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.

My take on his argument? DC knew what it was getting. A holding midfielder is not going to make Sportscenter on most days, and they knew that. With DP status comes increased scrutiny, and when a player’s game is nuanced and sophisticated and the player is not a self-promoting media whore (ahem, goldenballs), a fan can be excused for thinking Gallardo isn’t pulling his weight. I tend to fall on the side of Pro-Gallardo, solely because I believe what needs to happen, has already started, and that is a familiarity and likemindedness necessary for Gallardo’s talents to be utilized and the players around him to feed of his intelligent. Whenever I watch him operate in the midfield, the words that come to my mind are always “Soccer IQ”. He keenly anticipates defenders movements, and often times makes the smart pass. But his artistry comes in when he goes for the thru ball or back heel that is unexpected.

-DCUMD previews the game tonight, and again, we’re on the same page. His lineup looks very similar to mine.

And that’s really all the new stuff. Listen to the game tonight, I might liveblog it since my girlfriend will be getting her hair did.

- 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.

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!

Where to begin? Oh, I know. Greater than the win, or the crowd, or beating Becks. Ben Olsen, heart and soul of DC United, stepped back on the pitch for the time this season. Did he look great? No. Did it matter? Not at all. It was an amazing sound when Benny stepped back on the pitch, as the Barra and every fan who know was going on stood up and cheered Benny. It was wonderful, and the most emotional moment of the day.

As for the rest of the game, you can’t argue with 4 goals. The first half was spotty at time, and more goals should have been converted against a spotty LA defense. I felt bad for Cronin, because not too many goals were his fault today. Donovan had a gripe with Gallardo, and the fourth official is a blind man, which was good for us. Fred was again poor, with no real positive impact on the game. Peralta, who many BigSoccer people have problems with, is an all or nothing player. He always seems to either make a big play, or make a massive blunder. As a midfielder, you can get away with that sometime, but as a centerback, those mistake often translate directly to goals. Zach Wells did much better today, with three strong saves that I can remember.

Ratings: Wells 7, Martinez 8 (He locked Becks down), Peralta 5, McTavish 6, Namoff 7, Quaranta (NR), Burch 7, Gallardo (there will be a big post about him this week) 7, Fred 5, Simms 6, Moreno 8, Emilio 9, Dyachenko 6, Olsen 100 (I know, I know. More like an NR, but, it’s my blog so whatever)

What did you think?

Fair enough, Marcello. But as much as I wish that we had the soccer enthusiasm of Argentina, I’ll take what excitement I can get. After the jump, a preview for the most important and anticipated game of the MLS season.

Tomorrow at Noon, under the hot sun, and in typically DC humidity, the two most famous MLS sides will meet, with both clubs firing on all cylinders (unless one of the cylinders is Defense). The highest scoring side in MLS (Galaxy) vs the hottest team in MLS (DC). I cannot wait.

Notes: Franco Niell is gone, on his way home by now I’d imagine. I hope he lands on his feet in a league where the average height of defenders is 5′ 3″. Francis Doe should be back in DC by today, and practicing with the team. I’ve never been very excited about him, but he’s a warm body and he’s fast.
DC has been linked with Dagoberto Alexis Currimilla Gomez, a 20 year old Chilean defender who plays on the under-20 Chilean National Team. This is a good move, but I still see three moves the FO also needs to make. They are as follows:
1. A reserve forward that can score goals OR a winger to take the place of Santino, allowing him to be a more attacking player.
2. A goalkeeper. This is self explanatory.
3. A stronger bench. I don’t care how you do it, but I’m not impressed with Dyachenko or Mediate. Find quality young players who want to play for McDonald’s dollars.

Predictions: As everyone thinks that this game is going to be a blow out, I’d probably agree. I think the heat may play a factor though, and limit the excitement a little. Final score, DCU 3, LA 2. What do you think?

HOLD THE PHONE. According to Goff, Ben Olsen has been upgraded from Out to Doubtful, and there’s a strong possibility that he will be on the 18 man roster for tomorrow or Tuesday’s game. Wow. Go to Soccer Insider and read about it.

I will repeat the phrase used everywhere else, and numerous times throughout Sports Cliche history. Sometimes you win ugly, but you still win. That’s really the most apt way of describing what occurred on Sunday. The first half was 45 minutes of half chances, and frustrating missed opportunities. Nicole and I sat in the sun and baked in Section 127. At half, we decided to try different seats so we can pick our season seats for next year. We tried the quiet side, at about midfield, and I’m not sure how I feel. Nice to look at the Brava, but I kind of like being on that side too. We’ll see how that shakes out.
Enough about me, DC was a much better team in the second half, with crisper passes, and were getting all the bounces. Clyde Simms was the recipient of one lucky bounce, and Emilio got the other one.
But the man I voted for to be MOTM (and was) scored a BEAUTIFUL goal and was dominant the entire game. Gonzalo Martinez, best pickup of the offseason. The problem now is, where do we put him? We compromise the center when he gets to bomb up the wings, but he’s done so well at it, maybe it would easier to pick up another defender and let him do his thing?
Zach Wells. Please, stop. I’m sure you’re a nice guy, but you are a backup.
I’m not going to do ratings for the SJ game, because it was too long ago now, and I’d be guessing on some players.

I promise a big writeup for the next game, as I think there might be a few people there. I don’t know, I’ve heard some things.

UPDATE: Goff has news here.

Player Ratings:
Wells 5, Martinez 8, Peralta 7, McTavish 6, Burch 6, Fred 7, Simms 7, Quaranta 7, Moreno 9, Dyachenko 5, Emilio 9
Subs: Mediate 5, Kirk 4, Stratford 4 (He missed a gimme)

What do you think?

Link.