We've covered the forwards, and we've covered the front office. Heck, our front office results actually have been 100% correct so far, with Tom Soehn leaving the team and Kasper and Payne set to return. We'll have to wait a while to find out if our forward results are correct, but in the meantime, let's see what everyone has to say about our attacking midfielders. Click to continue reading...

2009 was a rough season for Ben Olsen and DC United. (Getty Images)

We knew going into 2009 that the calendar for DC United could be a fairly packed one. Possibly Champions League matches, US Open Cup title to defend, summer friendlies, and of course the regular season slate. It turned out to be just the case as DC United played a schedule so packed this year it definitely raised some eyebrows about how little depth MLS clubs really do have.

Click to continue reading...

By defintion, the Etchy Award goes to DC United's most valuable player. The winner of the award should be the player who United can least afford to live without, and who gives the team the best chance of winning. I'm going to present this award a bit differently because I want to give you more choices and less bias. Click to continue reading...

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. Click to continue reading...

By definition, the Freddy Award goes to the biggest story for DC United this year. This award should go to the individual who has created the biggest stir around DC this season. The award's namesake Freddy Adu wasn't only the biggest story in DC when he was on the team, he was also the biggest story in MLS. Click to continue reading...

DC United comes off its 2-1 loss to San Jose to win 5-1 against San Juan Jabloteh. And what do you know...the youth played a huge factor in this with the help of Christian Gomez and Fred. Scoring for UNited was Gomez (13′,68′), Fred (30′), Khumalo (43′, 92+'). They key in this match was how well the youth wokred together for this win.

Click to continue reading...

Last week I made a big mistake in reading too much into the results of a win against a weak opponent. Learning my lesson, let's just say that this match was a pleasure to watch. This is the second time this season United has scored five goals, and it looked like the boys were having fun out there.
Does that mean though that they will carry this momentum into the match Saturday against Chivas? Click to continue reading...

Needing a win to avoid falling completely out of touch in Group B of the CONCACAF Champions League, DC United rode an early Christian Gomez penalty kick to a crucial road victory against Trinidadian side San Juan Jabloteh on Tuesday evening. The result was especially encouraging, considering that DC was missing several regulars through injury or a decision to rest, including Jaime Moreno, Santino Quaranta, Fred and Josh Wicks. Click to continue reading...

This 1-0 win reminded me a bit of another 1-0 win less than a week ago against the Wizards. United was clearly the better team, and our defense did well in shutting down some opportunities, but a big part of the victory can also be attributed to a weaker team failing to get any quality shots on target. Click to continue reading...

That wasn't exactly how I wanted to see us play against one of the worst teams in the league, but a win is a win, and somehow I still feel like we earned this one. It definitely took this team 30 minutes or so to settle in, and gave up way too many chances during those first 30 minutes, but we looked like the better team in the second half, and ultimately we prevailed. Click to continue reading...

This is the best our team has looked in quite a while. DC United just worked harder in this match, which is great to see. We won most of the 50-50 balls tonight, which has been rare the past few months. The team's first win against an MLS opponent since 7/18 couldn't have come at a better time.
The only thing I didn't like about our performance was the number of fouls given in close range. Click to continue reading...

Awwww yeahhhhh.

I finally get to see the Galaxy play live after years of having season tickets in LA. So I'll get to take photos (they won't be great, but I'll share the best ones) and report on the game as a fan in the stands.

The only "issue," I guess, is that I'm going to be smack dab in the middle of the Screaming Eagles/Barra Brava.

Click to continue reading...

Thomas Rongen said early in the match that since both teams were playing with a 3-5-2 formation, it was likely that the team with the most individual talent would win. If you add up all the talent on United's roster and all the talent on Toronto's roster, United might prevail. But unfortunately games aren't actually won and lost that way. Click to continue reading...

Somebody got a hair cut! Not to be confused with... this guy.

Click to continue reading...

Gallery, Images, Photos and Pictures of Real Madrid v D.C United, Pre-Season Friendly Match, August 2009. Includes Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul Albiol, Gonzalo Higuain, Arjen Robben, Pepe and Christian Gomez. /h2> Click to continue reading...

This is the fourth in a recurring series where we look at the DC United season, five games at a time.
Results: 1-2-2. 9 GF, 11 GA
Standings: Third place in the Eastern Conference
Statistical Leaders: Christian Gomez (3 goals, 2 assists), Luciano Emilio (3 goals), Bryan Namoff, Jaime Moreno, and Fred (1 goal, 1 assist each)
Most frequent lineup:

What we liked:

• The Christian Gomez of 2007 - In the first half of the season, there was a wide variety of candidates for DC United's MVP: Quaranta, Pontius, Moreno, Gomez, maybe even Wicks or Jakovic.

Click to continue reading...

Win or lose, some of our guys looked like superheroes out there. I was so impressed with the way that Fred, Rodney Wallace, and Bryan Namoff were able to run so hard for 120 minutes straight. True warriors. Way to wear the shirt, boys.
This was a fun match to watch, as I felt like both teams really wanted the win. Click to continue reading...

This match exhibited nothing but a lowly underperforming team working harder than a much more talented team. DC came out to a quick 2-0 lead, and apparently they thought they didn't need to do anything else for the next 70 minutes. That wasn't true.
There was also some definite bad luck for San Jose. Click to continue reading...

[08:29] JSpitzberg: i have NO interest in MLS anymore

That's how I started my converstation with Neal this morning. And I really don't. With the Premier League gearing up it's hard to keep the enthusiasm for what I call my methadone, which I use to bridge the gap between English seasons. Click to continue reading...

Sorry folks. At this point it may be too late... Consider this an open thread for your comments on Saturday night's impressive win over Colorado.
1. The At A Glance stats have been updated on the sidebar. Gomez has provided three goals and two assists in the past 5 MLS matches.
2. Click to continue reading...

After a first half consisting of two major mistakes (Namoff's own goal and Khumalo's terrible chip shot miss), United was a bit unfortunate to be down a goal. The teams looked very evenly matched. But from the moment that the whistle blew to open up the second half, one team was clearly better than the other. Click to continue reading...

Random ideas and obersvations from the Rapids' 3-1 loss to D.C. United on Saturday at RFK Stadium:

PASSION AND DESIRE: Colorado coach Gary Smith often attributes his team's victories and losses to the level of passion and desire the Rapids bring to the field. Saturday's two-goal loss was a good example of this.

Click to continue reading...

Well, the whole two half things has never been more apt. I don't know what Tommy said to the team in the locker room, but it worked something special.

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.

Click to continue reading...

Picture by Saed Hindash from the Star Ledger

And those words are: Don't get cocky.

That's 4 wins in a row for the Galaxy, which is not the longest win streak since 2006. (The dismal 2007 season featured a 5 game winning streak from September through October.) All of a sudden the team is tied for third in the West and sitting pretty in a playoff spot (granted it has still played a game more than most of the West) and it is surging rather than falling.

Click to continue reading...

Week 18 in Major League Soccer has already gotten off to a bang. Last night's 3-1 thrashing in Giant's Stadium by LA over New York probably set the tone for what this weekend should be like.

The tone was set early and often by LA with Landon Donovan really showing just how good he can be for LA and for MLS.

Click to continue reading...

Just like I never left...

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.

Click to continue reading...

So now that we've already reviewed and analyzed DC United's acquisitions and departures since the close of the 2008 season, let's take a look at the trades. Basically just one big one, and a couple players swapped for late-round draft picks.
1. The biggest offseason move was DC United trading Ivan Guerrero, Colorado's own designated player slot, and a 2010 2nd round draft pick to the Rapids for Christian Gomez and goalkeeper Mike Graczyk.

Click to continue reading...

A 1-1 tie would have been a pretty good prediction going in, and isn't a bad result for us. But it feels good to say that this team deserved better. DC United dominated in scoring opportunities, with 11 shots on goal to Columbus's 3. But they were a bit more effective at converting their few opportunities, as we let the Crew off the hook far too often with failed chances and weak shots straight at the keeper. Click to continue reading...

Omar Cummings slips an attempted tackle by D.C. United defender Greg Janicki en route to his first goal of the game Saturday night in Commerce City. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Â

Â

The Rapids made an opponent pay.

Omar Cummings collected two goals and an assist, and goalkeeper Matt Pickens and the Colorado defense played a nearly flawless game in a 3-0 victory over D.

Click to continue reading...

This is the third in a recurring series where we look at the DC United season, five games at a time.
Results: 2-1-2. 8 GF, 6 GA
Standings: First place in the Eastern Conference
Statistical Leaders: Christian Gomez (2 goals), Jaime Moreno (2 goals), Fred(1 goal, 1 assists), Santino Quaranta (1 goal, 1 assist), Luciano Emilio (2 assists),
Most frequent lineup:

What we liked:

• Goalkeeper controversy resolved - The only low point that I wrote about in both of my first two posts in this series is an issue no longer.

Click to continue reading...

"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. Click to continue reading...

The Rapids and Ivan Guerrero have decided to go their separate ways.

The team announced Wednesday that it has terminated the contract of the midfielder-defender, who was acquired in a trade with D.C. United for Christian Gomez.

Guerrero had not played for the Rapids this season, and the team said the move was by mutual consent.

Click to continue reading...

This was my first journey to RFK this season, and boy did I pick a good one. It sure did feel right for this to be a battle for first place, because United and the Fire did look like two of the best teams in MLS tonight. Great atmosphere in the stadium.
Just a shame for a really well-played competitive match between two good teams to be influenced so heavily by the officials. Click to continue reading...

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. Click to continue reading...

C.D. Chivas USA 2 : 2 D.C. United
Six Word Novel Recap

"Way to avoid losing!" Now win.

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Washington Post, Steve Goff: "United staged another stirring comeback Saturday night, scoring twice in the final 13 minutes to earn a 2-2 tie with Chivas USA and extend its unbeaten streak in league play to six. Click to continue reading...