Marc Fisher Takes the Bait

Someone should have seen this coming. Wait, someone did. The key graf:

It might be a tempting move to cut a stadium as a gesture to the anti-development side. It wouldn't really change anything, but it allows the city to remove the trojan horse argument of "Don't give away our land to evil sports owners!" that we're seeing employed. In reality, nothing changes, but the city might think it's an expedient PR move

And suddenly, on cue, comes Marc Fisher on his blog. Remember that we wrote that the goal of the anti-development forces is "No development of any sort." And frankly, they were at least refreshingly honest in their stated objectives. But we cautioned then that the stadium would always be the trojan horse in which the objections would be framed, and Marc Fisher decides to enter that horse through the predictable route. See how his article is framed:

"The battle over whether to build a soccer stadium for D.C. United at Poplar Point will today move beyond the rhetorical..."

"That does not bode well for a soccer stadium, at least not in the timeframe that D.C. United has been talking about."

Marc frames the entire issue in terms of the stadium, not in terms of the development as a whole. Marc then cynically insults his new environmental allies "Environmental claims are a developer's worst nightmare. Whether or not the most dire claims of the greens are correct, the process of finding out can take many years and many millions of dollars." In other words, it doesn't matter if the claims are true or not. Marc doesn't care. What Marc delights in is the political move of stalling and waging a social war of attrition. Marc's proposed solution "for the District to reconsider the privately held land immediately adjacent to the park" is a nice one that is, however, not on the table. That land is already privately held, and there's no guarantee that anyone can get at it to develop it. It's not on the table, it's merely the slight of hand distraction needed to allow Marc to deal all four aces to the bottom of his rhetorical deck.

I'd say this is shockingly cynical on Marc's part, but I would be lying. It is expected. Marc likes to deal in the faux-populism of Pat Buchanan circa 1991 in New Hampshire. He claims, disingenuously, that while he doesn't care for soccer, this isn't about his admitted antipathy, but instead about his love for the city. But when choosing between writing an honest column about the motives of the proposed lawsuit (that it is against all Poplar Point development) he instead chooses to clothe it once again as an anti-stadium screed.

American letters is full of curmudgeonly old men who are worth reading (H.L. Mencken, P.J. O'Rourke, and others come to mind). However, one thing those men couldn't stand was inauthentic representations of objection. Mr. Fisher embodies the worst posing, posturing, and demogoging tendencies of his profession as an opinion columnist. It's sad, pathetic, and disgusting simultaneously. The truth, which should be the most fixed point of navigation for anyone in the media, is simply a lesser constellation to that of Mr. Fisher's own agendas.

At least now we can dispense with the pretense that Mr. Fisher is a reasonable man championing the poor against evil judges with dry cleaning bills. We see him now as the mirror image of Roy Pearson, willing to use and misuse any platform he can find to advance his own opinions. And for that, perhaps, we can thank him.

Debriefing for Match 13.08: At Chivas USA

Chivas USA 3 : 1 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

Early goal... late defeat... final accounting?

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The LA Times, Grahame Jones: "D.C. United rode the talents of former Argentine World Cup midfielder Marcelo Gallardo to a 1-0 halftime lead over Chivas USA... Then, in a thoroughly unexpected turn of events, Chivas USA answered with two late goals from two good players -- Jesse March and Sacha Kljestan -- and then got another from teenager Jorge Flores to come away with a memorable 3-1 Major League Soccer victory."
The Washington Post, Steve Goff: " It happened so suddenly and without any warning."
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "United now has lost all four road matches this season and have been outscored 11-1 in those games. To add insult to injury this was the first ever win over United for Chivas USA in six matches."
MLSNet, Danny Bueno: "Marcelo Gallardo had put the visitors ahead in the 30th minute with a tremendous goal and D.C. United looked ready to take advantage of an injury-depleted Chivas USA squad that was missing nine players, including their entire starting defensive backline."
MLSNet, Luis Bueno: "Marsch finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about in the 73rd minute. Harris tried but failed to reach a loose ball inside the penalty area. Wells, though, dived and failed to collect the ball. Marsch ran onto the ball and softly slipped it into the back of the goal. Kljestan continued the late offensive surge. Harris tracked down a bouncing ball on the right flank and slipped a well-placed ball to the center of the box. Kljestan ran onto the ball and tucked it into the back of the net before heading toward a pocket of United supporters and karate-kicking his way toward a celebration."
Booked For Dissent, Dave Lifton: "United allowed themselves to get beat because they had no response to Chivas’ physicality. Instead, they got scared every time a Chivas player got near them, which led to cautious, hesitant play, resulting in turnovers. "
You Are My Minions, Landru: "It's also, not at all coincidentally, time to note the major role that awesome goalkeeping has played in DCU's success lo these many years. Great DCU teams had memorable keepers--Scott Garlick, Tom Presthus, Nick Rimando, and it appears all-too-briefly, Troy Perkins. Semen Wells is on a track to be the wrong kind of memorable. Except a keeper doesn't stay on that track long enough to become truly memorable."
DCUMD, Shatz: "I was all ready to come on here and give Tom Soehn props for putting together a good starting lineup that played really pretty well for 30 minutes. But that's about as far as it went. Because the tactical decision to sit back and defend a single goal lead has NEVER WORKED in this league...So we might as well start the countdown. If this persists, and there's no reason to believe that anything will change over the next few days, it will be exactly one week from today that Tom Soehn will be out of a job. That's Sunday May 25. And that will already be too late."
An American's View..., Brian Garrison: "It might be just as bad a situation if United replaces Soehn during this stretch as opposed to waiting until June. I really cannot see the club getting any better with Soehn at the helm. Maybe it is time for him to go down with his ship?"
BlackDogRed, BDR: "It's entirely plausible that Soehn is doing a shitty job, but I don't think it possible, or fair, to determine with any accuracy how shitty a shitty job he's doing considering what crappy tools he has at his disposal. What if Soehn is getting all that can be gotten out of these mutts?"
BehindTheBadge, The Management (feat. Tom Soehn): "But the first half I thought we had a game plan and we stuck to it, we were hard to play against, we got our goal. In the second half they came out with a bit more intensity and I don’t think we handled it well." [NOTE: And did you have a game plan in the second half? Did you stick with it? C'mon now... -D]

The Good

1. Gallardo's Goal: In a season starved for highlights, it was a good one. Not like his volley against RSL, but good none-the-less. I'm glad Behind The Badge has it up for you to watch. Really. Watch it, and pretend the entire game was like that. You might even come to believe it. We have always been at war with Chivasia.
   
2. Bryan Namoff: Another game where he was running his shorts off for most of the match. He makes mistakes, he gets beaten, but damn if he isn't trying. There was always talk of handing the armband to Ben Olsen at some point, but perhaps Ben should turn around and hand it to Bryan.
3. Atmosphere in the Corner: If we stipulate that certain Calvinists are right, and that there is an elect number of people that go to heaven come the Rapture, then certainly the brothers and sisters I was fortunate to join at the Home Depot Center have done enough to earn their place come Armageddon.
   

The Bad

1. Analysis from the Corner: Really, it's damn difficult to make sense of the game from down there. Even without the alcohol, you just don't have a good look at the game. That being said...
2. Aren't We Supposed to Play With the Lead? Yeah, let me say something I think I said on the UnitedMania Podcast. There's an old baseball maxim, I think attributed to Earl Weaver, that "If you play for the one run inning, that's exactly what you'll get." I think that also applies to us in the second half - "If you play not to score a goal, you'll succeed."
   
3. Using the Field: Ryan Cordeiro proved he's a standout in the reserve games, but never seemed to fully grasp his role in how to occasionally use both the left and right flanks.
   
4. LTJG Zach Wells: I was prepared to promote him after his performance against Chicago. Sadly, this performance negates it, as he lets in a dribbler and gives up a rebound. So we'll keep his rank unchanged, for the time being

Officiating Watch

Apparently the ARs had the offsides calls right. Michael Kennedy is a twerp, but no more annoying than any other official.

Likert Scale Grade: 3 - Average

Man of the Match

N/A. Merit award to Namoff. Goat to... Jaime Moreno, who never seemed to do what a captain needs to do. He's the one who should be harassing the ref, not Gallardo. He's the one that needed to give the team a quick reality check in the second half as the field started to tilt.

Adjusted Results

No adjustments.

Final Thoughts

Given this line-up, with the benching of Emilio and others, it had to be looked as a message from Soehn. So I feel that I have to give one game for the message to sink in. But that being said, all I asked for after the Chicago game was good basic soccer. Did you see that? I did for a decent portion of the game, but at the moment when the second half came around, we started making the same mistakes that have plagued us all season. Tom Soehn had a week and a half, even with a new line-up, to figure out how he wanted to simply move the ball around the field, and we couldn't do it in the second half. And that's a problem.

I'll be honest. He's got exactly one game left with me. And then, well, I might make the change. But if we don't do it in the next four games, then let's consign the season.

Shatz is writing that this is a rebuilding season. Well, it is now, but we were promised a shiny new car. It just happens to have been hit by a semi.

One game for Soehn. He's made his last possible move, now we'll see if it works. It's not that I think even that he's the problem, but the only move that can be made now to save the season has his name on it. Make the move, or consign the season to memory.

Tonight's Forecast: "Tears Shall Drown the Wind"

A few scattershot links before I reach my main point. First, it's going to rain tonight. We play better in the rain, except for those times we don't.

Second, Commenter Bootsy sent us this link to Charles Boehm's blog, in which there might be some dissatisfaction expressed by the Ownership at the state of things:

Principal owner-investor Victor MacFarlane was on hand at the announcement of the VW partnership at RFK Stadium on Tuesday morning, and his enthusiasm about the deal was tempered by noticeable dissatisfaction with his team’s performances.

“I’m not happy. We need to do much better on the field,” said the San Francisco-based real estate magnate. “The team needs to come together – we have the talent necessary, the team needs to gel and start delivering.”

And also a link to Booked for Dissent, where another critique of Tom Soehn is made (and made very well) but also contains an coda with which I am in complete disagreement:

But for all that, those of you calling for Soehn to be fired immediately should stop it. This is an organization that has never technically fired a coach (Rongen’s contract wasn’t renewed, and Hudson’s third-year option wasn’t picked up). And for all the talk at the United-Volkswagen press conference today about the importance both “brands” place on “tradition,” I don’t see them breaking away from any of that in the near future.

First, let me say that while I agree with pretty much everything else that Dave wrote, I am in utter disagreement with the ideas in his last sentences, so unfairly that's the only part I quoted. If you listen to the VW press conference (which Lifton nicely has put on-line for you, and I did listen to) he's right that a lot of talk about "brands" and "management" was invoked. However, more important to me was the statement, once again, that D.C. United's mission is "to win championships and serve the community." That's our tradition. We didn't put up a banner on DCUnited.Com with the word "tradition" next to a picture of Ray Hudson not getting a pink slip. We put that word surrounded by a bunch of trophies. Our tradition is about winning and community involvement, not some management practice. If it looks like 2008 is a lost season because of Tom Soehn, I don't see United's ownership just letting it happen simply because they never fired a coach before.

Now, that being said, I'm not calling on Tom Soehn to be fired. Yet. But I can see a time where it might have to happen, and I'd prefer it happen earlier in the season than later. And yes, I have a name in mind for at least a caretaker coach who could earn the job (and no, it's not Bruce Arena, but I've had this idea and talked it out with someone, and at least they didn't think I was crazy, even though I thought I might be. And no, I'm not telling you yet, because right now is not the time, but it's someone you know.) Still, if United underperforms tonight against Chicago, and in a week and a half against Chivas, could I see myself finally succumbing to the Fire Soehn commentary? Yes. It would require two dismal performances, but I'll be honest, it's something I've thought about.

If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly. A new coach would need to have some time to impose their ideas to turn the team around. A new coach might deserve some time to make a move before any transfer deadlines. And most of all, losing is a habit that gets harder to break.

So if we haven't fired Tom Soehn by Match 14, and the season is gloomy, then let's write the season off and move forward. But if it might make a difference, let's do it sooner rather than later.

UPDATE-3PM: Lifton responds to the post above that, as he says, "ripps him a new one" (the extra "p" means there was more power in the ripping). He says that our post...

...overlooks a major aspect of why United has a tradition, the way Kevin Payne does business. He is far too loyal to discard a coach so quickly (does 2001 ring a bell?), and would undoubtedly go to the wall for Soehn. I don’t see that changing so quickly.

I don’t know the terms of Soehn’s contract, but my guess is that it’s for two years with an option. That seems to be the standard. By virtue of his record last year, as well as his success as an assistant here, Soehn deserves to at least finish out this year before a decision on the option year is made.

I'm sympathetic to half of this argument. I do believe that Soehn has earned some margin of error. I believe that everyone can earn a bad season. The problem was the way this season has been positioned - as a year to really take on the international responsiblities. Failing to retake the Supporter's Shield doesn't bother me much. Failing to be competitive in our league matches while waiting for our next shot at international play? That does bother me. That being said, if United executives come out and say "Tommy's earned this for the remainder of the year" -- well, I could live with that.

However, the other part of Lifton's argument doesn't hold water for me. Loyalty is a fine thing, a noble thing, but loyalty that leads to disaster is not a virtue, it is pigheadedness. It is a form of willful stupidity. Kevin Payne is not a stupid man. He makes mistakes, but he learns from them.

Farfegnugen

Or, It Could Be a Multi-Level Marketing Scheme, So Be Thankful It's a Real Company At Least

The news this morning is of United's forthcoming announcement of VW as the official jersey insignia. By, I'm sure, complete coincidence, last night I was watching a rerun of Top Gear and there was a review of the Volkswagen Golf GTI W12. Jeremy Clarkson noted that this particular car, while seeming to combine the best of various other models, was unfinished, couldn't change directions well at all, and was slower than it should have been. At this point, you should be able to draw the connection.

That being said, short of Ben's Chili Bowl sponsoring United, this isn't bad. There's at least a local connection of sorts, it's a real company, and the money is decent. If it had to happen, and it did have to happen, it could have been so much worse.

So welcome aboard VW, and now let's ask the next question. With a debut on ESPN of the new front-of-shirt logo, and a designated player signing, and all the attention that brings... Does this raise the pressure to get results? Will the front office accept losses with our new corporate partners looking on? I mean this seriously. I think the leash just got a bit shorter.

UPDATE: This is Kinney just adding on to D's post. Goff is reporting that the contract with VW gives them the option to purchase the naming rights for the new stadium...whenever that gets completed. Also, for anyone thinking about going to Thursday's game, apparently VW is picking up the parking tab, so it will be $12 cheaper if you are a driver.

Debriefing for Match 13.06: At Colorado Rapids

Colorado Rapids 2 : 0 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

Gomez-Gallardo. Clavijo-Soehn. Lost Both.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Denver Post, Brian Forbes: "By the time Gomez was replaced to a standing ovation in the second half, having outplayed United's No. 10 — and Gomez's replacement — Marcelo Gallardo, the Rapids had sealed their 2-0 victory to give them 10 goals this season from 10 players."
MLSNet, Geoffrey Urland: "Former United midfielder Christian Gomez set up Jacob Peterson for the Rapids' first goal and former D.C. defender Facundo Erpen scored the insurance goal, with Gomez again providing an assist, as United remained winless in Colorado since the 2000 season."
The Washington Post, Steve Goff: " Unimaginative and uninspiring, United rarely challenged the Rapids..."
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "With United playing cautiously from the jump, they never gave themselves a chance to win this match. "
MLSNet, Geoffrey Urland: "The statistics show a game that was thoroughly dominated by the home team. United were outshot 17-5, gave up 10 corner kicks while earning only half that many, committed 13 fouls and, most importantly, gave up two second-half goals."
Behind the Badge, The Management: " D.C. United Head Coach Tom Soehn: 'The loss is very troubling, we have addressed a lot, especially having a better road mentality. When looking at individual performances in this game we were just bad all over the field, I can’t even think of a player that did well. '"
The Offside: Colorado Rapids, Kyle: "On Sunday, the Rapids outplayed DC United by any measure, and I still think they underperformed. I really think they could have scored three or four if they had just finished on a few of the opportunities they had in the first half."
Fighting Talker, Aaron Stollar: "Garbage. Absolute garbage...This is a team who’s best striker clearly cannot contribute right now and whose manager and technical director are finding their decisions exposed as wrong on a more regular basis...What is the one thing we all learned about Gomez during his tenure here? It’s that if you pressure him in possession incessantly and knock him down repeatedly, he’ll struggle. We didn’t do that one bit...I’ve officially reached the point where Soehn’s job is officially in jeopardy, at least to me."
Booked for Dissent, Dave Lifton: "I don’t know if United can make the necessary adjustments against a team that is playing very well and perennially has our number. It could just be a home-and-away thing, in which case United right now is no better off than it was under Ray Hudson. Again: one step forward, two steps back."
DCUMD, Shatz: "So despite playing with one more midfielder than the opposition, we were still dominated in the middle third. That right there is a really bad sign. But a worse sign is that Soehn continues to roll out the 3-5-2 regardless of the situation. Coaches always talk about how its important to be able to play successfully in more than one formation. I believe we have the team to be able to do that. So why not take advantage of our personnel and tailor the formation to the situation. Playing at home against a team that is weak offensively: that's a good time for the 3-5-2. But playing on the road against a team with a proven (and vengeful) MVP leading the attack, in a game where we would probably have been happy with a nil-nil draw: not a good time for the 3-5-2."
The Fullback Files: "I'm getting the worrying feeling that I'm on a bus, and the driver's got his eyes fixed on his dash-mounted GPS rather than the 30-car pileup a half-mile up the road and approaching fast. 'Hey guys, this setup worked for us at home against a team with no midfield creativity and no width! Let's do the same thing on the road against a team with a proven All-Star midfield dynamo and some decent wide players!' Jumpin' Jeebus on a pogo stick, man!"
BDR, BlckDgRd: "I'm going to wait past Thursday's game regardless of result and past both Toronto games, the back-to-backs, before thumping the chest of this season and declaring the corpse dead. But everything feels wrong this year, from the front office to the coaches to the players to the stadium experience. Everything."

The Good

1. Bryan Namoff: Even if Mr. Soehn can't name a single good performance, I can. Bryan played his role right, and was one of the few people who knew when to push up to put Colorado attackers into the offside position. Bryan didn't get beat by his marker on a corner kick. Bryan is most of the Good, except in tandem with...
   
2. Defenders, Roll Out: It was nice to see Martinez and Namoff join the attack moving the ball up on the wing. Really, our midfield play only looked functional in those moments.
3. The first half of Santino Quaranta: He played both ways, and again our movement up the wings looked better than anything in the middle. Sadly, he got gassed. Let this not be a metaphor for this season.
   

The Bad

1. We Always Fight the Last War: There's more concern about Soehn. There should be. If our working theory is right, we'll see a different performance against Chicago on Thursday. And, if our theory is right, and we do well against Chicago, we'll see the same ideas for the Chicago game used against Chivas. And that's a recipe for a .500 team...at best.
   
2. Emilio - Financial Market Performance Artist: Either he's hoping for a call every time he's falling down, or he's decided to stage a piece called "The performance of the Dollar against International Currency." It would be better if he covered himself in chocolate first. And said things like "rabbits! rabbits! rabbits!"
   
3. LTJG Zach Wells: Another game, another communication gaff. C'mon, I'm tired of this. We demote Lt. Zach Wells (O-3) to Lt. Junior Grade Zach Wells (O-2). Yes, we're using Navy ranks. No, I don't know why, other than I think that all starking keepers should at least have the rank of Commander (O-5)
   
4. Our game is one of holding the ball...Except when our midfield is dysfunctional. There's a lot of heat at Emilio, but I can't think of a game this season where he got less service. Our midfield was awful. Really awful. Anytime a team manages to simultaneously mark you closely and clog your passing lanes, something is deeply wrong. Gallardo also had one of his worst technical games this season. You could see the ideas in his forward passes, but they were either passes that required a precision that he couldn't execute (between two or three defenders) or they weren't particularly dangerous. No middle ground.
   

Officiating Watch

This was not a particularly challenging game for center official Jorge Gonzales and his ARs. If I have one complaint, it's that Ugo Ihmelhu somehow managed to commit half of Colorado's fouls and not get carded for persistent infringement. The ARs missed one off-side call that I saw, on a DC free kick, but otherwise had little to do, and did it well.

Likert Scale Grade: 3 - Average

Man of the Match

N/A. Merit award to Namoff. Your goat could be any number of players, but I will go with Gallardo.

Adjusted Results

No adjustments, though you might make a case that Colorado deserved another goal to make it 3:0. Still, the result feels about right as is. No change, and for the season D.C. United's adjusted record is 2-3-1 (7pts); 10GF, 13GA, -3GD.

Final Thoughts

What worries me is that I get the sense that Coach Soehn puts a team out there, and that is the extent of his management so far. Too frequently it seems he's relying on his players to figure out how to play the game, as routinely, even in games we do well in, the first 10 minutes are a disjointed affair. It's a strategy that could work, given experienced players, but how do you expect Quavas Kirk or Dan Stratford or any of the other new players to fit into a gameplan where the gameplan isn't necessarily known on the sideline. Instead, there seems to be a general theory and formation, based on the best moments of the last game, and the players are told "Go do something."

Case in point, earlier in the CONCACAF Champion's cup we saw that Franco Niell was fairly adept at running down long aerial balls over the top. Given that he's starting, and given the presence that Mastroeni and Ihemelu had in the middle of the field, might it not have made sense to try that in this match? Even with the narrower field? And yet, to my knowledge, I think I saw one attempt to play Niell into the final third in that fashion.

Now, I fully expect to see a different result against Chicago. But until we see two wins in a row, two games where United consistently makes progress even after a good result, then we have every reason to be concerned about the coaching for this season. We can blame the players, sure, and we can blame the lack of speed, sure, but these are the players we have. Either they just aren't sure how to use each other, or the coaching staff isn't telling them.

Learning to Love the Bug

The Washington Business Journal has announced that Volkswagen and DC United have signed a jersey sponsorship agreement. The deal will bring 3.7 million dollars annually to DC United and is the second largest deal in league history, behind Beckham's deal with Herbalife. There have been some rumblings about this, specifically in the Examiner, so it is not entirely out of the blue, but it sure came quick.

This sounds like a good deal to me, lots of money, an international brand, and a company that has a good history of sponsoring soccer teams. MLS rules will prevent the blue logo that would clash badly with the black and red, much like it used to clash badly with Werder Bremen's green and white, which is one of the main reasons I am pleased with the choice. But I want to know what you guys think. Do you love it? Hate it? Or could you care less?

Thanks to Mike H over at My Soccer Blog for the mock up jersey which is a photo shop job and not the official new look.

Debriefing for Match 13.04: Columbus Crew

D.C. United 1 : 2 Columbus Crew

Six Word Novel Recap

Never understood why Goldilocks preferred lukewarm.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Times, John Haydon: "Even with the strongest lineup coach Tom Soehn could use, D.C. United fell short last night at RFK Stadium. United lost 2-1 to the Columbus Crew before a crowd of 13,329. It wasn't as one-sided as Saturday's loss at Real Salt Lake in which three key players rested, but United's offense still struggled to find the right chemistry."
The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "Alejandro Moreno's sweeping shot from close range pushed Columbus (3-1) ahead in the 32nd minute. And later in the first half, after Bryan Namoff's deflected shot drew United even, the Crew needed just one minute to retake the lead."
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "Soehn was baffled with the miscommunication that seemingly plagued the United back line all night long. 'It should have been better than it was. They punished us when we didn't do a good job.'"
Soccer America, Ridge Mahoney: "Is it too soon for the fans of D.C. United to panic, given their team's depressing 2-1 loss to Columbus at RFK Stadium Thursday night? Of course it's too soon. But their misgivings are well-grounded. You can talk all you want about players getting to know each other and it's still April and they've had a heavy load of games and all that, but this team has been together for more than two months and doesn't show much leadership or competitive fire."
Hunt Park Insider, Matt Bernhardt: "The Columbus Crew's first victory in RFK Stadium came courtesy of an own goal from Richie Williams. So too did the team's latest conquest, as Sigi Schmid's men gutted out a 2-1 win Thursday night. The victory puts the Crew temporarily atop the MLS standings, with nine points from four games played. DC United, meanwhile, is in the Eastern Conference basement with the opposite record."
Behind the Badge, The Management: "[Emilio] There is no frustration here, we know the potential we have...[Gallardo] We need to get a couple of wins so we can gain confidence, not get desperate."
MLSNet, Chris Snear: "...it was Schelotto who controlled the midfield in the first half, orchestrating a far more fluid attack than his Argentine counterpart. Though United created ample chances, Gallardo was given very little space to play with very few options provided by his front runners. Most of United's attack was generated from the flanks with Fred on the left side and Bryan Namoff on the right."
MLSNet, Charles Boehm: "...the home side fluffed a string of scoring chances before Alejandro Moreno's grit and graft produced two goals that put United behind the 8-ball. Neither was pretty - the first, an awkward close-range finish to a fluid passing move and the second an own goal off Gonzalo Peralta just seconds after Bryan Namoff's equalizer - but both were just rewards for the Crew. The combined effect was devastating to D.C.'s fragile mindset."
BLCKDGRD, BDR: "it is time to start asking if the team is playing up, down, or equal to its players' - and coach's - ability, and I've got the uneasy feeling that what we're seeing might be the team's true level: the players just aren't very good, and the coach isn't capable of getting a greater result than the sum of his players."
The Far Post, Thaddeus Byron Aloysius Dopenhopper: "...time to call out some dudes...Emilio: The dude is a poacher. Poachers are streaky and frustrating. This season he’s being asked to hold the ball with his back to the goal, but MLS defenders have figured out if you lean on him he gets so distracted he can’t make the appropriate pass to a teammate."
DCUMD, Shatz: "The whole team seems way too tentative on offense. Instead of taking the quick cross or the one-time shot, United is more often holding the ball waiting for a play to develop, or sending it in to Emilio posting up with his back to the goal (which never works)."
The Offside - D.C. United, Jon: "One of the Gonzalos is good, the other one needs to wake up. The good one is Martinez, who had a strong match. Peralta once again got beat for goals. I say sit him in favor of McTavish."

UPDATES:

• Photo Gallery from Information Leafblower
• DCist, Matt Borque: "Despite Soehn's offensive substitutions, United could barely sniff a goal."
• An American's View, Brian Garrison
• Center Holds It, Jeff Bull: "'The Crew held on for the win': that’s one of the most limited of soccer cliches. It falls well short of letting one appreciate just how energetically Columbus defended, how they compensated for an occasional lack of organization by closing down fast and clamping down hard."
• Who ate all the Cupcakes?, Longshoe
  
• Poplar Point Perspective, JCM
  

The Good

1. Marcello Gallardo: Commenter Jeremy asks exactly the right skeptical question last night in the Impressions: "How can you praise Gallardo's 'vision' when this vision leads to a turnover and the end of any attacking chance. For me vision includes seeing the play developing, anticipating the reactions of your teammates and the defense and moving the play forward. I have not seen that from Gallardo." And Commenter Grunthos gets the answer exactly right: "Gallardo *is* seeing the developing play better than his teammates and trying to direct the flow of the offense. With depressing frequency, his teammates ignore his suggestions or fail to understand them... the turnovers are not occurring because Marcelo made a bad choice, they are occurring because the other guys aren't reading his moves well." This is perfect, and means I don't have to do any work answering the question. Ah, the joys of laziness.
2. Key Coaching Decision Making: Tom Soehn's line-up and substitutions were all reasonable and fine. I enjoyed the double-substitution early in the second half. Now we need to start thinking about what exactly the "Best XI" for United is. More on that below.
3. Gonzalo Martinez: Really, his tackling, his presence, and his marking are excellent. If the United defense could be a little more competent, he may be putting forward a Defender of the Year type season if this continues.
   
4. The Columbus Second Half: You can complain about teams sitting on the lead, or you can credit Columbus for playing an excellent half with a one goal lead. They kept their shape the entire 45 minutes, they defended well, and they limited United to one or two dangerous balls the entire time. They deserve credit for that, and I will give it to them.
5. Checking in with the others: Saw this guy last night, who, like me, starts composing his blog posts around half-time. And to the three or four other people who dropped by to say kind things, I appreciate it.
   

The Bad

1. Lieutenant Zack Wells: I think sometimes small moments illustrate big problems better than the goals do, so let me direct your attention to the second half, sometime around the 55th minute. Columbus attempts to play a through ball behind the United back line, but the pass is errant. Gonzalo Martinez starts to track the ball down facing his own goal. Robbie Roger, I think, starts to apply some high pressure. Now, Martinez has three options: 1 - He can try and turn the ball himself and play out of the back. 2 - He can send a back pass to Wells to play out of the back. 3 - He can guard the ball back to Wells who can pick it up. Wells comes out of his box, and it looks like Option 3 will be well executed.
   
   But then Wells suddenly backpeddles four steps, just as Martinez can hear footsteps. What now? The back pass could be risky, playing it youself can lead to a costly turnover, and Wells suddenly isn't in position to pick the ball up. With some frantic movement, Wells suddenly reapproaches the ball and kicks it directly to his left for a Columbus attacking throw. And then Wells yells at Martinez, after not having taken charge earlier despite being able to see the entire field. Which is ridiculous. Wells is clearly the one who should be commanding the play as he can see what's happening. Accordingly, Mr. Wells, we demote you from O-4 to O-3, and you are now a Lieutenant in the Goalkeeping Navy.
2. Defense on the Left: Both goals had unfortunate breakdowns on the left side, and I won't even go into the Wells decision to leave the net on the second goal. I mean, he was in a perfectly fine position to guard the post for any keeper not named Tony Meola. I'd like to see Devon McTavish taken out of the midfield role (replace him with Quaranta or Kirk, please) and used more as an augment to the defense as needed. Bleh.
3. Cutting-in: Fred, I love your workrate, and your willingness to run. I'm just tired of seeing you get a ball at the corner of the box and 95% of the time cutting it back into the middle on the dribble.
   
4. Emilio: See last night's post. With his back to goal, he's looking awful.

Officiating Watch

Both ARs were excellent, and I didn't disagree with a single flag that went into the air. Center official Jair Marrufo was his typical self, which is a shame. I would really like to see a replay of the first time Emilio was taken down in the box, as from my seats (Sec 236) it looked like a penalty, but given that I couldn't see if Emilio was also shirt grabbing, I can't really make a definitive call. That being said, Mr. Lars next to me saw a lot of two footed tackles not get called (both ways) and that's really not right kids.

Likert Scale Grade: 2 - Below Average

Man of the Match

N/A. Merit Awards to Gallardo and Martinez, your goat is, I think, Zack Wells (though Peralta and Emilio both are candidates)

Adjusted Results

A-ha! If I can find a replay of that Emilio take-down, I might adjust one goal up for United. Or if there's consensus in the comments. So it's either no change, or a 2-2 match. What say you?

UPDATE: Commenter Jason caught the replay, and argues for DC +1.5 for a DOGSO red to Frankie. I'm not sure I can go that far, but at least it confirms the initial thought of a clear penalty (combined with some good other chances). So the adjusted result is +1 goal for D.C, for a final score of DC 2 : 2 CLB. For the season, D.C. United's adjusted record is 1-2-1 (4pts); 7GF, 10GA, -3GD.

Final Thoughts

There need to be changes. Personally, I'd start with the place where it seems we have the most options, and take out McTavish for Kirk or, more likely, Quaranta. I mean, yes, thank you for your goals in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, but it's just not working Devon. Sub him in on the defense, or start him for Peralta for a game.

I'm not sure that we're a bad team, as BDR might argue. I see a whole lot of talent on the field, and not just on paper. But our lack of a coherent attack as a team is concerning. We improvise nicely, but that only takes you so far. I love improvisation, but Whose Line Is It Anyway? never won a dramatic Emmy. Or a BAFTA, for those of you who remember Tony Slattery. Regardless, we're not on the same page. And we've had, as Mr. Mahoney notes, 8 games to get on the same page. That's not good.

That being said, I'm less annoyed by this result than the RSL result. The RSL game was a game where we deserved the thrashing we received. This game was a bit unfortunate, as we had some very nice moments in the opening thirty minutes. There was progress, sadly it was progress from one of the most ridiculous losses in our history. So I'm not about to scream and yell. Yet. A loss, with extra rest, at home against RSL... that would be pretty much intolerable, right? Right.

Morning Coffee out of the Freezer

FREEZER CALL: Okay, so thinking about it, it makes sense to publish the Freezer on Fridays. There are a few reasons for this, but mainly it allows us to consider the midweek games for the Freezer, and set the table nicely for the weekend. Your recommendations in the comments are most appreciated as we go forward. The previous week's Freezer is here.

OVERSEAS REPORTING: Congratulation to Hoops for keeping the Scottish race alive. Kevin G and his gang have been good friends to us, so we're glad to see some good fortune go the way of his lot. Further, the official Unibond Premier League team of the DCenters, Gateshead F.C., are solidly in with a shot at promotion, as they currently sit third in the standings, which puts them in the playoff (if I understand the promotion system at this level correctly).

SEE ANYTHING YOU LIKE? Sideline Views reports that Chivas is interested in a D.P., having traded away their D.P. rights to New York. Let's see, what teams haven't used their Designated Player allocations? Oh wait, didn't we get one from Colorado for Christian Gomez? I'm not sure if we could trade it, but if we could, and this is just speculation, is there anything you might want out of Chivas? There's some talent on that squad...

Debriefing for Match 13.01: At Kansas City Wizards

Kansas City Wizards 2 : 0 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

Ask me the secret to comedy.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "the 2-0 defeat before a sellout crowd of 10,385 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark did not sit well with a United team that retooled its roster in hopes of winning something other than a regular season title. Ivan Trujillo and Claudio López, the Wizards' South American imports, scored 14 minutes apart early in the second half as Kansas City handed D.C. a decisive, early-season defeat for the second consecutive year."
The Washington Times, Cole Young: "D.C. United probably wishes it could replay the 61st minute of its MLS opener against the Kansas City Wizards last night. United had a goal called off because of an offside call and then gave up a goal on the ensuing possession as it fell 2-0 at Community America Ballpark.
The Kansas City Star, Bob Luder: "Ivan Trujillo and Claudio Lopez, both of whom signed with the Wizards earlier this month, each scored second-half goals. A mostly rock-solid defense did the rest in leading the Wizards past the reigning Major League Soccer Supporters Shield holder in front of — yes, a sellout crowd — 10,385."
MLSNet, Thomas Foote: "Managing player minutes with a big international game following was one thing. United is facing the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinal against Pachuca of Mexico on Tuesday."
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "United had the best of the rare scoring chances in first half with a 17th minute blast from Luciano Emilio that was well saved over the bar from KC keeper Kevin Hartman. United did well to create their usual smooth possession game in the first half but an early second half goal set KC on their way to the win."
DCUMD, Shatz: "One lesson learned though... Kansas City is probably better than I thought. Claudio Lopez really seems to have been embraced by his team, and Ivan Trujillo seems like a bit of a jackass, but will probably score a lot of goals this year."
Down the Byline, Mike: "Death, taxes, and beating DC to open the season. Those are the three assured things for the Wizards the past two seasons...To start the second half, though, it was the Wizards that dictated the tempo, and only 2 minutes into the second half, Michael Harrington's cross was touched by Jack Jewsbury into the path of Trujillo who slotted the ball inside the near post of Zach Wells to make it 1-0 Wizards."
Six Yards North, QJA: "The thing is, there's a big drop off in talent between our starting XI and our subs. Our lack of depth is a serious problem."
Fighting Talker, Aaron Stollar: "I am quite disappointed. It’s not that we lost, it’s that we lost making so many of the same errors we explcitly sought to fix...The attack again insisted on pounding it down the middle of the field where KC had amassed all its defenders bother, hack and repel. Quaranta should’ve been inserted at the wing, not in for Niell...Don’t get me wrong, there were new problems as well...If they say that they weren’t looking ahead to Pachuca, I want to know what the hell they were looking at. "
BLCKDGRD, BDR: "BEN OLSEN! Any questions on his importance? Gallardo will be fine, Simms is fine, sure would be nice to have two other midfielders out there in the midfield, yes? Landru talks about the formation, but what five midfielders would United use? (Dyachenko out on red hurt, but really....)"
Still Pending: An American's View, DCist,

The Good

1. Free MLS Direct Kick Weekend: That was nice, not making me wait for tape delay. And hey, RSL actually looked good in their second half with new US Citizen Dema Kovalenko, and Columbus wasn't awful to watch, and... wait, really, this is the KC telecast? Wow, um... I can see why Dave Johnson preferred to be calling the Houston-New England match on FSC than travel with Comcast to KC for this one. Yikes.
   
2. Strategic Sacrifice: Look, there was a time when a D.C. United coach would simply look at a situation like Tom Soehn had on Saturday, and would play his top XI on Saturday, and then play them again on Tuesday. And then probably for the next two games he had as well, until they were about to fall over, and then he'd bring out a reserve squad against Columbus or something, and we'd end up losing that game narrowly. That time was 2005. That Tom Soehn is willing to rest some players ahead of the CONCACAF Champion's Cup match is the right decision, as right now that competition takes priority over the MLS regular season. That's the right decision. And while I somewhat agree with QJA above, I disagree in terms of actual impact. While our reserved are not as good as our first XI, I still think Domenic Mediate and Devon McTavish (and Niell, for that matter) put in good minutes. As good as Fred, Olsen, and Moreno would have? Maybe not, but that's why they are reserves and not everyday starters. Now, I do agree with some of the kvetching about Quaranta for Niell as opposed to, say, Quaranta for McTavish, but I think this was not so much about tactical decisions on pushing for the win as limiting Niell's minutes, so even there I won't object.
3. Fight On Through: I disagree with the sentiment that somehow United wasn't showing the effort on Saturday. I felt they fought the entire game. Yes, the final shots weren't there, but they at least were creative, and were moving the ball around decently.
   

The Bad

1. Emilio: Yes, he had one blistering shot, but even that shot was probably the easiest hard shot to save (you follow me, right?) Hartman only had to make a vertical move to make the save, there was no lateral movement involved. He was frequently drifting around the field, and never seemed to be able to leverage his strengths. I do not look to Emilio to break down a defender on the dribble, but apparently he felt that was his best option at times.
2. The Predictability of Fred: There were multiple moments when DC would get the ball wide to Fred, but on each occasion he would cut the ball in along the top of the box rather than push it down the side to whip in the cross. After a time, that became much too easy a move to anticipate.
3. The non-deployment of Clyde Simms: KC has a Designated Player their hopes for goals rest on, so why isn't Clyde man-marking him out of the game?
   

Officiating Watch

Ricardo Salazar had a decent match. Yes, KC got away with more hacking than I would like, but he called it decently enough. The ARs blew one off-side call, but that was to DC's benefit. The one call that went against us that I object to was the failure to award a penalty after Domenic Mediate was tackled in the box. That call should have been made, but perhaps the feeling was the ball had gotten away from him. I still think you make that call. Still, as a whole, I have little compliant.

Man of the Match

N/A

Karma Bank

We earn 2 karma for the failure to be awarded the penalty for Mediate's take-down, but we also burn 1 karma for the horrible off-side call that disallowed what would have been another KC Goal. Overall play doesn't earn or lose any karma. +1 for the match, so +1 for the season.

Final Thoughts

I don't feel much different today than I felt on Saturday. The comments in the First Impressions are right -- If we play this way against Pachuca, then the Champion's Cup run is over. But I don't expect us to play the same way, or with the same people, in that match. I expect a better effort. For what this was, I can accept it. It's a disappointing result, but not an enraging one. I did see signs of a good defense, a diverse attack, and more reason to hope than fear. It was an away loss to a team that's pretty good. And right now, the priority must be Pachuca.

Debriefing for Match 13.A.01: At Harbour View F.C.

Harbour View F.C. 1 : 1 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

The season's started. Tell the players.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "Devon McTavish scored for United just before halftime, but Lovell Palmer volleyed the equalizer past goalkeeper Zach Wells to leave the total-goals series even heading into the final leg Tuesday night at RFK Stadium."
MLSNet, Charles Boehm: "D.C. started out brightly, switching play from side to side and probing the Harbour View back line. But the MLS side was hit by two injury blows in quick succession starting in the 14th minute. First Moreno pulled up clutching his hamstring after chasing after a ball deep in the Harbour View penalty area, immediately signaling the bench for a substitution. Then goalkeeper Zach Wells took a boot to the head as he raced off his line and smothered a through ball at the feet of Richard Edwards, who seemed to leave his foot in a dangerous position as he moved past the prone netminder. After receiving treatment, the dazed Wells was able to continue, but Moreno gave way to another new South American, Argentinos Juniors loanee Franco Niell."
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "Despite it being United's first match of the season, they had decent control of the flow of play throughout the first half only being halted by a series of rough tackles that resulted in yellow cards to two Harbour View players...The second half was pretty similar to the start of the game in that United was the better team for the first 20 minutes but then Harbour View started to pile on the pressure."
The Fullback Files: "United looked rough, but you pretty much could have predicted that with the crappy pitch on offer and the lack of match sharpness for United coming in. Regardless, I thought we'd show a little better than that."
BlackDogRed, BDR: "No broad generalizations on the fate of the season from a first disorganized 90 minutes of determined refusal to build through the middle, but if Soehn's great brainstorm with all his new talent is to play every ball over the top like some relegation threatened Wearside team, jeebus fuck, he could have done that with last year's talent. You spend the designated player spot on a ball-distributing ten and craft a strategy of running the offense over him?"
DCUMD, Shatz: "All in all, not an unfair result when you consider its our first competitive match with this team and they've been playing together for months. And we were missing our two emotional leaders."
Fighting Talker, Aaron Stollar: "What I didn’t like...No wide play. United left Emilio fairly isolated with a lack of decent crosses. Yes, the goal was a result (indrectly of a cross) but the two wingers Fred and McTavish needed to be more involved and they weren’t" [Note: Word. See below]
QuarterVolley, I-66: "Work in progress. That’s the way to describe this team right now. "
Six Yards North, QJA: "The most important thing I noticed was the slow pace to the game. It seems United is struggling to shake off its preseason mentality. Players were walking at every opportunity and there were far too many lackadaisical balls over the top."
Soccer Insider, Steve Goff: "The first two results were satisfactory for the visiting MLS sides, who will head home for the second legs of the Champions' Cup quarterfinals next week"

The Good

1. Frank O'Neal: Came into the game ahead of schedule, but I thought did very well. He seems to be two things: Fast and Small. And he was good, it was his hustle that brought us to the goal.
   
2. Clyde Simms: Thought he had a wonderful game at midfield, a disruptive force
   
3. Center Defense: Seemed decent for most of the game, giving up a goal on a set piece but I don't fault any of the new acquisitions for that. Stollar and I are in agreement that Burch and Namoff were most at fault.
   

The Bad

1. Ef the SC: Reading around the blogs, it seems to have been concluded that Lifton and Fullback posted the definitive critique of Fox Soccer Channel's myriad mispronunciations. I agree with everything they said, and urge you to read their litanies. In response, I propose to now pronounce Caligiuri as Caligula.
   
2. Tom Soehn and the Safety First Kids: Again, I don't think out tactics last night will be the same as our tactics the rest of the year, but last night was not particularly fun to watch. Long balls over the top is ugly football, but I understand the reason for it. More concerning for me was a lack of recognition that Harbour View's late game threat wasn't something that would solved by adding Dan as another holding midfielder. The direct move would have been to take off Fred or McTavish for a better defending wing player (Kirk? Tino if his defense really has improved?) And that's assuming you agree with the idea of just trying to hold the lead, which many of you do not (although here, I differ, feeling that the motivation is sound, it was just the execution that was suspect).
   
3. Marcello Gallardo: A marginal call here. It wasn't so much that he was bad, but that we seemed to be playing a system that reduced his role to Marco Etcheverry 2001 (let me hit a thirty yard pass and see if you can run it down.) I expect more. I expect our tactics to show us more. His first free kick was pretty nondescript. His second was quite nice. I am excited, but I don't think we really saw much last night.
   
4. Devon McTavish: Yes, he got the goal. And he did well after blocking a team mate's shot to get that goal. But for most of the night, he was invisible, even on defense, and that's simply not acceptable. Fred was compartively better, so Fred's off the hook on this one.
   
5. Emilio: If he's going to get the captain's armband, then even when teams are taking him out of the game he's got to assert himself.
   
6. Jaime Moreno: Not his fault that he pulled up lame, but not encouraging either.
   
7. Marc Burch: Got caught twice deep in our end with the ball, and that's simply not acceptable. I want to see a step forward in his game, and it wasn't there last night.
   

Man of the Match

N/A

Karma Bank

Not applicable, but it was I'd fine us 1 karma for a generally listless performance.

Final Thoughts

I do enjoy writing these again. I really do. And while I'm disappointed, I'm not furious. As I wrote last night, I can't imagine this is how we'll play the entire year. I have to believe we made a tactical decision last night to play as we did, and that the second leg at RFK will see an entirely different type of game.

Like Stollar, I am concerned about the lack of wing play. I hinted at this last night, but even when we had control at the top of the box, it seemed too often the through balls on the flank were going to Namoff. I love Namoff, but I'd prefer to see crosses or penetration in that area from Fred or Kirk or someone whose job is to get forward. Gallardo played the ball long decently, but I did not see a recognition that our lack of width was an issue last year, or that we've taken any tactical steps to address it.

So... neither bad nor good but thinking makes it so. Preseason form was in evidence, but we can not use that as an excuse. If we allow ourselves to think that way, we are only creating excuses for a loss, and not a reason for a win. I want a win.

Out on business, and everyone goes crazy!

And, judging by the headlines and comments, the following occurred while I was away. Clyde Simms lost his job, Ben Olsen and Jeff Carroll will be out for the season, Pat Carroll is a goal-scoring machine, and the stadium deal was decided to be a taxpayer ripoff that would sell the children of DC into bondage so that we could play soccer on a field built by the labor camps of third graders. Ah, fun. Let's pull out the deconstruction toolkit and get to work.

DEPARTMENT OF OVERSTATED HEADLINES - "SIMMS JOB IN JEOPARDY": If the Times is like most papers (and who knows on that count) then John Haydon does not write his own headlines. Which gets him off the hook for the overblown headline about Clyde Simms losing his starting role. I mean, John's main source for the article is... Clyde Simms. I doubt he's really saying "Please Coach Soehn, I should be benched!" I mean, is he?

But the soft-spoken Simms knows the defensive-midfield role isn't his to lose. Another player at his position is draftee Dan Stratford, an Englishman who attended West Virginia who has looked good in preseason training.

"He is a very smart player and can play this position very well, so I definitely have competition for this spot," Simms said.

So, Clyde Simms says some nice things about Stratford, and we get this? Nah, he's just being the soft-spoken "Gonna show up to play every day, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains..." kinda guy.

TYPICALLY IN AN ARGUMENT, YOU MARSHALL FACTS, CREATE A CHAIN OF LOGIC, THEN REACH AN OPINION: Look, your point may be correct. But if you say things like "Betting on such a risky source of public funds to finance another massive, debt-incurring project like a $230 million soccer stadium might be good for sports, but it’s dangerous for the city," well, you need to demonstrate those facts. See, I can say anything, and it sound ominous. For instance "Letting college kids write newspaper editorials might be educational, but it threatens our American Way of Life (TM) and could lead to global warming." You gotta prove these things, not just state them as fact.

MORE PLEASE: Yes, good.

I HATE ALARMISM: But the UnitedMania gang may have been write to sound diverse alarums about Ben Olsen.

Okay, I hope to be back to work now. Let's hope so.

The Fenty Stadium Initiative: Does This Make Any Sense To Anyone?

The number one topic of conversation today must be the Washington Post's A1 article on Mayor Fenty's pending public support for development of a soccer stadium at Poplar Point. This development is, naturally, being hailed a huge one, even with everyone acknowledging that we are still years away from playing in a home of our own. Certainly there are reasons to hope, but also reasons to be concerned.

Let's start with the key grafs...

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has proposed using public funds to build a professional soccer stadium in Southeast Washington that would cost as much as $190 million, a drastic departure from his stance against public financing of the Nationals baseball stadium...Even if the council agreed to use public money for a soccer stadium, the larger Poplar Point development project is likely to cost much more in public funds. The Clark proposal could cost $200 million to $350 million for infrastructure, including roads, sewers, lights and the park. Some of those costs almost certainly would fall on the city.

There is one unambiguous fact: Mayor Fenty is sincere in his desire for a new stadium. How can we be sure? Because Fenty's plan manages to maximize his vulnerability to any charge of hypocrisy a political opponent would make. The original United initiative did not call for public funds to be used for the construction of the stadium, just infrastructure improvements (which Nakamura puts a $350 million tag on.) In a way, MacFarlane had provided Fenty perfect political cover for supporting a stadium, since public funds would not be used for the construction. Now Fenty has gone further -- the original infrastructure costs are still there, but we're adding $190 million on top of it. Fenty's opposition to the Nats stadium was well documented, and this represents a choice that seems to be in direct opposition with his earlier views. It represents a huge political move that Fenty, had he taken the original United deal, didn't have to necessarily take.

So let's be thankful for Mayor Fenty's support, even if I have no understanding of how he came to this decision. And, admittedly, even I am a little nervous about using public funds to finance the construction of a stadium. I enjoyed the idea that United would build it and that subsidies would be used for infrastructure which would not just benefit the stadium, but the entire development and area.

Which brings us to the following causes for concern: Why did Fenty abandon a way of pursuing the stadium that would have given him cover for a more politically risky (to him, at least) method? Who will own the stadium? How many people who were okay with infrastructure improvements suddenly rebel against public financing for the stadium itself, and will soccer prove an easier target to kick (hah!) than baseball? I don't know. This is not the development (in any sense of the word) that I expected a year ago. And while I'm happy to have Mayor Fenty on board, I'm more nervous than ever about how the city will respond to the stadium.

Grab a Cup of Coffee and a "I Voted in Arlington" Sticker

RANDOM POLITICAL RANT: Yes, it is cold this morning, but I still managed to drag myself to my local polling place and vote. Now, frankly, I'm not sure that one individual vote matters, but I'm pretty sure that politicians care about the types of people who vote. Old people vote, so politicians care about them. If nothing else, the fact that people under 40 (let alone under 30 like me) are getting out to the polls makes me think that perhaps some politicians will actually stop writing off the kids as people they can ignore. Plus, I want myself a soccer stadium. That may not be on the ballot, but if people who do want soccer stadiums vote, then maybe that'll be a nice bonus. Okay, that's a dream. But still...

FIFA LOVES EL DIABLO: I'm not sure what prompted FIFA.COM to run a "Marco Etcheverry - Not Just in Bolivia" article, but I like it. One of the things that this league is in danger of occasionally is losing touch with its past while it tries to reconfigure for future growth. We're fortunate in that "Tradition" is not just a catch-phrase around these parts, but something we take somewhat seriously. In a little over a decade, we have had some great moments. Let's not forget our early years. I think this guy agrees with me, and I also am pretty sure he's doing something about it.

DID YOU EVER PLAY SIM CITY AND RUN OUT OF ROOM TO ZONE COOL THINGS IN? Tim Lemke in the Times has an interesting article about the pace of stadium construction in the USA. One of the things I think it highlights is the fact that we need to move on the stadium situation now, in the next year or two, or the entire situation nation-wide may be bogged down beyond belief:

"We look at the U.S. pro sports market as about 80 percent built out," said Bob White, director of marketing for Kansas City-based architect HOK Sport Venue Event, whose numerous designs include Oriole Park and Nationals Park. "So we're not at the end of that phase, but we can certainly see the end."

"SYNERGY" - NOT JUST A CORPORATE BUZZWORD. OKAY, IT PROBABLY IS. HOW ABOUT "WIN-WIN" INSTEAD?Kyle McCarthy breaks down the Gomez to Colorado trade: "this deal benefits both teams and the league." I agree.

IF LA CAN PAY HIM, HE SHOULD GO: It's no secret that I like Jay Needham, if just because he was willing to do an interview with us. So the story that he might be heading to LA (via Goff) saddens me, since I think L.A. is pretty atrocious to people who aren't marquee attractions. But if they can pay him above the developmental salary, he should take the money and DC, not being willing to pay him, should trade him. I would want him here, but he had every right to want more than $30K for his services, and his time at Puerto Rico vindicated his decision.

Busy day for me, but I'll see if I can check back in later.

Gomez Gave Us Options, Even in Departure

I'm working on putting together an something I hope you might find interesting, but let's spend at least one post dedicated to the most important player that D.C. United had from 2004 to 2007: Christian Gomez. He is arguably the reason we won the MLS Cup in 2004. He was critical to the 2006 and 2007 Supporter's Shield runs. His free kicks were frequently the difference between one point and three points (such as last year against Houston.) I did say that Christian Gomez may not reach the highest order in the D.C. United pantheon, but that's primarily because he was only here for three and a half years. Does it seem longer? If so, it is because he was so good that it was hard to conceive of a time when he wasn't here.

What made Gomez so great was the versatility he brought to the field. He ran the offense, and made defenses respect that we had three legitimate scoring threats. Who could they eliminate? Gomez? Moreno? Eskandarian or Emilio? Someone would be free, and sometimes it was Ben Olsen, or Fred, or they just couldn't taken them all out. Gomez was the reason teams couldn't combat us the same way we'd combat Angel (deny him service, then watch the attack wither). They might try, and hack at his shins and ankles all day long, but even then we'd earn free kicks that could be even more dangerous.

And now, even as he leaves, we learn that Colorado had to give us their Designated Player slot for a few years after Toronto made a similar offer for him. Even if Christian Gomez isn't a Designated Player, it is clear he was worth the price of one, and to have the opportunity to sign a new player or promote one to a DP slot after the signing of Gallardo is immense. It is only fitting that Gomez would not just give us options while on the field, but expand the universe of options in his departure. Mr. Gomez, we salute you, and provided you don't grab your crotch at the fans when you spark Colorado to a nice scoring move, you will always receive a warm welcome at RFK. Thank you sir.

1-2-3 What are we drafting for?

I can't really must much enthusiasm for the MLS Superdraft this year. Maybe it is the lack of a first round draft pick, our analysis which has indicated (though not conclusively proven) that DC is not particularly performing well in the draft the last few years. Although, here we may be confusing causes and effects. Is the issue that DC isn't finding talent? Given United's decent performance in finding overlooked players who have made it to first team time, I don't think that's the scenario. The issue is, I think, one of developing players. If we find a player with a reasonable amount of talent, we can find a place for them. If someone's talent is marginal to begin with, I'm not sure we're as good as other team at developing and honing those skills to make them better than they are. This is, by the way, an area I think other teams do much better than United in.

Now, the counter-argument is that with a strong first team (back-to-back Supporter's Shields and all that) it is more difficult for new players to break in. And I understand that, but that only holds for the Best XI, and given the large number of fixtures we look to have, we can't always play the Best XI. Tom Soehn gave the US Open Cup to the reserves, a position I agreed with (and continue to agree with), but that was only one game (which they disappointed in). Quite simply, is the problem not the players, but the training? It is a question I don't have an answer to, but it is a question that should be asked.

To some degree, I also think United is a bit cavalier about its draft picks. I think you should get a decent first team player with a first round pick, someone who can give you several years. The others are all a bit hit or miss, but the first round pick should be good for something. And yet, United has valued a first round draft pick as equivalent to Rod Dyachenko, a player I am not sold on to this date. Of course, one might think we were, shall we say, coerced into overpaying to get Rod back (given that his passport issues could have prevented him from playing any games in Toronto, I can see why Mo Johnston might have felt swindled in the Expansion Draft and complained to someone). So, in short, I don't think the draft will provide you with much reassurance about our upcoming 2008 roster. And look at the comments coming from the Front Office:

"If we can add a wide midfielder, that would be useful," United general manager Dave Kasper said. "We always need more cover in the back, but we are really just looking for the best talent available."

Sure, it would be useful to add a startling level wide midfielder from the draft, but I wouldn't count on it. United could draft another striker for defensive midfielder with their first pick. If I had a guess, I could see United picking a defender, but the last three words are the important ones - "Best talent available." Drafting for need with our situation is naive, and could create more problems than it solves. Consider what Kasper said to the Express:

"We want to come away each year with one or two young guys who can contribute at around minimum salary," Kasper said.

In other words, maybe we can find some value, but we're not looking for superstars. Seems about right.

Concession

"The people have spoken. The soccer people, anyway." - Steve Goff

"The people have spoken, the bastards." - Dick Tuck

Steve Goff has claimed victory in the Best US Soccer Blog sweepstakes, and while I have not heard anything official, I doubt I will just as I had no idea we were even nominated. If, at some point, I see vote totals, I will try and let you know how we did. If we must lose out, then losing at least to a blog from our city should cushion the blow. You know, at least it wasn't Ives. To those of you that cast a few votes our way, my thanks. Let me say this - We are not finished here. As part of our continuing mission to offer you the best opinion, rush-to-judgement, and biased analysis, we shall continue. Goff may make the soccer web interesting, but we want to make it fun. Congratulation to Mr. Goff, whose reporting is truly excellent and makes writing about D.C. United and MLS easier in many, many ways. We hope to take you down next year if we get a chance. See, because it's a derby now.

Veronnonono

SI.COM is now retracting their earlier comments:

On the day Juan Sebastian Veron was to tell his teammates of his plans to leave Estudiantes de la Plata and play for D.C. United he realized he couldn't do it...Veron had agreed in principal to a multiyear contract with D.C. United that would have paid him close to $4 million annually. United was so confident in the deal that Veron was scheduled to leave Argentina on Tuesday and be in Washington D.C. for a Wednesday afternoon press conferences where he would be presented with his new jersey and meet his new teammates...It was his old teammates, however, that prevented him from making the move.
"I'm staying because of the fans and my teammates. The truth is that I couldn't say goodbye," Veron told Ole.com. "My teammates' request for me to stay was very important. And I couldn't ignore the fans' affection. It is impossible not to be touched when you are an Estudiantes fan."

Goff is confirming that the deal is off for now:

All those breathless reports you read last night and this morning that Veron had signed and was going to be introduced at RFK Wednesday? How shall I put it.....Dead Wrong. Y'all should know better than trust what you read on that Internet machine...There does remain a possibility a deal could be reached, but as of early this afternoon, it ain't happening.