How will it be remembered?

It has always been simple for me, and I think many of you, to separate DC United history by its coaches. It may be overly simplistic, but as a narrative it has resonance. There was the inevitable invincibility of the Arena years (never-mind the pre-Moreno games), the erosion and collapse of the Rongren era (never-mind the one championship), the comical farce of the Hudson era (we remember it as comical primarily because of Hudson himself; the team was, in fact, a nasty bit of work that led MLS in fouls committed and cautions for both 2002 and 2003), the promising but almost Sisyphean efforts of the Nowak era (always one step was needed...). We use this shorthand to demarcate United's history, and we care about history almost, but not quite as much, as the present.

With barely a third of the season under Tom Soehn's belt, we can at least begin to speculate on what, in a sentence, the Tom Soehn United is. Even if we can't do that, we can at least try to speculate on what it could be. Yes, this is all premature, but it is still fun, and that's why I'm doing it even though it is patently ridiculous to do so at this time. It was once thought that newspapers are the first draft of history. So let's take our own shot at it.

If it could work out, I would like the Soehn era to be remembered as one where United was more adaptable, flexible, and unpredictable in terms of what we brought to the field. Soehn's line-ups have changed from week to week, he is fiddling but I doubt he will ever hit on a Best XI and stick with it from week to week a la Nowak. Instead, I would love to see more tactical decisions made in how the team plays and who starts. We've seen this a lot on the wing choices, where we've seen Casal, Moose, Olsen, Gros, and Fred. We've seen more movement up-top with Moreno, Emilio, Kpene, and Addlery. And we've seen changes in the backline.

If there's one thing Soehn may become known for, it's his willingness to experiment, toy with, and generally MacGyver the United lineup from week to week. That's a good thing right now (of course, one man's MacGuyver is another's overmeddling Mad Scientist...) And if I were to make a premature guess as to what we'll remember the Soehn era for, it would be for its adaptability.