Plenty of fans were saying last night that this match was like a microcosm of our season. I disagree. A microcosm of our season would have included DC United grabbing an early lead and taking it into halftime. It also would have included many chances to go even further ahead, but we would have had multiple goals disallowed and/or our opponent would have scored after some poor officiating. Click to continue reading...

D.C. United scratched their way back to a playoff berth only to see a stoppage time red card and subsequent penalty conversion relegate United to cheerleaders for other results. United's 2-2 draw was in many ways a capsule of their frustrating season as their destiny was in their hands and yet again it slipped away. Click to continue reading...

Finishing 1-1 against the leader of the Mexican Primera Division on the road is a better result than most of us expected, and probably a better result than we deserved. Still, thanks to some inspired play by a few individuals, and some poor shooting by Toluca, we emerged with a single point.
A win would have secured our spot in the Champions' League quarterfinals, but let's not count ourselves out yet. 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...

This weekend had set itself up really nicely for DC United. After losses by Seattle and RSL, and ties by Colorado, Chivas, and Toronto, DC United only needed a home victory against the worst road team in the leauge in order to move into 5th place. But the underdogs continued to impress. Not only did United lose, but they really deserved to lose. Click to continue reading...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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. Click to continue reading...

A little what Julius James might look like in his new away uniform?
From the D.C. United Front Office, the team announced today the club has acquired defender Julius James from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a third round pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft. James will serve as a replacement for forward Ange N'Silu, who has been placed on Injured Reserve. Click to continue reading...

DC United announced a few roster moves today. As reported before, Julius James is coming after a trade with Houston for a 3rd Round Draft Pick in 2012.

DC announced that they have signed defender David Habarugira. Habarugira has played for the Burundi national team and in the Anderlecht (Belgium) youth system.

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Early reports are coming out that DC United is in the works to finalize a trade with Houston that would bring defender Julius James to DC in exchange for a 3rd Round draft pick in the 2012 MLS Superdraft. He will be given the jersey number of 2.

James, a native of Trinidad & Tobago, was drafted in 2008 to Toronto.

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Looks like we have a trade in the works according to Steve Goff. DC United has traded for Trinidad and Tobago defender Julius James from Houston. No official word on compensation yet for James but more than likely a draft pick will be sent Houston's way.

James as we all remember was apart of the Dwayne De Rosario deal back in January with Toronto FC.

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I rarely get excited about press releases. I suppose it's because 95% of my inbox is filled by them. That, and heck, how often are releases in general that exciting?* (*Granted, I haven't been a journalist for that many years, but is there such thing as an "exciting" press release? I can't think of one. Click to continue reading...

Seeing as how we're in the offseason here at FBF, it's about time we brought in some new blood on trial. First up is the Monday Back-Pass, wherein I take a look back at the weekend's soccer events and viewing, highlighting what caught my attention. Ready? Away we go . . . Barca-Real The big enchilada of the weekend without a doubt. Click to continue reading...

We all knew that it would happen eventually.  Dwayne De Rosario didn't make it a secret that he wanted to eventually play in his home country.  De Rosario plays with the Canadian national team so he is on his way to Toronto FC.

In exchange for Dwayne De Rosario Toronto FC send Julius James and allocation money to the Houston Dynamo.

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Its about that time of the month again to update the rookie watch list. Since our last update a couple rookies have emerged a little more, while some are still taking a back seat as the summer months roll on. I think now that we are halfway through the season we can have a better understanding [...] Click to continue reading...

I realize it's been well over a month since I last updated this watch list. For good reason too, there was no need early on to update this kind of a list from week to week. That will come more in handy once we hit late August and September here. But since summer is starting [...] Click to continue reading...

The draft is just under a half an hour away. Here is a bit of pre draft talk from Goff and Galarcep. Both are now reporting that the Wizards will be taking UCLA right back Chance Myers. Myers is quite a bit of a surprise in this position as the top 3 in the draft had expected to be Patrick Nyarko, Eric Avila, and Julius James. Click to continue reading...

After the trade of Nick Garcia, the Wizards now own the number 1 pick in Fridays SuperDraft. The Wizards are officially on the clock now deciding on who they'll make the number 1 pick of the draft. The last time the Wizards had the number 1 pick was in the 1996 College Draft, when the team selected Matt McKeon. Click to continue reading...