Guys? We need to talk.

Okay, I'm going to skip the debrief because I think it is time for an intervention. I'm not an unreasonable man, I know that sometimes teams have bad games, or are a little unlucky, or just run into a team that's having the game of its life. But there are enough individual problems out there that I think we need to address them. On an individual basis. It's time to call some people out. And we're going to start at the top:

Piotr Nowak: Coach, I think the world of you, but a team must take its character from its coach, and you are beginning to worry me. Unlike some, I have no doubt that you wanted to win this game. Sure, I would have liked to have seen a forward subbed into the game at some point, but that's your call tactically. Still, I think you've become a bit divorced from reality. This game makes two games where you have blamed the refs for the loss. First it was the loss to Real Salt Lake. Now I see this reported:

"The officials today won the game for the Fire," Nowak said. "Instead of 1-1, we had 2-0 and the game changed considerably after that."

Bullshit. The officials didn't effect the game in the first half when DC was diddling away with no posession. No, instead DC was playing a lackluster and tedious style of soccer, and found itself level at the half simply because our defense was good enough to stop Chicago from creating great chances, and the ones Chicago had they didn't put on frame. That's not the refs, that's us. You can complain about Donnet's goal being disallowed, but don't pretend for a moment that somehow DC played well enough either before or after that point to indicate they were the better team.

Ben Olsen: You're a leader on this team, so start showing some maturity. I wrote in a BigSoccer post yesterday that I think you left your composure in Germany, and that doesn't make me happy. As a leader, players look to you on how to comport yourself. When you get angry, you make stupid fouls and jaw at the ref. Stop it. If you must, channel that anger into tenacity, not stupidity. Can I draw a straight line between your behavior and Erpen's card or Gros's ejection? Nope, but it does look like DC is becoming an awfully think-skinned team when it comes to dealing with frustration. So stop being a brat.

Facundo Erpen: You got burned son. It's about time, given how many of your random bone-headed plays have gone unpunished. Some of this is lack of concentration. Some if it is trying to do too much (don't be afraid to put the ball in Row Z, you don't always have to dribble out of the back and execute and difficult pass). Play smart, and play simply.

Freddy Adu: You had a better game yesterday. But the effort and work you put forward yesterday is a baseline, not a goal. You've gone from a player with difficult stretches punctuated by good plays to a player with difficult stretches interrupted by good games. Reverse those terms. That being said, I think right now you're sending in the best corners for anyone not names Christian Gomez, and better than him some games.

Everyone, fans, club, and others: I don't want to hear about how the refs are jobbing us, or how some players seem to play the game of their lives against us. DC is good enough to overcome both of those things at the same time, and we should expect it for the rest of the season. So deal with it. Control the ball, play smart, and shoot when a decent, if not perfect, opportunity arises. And keep your emotions controlled, not sprayed all over the place. We need focus now, not frantic action.