I've been a little bit surprised by some of the fan reactions we've seen over the past few days since the announced departure of Tom Soehn as head coach of DC United. The most common sentiment has been "Thanks for your service", which is nice, but maybe not entirely genuine coming from the same people who were writing (and probably chanting at games) "FIRE SOEHN" so frequently in the past.

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Tom Soehn's term as Head Coach of DC United has come to a close Monday evening when he met with Kevin Payne and the rest of the head honchos in the DC United front office. Tom Soehn did not await the decision from Kevin Payne and left on his own terms.

Now the decision comes down to who is next to step up and be the new DC United Head Coach?

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In case you missed the announcements on Twitter last night, here are the winners from the 6th Annual United Awards Reception:

• Volkswagen Most Valuable Player: Clyde Simms
• Defender of the Year: Bryan Namoff
• Fans' Choice Award: Chris Pontius
• Goal of the Year: Bryan Namoff's diving header vs.

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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...

By definition, the Popie award goes to United's best defensive player in 2009. The award's namesake is former national team defender Eddie Pope. Not only is Pope widely recognized as the best defender in United's history, but he is also responsible for the most important goal in United's history.
Last year's winner was Bryan Namoff with over 50% of the vote. Click to continue reading...

After not winning any Champions League games last year, United has won three in a row to give itself a chance to advance to the quarterfinal round of the tournament. It will be a difficult task though - United must try to get a win in Mexico, a feat never accomplished by an MLS team.

And Toluca will not make it easy.

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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 now, everyone knows what need to happen tonight - D.C. United needs to win to keep its playoff hopes alive.

The team will have to do it without several key players, as Bryan Namoff (concussion), Josh Wicks (dislocated shoulder, MCL sprain), Santino Quaranta (ruptured plantar plate), Ben Olsen (red card suspension) and Chris Pontius (yellow card accumulation) will all be watching from the sidelines.

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Before we get to the award, an announcement...
Over the next two and a half weeks, we'll be running a contest here with some pretty cool prizes to give away. And to win them, all you have to do is vote for the Benny Awards! The team's hooked me up with the following prizes: a DC United/Volkswagen team scarf, the 2009 DC United media guide, and a Gatorade/MLS towel. Click to continue reading...

Well, here it is. The guys were pretty brave, eh?

From the left: Chris Pontius, Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, Jaime Moreno, Santino Quaranta and Ben Olsen.

Dan Steinberg of D.C. Sports Bog has the full story. The issue hits newsstands tomorrow.

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As some have heard at this point, Josh Wicks is going to be out 4-6 weeks because of a dislocated shoulder and torn MCL. Milos Kocic is the next in line for goalkeeper. Bill Hamid is not available for league matches, only CONCACAF Champions League.

With Kocic in goal, how does DC work with this?

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This win was exactly what we needed. Nothing will inspire confidence in a team fighting for playoff position like a multiple goal victory in which we were clearly the better team.
The offense is clicking, and oh yeah, that's 3 shutouts in our last 4 matches. With a makeshift backline at that. Click to continue reading...

By definition, the Richie Award goes to the most underrated player on the United roster. The award's namesake Richie Williams was probably the hardest working player on our championship teams in the 90s, but flew mostly under the radar when compared to the better known players.
Last year's winner by a wide margin was Clyde Simms, earning over 50% of the vote. Click to continue reading...

Following their 1-0 win at San Juan Jabloteh on Sept 15th, the guys have been resting up, practicing, and hopefully getting some tactical and finishing work in before their next game on Thursday, against Marathon. I've been doing much of the same, save for the practicing or working on my finishing.

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I started writing this as a reply to the comments in the last match reaction, but I figured this discussion worthy of its own posting, and what better format to use than my infamous Versus feature.
The theory here is that one of these two players will be starting next to Dejan Jakovic when the Canadian returns from hernia surgery. Click to continue reading...

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.

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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...

D.C. United faces San Juan Jabloteh in Trinidad & Tobago tonight in the third matchday of the Champions League group stage. United and San Juan are both winless in Group B so the match will be an important one as at least one team will earn points.

After a month of playing two matches each week, United left behind some of the veteran players and took a younger squad to T & T:

• Goalkeepers: Milos Kocic, Bill Hamid
• Defenders: Avery John, Julius James, Devon McTavish, Lawson Vaughn
• Midfielders: John DiRaimondo, Danny Szetela, Ely Allen, Tiyi Shipalane, Christian Gomez, Andrew Jacobson, Clyde Simms, Rodney Wallace
• Forwards: Luciano Emilio, Chris Pontius

Tonight's game can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel or Telefutura at 8 p.

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Feels like I just wrote that same headline 2 weeks ago. I don't mean to try to use this as an excuse, but it's worth pointing out that the last match Seattle played was here in DC on 9/2. In the mean time, United played two other matches during that week and a half that the Sounders were resting.
After a terrible start from United, I felt similar to the way that BDR felt earlier this week - like this match could have easily gotten out of hand. Click to continue reading...

Following last night's win, here are the game highlights, Tom Soehn's press conference and post-game thoughts from Clyde Simms.

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                                                       Photo by ISIphotos.com

Right in the middle of a playoff run, a fully fit squad is vital for D.C. United to prevent a second consecutive absence from the playoffs.

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                                                       Photo by ISIphotos.com

Right in the middle of a playoff run, a fully fit squad is vital for D.C. United to prevent a second consecutive absence from the playoffs.

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So my DVR inexplicably taped nothing but a black screen, and calls to Comcast expectedly got me nowhere (their proposed solution: turn it off and turn it back on). So this reaction will be based solely on MLSnet highlights and comments in the Insider.
With our remaining schedule chock full of home matches, a tie on the road is certainly not the end of the world. Click to continue reading...

It's been an eventful year for the Seattle Sounders who are the newest team added to the MLS this season. They came on strong early on and made a name for themselves. Being sponsored by XBOX help increase their popularity as well. But now they can add U.S. Open Cup winners to their rap sheet.

Seattle Sounders captain (18) Kasey Keller raises the trophy after the Lamar Hunt U.

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From CONCACAF.com
9/3/2009 - NEW YORK –The Seattle Sounders have become the first team to qualify for the 2010-2011 CONCACAF Champions League, cementing their place by beating D.C. United to win the U.S. Open Cup.
The Sounders' 2-1 victory in Washington Wednesday night made it the first team to clinch a place in the 24-team field and claim the first of four berths from the United States. Click to continue reading...

We win trophies. But not all the time.

Great atmosphere at the stadium. My section was in between the Barra Brava and the Seattle supporters, and it was cool listening to the fans trying to out-sing each other. The fans in the sections who don't normally stand and sing were all standing and singing a lot more than usual.

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"Hey! Fredy! C'mon, Dude, I need you to get up and act like I didn't just stomp you on the chest. C'mon, man. Please? I know I used to play for your Portland and you guys hate Portland, but Prus is talking with the 4th official and they look pissed. [...] Click to continue reading...

STARTERS
Seattle went on the road to DC and captured the US Open Cup! Congratulations to the Sounders! (Even though as a Minnesota Thunder fan it burns my fingers just to type those words.)
LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP
The game for the Cup!
FINAL
Match & Score:
-Wed Sep 2
DC United 1-2 Seattle Sounders FC - DCU goal by Clyde Simms. Click to continue reading...

Expansion MLS franchise Seattle Sounders FC got their first championship on Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory over defending champions D.C. United in the U.S. Open Cup final at RFK Stadium. Fredy Montero and substitute Roger Levesque scored second half goals for the guests while Clyde Simms got a late goal for D. Click to continue reading...

The Seattle Sounders defeated DC United 2-1 last night in one of the better US Open Cup Finals in recent history.

The pace of the game was fast, the attacking was decent with plenty of chances and there was excellent goalkeeping as well. The 2009 US Open Cup Final seem to have it all.

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The last 10-15 minutes of regular time and stoppage time was amazing. It was totally frantic and United supporters were rewarded with a goal at the end of regulation. I was actually telling my wife that the set play off of that free kick should have been to fake it at goal and just slot it to Simms who was faking that run anyway. Click to continue reading...

                                                                              Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Seattle Sounders might want to consider opening the website 'WeWinTrophiesToo.com' after defying the odds and traveling cross-country to bring him the first trophy in the Sounders' first season.

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                                                                              Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Seattle Sounders might want to consider opening the website 'WeWinTrophiesToo.com' after defying the odds and traveling cross-country to bring him the first trophy in the Sounders' first season.

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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...

I had my doubts about this lineup going in because it just seemed way too defensive. I'm in favor of continuing with the 4-4-2 formation for the duration of this tournament, but my vision of a 4-4-2 involves attacking wingers, and maybe a creative attacking central midfielder. McTavish and Allen aren't really what you think of in terms of attacking wingers, and Andrew Jacobson isn't really the most creative CAM either. Click to continue reading...