Debriefing for Match 13.03: At Real Salt LAke

Real Salt Lake 4 : 0 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

It's as bad as it looked.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "...instead of showing depth and versatility, United offered another dreary performance at Rice-Eccles Stadium and was embarrassed by Real Salt Lake, 4-0, in front of 13,193 observers.
The Desert News, James Edwards: "RSL prevailed by scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes and then twice more in the closing 15 minutes. "
The Salt Lake Tribune, Michael Lewis: "Beckerman scored twice, while strikers Fabian Espindola and Robbie Findley each added a goal as RSL handed United its worst loss in nearly four years, and its first 4-0 defeat in nearly seven. "
MLSNet, John Coon: "...in the 19th minute Kovalenko found Fabian Espindola with a long booming lob which he plunked down inside the box. Espindola controlled the ball and fired at the net from a sideways angle and his shot barreled past both Gonzalo Peralta and Carvallo and created a 2-0 lead for RSL. Kovalenko's performance seems all the more remarkable considering he was almost scratched from the starting lineup because of back spasms."
MLSNet, Scott McAlliste: "'We still have a long way to go,' said Soehn. 'It's unacceptable to go down like we did tonight. I constantly question the character of teams, and that character gets challenged not only from the first 11, but it's challenged through the whole roster.'"
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "There was plenty of blame to go around from the bad field surface to the misjudging of bounces all night long and Real Salt Lake was simply waiting in the weeds for United to make the mistakes they made all night long. "
DCSportsBox, Abram Fox: "United coach Tom Soehn inserted forward Santino Quaranta in place of Marc Burch for the second half in hopes of generating more offense to no avail. Rather, it was a Real Salt Lake second half sub who guaranteed the game’s outcome."
Behind the Badge, Doug Hicks: "Not our best effort tonight, to be sure. Kyle Beckerman scored twice and United suffered its worst defeat in regular season League play since a 1-5 loss in Dallas on July 24, 2004." [Note: You know it's bad when they sub Doug Hicks in for The Management]
The Edgell Supporters: "The Ben Cup may have already been put out of reach for another year. This is disgusting to me. My namesake cup, against one of the worst teams in the MLS, how could I go wrong?" [Note: The Ben Cup is now a more worthwhile trophy than the Atlantic Cup.]
Booked for Dissent, Dave Lifton: "I’m not going to lose too much sleep tonight over this result. Just like last year, it’s pretty clear that Tom Soehn wasn’t taking this game too seriously, or else he wouldn’t have put out the lineup he did..."
Fighting Talker, Aaron Stollar: "...the United brass made the decision that it was acceptable for the team to lose this match...It does no one any good to have MLS teams 'take nights off' like DC did on Saturday. One hoped that would stay in the NBA..."
AYL Soccer, Aaron Bentley: "DC’s locker room was somber. When asked if playing so many games in the last few days had anything to do with his team’s loss, Jaime Moreno, stated, 'We don’t want to look for excuses.' He went on to say that today RSL proved it was hungrier for the win and that his team needed to prepare better."
RSLFM, FM: "And as has been adequately detailed elsewhere, this opponent can in no way be confused with DC United playing at full strength. They were noticeably lacking in terms of both fitness & roster selection."
The Fullback Files, Fullback: "Okay, I get that the 3-back system has been working pretty well as of late, but I've got a couple of questions. One--why was Mediate one of the back three? I get that we're making him a utility wide-man, and I can see him playing fullback, but why wouldn't you play Mediate on the wing with McTavish in the back? Not that Mediate made that many mistakes--I'm just curious. On to question two. Why go with the three backs when the surface encourages pump-and-dump over the top stuff? I understand the need to rest folks due to fixture congestion, but wouldn't Martinez' speed have been pretty helpful back there?"
DCUMD, Shatz: "This game was ugly, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a predictor of anything else that will happen this year. This is the second game this year where the offense has been anemic, but I'm not counting on that happening very often. Just like a lot of other people, I was expecting DC to come up soft in this game, but I'm also expecting them to shoot out of the gates against Columbus on Thursday. In fact, I'll go so far as to predict that Thursday's match will be the start of yet another early season DC United sprint into first place and a considerable lead ahead of the rest of the Eastern Conference."
Poplar Point Perspective, JCM: "Oh, holy shit! This was the worst performance by a DC United team since the 4-0 shellacking in the playoffs by Chicago in 2005. There was nothing redeeming about it. Nothing" [Note: Sometimes I avoid expletives. After Saturday? Not so much.]
BLCKDGRD, BDR: "My bigger fear? The team has no personality, no defining spirit: can the loss of Ben Olsen be over-estimated?"
RSL Malcontent, Donk: "...This game could have been much worse for DC..."
The Offside - D.C. United, jon: "BOOOOOOO."
The Far Post, Thaddeus Byron Aloysius Dopenhopper: "D.C. United announced today that Real Salt Lake will sponsor their jersey for all games played in the state of Utah. 'They totally own us in Utah,' explained United’s management 'so we thought we might as well get something for it.'" [Note: It's funny because it hurts.]

The Good

1. Dema Kovalenko: C'mon, you know when we let him go that there would come a day. It just happened to be Saturday.
   
2. Getting Rest: I don't argue the decision to give Gallardo, Martinez, Wells, and even to some degree Quaranta a breather. I wonder if he had to do it all at once, but hey, this is something we'll have to get used to. Rotation will be important especially later in the season, so let's get used to the bitter taste of that medicine right now.
   
3. The end of RES?: Everytime I see that stadium, I think of My Cousin Vinnie... "The two Utes..."
   

The Bad

1. Tactical Disaster: As I wrote in the First Impressions, I have no problem with key starters resting. I do have a problem thinking that Dyachenko is a one for one swap with Gallardo, or that Mediate is a one for one swap with Martinez. There is a time to blame players, but this one really feels like it falls at the feet of the coaching staff's decisions. Players are supposed to be the ones that decide the game, but there's no excuse handicapping them. I want to write a seperate post about something this game also illustrated, but I'll summarize it this way: You system is not your formation. Formations are tactical, systems strategic. Confusing the two results in games like we saw Saturday.
   
2. Backline Organization: You can choose to excuse Carvallo the individual goals. That's fine. But the backline also looked woefully disorganized, which is not. Whether the key force on the backline is Martinez or Wells (or the byplay of the two combined), it is clear that someone was not in command. And that is inexcusable.
3. Gonzalo P | Gonzalo M: From commenter RKE in the First Impressions post: "Martinez is the quieter Gonzalo, but he's essential. Those two work so well together, making up for each other's weakness. Paralta was only half there without him." Agreed 100%.
   
4. "Burn the Tapes": I'm hearing this, even from people who I respect (or whose podcasts I respect, as the case may be.) This is a game worth getting mad over, if only so we don't pretend it didn't happen and do this again. Which we might. Not even next year, or at the end of the season, but in a few months when the schedule congestion accelerates. This is a warning shot fired directly across the bow.
   

Officiating Watch

It wasn't a poorly officiated match, but it wasn't a particularly good one either. I have two problems: Center official Richard Heron was inconsistent in his foul calling, and I got the sense that he was harsher on RSL than on United. I'm not about to let an official off the hook for calling things our way. His decision to award no extra time at the end of the game, simply to save United some embarrassment, is not in keeping with the laws of the game. I'm not saying it's likely, but if RSL is in a tiebreaker situation to make the playoffs with someone, and it comes to goal differential, might they have wanted another three minutes or so.

The more defensible call was the yellow to Rod Dyachenko, which I thought could have been a red. As I looked at it in real time, I think Rod was trying to play the ball, but it looked like both a "serious foul play" and potentially "violent conduct," both a player could be sent off for. The caution was given for a "tackle from behind" rather than what it really was -- a kick in the head. Looking at the Advice to Referees, my guess is that Richard Heron judged the foul to be "reckless" (12.3) but I would seriously have considered sending Dyachenko off under 12.33 for a serious foul play. His boot was very, very high.

Likert Scale Grade: 3 - Fair

Man of the Match

N/A. Merit awards to Fred and Clyde. Your goat is Tom Soehn.

Adjusted Results

No adjustment, though one could see a way clear to adding a fifth RSL goal if one wanted to. Still, I think the four they got is fair enough, and the duck egg for United stands. To date, United has an adjusted record of 1-2-0 with 5GF and 8GA for a -3 GD

Final Thoughts

This is not a game to pretend did not happen. This is a game to get angry about. Not because there wasn't a reason to throw the game, as Lifton or Stollar might argue. I can get that. But rather we should be angry because of our failure to learn. As much as we disparage formations like the 4-5-1, they have their use, and perhaps Saturday night made have made sense. Let our substitutes try and grind out a game. Fine. But what we did instead was put them in a situation where they were destined to be embarrassed. And that's a lesson we should not forget. It was a betrayal of our players. For the rest of this note, I turn it over to Howard Beale: "Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. All I know is that first you've got to get mad."

Better Refs in MLS this Season?

Dont' hold your breath: The essential fairness of a single national test....

It is obvious in order to protect the referees they wanted to referee in the MLS ...

Tuesday's Tryptophan Fighting Coffee

So The DCenters is awakening from our turkey slumber and we are realizing that we missed some news bits the past couple of days. If you joined your friends and family in giving thanks and skipped out on your DC United fix for some good home cooking this is the post to get you (and us) caught back up.

Carroll No Longer with DCU: Yeah, we saw this one and probably should have said a few words. San Jose taking Brian was expected, what was not expected was that he would be traded to Columbus for Kai Kamara. Either way we would just like to echo Dave Kaspar's comments,

"Brian has been a model professional on and off the field for D.C United, and we thank him for his five terrific years at the club."

Carroll was never a fan favorite at United but when he was on he made every other players job easier and made it possible for them to wow the crowd and please the fans. Clyde has basically been the starting D-Mid since the 2007 All-Star break, and Carroll was never as good in 2007 as he was in years past, but his service to DC United has been crucial to the success they have had since 2004. Only Moreno, Etcheverry, Olsen, Williams, Pope, Agoos, Namoff and Prideaux have played more minutes for United than Carroll.

Veron Rumors Pick Up Steam: Goff is hearing reports that a decision might be coming by December 15th. This would be an interesting move for United. I don't know how it will play out, but it could have interesting ripple effects in player moves, locker room cohesion and goals for next season.

CONCACAF Champions Cup: Six of the eight teams in the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup are set. CD Montagua, Deportivo Saprissa, Harbour View, Pachuca, DC United and the Houston Dynamo are already in the competition. CSD Municipal and LD Alajuelense are fighting for the third Central American spot which will be decided on December 4th, while the second Mexican spot will go to the winner of the Apertura. The Apertura season is down to four teams as Santos will play Pumas and Chivas will meet Atlante in the semifinals. So DC United could face Chivas yet again, though betting money has to go to Santos at this point. Goff is reporting that the dates for the first leg of the CCC are March 11-13 (first leg) and 18-20 (second leg). So that is when the off season ends.

DC United 2007 Player Grades: UnitedMania has given out player grades for the 2007 season. For the most part I agree with these grades. The grades seem to be given out based on expectations, making Burch one of the two people with an A, but overall it is a solid analysis.

Joe Machnik Interview: Kenn.com has a great interview with MLS’ Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner for On-Field Competition (wow, thats a long title) Joe Machnik. Basically Dr. Machnik is the guy in the MLS' organization that deals with the referees. The interview covers the entire officiating gamut and every MLS fan should read it.

MLS Blows Decision by Blowing the Galaxy: Ives reports on the decision by the honchos at MLS HQ to grandfather the contracts of Landon Donovan, Eddie Johnson and Carlos Ruiz so that their teams would not need to make them Designated Players to keep them. Basically they changed the rules halfway through the game...again. Frankly I thought MLS was beyond this, but I guess not. More than anything else in US Soccer, tampering like this is the thing that pisses me off the most.

2010 World Cup Qualifying: The draw was held on the 25th. The US will play the winner of Dominica and Barbados. Assuming they win that game they will be drawn into a group that will probably consist of themselves, Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala. Assuming no upsets the Group B will be Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica and Canada while Group C will consist of Haiti, Panama, Guyana and Costa Rica.

Soccer as a Neutral - Either Fan or Referee

I wish I could say that DC United's exit from the MLS Cup playoffs made me able to appreciate the game last night more. Instead, from the first time we saw that half of the stadium in New England was empty, all I could think is how much more I would enjoy the game if one of the teams was in black.

So instead I began the time-honored tradition of waiting for moments that would delight me as a DC fan. Every time Mr. White went to the turf and Kevin Stott waved play on was a joy. I enjoyed the 60th minute collision between Matt Reis and Paulo Wanchope, and only wished that Paulo had led with his knee -- you know, "to protect himself" from Reis. I enjoyed hearing Eric Wynalds offer a "tut tut" for each Chris Armas or CJ Brown tackle. And I even enjoyed the goal. And, hell, the game calling on ESPN was actually half-way decent.

That being said, there is one thing that Wynalda says that consistently annoys me, and it annoys me because I feel so many of my fellow fans feel the same way. When talking about how many New England players, including Shalrie Joseph had cards coming into this game, Wynalda and company seemed to agree that Kevin Stott had to be careful about giving another card. Similarly, on Twellman's goal, it was a dangerous play. His foot nearly took out Robinson's jaw. Just because it was tremendously athletic (it was) and dramatic (certainly) and fun to watch (of course) doesn't mean it wasn't dangerous. That's the point of having a rule. If a play is dangerous, you don't let it go simply because it makes the game more interesting. They are the laws of the game, not the well-meaning suggestions for the game. From Law 12 (emphasis added):

Playing in a dangerous manner is defined as any action that, while trying
to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player himself). It is committed with an opponent nearby and prevents the opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury. The action becomes an offence only when an opponent is adversely affected.

A scissors or bicycle kick is permissible provided that, in the opinion of the referee, it is not dangerous to an opponent.

Playing in a dangerous manner involves no physical contact between the players.

Given that in real time you could see Robinson pull out of the challenge when he saw a foot flying at his face, I find it hard to believe that this shouldn't have been called.

Which gets to another issue. You will hear commenters and fans in all sports say about referees "you simply can't make a call at that point in the game." There's some belief that the laws and rules of a match should become flexible depending on how important a given moment in time is, and only the most flagrant fouls should be called. That's ridiculous. A referee should always use their best judgement as to whether a foul occurred, no matter at what point the game is at. To change the standards of a foul later in the game is to give an unfair advantage to questionable tactics at the end of the game. As much as the goal called back against Christian Gomez hurt me, it was the correct call according to the rules. The fact that it was a vital moment for DC at the end of the game does not change what the laws are, nor should it affect the referee's judgement. I applaud the referee for making what he knew was a tough call in a hostile atmosphere because he knew it was the right call to make. I wish Kevin Stott had done the same, even though it would have deprived the game of a great highlight.

This Explains Much

Over at For the Integrity of Soccer, a fascinating bit of blog writing:

After a match at D.C. United, one member of the audience at the post-game meeting asked the referee for his thoughts about persistent infringement. In particular, he asked what his threshold was (the number of fouls before he intervenes), because one player (Fred) had six fouls. That's a fair question, but the answer was not.

The referee replied: "I don't keep track of the number of fouls during the match. Too many other things to keep track of."...on the stage with the official was the in-stadium observer representing one part of the assessing process of MLS. He said not a word, thereby giving his tacit approval.

Now, in this case the question is why a DC player wasn't given a yellow for persistent infringement, but many of us have had this same question about a number of other games and teams (cough...Revs...cough). I think we understand a bit better now.

By the way, I'm not sure who the referee was. I don't find a record of Fred having six fouls in any game this season, but he's picked up a few. I'm guessing that it was the New England match, which would make the ref...oh, look at that, it's Abbey.

Debriefing for Match 12.04: New England Revolution

D.C. United 1 : 1 New England Revolution

Six Word Novel Recap

Can a small spark ignite fire?

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "D.C. United benched its most accomplished player and a veteran midfielder. It changed playing formation and had a man advantage for more than 30 minutes. It had two glorious scoring chances in the closing minute."
The Washington Times, John Haydon: "After three consecutive defeats, Soehn had no alternative but to shake up his lineup. He did so by benching Moreno, United's all-time leading goal scorer, and giving Jamaican striker Nicholas Addlery his first start."
The Examiner, Craig Stouffer: "United (0-3-1) started the game with Moreno and Brian Carroll on the sideline and in a 4-4-2 formation in place of the team’s usual 3-5-2 setup.But after an impassioned first half of play, D.C. came out of halftime flat and fell behind 30 seconds later when Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph sent a looping ball over the top to Taylor Twellman, whose shot forced a great deflection from Troy Perkins but landed right at the feet of Andy Dorman."
MLSNet, Charles Boehm: "With momentum on their side and a home crowd rejuvenated by Jaime Moreno's 106th career goal in the 50th minute, United took a stranglehold on the match thanks to the ejection of Shalrie Joseph - but their search for the game-winner was fruitless and the home side had to settle for a draw."
The Boston Globe, Frank Dell'Apa: "The Revolution disputed calls and non-calls of referee Terry Vaughn, who struggled with positioning and control of the match."
MLSNet, Jordan Brown: "'It was a 50-50 ball and we were shoulder to shoulder,' New England defender James Riley said of the penalty awarded to Jaime Moreno and United just minutes after Dorman's strike. Referee Terry Vaughn judged that Riley knocked Moreno to the turf inside the penalty area. 'He probably weighs three times as much as me,' said Riley. 'Afterwards, he winked at me. He knew he dove.'"
MLSNet, Charles Boehm (again!): "Perkins had ranged out of his box to take possession and impatiently waved his team forward before lumping a high, deep ball into the Revs box that set off an extended sequence of havoc. Reis' initial punch failed to clear and when the ball fell to Moreno on the right side, he lifted a delicate cross that Olsen met with a leaping header that caromed off the crossbar as RFK emitted a collective groan. Then seconds later, Namoff clipped another cross into the danger area and Emilio outleaped two defenders to nod a spinning effort towards the far corner of the goal - but Reis shuttled to his right to make a stunning one-handed block at full stretch."
QuarterVolley, I-66: "I came away from last night's 1-1 draw against New England feeling a little better. We held onto the ball, passed it well, and generated some chances... But then I got home and it hit me. DC United hasn't scored a goal in the run of play in 236 minutes. "
Poplar Point Perspective: "All in all, a better effort, but three points were there to be had on this night."
An American's View..., Brian Garrison: "I did see a much better defensive effort, the best of the MLS season. I saw Erpen do his usual "gaff" but he did it in a situation that didn't really cause any harm. I did see Troy position himself better, but his distribution at the beginning of the match was awful and he was responsible for several give-aways, simply because he passed the ball to Namoff when Namoff shouldn't have received the ball in the first place."
Ben Olsen's Beard: "Say what you will about Wynalda, but he's right, we didn't really do much to adjust to win the game (that was at times, seemingly handed to us). What can we take away from this? A point. That's what."
Blue Blooded Journo: "I can't bail fellow supporters out of jail every time they do something threatening to a ref. The 'put Micheal Kennedy in a rack until he grows to four feet' incident pretty much drained my bank account."

The Good

1. If It's Broke, Fix it: Tom Soehn's changes to a 4-4-2, benching of Moreno and Carroll, and insistence on effort paid dividends. I was expecting the first time that United switched to a 4-4-2 to see a much more discombobulated organization, but United looked better. I was wrong when I thought that the cost it would take to make the switch might be too high. It worked well, especially when...
2. Long Distribution from the Back: I can't remember the last time United was able to play so many balls long up to the forwards to start an attack. In the first half, even Perkins picked out Addlery and Emilio on more than one occasion. Yes, Garrison is right that Perkins short and medium distribution was off, but his long game was great. Similarly, Moreno is sent on his run to gain (I can't say "earn") the penalty on a good long ball from Boswell. That's twice this year we've seen Boswell play Moreno through, and it marks an improvement in his game, and in the abilities of the team as a whole.
   
3. Playing with Purpose: United's possession in the first half was excellent in that it actually managed to convert to goal scoring options. What made it better was that the plays were coming from all sorts of different angles, some through the middle, some down the flank, and Fred's and Olsen's shots from distance were fine with me. Those shots made the defense react differently, creating better chances to carry the ball into the box.
4. The Draw: You can say all you want about United being up a man for half-an-hour and not getting the win. It would bother me too if I felt like United had simply shut down. But they did press, and work, and create chances, and that it remained a draw says less about United and more about luck and Matt Reis. United played well enough to get three points before Joseph's red card. As I wrote yesterday, I think that red card actually hurt United, since the Revs suddenly were much more cohesive in defense than they had been to that point. New England through everything behind the ball, and the space available to United simply wasn't there anymore. I know that some are saying we were "fortunate" to get the PK and the red card, but I honestly felt that United would have scored even without that intervention.
   
5. Deportment: New England fans will no doubt disagree, but I didn't see a single dive in the game from a United player. Yes, players can go down in the box without either a penalty or a dive. It can happen, and it happened twice. Moreno was taken shoulder to shoulder with enough force to cause him to lose his footing, a clean tackle but also not a dive. Same situation with Emilio later in the game. On top of that, let's talk about Olsen after Joseph's tackle. Ben didn't roll around on the ground like a child whose balloon just popped at the County Fair. He got right back on his feet. Yes, he made the card gesture, which is probably a no-no, because it was a tackle worthy of a caution. I think even he was surprised that Vaughn showed red. Regardless, United played with class throughout the game. I should also point out that Matt Reis may have to come off my blacklist, since he played a controlled game even when leaving his line to punch out balls. He wasn't nearly as reckless as in years past, even when presented with the opportunity.
6. Perkins Gets a Boost: Troy Perkins finally makes a save that an average MLS starting keeper would have been excused for missing. His save on Twellman's header in the first half wasn't just important for Perkins getting between the ball and the goal, but for managing to catch the ball and not give up the deflections that have killed us so many times. Now please, everyone, SHUT UP ABOUT THE CHIVAS GAME. Thank you.
7. Jamie Moreno: I know he wasn't happy to play only a half, but it was the right choice. He took a difficult shot in the moments after New England scored, before the penalty, which showed me he was in the game. He didn't infuriate me at any point in this game, and I think he played better and will hopefully continue with some freshness on Sunday against Chivas. If you've been listening to the Soccer Show at UnitedMania, one of the points they've made is that Jamie is a "90 minute a week" player. I think they're right, and we still have another 45 available.
   

The Bad

1. Terry Vaughn: As noted, he was awful. Kinney's comment in First Impressions jives with my own thoughts: several light or phantom fouls were given at midfield to New England. Moreno did not deserve the penalty, but Gomez did. Emilio was booked for getting yelled at. Joseph did not deserve a red card, but had earned a caution. And Ben should have gotten one as well for making the "give him a card" gesture. This game was utterly inhibited by Vaughn's presence, to detriment of both New England and DC.
   
2. Wide is Out: Eric Wynalda did have this right: United didn't play to the wings enough in the final half-hour. Whether people weren't making those runs because the balls would never be played there, or the ball was never played there because no one was making the run is a chicken and egg situation that should be resolved. Still, Eric, some advice...
3. The Rule of 3: Eric, I can't believe I'm about to type this, but... "Thank god Tommy Smyth is the voice of reason in the ESPN booth." Look, sometimes you're right, and sometimes you are wrong (that Joseph would have gotten a pat on the back in the EPL for his tackle on Olsen was an overstatement that defied belief. It was a cautionable tackle.) The problem is that even when you're right, you love the soapbox so much you can't get down. From now on, you should only be allowed to repeat any given point three times. It means you'll be wrong less frequently, and when you're right you won't get tiresome and boorish by yelling for the seventh time about Sharlie Joseph being allowed to go to Scotland. At some point, Eric, even you have to know when to SHUT UP.
   
4. Lapse: Boswell was ridiculously out of position on the goal surrendered to New England. Not sure what the hell was going on there. Erpen's gaffe was something he made up for without causing much of a panic. One minute, and you're down a goal. It hurt, but didn't you feel like it was bound to happen?
   
5. Christian Gomez: For all the passion that other players showed, I haven't sensed that Christian has been up for a game since the CONCACAF Champion's Cup.
   

Man of the Match

I'm going to give one. Certificates of Merit to Addlery, who played well if not overly effectively in his first start, Simms who was a force on the right flank at times, and Fred who caused all sorts of problems. Still, the Man of the Match was Tom Soehn, who showed that it is possible to undertake major changes without inducing a panic. That's a difficult proposition.

Final Thoughts

I'm not going to whine about luck. It balances out over a season. Still, the fact is that United one crossbar away from three points, even with an excellent performance from Matt Reis. If United plays as well for the rest of the season as they played in the opening forty-five minutes, then I do not doubt for a moment that this team will make the playoffs. No doubt whatsoever. Of course, that's a big "If" to open that sentence. It'll be put to the test against Chivas, who will test our defense (Guevara or not) and will require precision to break down. But unless you have completely been sucked into the maw of hopelessness and depression, you must have noticed what a better game this was for our team. An unqualified success? No. But I am more hopeful now than I have been since before the season started. Really. Evaluate performances, not results, and you should agree. This team can improve more, but this team has already improved to a point where you should not feel like things are lost.

Today is the Greatest

MLS SEZ TO DCU "OOPS, OUR BAD": Steve Goff reports that MLS has determined that Youri Djorkaeff's free kick goal should have been disallowed. Now, from what I know of the situation, this is 100% the fault of USSF and totally not the fault of referee Brian Hall. Hall received guidance, which he complied with, and allowed the goal. The problem was that the guidance was stupid. For a history of United and dodgy referee moments, check out the Screaming Eagles Podcast blog.

SPECIAL MERIT BADGE AWARD: To John at Pseudo Corner Kick, who kicks off Operation: Deflower with a bang. John, as soon as I develop a nice graphic, I'll be sure to award one to you. Well done. And if you have a story for Operation: Deflower you'd like to share, the DCenters will be glad to link to it. If you don't have a website, the DCenters will even post your story for you.

REFERENCE LIBRARY: There are a series of useful links that I use most days that aren't in the blogroll on the right. So I'm going to have to create a new section for them. Until then, let me give a shout out to Albion Road, which is an amazingly broad site on world club soccer. Whenever I run across strange names in the foreign press, it's where I turn first. Also dogeared at DCenters: the World Football Elo Ratings, the UFWC (a concept The DCenters has stolen for MLS and worked out four years of history for, and really need to get current at some point), and the Laws of the Game. We'll get the library up for your easy perusal soon.

IT'S APRIL 5 - THAT MEANS SOMETHING: Today is a special day at DCenters. More on that later. No, it's not as special as Court Day, which I hope to make a running feature. This day will be much more sporadic.