Luciano Emilio and DC United have a lot of question marks. (Getty Images)

The 2009 expansion draft is only a week and a half away here. Today we move forward in our look at each club's potential protection lists with DC United. The Black-and-Red are still without a head coach so don't be shocked if somethings here could change depending on who takes over this club.

Courtesy of Tribal Football...
Lorient's American midfielder Andrew Jacobson is trialling with Denmark's Esbjerg.
Jacobson move to Esbjerg suggests he's seeking a transfer away from France during the January window.

I've been pretty busy with house additions and family functions the past couple weeks, so without the capability to DVR matches that frustatingly are not on television, my reactions to these past two matches are coming only from video highlights and the written opinions of other fans, bloggers, and reporters.

The new kids of the block finally have some spots filled on their roster today as the 2009 Expansion Draft is complete with Philadelphia Union selecting their first 10 players. Some names won't shock you while others may leave you guessing what Peter Nowak and company have up their sleeve.

-Jordan Harvey Colorado Rapids
-Andrew Jacobson DC United
-Brad Knighton New England Revolution
-Sebastian LeToux Seattle Sounders
-Stefani Miglioranzi Los Angeles Galaxy
-Alejandro Moreno Columbus Crew
-David Myrie Chicago Fire
-Shea Salinas San Jose Earthquakes
-Shavar Thomas Chivas USA
-Nick Zimmerman New York Red Bulls

Five clubs escaped without losing anyone: Real Salt Lake, Dallas, Toronto, Houston and Kansas City.

In a sparsely attended game (which may be the worst to take your Dad to as his first professional soccer experience), DCU beat out FCD 2-0, with goals by Fred and Brandon Barklage, who dazzled. Chances were easy to come by, as DC had Dallas goal under siege from the get go.

Fred missed a sitter early in the first half, and Quaranta was not playing his best, despite what Goff's ratings may tell you.

Maybe it's just me, but I found most of that match to be pretty boring. What I saw were two teams who didn't seem inspired, and a whole lot of players on each side who may have been content with just one point while still at or near the top of the Eastern Conference, and with another game just three days away.

The Philadelphia Union finally has players. Today's expansion draft has come and gone, leaving ten teams down a player and new newest club in MLS with a start, one that Peter Nowak seems very happy with. The following ten players were selected:

Goalkeeper

Brad Knighton, New England Revolution

Defenders

Shavar Thomas, Chivas USA

Dave Myrie, Chicago Fire

Jordan Harvey, Colorado Rapids

Midfielders

Andrew Jacobson, D.

Well that was fast. Just last week we were wondering if Gallardo's no-show at the first week of training camp meant post-surgery fitness issues (ugh!) or a prima-donna scared of snow (double ugh!). Now he's gone, and a world of possible futures are taking shape on the horizon. Gomez? More defensive help?

After dropping three straight matches at home to MLS opponents, and with our most consistent defender and our two most dynamic attackers out, most fans didn't really expect DC United to win this match. Especially not against the soon-to-be back-to-back Supporters' Shield winners. And it may not have been an attractive victory, but it was a victory none the less.

The voting for attacking midfielders has gone pretty much as anticipated so far, with heavy support for three fan favorites in Quaranta, Pontius, and Barklage, and an obvious dissatisfaction with Fred and Allen. The only moderate surprise to me has been that Gomez and Szetela are not both closer to the 50/50 mark.

The Philadelphia Union selected the first 10 players in a league expansion draft yesterday.

Highlighting Union head coach Peter Nowak's 10 selections are MLS veterans Alejandro Moreno and Shavar Thomas, both of whom started 17 games for their respective clubs in 2009. Moreno, a Venezuelan international, just completed his eighth year in MLS, has scored 43 regular season goals in his career, and scored in MLS Cup 2008 for the Columbus Crew.

As I prep the homestead for the impending deluge of snow and ice that we're supposedly soon to be buried under, I thought I'd take a quick jaunt through the news, spider-like, drawing the tenuous strands of DC United news together to weave my own twisted (and quite deadly!) web. All set? Flying Gonzalos Not Yet Free?

We just officially announced that we've signed midfielder Andrew Jacobson (pending receipt of his international transfer certificate). We originally picked him in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft in the second round (24th overall), but he decided to test the waters abroad and eventually signed with Lorient in France.

This one hurts. Hurts more than any other match this year. Losing 1 point here because of a faux penalty call hurts worse than losing 2 points to LA Galaxy earlier in the year because of a faux penalty call. Maybe that's because it was to one of our fierce rivals who look to be making a push up the table now that Twellman is back, or maybe it's because we deserved much better here.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Former U.S. Olympic team midfielder Danny Szetela is on his way back to Major League Soccer, but he won't be coming back to Columbus or heading home to New Jersey.

Just to wrap up my thoughts on the UEFA Champions' League final... May I recommend this as a complement to my match reaction and as the perfect companion for your summer travels?Congrats to DC United midfielder Andrew Jacobson for correctly...

"What an advertisement this has been for Major League Soccer here tonight". I heard Glenn Davis speak that line twice during the broadcast, once in the 68th minute on ESPN2, and once before the game was being shown on television (thanks atdhe.net). At first I was thinking that that was a terribly hypocritical thing to say.

Columbus Crew forward Alejandro Moreno, Seattle Sounders forward Sebastian LeToux and Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas were among two of the ten players chosen by the Philadelphia Union in Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft.

Here is the list:

Brad Knighton, David Myrie, Shavar Thomas, Jordan Harvey, Shea Salinas, Stefani Miglioranzi, Andrew Jacobson, Nick Zimmerman, Alejandro Moreno, Sebastien LeToux

Surprising omissions?

MLS EXPANSION DRAFT
The Philadelphia Union selected their first 10 players today, picking from the rosters of the other 15 MLS teams. Each team could protect 11 players, leaving the rest up for grabs. Each team could only lose 1 player at most.
Here is who they will initially stock their roster with:
-Jordan Harvey - Colorado Rapids
-Andrew Jacobson - DC United
-Brad Knighton - New England Revolution
-Sebastian LeToux - Seattle Sounders
-Stefani Miglioranzi - Los Angeles Galaxy
-Alejandro Moreno - Columbus Crew
-David Myrie - Chicago Fire
-Shea Salinas - San Jose Earthquakes
-Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA
-Nick Zimmerman - New York Red Bulls
A rumor from the Washington Post also says that they have bought Salt Lake goalkeeper Chris Seitz.

Five ties -- two scoreless, one 3-3. Only two decisive games, including Seattle's first loss. Kasey Keller is still unscored-upon, but he departed early for the Sounders after handling the ball outside the box. Lots of red cards.
Home teams first
Toronto 1, Dallas 1: Dwayne De Rosario showed off his underrated heading skills on a long throw-in from Adrian Serioux to give Toronto the lead.

Let's put this in a different perspective. It makes sense that eventually DC United was going to go a full match without scoring a goal. Wouldn't you rather that match happen when we also don't allow a goal? And so I don't feel terribly about this uninspiring match as we extend our unbeaten streak to 9 in all competitions.

DC United should be neither elated nor concerned after the team needed 75 minutes to beat a PDL squad consisting mostly of college players and a few amateurs. It wasn't pretty, but DC is one step closer to defending their US Open Cup title, which is more than you can say about the 4 MLS clubs who lost to USL clubs last night.

The CONCACAF Champions League began its third round of group stage matches on Tuesday, September 15, 2009. The matches on Tuesday were Puerto Rico Islanders v Cruz Azul, San Juan Jabloteh v DC United, and Metapan v Arabe Unido. Here's a recap of all the matches along with video highlights.

DC United beats Jabloteh 1-0 Video Highlights

Major League Soccer side DC United got a nice road win with a 14th minute goal (penalty kick) from Christian Gomez.

I was going to go ahead with another "Refining the Roster" update this morning, but with all the feathers that are flying (settle down, Talon!), I figured I'd wait until we have some definitive news before going full bore with the numbers and lists. So what are we waiting on . . ? Gallardo on the slow boat .

For the fourth year in a row, United failed to get points playing at Real Salt Lake's home stadium. The team scored first, but then conceded a goal minutes later. The final tally came just ten minutes from the final whistle, as Javier Morales put Salt Lake up for good.

The good for United?

Some highlights you have to see:
- Donovan Ricketts saves and Landon Donovan crosses to salvage a draw for Los Angeles.
- Kevin Goldthwaite, following up a witty performance in SI's Pop Culture grid, clears the ball in spectacular fashion for the Red Bulls.

Sheesh, it never rains but it pours. So I'm reading the Goffblog and get the sorry news that the Bum Hammy Hammer is continuing to put a pounding on the Bearded Bombardier. Still, I think to myself, Jacobson looked decent against KC. Maybe we...

16 games in to the season, with a two week break from MLS action, I can think of no better time to deliver to you the second annual installment of the Mid-Season Review. In this space over the next 10 or so days, we will take a look at the Acquisitions, Departures, and Trades that United has made since the end of the 2008 season, and then wrap it all up with a Summary.

Tom Soehn and Andrew Jacobson discuss Tuesday night's 2-1 win over the Harrisburg City Islanders in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.

Highlights coming shortly..

Today Goff is reporting and United is confirming that the club has officially acquired Danny Szetela via the MLS allocation system. United continues to acquire more young talented players who could turn into fairly big stars.
Almost makes you wonder why FC Dallas would pass on this 22-year old kid with international experience.

A loss is pretty much what we expected on the road in Honduras, but it's disappointing all the same because it could have been so much more. And we're once again reminded of 2008. If you're unfortunate enough to recall the 2008 Champions' Cup and Superliga, you'll remember that DC United looked to be of fairly equal caliber to most of their opponents, but ultimately flunked out of the tournaments due to several individual mistakes and unlucky breaks.

The playoff scenarios are mind-boggling.

It is actually possible for United to find its way into the MLS Cup playoffs regardless of win, loss or draw tonight, but the likelihood is very slim if the Black-and-Red come away with anything but a victory in Kansas City. The Wizards cannot make it to the post-season, but will certainly come out hoping to put on a show for their fans in the last home game of the year.

New England Revolution 1 : 1 D.C. United
Six Word Novel Recap

Olsen's head(er) backs up his mouth.

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseUnitedMania, Chris Webb: "The statistics are there for all to see. D.C. United out shot the visitors 20-4, including 8 shots on goal to just 2 for the Revs.

A comprehensive win from a mix of veterans and young guns. Goals from Fred and Brandon Barklage were the difference as D.C. topped FCD 2-0 at RFK Stadium Wednesday night. You have to like the energy and fight some of the younger guys brought to the pitch tonight. Goalkeeper Milos Kocic (age 23) gets his first career start and pitches a shutout, while Rodney Wallace (20), Chris Pontius (21), Brandon Barklage (22), Andrew Jacobson (23), Marc Burch (24), Greg Janicki (24) and Devon McTavish (24) all see minutes.

With a 1-1 draw in Kansas City tonight, D.C. United extends its MLS unbeaten streak to four games (2-0-2, 8 pts.) and moves into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. Rodney Wallace scored his second goal of the year and Jaime Moreno collected his 101st career assist, tying him for first all-time in United club history with the legend, Marco "El Diablo" Etcheverry.

DC United fans on the east coast might need to take a nap on Saturday afternoon to make sure they stay up for the 11pm EST kickoff of the match between the East's and West's best, DC United and Chivas USA.

In case you didn't know, Chivas are pretty good. Their 7-1-1 record is good for 22 points and an eight point cushion on Seattle, who are 2nd in the West.

Before this match, Bretos and Sullivan were discussing that this might be a potential MLS Cup matchup. And this game didn't really disappoint. You just hate to see such a good match decided by some poor officiating. How come we don't ever see poor officiating in our favor anyway?
DC United showed some heart once again here to be able to come back in the final minutes.

Why limit ourselves to enjoying the greatness of reader comments on official team blogs from just FC Dallas...Time to start properly supporting my new club DC United and see what United fans who visit the team's official blog, Behind the Badge, have to say.
From Post: MLS game #16: United 0 - Colorado 3
"Really sad, i still believe that Ton Soehn needs to get FIRED!

It's pretty cool that for DC United to return to the Open Cup Final, their path to a second straight championship will consist of, in order, wins over a PDL club, then a USL-2 club, then a USL-1 club, then an MLS club.

I didn't go to the match, and I didn't even listen to it. The below match ratings are given for the sake of my ADRs, and based only on match reports from Boehn and Tenorio, and Insider comments.

More from inside RFK:

• Santino Quaranta
• Josh Wicks
• Tom Soehn