FC Dallas fires Morrow; Soehn still employed

Steve Morrow was fired today as the FC Dallas Head Coach. FC Dallas currently sit 4th in the MLS Western Conference with a record of 2-3-3 with 9 points.

So Morrow can get fired for only losing three matches.... but Tom Soehn is still managing a DC United side that has lost three in a row, five out of it's last six matches and has been outscored 14 to 6 in those six matches.

Where is the logic?

The Captain is going down with his Ship.

We have all heard the old saying; that a Captain goes down with his sinking ship. A captain is ultimately responsible for the actions of his crew, regardless of what they do. Hell, Captain Kirk even took responsibility for the actions of his crew in Star Trek VI.

In sports, we have the manager/coach of the team that seems to always go down with his sinking team. Coaches get fired routinely in baseball, soccer, football, basketball and such. Usually you cannot go a month into a sports season without some reporter printing a story that already lists those coaches/managers that are already on the hot seat. MLS is no different.

DC United is suffering, if not sinking. The rest of the Eastern Conference is quickly leaving the Black & Red behind as United fail time and time again, to put in a full 90 minutes of soccer. Saturday night, United traveled to Los Angeles and took on Chivas USA, another club that is stuck in quicksand. After scoring their first road goal of the 2008 season, United wilted in the second half and allowed 3 quick goals and lost 3-1. You can blame who you want, the players for not completing the game, or for not having heart or a fire in their belly, but regardless of whom you blame, their needs to be a change in some way, shape or form.

A change is needed simply because the status quo is definitely not working. As in most other sports, when the results are not found on the field, the coach is usually the one left with the bill… or left on the sinking ship.

Coach Tom Soehn is not a bad coach. He proved that he was able to correct problems last year and he was able to guide United to its second consecutive Supporters Shield and qualify for both the CONCACAF Champions Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League. However, due to how many changes were thrust upon him this season, Tom Soehn is in over his head.

A lot of people blame the fact that DC United is playing poorly because of losing Ben Olsen and Josh Gros. I actually do not buy this idea. I can understand where people are coming from, but considering the whole picture, losing Josh Gros and Ben Olsen are not as big a problem as the fact that Soehn had to incorporate four players who have never played in MLS before, or with the other members of the club. MLS is not like other leagues, as it is much more physical and the type of play where you have time to dribble the ball is not one that really prospers here. Getting his new players to come to grasp with MLS play has not been a success for Soehn.

Furthermore, Coach Soehn doesn’t seem to truly know how to motivate and encourage his players in order for them to play a full 90 minutes. Now in this area, I do agree that the loss of Ben Olsen has really hurt Coach Soehn. When Ben Olsen was running around the field like a mad man, he was the one who provided that lift for the players who started to slack off. Hell, even when Benny wasn’t out there, Christian Gomez was able to convince guys to keep running and stay on focus. Without these two players wearing United jersey’s on the field, the responsibility for getting guys in the proper mindset for a match falls to Soehn, and he has failed.

What United needs is a great motivator. Someone who will come in and bench Emillio, not only for one half of a match, but for the whole match. Someone who will get in people’s faces when they start to slack off for 20 to 30 minutes in a match. They also need someone who will be able to properly manage the whole match, all 90 minutes. Neither of these qualities seems to be in Tom Soehn’s toolbox.

I called for a removal of Tom Soehn last week, and I am still finding myself waking up every morning expecting to see a report that he has been released. This season of change, bringing in a new core of starting players has shown that Tom Soehn lacks the true tools to coach a team. He hasn’t been able to get the same type of results out of what many claim to be a club that actually has better talent this year than last year’s club. Week after week, we see the same lazy play from the Black & Red and afterwards, we hear of how players and the club have to go back to work and dig deeper. I do not know about most people, but I can hit my head against a wall only for so long until I realize that the wall is not going to move and my head hurts.

So, if Soehn does get the boot, which I fully believe will happen after United loses this Wednesday evening in Toronto, who should be the one or ones who comes in to fix the problems?

Honestly, I have said it before, but I think that United should look into the past to fix the current club. Bruce Arena is available, as is Marco Etcheverry. I think that if these two guys were brought in as head Coach (Arena) and Assistant Head Coach (Etcheverry) then United would get the two intangibles that they are missing. They will get a coach (Arena) who would be able to manage the club, its substitutes and is someone who isn’t afraid to bench a player or two. They will also get a coach (Etcheverry) who has the fire in his belly and knows how to play in MLS. More importantly, he played pretty much the same type of game that Gallardo plays, so he would be able to help mold the club around Gallardo’s skills and style, something that after 12 competitive matches this season, the club is still failing to do.

Two weeks ago I said that the next four matches will define our season. I also said that United will be lucky to get 2 points out of the possible 12. We dropped our first 3 Saturday night and have a very short week before the next match… which happens to only be three days before the third match in this stretch. Follow that up with another short week before a trip to New England. 2 points might even be out of reach, if United fails to put in a full 90 minutes in any of these matches.

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?

My Take: DC United 0 - 2 Chicago Fire

Last night's match showed alot more than just how good Chicago is this season. It showed how United is really not that great even after the massive amounts of change was went through over the offseason. It also showed how poor a coach Tom Soehn is.

First things first, Chicago was the better club and deserved to win last night. They took their shots and took advantage of what United gave them. Furthermore, they have one of the best defenses that I have seen in MLS in a long time. The way that their midfield and defenders completely snuffed out any attack that United tried was impressive.

However, as good as they were, United's players were that bad. Again, last night I saw too many attempts to walk the ball into the 6 yard box and try a nifty shot. I saw too many times a guy would have the ball inside the 18 yard box and his first and only decision was to pass. Guys, you win games by scoring goals. You score goals by taking shots.

Clearly the Fire were the better team, but United helped them last night by failing to take shots and to play the full 90 minutes. They also helped Chicago by the way that they were coached. I blame Tom Soehn for this.

Emillio should have been benched last night, newly signed DP or not. He has sucked it up on the field the past 8 or so matches and has failed to pull out of the funk he is in. Benching him and his new bonus might get things into his head that he needs to wake the hell up.

Neill really hasn't been the shining light that the Front office made him out to be over the break. He is too small of a forward and gets knocked around too often to really cause a problem for defenders. If Doe is good enough to get a contract, he should be good enough to get more playing time than he did last night.

Coach Soehn has yet to really show that he has the coaching skill needed to bring these guys together, or to properly manage a squad. If he did, Emillio and Gallardo would already have the kind of rapport that Emillio had with Gomez. Soehn would know when to pull players and bench them. He showed these qualities last season, but seems to be out thinking himself this season. This season his use of subs in matches has been truly baffling. I really don't know exactly how much longer the Front office or the club in general can hold out the hope that the on the field performances and the coaching get better.

With United facing a long week of training and three matches of four on the road, this is major crunch time. DC United's season will hinge on these next four matches. I do not really think that the club has it in itself, with the current coach, to get through these matches with anything more than maybe, 2 points.

If the Front office does remove Soehn, then I honestly think that the most logical steps would be to hire Marco Etcheverry as the head coach and bring Ben Olsen, who's career seems to be cut short as an assistant. Either that, or bring in Bruce Arena with Olsen as an assistant.

Whatever is done, a change needs to be done soon. As they do have a long week, if they do remove Soehn today and install someone today, the players and whomever they bring in will have a full 7 days to work together, which isn't much in the scheme of things, but it would be better than if they had even less time.

A breath of fresh air is needed. Change needs to come. The time is now.

The People's MLS Club

I like the partnership and the logo looks very nice on the jersey's, especially the road jersey. I think that this will be one of the more important steps that this club has taken as it grows.

What is important is that United was able to get a partner that will be able to assist United in its efforts to grow in two of the hardest areas for United to try and grow into, Europe and South America. The fact that Volkswagen's are huge in Latin America and that Gallardo will be one of their spokesmen, will definately help the club in its efforts down in South America.

United's efforts into Europe will benefit as well, with the announcement that Victor MacFarlane will travel to Germany later this month to visit VfL Wolfsburg, which is owned by Volkswagen to check out the Wolfsburg stadium and to see the clubs day to day operations. I cannot think of a better place for an MLS club to go to study operational proceedures that a German Football club.

I am very happy about this deal. It puts money into the club which should be able to help with the second DP slot, if the Front office and Soehn decide to use it, which at this point, a pretty crafty German winger might look good right now.

I might have ended Ben Olsen's career

Ok, so I have this unlucky knack of jinxing people.

It all started when I played Yahoo Fantasy Football a few years back. I drafted Terrel Davis of the Denver Bronco's in the first round. He was coming off of a huge season and I figured that I would get a ton of points off of him in that season. Instead, he went down in something like the second game of the season with a leg or thigh injury and retired at the end of the season.

Then a few years after that I drafted Micheal Vick in the first round, and he broke his leg in the first game of the season. I did get lucky in that Carson Palmer was my back up and he had a good season, but Vick going down was something my team, or his team would never recover from. I have since stopped playing fantasy football.

Moving to my selection of soccer jersey's, I bought my very first customized soccer jersey a few years ago, it was a DC United jersey with Dema Kovalenko. He left the club shortly after I bought it. I then bought a Manchester United jersey with Ruud van Nistelrooy's name and number on the back, and he was promptly sold to Real Madrid.

As I was having no luck with jersey's, the next two I bought (DC United & Manchester United), I went totally fan boy and put my last name on them, in hopes of not screwing a player with my jersey. That said, thinking that my luck had gotten better, I bought a DC United away jersey last year... with Christian Gomez on it and he left the club.

So that brings us to Ben Olsen. As DC United introduced new jersey's this year (which seem to be gearing up for a little VDub action) I promptly plopped my cash down for a home jersey and decided that I wanted a players name instead of mine on the back. So I thought about it and I figured that the one guy who would never be traded from United, on the current roster, was Ben Olsen. So I picked Olsen and #14 for the back and I have his jersey....

...and now Goff is reporting that Olsen's career might be over due to his ankle problems.

Ben, I am sorry that I cursed you when I bought my jersey.

My Take: DC United 1 - 2 Columbus Crew

Ok, I admit it, I stopped watching the game on ESPN2 right after the second Crew goal. I couldn't stand, er, my fiancee couldn't stand me yelling and screaming at the TV for much more and she was worried that I might throw something at the TV.

So I played a computer game instead.

In the small amount of time I did watch the match, I saw alot of things. I saw that DC United has two very large problems with it's offense. First, United retains the ball too long. What I mean is that our players try and hold the ball at their feet longer than they should and this allows for defenses to track back and get ready for any type of attack. I lost count of how many times a United player has tried to dribble the ball into the 6 yard box or make a short pass inside the box, rather than take a short on goal.

Second thing I saw was that United is scared to shoot. I lost count of how many times a United player would make a back pass or a short pass, rather than take a shot at the goal. Namoff took that long range shot in the first half and right afterwards, he was able to get inside the box and cause the own goal. United seems to think that they are only allowed to score from inside the 6 yard box.

If you add these two things together, you can see why the offense has had its problems and why the defense is getting rushed so much now. However, these two problems, IMHO, are more direct results of two outlaying problems that DC United is suffering from. They are the coaching and a player absense.

I am losing more and more confidence in Tom Soehn as the days go bye. As in all other major team sports, the fault should lay with the players, as they are the ones who aren't getting it done on the field. However, as always, the coach shoulders the blame for on the field problems. Soehn needs to get his guys up for these matches. He needs to get the right info across to his guys, mainly that they need to take more shots and stop trying to dribble through 4 defenders. he needs to adapt the game plan, or he needs to go.

The player absense is something that I brought up earlier in the season, and his name is Gomez. The absense of Christian Gomez, regardless of Gallardo's abilities, has IMHO, caused a major problem with the performance of Emillio. Last season, with an offensive midfielder moving in right behind Emillio, defenders had to give Emillio more room, because if they focused only on Emillio, Gomez could kill them, based on how he positioned himself. If they focused on Gomez, then Emillio was free, as was the case some 30 + times last season.

Now you have Gallardo, who plays a much deeper role in the attack, creating a gap in the offensive third of the field. Moreno doesn't play like Gomez had, so he doesn't fill the role, as neither does Niell or Quaranta. Fred could maybe fill the hole, but then we need another guy on the flank. Emillio is left all alone without any type of support, so we are seeing more "holes" in Emillio's play as he is having to fight for more balls with his back to goal, something he is failing at. Losing Christian Gomez, IMHO was a huge mistake and we are seeing that right now.

Gallardo is a very good player and sees a much different game than most on the field. That said, as others have said, the process of getting Gallardo and the rest of the club in the same page is taking much longer than it should, especially considering that United have now played 8 matches this season. This is the type of problem that the coach is supposed to sort out. I am starting to wonder if Soehn can bring this group together or if the FO needs to bring in another coach who can.

Too early for mashing the panic button?

There is always one weekend in the beginning of the MLS season where I miss one of DC United's matches. Sara has her birthday in early April, so I spent that weekend either out of town or out to dinner with her for her birthday. Last weekend was that weekend for this season and against the norm, I was actually able to catch part of United's match against RSL. I only watched 5 or so minutes of the match before I turned off the TV.

I am not going to go into what happened, as I didn't watch more than 5 or so minutes. What I did see was that Carvallo was useless in goal on the first two goals. I played goalkeeper in high school, and I have seen video of my play, so I know what useless in goal looks like. Carvallo was useless in goal on the first two goals. I am not certain why Soehn felt that an away trip to Utah to play on a carpet was a good idea for a guy's first MLS start, Steve Goff even asks the same question.

The biggest thing I have come up with is I am wondering what is going on with Ton Soehn. I am not 100% sure on what he is doing with the line-ups. Yes, I know that we have had about 5 matches in 14 days now and have yet another one this coming Thursday, giving guys a rest is something that the coach needs to be doing. I understand that, but why have your starting goalkeeper on the bench for an away match at a venue that you have utterly failed in the last two seasons? Give the backup goalkeeper the home start, on grass, in front of your supporters.

In addition to the goalkeeper issue, I am trying to figure out why Soehn refuses to use Fred in a central playmaking position, if our current central playmaker is out of the match. Rod Dyachenko is no Christian Gomez or Marcelo Gallardo, yet for some reason for the last two seasons, Soehn has felt the need to insert Rod in for both of them and ask him to fill their shoes. Rod simply cannot do the things that Gallardo does. I honestly think that if Gallardo is not going to be on the field, Fred should move from the flank to the inside and take up the role of the playmaker.

I realize that we have just started the season and in MLS, unless you go an entire month without a point, you make the playoffs, so there is really not that much to sweat about right now.

However....

Several of Tom Soehn's decisions this early season, and at the end of last season, have troubled me. Why not use the other two subs in the first match at Harbour View when your team has run out of gas? Why have Emillio and Moreno play in the final match of the 2007 season, when they risk injury, and got injured? Why try the three man defense line with players who have yet to prove that they should really be starting in a four man line?

I am not one to start a witch-hunt for Soehn to be fired. I think that he did a very good job last season with his first year in charge. However, I am starting to think that in order for DC United to be the club that everyone wants them to be, the FO, the players, the coaches, Garber & Co. and the supporters, maybe it is time that the head coach should begin to coach as if his job depended on each result? Coaches in Europe and South America play each match as if it were their last in charge, most of the time they get results because they have to. A swift kick in the butt from time to time gets results; maybe Soehn needs a swift kick in the butt.

My Take: DC United 2 - 1 Pachuca

I hate it when I get the score right.

I have mixed feelings about what happened last night at RFK. On the one side, United did win the match, finally fighting back to score two late goals and win their third straight home match of the short season. Was that more to do with the fact that Pachuca did what they needed to do, and were sitting back? I am not certain.

What I am certain of is that the better club did win the series. Last night I saw a very discomposed DC United out on the field. I saw several passes that were made blindly and to no one. I saw many miscues when trying to play together, too many for a club that has been together for two and a half months. Pachuca on the other hand had the type of "feeling" for each other that they were able to quickly break out with quick passes, accurate passes, and cause havoc for the United backline. However, the backline did very well, as they have in every other match this short season, which once again gives me hope for the future.

Do we blame the miscues and errant cohesiveness on the fact that United have only been together for about two and a half months? Do we blame the fact that almost half of the starters last night were new players to the club? Again, I am not certain.

Considering that once again we had both MLS clubs knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, I say that right now, both of those clubs should simply chalk the tournament up as an intense early season primer. Who should be worried about the fact that MLS clubs have again failed to reach the mountain top is Garber & Co.

Yes, the CONCACAF Champions Cup is finished after Pachuca and Saprissa face off in their home & away series, but next season MLS clubs will have to face pretty much the same situation with the Quarter Finals of the CONCACAF Champions League. According to Steve Goff at the Washington Post, the 2009 part of the Champions League schedule is identical to the current Champions Cup schedule -

Feb. 24-26, 2009: Quarterfinal, Game 1
March 3-5: Quarterfinal, Game 2
March 17-19: Semifinal, Game 1
April 7-9: Semifinal, Game 2
April 21-23: Final, Game 1
April 28-30: Final, Game 2

If the league (MLS or SUM, whoever really runs things) wants MLS clubs to compete and win this tournament, they are going to have to figure out something new for the clubs. Maybe a real increase in the salary cap to actually attract better players to fill out the 28 man roster, which would give MLS clubs more than the "real" 16 players that they truly have.

Maybe they need to provide the CONCACAF clubs with more and meaningful winter training, and earlier in the calendar year. Bundesliga clubs have January off, yet they still schedule warm up matches to prepare for the second part of their season, why not have MLS clubs travel to Germany to train and face off against two or three Bundesliga sides? Get the players more than just stretching and running drills before they hit the first Quarter Final match, assuming that they reach the Quarter Finals.

So United is out of CONCACAF play until the SuperLiga (July) and the CONCACAF Champions League (September). I say that United should take the positives from last night and the supposed better match fitness to Salt Lake and kick the hell out of Real on Saturday night. Take the good from the bad and take the points from the league.

Match-Prep: DC United vs. Pachuca 4/9/2008

It's return leg time at RFK Stadium for DC United. United hosts Mexican super-club Pachuca in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup Semi-Finals tonight. Pachuca took advantage of the higher altitude and a less than sharp United squad and grabbed a 2-0 win in the first leg last week.

A 2 goal hole isn't the worst of situations to be in. We are at home and we seemed to have found a much better shape for the side with Santino starting up front with Emillio, in front of Gallardo. It would be interesting to see Moreno start up front with Emillio and have Gallardo, Fred, Quaranta and Simms in the midfield. I think that Santino would be a bit of a better option on the right flank, passing wise and shooting wise.

United coach Tom Soehn summed it up the best when he said, "You don't have to win the game in 15 minutes; you do it over a course of 90 minutes, you have to be patient and we will get our chances."

In the match against Toronto last Saturday, United was very fortunate to have a 2-0 lead by the 6th minute mark... I will be happy with a 1-0 lead by the 15th minute. I am hoping that being at home, back down to earth and fresh off of a very good victory, United is able to retain it's shape and get the goals it needs. Most important thing is that United needs to be patient and play it's game. If United let's Pachuca dictate the pace and the style of play, it will be over.

Unfortunately, I really don't see us winning 3-0, which we need to. A 2-1 win tonight seems more likely.

My Take: DC United 4 -1 Toronto FC

Now that is how you start a game! I had barely hit my seat when we were all cheering for MVP's goal in the second minute. Santino scoring in the fifth minute was the perfect dagger for a really bad Toronto side.

Not to take anything away from United's offensive explosion, but Toronto really didn't look that great last night. Getting the stupid Red Card in the 22nd minute really didn't help the Canadian's either. For as bad as Toronto looked, United looked amazing.

I called for Santino to get the start over Niell and I am was happy to see him on the pitch at the opening whistle, as he deserved it with how well he has done recently. He has picked his game up so much since returning. The payoff came quick for Santino with his first goal of the season. United over all looked like a much faster and deadlier unit with Santino up front with Emillio.

With all the goals and shots, I would have to say that the most reassuring part of watching last night's match was that our defense continued to show that it has a much better shape than the one we had last season. Peratla and Martinez in the middle, along with Simms in front of them, have been massive in shutting down threats to Zach's goal. Wells looked very strong last night. The 88th minute goal was a last second flub to a great match, but I honestly have to figure that goal came from more of a mental break down of the whole team, rather than the goal keeper.

We have picked up our first 3 points of the season and our first home win. We were able to pull Gallardo, & Emillio early in the second half, as well as get Niell and Moreno time out on the pitch. All of this is building to the Wednesday night match against Pachuca. We still have that 2-0 hole to climb out of. Pachuca is no where near the club that Toronto FC was, they will be ready to play. If we play against Pachuca, they way we played against Toronto FC, we stand a much better chance of climbing out of that hole and making it to the CONCACAF Champions Cup finals, but we still have work to do.

My Take: DC United 0 - 2 Pachuca

I honestly have a lost for words. I expected better. Yes, I know that this is the fourth match of the year and that we were playing on the Moon when you consider the altitude. I don't give a damn. I expected better play.

The thing that bugs me is that I saw better play at times, but I saw some really stupid play at others, and I saw some other things in between. As this young season moves forward, I am getting more and more questions forming in my head about our squad than I am answers.

Zach Wells really did not need to get that Yellow Card. So early in the match, it was plain stupid for him to have constantly held the ball for as long as he did on his goal kicks. Regardless of the altitude, these guys have been training for the better part of 6 weeks, even up in the thin air; they should have been able to get through the first 30 minutes without him holding the ball that long. It was a stupid mental lapse that was in truth, a foreshadowing of other mental farts that the rest of the team would do. One of those was Wells' failure to protect his near post on the first goal.

Paging Mr. MLS MVP!!!! Can someone please find Mr. Emillio? He was thought to have been sighted at RFK a few weeks ago, but it appears that a lazier form of the MVP has taken the #11 shirt. Emillio, WTF?! You shouldn't be playing that deep man! You are a goal scorer, a goal poacher. You sit up high and wait for the service. You don't come back to collect the ball near midfield and "try" (which is stretching the word, as his moves are just a slight step over mine) and juke and jive your way towards goal.

I think I am starting to understand how Gallardo plays and what he tries to do. Unfortunately, I am starting to think that the rest of the team doesn't have a clue how he wants to play the ball. As was mentioned during the match, Gallardo looks to really need someone to play close to him, which might force Soehn to revert back to a 3-5-2 in order to give better play support for Gallardo. He might be a great player, but every time I see one of his passes not get to the intended man, I want Gomez to run on the pitch.

I like Franco Niell, but I would really like to see Santino start the next game. Santino has a better passing ability and if Emillio would play in his proper position, Santino would be able to float in between Gallardo and Emillio to provide a passing option to both of them.

Fred looked much better tonight on the wing, and in all honesty, I wouldn't mind seeing him move into the middle with Gallardo, but I am not so certain how that would work.

So we are in a 2-0 hole, with what could be considered our third international match of the short year, against Toronto FC this Saturday at RFK. If Jamie Moreno doesn't start on Saturday, I would like to see Santino and Emillio up front, with Simms (who again was huge in the midfield tonight) Gallardo, McTavish, & Fred in the midfield. Namoff, Peralta, Burch and Martinez starting in front of Wells. That would give us at least three guys who have some sense of a creative attack (Gallardo, Fred & Santino) to match with Emillio in the offensive third. Bring Jamie on in the second half for holding play and Niell for speed up top.

So much for being at a lose for words. See you all at RFK on Saturday.

My Take: DC United 5 - 0 Harbour View FC

Sitting on the quiet side of RFK tonight, I really wasn't expecting too much. We were five days removed from a very poor performance in Jamaica, one the exposed our fitness levels all too well in the later minutes of the match, which allowed the in form club score and get back into the match up. Five days later, I really didn't see how a nicer field and a colder night would cause any type of drastic turn around.

Happily, I was wrong. I guess someone forgot to tell me that Tom Soehn found one of Superman's capes and decided to hand it over to Devon McTavish, who is currently leading the club in scoring. Leaving RFK, after watching a much better over all performance makes my mind a little more settled, but I still have some questions.

I liked to form of our defense, much more than I did last week. Peralta, Martinez, Burch and Namoff all looked much more comfortable and composed in front of Zach Wells. Burch didn't have the troubles with holding the ball too long and didn't get into any of the troubles that he had last week. assuming that the collective defense continue to improve with their overall collectiveness, we should have a much better defensive shape this year.

Clyde Simms had one helluva match, improving on his good performance from last week. Simms was very timely in his passes and his positioning, which allowed him to break up attacks and to cover for a lot of missed passes.

McTavish... what is there to say? He goes an entire season without a goal and now has three in two matches? His flank play, in my opinion, still needs some work as he missed several opportunities to make runs, a few that directly lead to turnovers, but over all, his work with Burch improved over last week.

Fred looks like he is still trying to break off the rust from the off season. He made a fine pass that released Emillio for the second goal and finished off the match with the final goal, but there were several situations in the first half where I felt he needed to look up and find a teammate more often and other times he needed to be more ruthless. He showed these signs last season, but snapped out of it, I hope he does so earlier this season.

Gallardo, I have to wait on him. I need to see more, because I really have a bad taste in my mouth with him right now. I guess it is because the guy wearing his jersey last year plays the game very differently and I was used to that. On the other side of that, I really haven't seen anything from him in two matches that makes me understand really why he is the DP. I watched him tonight and I really thought that Christian Gomez could have done better. Hopefully I am wrong and in a month's time I am singing his praises. Until then, I really don't know.

Emillio had a brace and several other chances tonight, but nothing really made me think he is ready for the season. Hopefully the next week allows him to work out the kinks and gives him the chance to turn it on against Kansas City. All in all, he did was he was brought in here to do, score goals.

Neill was a work horse up front, causing all types of trouble for the Harbour View defense. His work rate is without question, his left foot on the other hand, I question. He had several chances in both sides of halftime to take a shot on goal, each time it seemed that he took an extra second or touch to move the ball to his right foot and each time he missed the goal or completely launched one into the gravel pit behind the north goal. I like his speed and effort, but I want to see him get some use out of his left foot.

The man of the match, in my opinion, was Santino Quaranta. Yes, the very guy who tarnished his image by scoring on United two years ago, then ran over to Barra and grabbed his crotch as he smugly smiled, has come back to the good side. Tino was brought on right after Emillio made it 2-0 and immediately made an impact. He essentially setup the next three goals, being the spark that sent the United offense into high gear. I asked last week to see him used and I got my wish. Hopefully the guy just played himself into a larger role on the team.

A 6-1 aggregate score line is great and I will take it any day of the week. However, the two matches were closer than the score line shows. Harbour View could have easily shown up tonight with a 3-1 goal lead, which would have never allowed United to play the slow control game that they played in the first half. On the flip side of things, Harbour View, in my opinion, really abandoned ship right after the second Emillio goal, and never really put anything together offensively or defensively after that. So 6-1 is great, but this is only a foundation to build on for the Kansas City road match and the CONCACAF Champions Cup Semi-Finals.

This was a great introduction to the 2008 home season, hopefully we will see more matches like this one this year, rather than the one we saw last week on the TV.

Match Recap: DC United 1 - 1 Harbour View FC

DC United, after a major overhaul during the offseason, began their 2008 campaign with a very lackluster 1-1 draw away to Jamaican champions, Harbour View FC.

Starting four new players from last season's squad, United never really looked that great. The central defense looked respectable as did Namoff. Marc Burch, with the exception of his goal, never really settled down and failed to show the skills that he showed last season.*

The forwards, Emillio, Moreno (for the 20 or so minutes he was on the field), Neill never really got any service from the midfield. To be honest, had they received any service, they probably wouldn't have done any better than what they did when they got the ball. Emillio fell out of the match for 85 minutes, but when he took a shot, he never had anything on them.

It is very unlucky that Moreno went out with a hamstring injury so early into the match. As mentioned so many times last season, the entire United make up changes when Moreno enters or leaves a match. Without Jamie, everything had to go through Gallardo, which meant all Harbour View had to do was hack Gallardo and that would halt the offense.

Zack Wells looked very good tonight. His command and control of the goal box and the penalty box was very good and his control in the air looked strong. he was hung out to dry on the Harbour View goal, as whomever was assigned the back post, failed to show up for duty. That was one of a number of mental mistakes that I expect to not see repeated. Hopefully the mental misteps were more to do with the fitness levels than straight focus.

I have to hope that the overall performance tonight was more due to the lack of fitness than anything else. United were completely gassed by the 70th minute. We had no way of keeping up with the Harbour View players, which was the direct reason of how Harbour View was able to pressure and get the equalizer.

So I guess that the big question is how can United regain some strength in five days? Last season, United traveled to Honduras and looked very, very good in a 4-1 romp over CD Olimpia. United last year, looked like the club that was in midseason, rather than the club starting a campaign. Tonight, United looked worse than a club starting a campaign, they looked like a club who was two weeks in training.

Next week at RFK, I would really like to see guys like Quavas Kirk and Santino Quaranta with some time. I feel that if either one of them had been brought on around the 75th minute, we might have seen more spring in the teams step. Losing Jamie really put United on a back foot too early for this to happen though.

This was one game, so we have to wait and see. Last season started with a bang, and ended with a whimper... if we start with a snooze, do we finish with a trophy? We wait and see.

* EDIT - WTF was I typing last night????? McTavish scored the goal, not Burch. This makes me even less happy with Burch than I was last night. Damn, I shoulda had some coffee before i wrote last night.

SuperLiga Groups Announced... sort a.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the 2008 North American SuperLiga participants have been decided and groups have been drawn.

Group A
- PUMAS
- New England Revolution
- Chivas USA
- Atlante

Group B
- Houston Dynamo
- Chivas de Guadularara
- Pachuca
- DC United

DC United will host all of their matches at RFK Stadium.

It does appear that the actual schedule for this tournament has yet to be determined, as DC United's schedule only has the All Star game listed for July. Now unless MLS has finally realized that a month break in the summer would actually help the quality of play in the league (which I doubt that they would ever do) the lack of schedule matches for July leads me to believe that SuperLiga will take place in July, but they aren't sure as to when exactly. Houston only has one match listed on their schedule, as does New England. Chivas USA have two on their schedule.

All in all, the group looks very tough, so the guys who do take part in the group stage matches should have good matches. I assume that Tom Soehn's priority list for 2008 might look a little like this:

1a. CONCACAF Champions Cup (as it comes first)
1b. MLS Cup
2. Supporters Shield
3. CONCAF Champions League
4. SuperLiga Championship
5. US Open Cup

I haven't heard or seen anything either for or against this, but as the CONCACAF Champions League will be taking place during the same time frame as the CONMEBOL Copa Nissan Sudamericana, I would assume that CONCACAF clubs will not be taking part in that tournament any longer. I will keep an eye out for this one.

I am one of those people who actually likes the SuperLiga. Yes, it is a made up tournament, but most tournaments have to start somewhere. Yes, the matches don't truly test the MLS clubs as they do not have the travel "quirks" of heading to Mexico for group matches. All in all, as I said last year, the tournament is a very good idea and has to begin somewhere.

I would ultimately like to see the group stages involve 6 games, 3 home and 3 away. unfortunately, this type of thing will not be done until MLS rosters get larger and the salary caps get bigger. MLS clubs would pass out if they had the mid week travel matches in Mexico, then the MLS matches, then right afterwards the CONCACAF Champions League matches, which will require more travel matches.

Until MLS increases the roster sizes and the salary caps, the SuperLiga, in its current format, is a good stepping stone to giving more MLS clubs exposure to matches outside of MLS. This is a good start.

DC United Designated Player Madness

With the 2008 training camp kicking off yesterday, DC United introduced four of their five new South American signings. Their fifth signing evidently will be introduced today, Marcelo Gallardo. Gallardo seems to be the replacement for Christian Gomez, the transmission of the club for the last three and a half years. We all knew that Gallardo was joining the Black & Red for a few days now, but the biggest question was if he was going to be the club's first Designated Player Allocation (DPA).

Well, he is.

So now let us all take a step back and look at this entire picture here for a moment, shall we?

We had a guy who was our #10, a guy who over the last three and a half seasons, was either the best player on the pitch, or was only the second best because the 2007 MLS MVP was wearing the same jersey as he was. Gomez had already proven that he had the chemistry with Moreno, Fred, Emillio and Olsen. He was the 2006 MLS MVP to boot. Yet when it came to contract time, DC United was adamant that Gomez was not DPA material, but was willing to offer him the highest non-DPA salary possible for two years. When Gomez balked on the contract offer, United walked away and landed Gallardo, whom they do feel is DPA material.

Now, I am honestly going to reserve judgment here. Gallardo might be a true step up from Gomez and if we see United bust open the 2008 MLS season with 6 straight victories and a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, then spending DPA money on Gallardo will be fine with me. Hell, if United are hoisting up the MLS Cup in November, I am not going to be one bit unhappy that Gomez isn't on the pitch or on the bench.

What troubles me is that a guy gives you 3 and a half years, puts in an MVP season, saves the entire club from being embarrassed by our biggest rival at home (RBNY 2006) in the playoffs and still looks to have at least one to two years left in the tank, but he isn't worthy of a DPA spot? I guess being MVP in this league isn't what it should be. I feel that both sides, United and Gomez, appear to have handled this contract and break up very badly. This isn't the first time that United has not been the best at communicating with players, ask Alecko about his trade to Toronto.

I hope that the front office are right about Gallardo. I am looking forward to this upcoming season, but it looks like I have to buy a new road jersey, as the one I have with C. Gomez doesn't quite fit the roster anymore.

DC United get Harbour View in CONCACAF

CONCACAF held their final draw yesterday for the CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC), as the 2008 tournament is to be the final running of that regional club championship. CONCACAF will be rolling out their CONCACAF Champions League sometime around August of 2008, which will replace the CCC. In any case, DC United found out that they will be facing Harbour View of Jamaica in the first round of the CCC, with a potential match up with Mexican powerhouse Pachuca looming for the Semi-Finals of the tournament.

So how do I think DC United will do in this tournament? Honestly, I have no idea. I don't know because it seems as if we are in for a major roster restructuring that really has yet to take shape as of today. Yes, we have already lost a starting defender and are on the verge of losing our starting goalkeeper, but according to other sources, there should be some rather large changes in the club that will happen next month for sure. As we don't even know who will be in our starting 11, or really even have a good idea, I don't know how we will do in the tournament. I don't think we will do any worse than the Semi-Finals, but who really knows.

After looking at the brackets, I do have to say that I believe that Houston has a very, very good shot at reaching the finals this time. Their main opposition looks to be Deportivo Saprissa from Costa Rica, who they can potentially face in the Semi-Finals. I fully expect to see Saprissa knock off Atlante FC in the Quarter-Finals.

So we now know that DC United kicks off its 2008 season in Jamaica around the 11th-13th of March, which I can honestly say, isn't a bad place to start a soccer season. We will be at "home" for the second leg the week of the 18th-20th of March, which should either take place at RFK or at the Maryland Soccerplex. I guess I should start putting money away now for a ticket for the home leg of the first round series.

Veron to United: Next Week

CNN/SI.com is reporting that Juan Sebastian Veron will sign a multi-year contract with DC United and be introduced next week. The salary is in the $3-4 million range per year.

Ok, at least we now have a time frame for an announcement. I can't wait for this saga to be done with.

*Update - Maybe this saga is over before it truly began. According to here & here, Veron ain't coming. If this is true, is it too late to get Gomez a second year and a signature?

*Final Update* - Ok, Veron is not leaving Estudiantes de la Plata to join DC United. At least we can move on, can't we now?

Cannon in for Perkins?

Steve Goff is reporting that DC United appears to be in the mix to trade for current LA Galaxy goalkeeper, Joe Cannon. Assuming that this happens, Troy Perkins would no longer be in the picture with United.

Ok, here is my take on this. If this trade comes about, simply based on DC United getting Joe Cannon, I think it is a great thing. Joe is a very, very good keeper who was burned last season playing behind a horrible defense. If he joins up with United and is manning the pipes behind a defensive line with Namoff, Boswell, Burch and maybe even Vanney, I have to believe that Cannon and United would have one of the best defensive seasons in a very long time. Cannon has so much experience in goal and has a greater amount of timing and judgment than we have seen in goal in a long time.

That isn't a knock on Troy, it is the plain truth.

Now, the biggest question comes in as to why United is trading for Cannon, if this is a real situation. Are they trading due to the chance presenting itself and it is one that the coaches and front office staff feel is way too good to pass up? Or are they doing this because it is an area that they suddenly feel that they need to address, such as Troy possibly moving on himself? If troy is moving on, to Europe as Goff suggests, then I am very happy for the guy and I wish him all the best. If this is a situation where Lalas called up Kevin Payne and offered Cannon up for trade, I still think that United should move on it.

For the good of the club, I think having Joe Cannon in goal will present DC United a much better opportunity to make a stronger run at any of the 6 possible trophies that United will be up for next season. Troy is a great goalkeeper, but over this last season, he has had a few "gaffs" in key moments that one has to ask when he is truly going to step up. He was huge in the home playoff draw against Chicago (minus the two goals) but the two goals, along with the gaffs against CD Chivas de Guadalajara as well as the away match at Chivas USA, all add up to a guy who shows that he might need more training time than spot light time.

If this trade doesn't work out and Troy is still our #1, I am not going to be in any way unhappy. We still won back to back Supporters Shields with him in the net, and I feel that he will still give us a chance this season... I just feel that Cannon would be a stronger chance that Troy.

Ok, I'm Back....

I need to find a new job that doesn't get in the way of life, but pays better.

Anyways, alot has happened over the last week.

Kaka wins Ballon D'Or
Was there any doubt that Kaka wouldn't win this award? When he dropped his two goals on Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League, it wasn't that much of a shock. Ronoldo had a wonderful season and is still holding to that form, but Kaka was huge last season and Milan won the Champions League, so it had to go to him.

Arsenal win Copa Nissan Sudamericana
Arsenal won the Copa Nissan Sudamericana last night, defeating Club America on away goals, after losing 2-1 at home. Arsenal won the first match in Mexico City 3-2. This win caps a very, very strange year for Argentine football. Arsenal wins the Copa Nissan Sudamericana, Boca wins the Copa Libertadores, Estudiantes won the Clausura championship and Lanus just won the Apertura championship. Talk about spreading the wealth.

On a different note, Club America came a goal from keeping the title in Mexico. It is a positive sign for CONCACAF that for the third straight year, a Mexican club reached the final and has actually made a match of the final series. Pachuca heads into the FIFA World Club Cup knowing that they are still the only Mexican club to have won the Copa Nissan Sudamericana.

Mexican Playoffs finals set
Pumas are back in the Mexican League playoff finals since 2004 and will face Atlanate, who denied Chivas de Guadalajara a second straight championship. The first match is tonight. The winner will take part in the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

UEFA Euro 2008 Draw held
Still drunk from the previous day of drinking beer and watching way too much college football, I did wake up and watch the ESPN2 telecast of the Euro 2008 draw. I actually thought I was hallucinating when they announced that France, Italy and Holland were in the same group. I feel bad for Romania and they "appear" to be the lone whipping boy of that group. This is the very definition of group of death. I am looking forward to watching the matches this summer.

DC United announce first two league matches of 2008
DC United announced that they will be starting their 2008 defense of the Supporters Shield on March 29th against Kansas City...in a baseball stadium. They return home the following week to host Toronto FC at RFK stadium. Will we see Gomez, Moreno, Emillio, Fred & Veron all wearing the Black & Red at the start of the season? I doubt it.

Veron to DC United close?

Goal.com is reporting that Juan Sebastian Veron is very close to signing a contract with DC United. His current contract with Estudiantes de la Plata ends this December, which is the end of the Argentine Apertura.

This is nothing new, and I am not holding my breath on this one. I would be very happy to see Veron in a DC United jersey, but until he signs and is introduced, I will reserve full judgement. This saga has gone on a little too long.