After already winning the Honda MVP award for 2009's best US National Team player, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan is now Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Player. This is Donovan's first MLS MVP Award, and the second time a member of the LA Galaxy has won. MLS Most Valuable Players 2009: Landon Donovan – LA Galaxy 2008: Guillermo Barros Schelotto – Columbus Crew 2007: Luciano Emilio – D. Click to continue reading...

We already knew this, but Avoiding the Drop crunches some numbers to show how Guillermo was the most productive and economical designated player in the league last year:

He had more goals (14), more combined goals and assists (17), and – probably the biggest factor for the Crew – was the cheapest on a per-goal basis* ($38,235).

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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.

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Seattle Sounders forward Fredy Montero won the Newcomer of the Year award and Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton won the Comeback Player of the Year Major League Soccer announced on Monday. Thornton also won the Goalkeeper of the Year award. MLS Newcomer of the Year Winners 2009: Fredy Montero – Seattle Sounders FC 2008: Darren Huckerby – San Jose Earthquakes 2007: Luciano Emilio – DC United MLS Comeback Player of the Year Winners 2009: Zach. 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.

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The first round of River or Life with the DC United front office has gone pretty much as expected so far, with Tom Soehn just 0% Life, Dave Kasper over 50% but not convincingly, and Kevin Payne somewhere between 50 and 100. Now let's see where the forwards on the roster stand.
The thing about playing River or Life is that its somewhat up to the voter's discretion how you want to interpret the two choices, and I think that's going to come into play for a lot of us with some of these forwards. Click to continue reading...

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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Tomorrow night the Wizards will end what's been a lackluster 2009 season when they take on DC United at Community America Ballpark. While this game means nothing for KC, it means everything for DC. DC needs a win and some help to get themselves one of the two remaining playoff spots. They're competing with 5 other teams for those 2 remaining spots. Click to continue reading...

Voting for the 2009 MLS Year End Awards is underway. I've learned some interesting things about this season's voting process:
1) For the Best XI, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Landon Donovan are listed as midfielders this year, while Guillermo Barros Schelotto is listed as a forward. You may remember the unfortunate situation from two years ago, where Blanco was a finalist for the MVP award yet missing from the Best XI. Click to continue reading...

It's been a fantastic season in the US in 2009. Major League Soccer has done itself proud, providing some superb entertainment and more than enough controversy. And now there's just one game to go and the competition for the final playoff spots is at fever pitch. Here's your roundup from Week 31.
Outside shot Real Salt Lake got off to a great start to the week, defeating New York Red Bulls on Wednesday. Click to continue reading...

One of the final weeks of the regular season has come and gone but the goals were definitely spot on for week 31 in Major League Soccer. Below are some of the best.

Order: George John, Maykel Galindo, Brandon McDonald, Justin Braun, Josh Wolff, Nate Jaqua, Luciano Emilio, Jim Brennen, and Fabian Espindola.

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DC pulled off the 1-0 win off an Emilio 16th minute goal Saturday, keeping their chances at the MLS playoffs alive. They now share a 4 way tie with Toronto, Dallas, and New England. United must rely on going to Kansas City and must win to keep any chances alive. The guys over at behindthebadge.com broke down DC's playoff chances.

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D.C. United 1: 0 Columbus Crew
Six Word Novel Recap A decent team, with terrible supporters.
Let me just start by saying that Steve Cronin impressed the hell out of me last night. He played confidently, and he did not hesitate to come off of his line or even out of the box. At one point last night, he ran almost to the corner flag to shield a Crew player off the ball until it ran out for a goal kick. Click to continue reading...

The Major League Soccer season is down to its final matches and the playoff picture is extremely close. Several teams who needed to win on Saturday to remain in contention did so including Toronto FC and DC United. Here's a recap of the matches in Major League Soccer on Saturday, October 17, 2009 along with video highlights.

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United wins!

D.C. keeps its playoff hopes alive with a 1-0 victory over the best team in MLS. Luciano Emilio scored the lone goal in the first half and on-loan Steve Cronin secured his first shutout for the Black-and-Red.

We're working on all of the possible playoff scenarios and will have more info for you soon, but we do know there are seven teams all vying for the the final three playoff spots (five teams have secured a spot in the post-season already).

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D.C. United's fading playoff hopes heading into tonight's match up with the Columbus Crew received a jolt of good fortune as Luciano Emilio's 17th minute strike held up through heavy pressure and keeps the Black and Red's playoff chances alive. 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...

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...

By definition, the Donnety Award goes to the player who has been the biggest disappointment for DC United in 2009. The award's namesake Matias Donnet came to United in 2006 and was seen as a potential all star due to his pedigree after playing for Boca Juniors, as well as spending some time in Serie A. 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...

After dropping a 2-1 decision to the San Jose Earthquakes, United will be looking to get back to the win column with a Champions League match against San Juan Jabloteh. The Trinidad & Tobago side finds itself at the bottom of Group B without any points. A win over Jabloteh and a Marathon loss to Toluca tomorrow would give United a berth in the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.

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D.C. United has a great opportunity to put itself in position to advance to the next round of CONCACAF Champions League with a win Wednesday night against San Juan Jabloteh. Check out what the guys had to say about the big game...

More from:

• Chris Pontius
• Luciano Emilio

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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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CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Official Web Site, and video highlights from all the games.
dN
Group Stage
Matchday 4:
-Tue Sep 22
Puerto Rico Islanders 1-1 Saprissa - PRI goal by Josh Hansen. Sap goal by Kenall Watson.
Metapan 0-4 Pachuca - Pac goals by Ulises Mendivil(2), Edy German Brambila & Edgar Benítez. Click to continue reading...

Ok. So I know at first this title makes no sense at first. Think of it this way...United needed to score 2 more goals than Marathon to jump into second place. They did this...and they scored another to solidify it. Emilio, who has been in a real scoring drought this season, put in the first and the last goals.

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Watch Tom Soehn and Luciano Emilio's post-game press conference and then listen in to hear what Lawson Vaughn and Santino Quaranta had to say after the game.

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Is Luciano Emilio the key to United turning around its season? Nope.
Did DC United turn around its season last night? Could it be that the team, and its oft-absent striker Luciano Emilio finally found what is missing against Marathon in the Champions League? Is this the beginning of DC's run into the MLS playoffs? Click to continue reading...

D.C. United put together one of its most comprehensive performances Thursday night at RFK Stadium by downing CD Marathon 3-0. Luciano Emilio broke out and scored two goals, while Jaime Moreno added a tally midway through the second half. The defense also kept a clean sheet for the second game in a row, as the Black-and-Red put together back-to-back wins for the first time since late July.

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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...

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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Week 26, and Columbus Crew have finally reached the summit. DC United had a mixed week, while LA Galaxy and New England Revolution stumbled unexpectedly.
The action got underway on Wednesday. DC United hosted Kansas City Wizards and picked up a slightly fortunate 1-0 win courtesy of Luciano Emilio, who found an empty net after a Chris Pontius header had beaten Kevin Hartman but cannoned off the post. 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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                                                                       Photo by ISIphotos.com

By TRAVIS CLARK

The stakes were still high for Saturday's D.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

By TRAVIS CLARK

The stakes were still high for Saturday's D.C. United-Seattle matchup despite no trophy on the line. With the playoff race tightening each week, both side needed three points in the worst way.

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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...