Only kidding, only kidding! Actually, the Supplemental Draft has been really good to United recently, particularly when it comes to defenders. Boswell and McTavish were Suppies (term coinage--you heard it here first--go forth and spread throughout the Soccer Blogo-Nation my pet!), and technically, we picked up Burch from Columbus for our third-round Suppie pick this year, so we've already hit

So the main question posed throughout our series in review of the player acquisitions, departures, and trades made by DC United since the end of last season is whether or not the club is actually better off now than they were last year. Let's review, position by position.
Goalkeepers:

You can read all about what's going above at Dan Steinberg's D.C. Sports Bog, but the quick story is that today was the inaugural "Haircut-Off '08" between rookie Dan Stratford and season ticker holder Karen Hennessee (who also happens to be a professional haircutter/stylist/barber/hairdresser).

WASHINGTON, DC (Aug. 31, 2008) – The D.C. United reserves defeated the New York Red Bulls reserves 2-1 Sunday morning at the RFK Training Complex on the strength of two goals by Ryan Cordeiro. With the win, United moves to 5-4-1 (16 pts.) while the Red Bulls dropped to 2-5-0 (6 pts.) in the MLS Reserve Division.

No Namoff. No Peralta. No Olsen. No Fred. No Moreno. No Emilio. No matter.

Tom Soehn has named his starting lineup for tonight's match in San Jose. These are the men charged with bringing a result back to the Nation's Capital:

Louis Crayton; Gonzalo Martinez, Devon McTavish, Marc Burch, Mike Zaher; Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, Rod Dyachenko, Marcelo Gallardo, Ivan Guerrero; and Francis Doe.

Not sure what Haircut '08 is? Then, you need to read this and this. Once you've done that, you're ready for the video below... Wait until you see what James Thorpe had cut into his head!

Kickoff is just around the corner and Tom Soehn has named his starting lineup. With a few tired players after a bunch of games during the last month, the coaching staff has decided to rest a few key players. Here's the eleven that will take the field to start against Houston:

Zach Wells; Bryan Namoff, Pat Carroll, Devon McTavish, Marc Burch; Craig Thompson, Clyde Simms, Fred, Ryan Cordeiro; Luciano Emilio, Francis Doe.

Our reserve squad turned in an impressive performance today against D.C. United's, winning 4-2 at the RFK Auxiliary Field. Below is a write-up from DCU's press dude Kyle Sheldon. He summed it up pretty well, so I won't try to squeeze it in before catching the bus to the airport. Note: Souter's goal was an absolute BOMB to start the second half.

Tom Soehn has named his starting lineup for tonight's championship battle against the Battery. The same players who started Saturday's game against New York will take the field, with the only change being Santino Quaranta moving to the middle of thte park and Joe Vide pushing out wide (where they played the second half).

I missed the match entirely. Wound up going shopping with Mrs. Shatz in advance of our Ocean City trip. First full-team match that I've missed all year.
But we did get some answers to the questions that I posed yesterday:
Does [Soehn] choose to start the highly paid Quavas Kirk in this match, or keep using him only in the safety of the Reserve division?

Head Coach Tom Soehn continues to have to deal with player injuries and absences heading into tonight's match with the Revolution. Ivan Guerrero is with the Honduran National Team for their World Cup qualifier in Mexico this evening, while Gonzalo Martinez is serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.

On the strength of a Franco Niell brace, D.C. United Reserves beat visiting Toronto FC Reserves 2-0 this morning at United's Training Field. Goals in the 77th and 87th minutes supported by a clean sheet courtesy of James Thorpe and Jose Carvallo. United Reserves are now 3-2-1 (10 points) on the season.

The D.C. United reserves earned a 1-0 win over the Crew on the strength of a Rodion Dyachenko goal this afternoon in Columbus. Here is the match report, courtesy of the Crew's PR team...

CREW FALL TO D.C. UNITED, 1-0, WEDNESDAY IN RARE, MID-WEEK RESERVE DIVISION MATCH

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Columbus, OH – The Columbus Crew Reserve squad fell to the D.

The big addition to today's 18-man roster is the inclusion of Santino Quaranta to the substitute's bench. Tino hasn't played since the team's 4-1 win over the Galaxy on June 29, when he left the game after just 27 minutes with a hamstring strain.

Here's tonight's starting lineup:

Zach Wells; Bryan Namoff, Devon McTavish, Marc Burch, Gonzalo Martinez; Craig Thompson, Clyde Simms, Jaime Moreno, Fred; Luciano Emilio, Francis Doe.

Below is the official game summary from the reserves 4-2 loss to the Wizards this morning. Of note, Ben Olsen's older brother Jeremy did see the field, coming on at half and playing 25 minutes. Additionally, after being out for a number of weeks, both Jeff Carroll and Dan Stratford made their returns today coming on as second half substitutes.