Happy Wednesday, ladies and gentlemen. The Richmond Kickers won their U.S. Open Cup game against a fifth division side (featuring former D.C. United midfielder Danny Szetela) on Tuesday night, setting up a match with DC. We're also waiting on players to return to injury and for us to sign some mediocre players to turn our season around, because that's just what we do.
For the first time in a couple months, we can't say "another week, another loss" for D.C. United. Last weekend, the Black-and-Red took their first step forward in some weeks, earning a home draw to Sporting Kansas City. That leads off this week's episode of Filibuster - the Black & Red United podcast.
The great Nick DeLeon as attacking midfielder experiment began against Sporting Kansas City and, while he showed flashes, it was not the epiphany that some of us hoped it could be. But one thing that we noticed is that there were a number of times that DeLeon and Dwayne De Rosario were occupying the same space, leading to breakdowns in passing lanes and turnovers.
This second round matchup in the centennial edition of the US Open Cup pitted the Richmond Kickers against Icon FC, who beat the Brooklyn Italians to get to the River City. The Kickers put out primarily a first choice lineup, partially out of necessity (four of their six loanees were claimed by their parent clubs for US Open Cup purposes) but partially on purpose.
This will be the first meeting between the two countries since the 2012 Olympics semifinal, which saw the US come from behind three times to win 4-3 in the waning minutes of overtime. Much has been made of the "Rematch," including marketing it as such by the hosts. (Incidentally, neither Harris nor Krieger were on the US Olympic team.
The second round of the 100th edition of the US Open Cup is upon us, and this is the round in which most of the NASL and USL Pro teams enter the competition. The Richmond Kickers, featuring D.C. United loanees Andrew Dykstra and Michael Seaton, will take on New Jersey based Icon FC, who beat the Brooklyn Italians of the NPSL in the first round to earn a trip to Central Virginia.
Happy Tuesday, ladies and gentlemen. D.C. United didn't lose last weekend. I wanted to remind everyone, just in case you forgot. We didn't lose. Hooray for not losing. Here are some things to read.
3 trialists at training today | The Twitter machine
I recommend not looking up Mike Grella's scoring record.
Something evil lurks on the horizon, and you had better start preparing now. I'm here to help, but before we get to that, we get to the week's leader and new overall leader. SGV Galaxy scored 112 points, on the strength of a captained Jack McInerney (PHI, $8.9M) and his 20 points. Just behind him, LA's Landon Donovan ($10.
I didn't know that 1-8-1 was even possible for a legitimate MLS team (defined as any team that isn't in its expasion season or hailing from Toronto). Whether we truly deserved it or not, for some reason 1-8-2 looks much better.
The past two matches were truly reasonable results for a mediocre team to get against some of the top teams in the league.
Happy Monday, ladies and gentlemen. We took a little break at the end of the last week after critters got into the server room and chewed up some stuff, but we're back. D.C. United didn't lose this weekend, which is super neat. Draws aren't great, but they're better than losses.
I know, that's the kind of hard-hitting analysis that keeps you coming back.
It has to be said that tonight's postgame press conference in the bowels of RFK Memorial Stadium was not full of champagne and high fives. But it was still a hell of a lot more upbeat than any other presser in the last two months. It's all thanks to D.C. United's losing streak busting 1-1 draw with the visiting Sporting Kansas City, who had owned United previously with five consecutive one-goal victories over the Black-and-Red.
Think of somebody you'd want to play if you were an MLS team on the ropes and riding a seven-game losing streak. Now picture the exact opposite. There's a good chance you're thinking of Sporting Kansas City, D.C. United's opponents tonight. Here goes nothing.
Venue: RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington, DC.
Happy United Day, boys and girls! This afternoon at RFK Stadium, D.C. United will host Sporting Kansas City in what we can only hope will be MLS' upset of the week. So, to get us ready for the match, we exchanged a few questions with Ben Gartland, the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Sporks site The Daily Wiz.
All the way back in 2009, D.C. United arrived at CommunityAmerica Ballpark to play some team named the "Kansas City Wizards" in the last game of the regular season, and everything was on the line. Thanks to a logjam on the fringe of the playoff race, United would have qualified for the postseason despite a season fraught with injuries, tired legs (14 non-MLS competitive fixtures!
