, but right off the bat, he contributed to Emilio’s goal, and put two long balls right on Fred’s food (which he squandered). He is an excellent talent, and needs to get better.

I’m done for tonight. Saturday, I want to see Dane Murphy, Mike Zaher, a full 90 of Cordiero, Jeremy Barlow, Pat Carroll, and a bunch of cardboard cutouts against Houston.