The biggest change that D.C. United has had in the past month would have to be the hiring of Curt Onalfo. By now every D.C. United fan should know his coaching experience and his plan to change D.C. United. Onalfo comes with the risk that accompanies any coach with a mediocre record, but seems, at least so far, to fit just fine here. He wasn’t the first choice for the job and fans remain skeptical on why that is, but hey, Caleb Porter has only been a head coach for one year. Onalfo seems very focused on bringing D.C. to the top, something former coach Tom Soehn didn’t seem determined to do. He promises to bring change to D.C. and it shows with his plan to switch from the dreaded 3-5-2 formation to the more standard 4-4-2 formation.

He also brought back fan favorite goalkeeper Troy Perkins, arguably the third best U.S. goalkeeper at present. This looks great on paper and D.C. needed a goalkeeper, but the acquisition will be bittersweet for D.C. Perkins is likely to be called up to the national team in the summer and United probably won’t have a steady back-up to take his place. Josh Wicks is predicted to be out the door by then, Milos Kocic needs to develop and Bill Hamid probably doesn’t want to turn into the next Freddy Adu by starting this soon in his career.

Another issue of this signing is the loss of that desperately needed first round pick and attack-minded Fred. Fred has been inconsistent recently, so its no surprise he’s gone to Philly, but United needs a striker. Badly. The best option up front is ladies’ favorite Chris Pontius and veteran Jaime Moreno. Pontuis is solid, but Moreno has lost stamina as he’s gotten older. United needs a striker to pick up when Moreno can’t play and the only other forward listed on DC’s roster is Boyzzz Khumalo, who despite his improvement, doesn’t seem ready for a first string roster spot. Solution? MLS SuperDraft. Problem? United only got two draft picks and they traded the first rounder to Philadelphia. The other draft pick, a boring fourth rounder, was used to get Jordan Graye. Graye is an outside defender, but I doubt he’s going to become an instant starter. He may become the next Jonathan Bornstein (another fourth rounder) or the next Tim Merritt (also a fourth rounder)… but hopefully Bornstein.

However, despite all this, I think this is a boost for D.C. United because it shows Onalfo is truly trying to make the team stronger. Morale is way up for DC fans.

So what should the new coach do now? First solve defensive issues. Is Avery John, Julius James, David Habarugira, or Lawson Vaughn ready to step up for a starting spot? If a new defender is needed to help the defense, so be it. Next issue? Find a solid striker to complement Pontuis up front. Anything else? Maybe solve the center midfield concern. Are Christian Gomez and Clyde Simms starting or will benchwarmer John DiRaimondo get his moment to swim-or-sink? Could Rodney Wallace be the answer to any of problems? How about the goalkeeper backup situation? Wicks looks like the man right now, but he’s lost considerable trust from the fans due to certain events of which I don’t want to write about. If not Kocic needs to step up. Onalfo and the rest of the D.C. United staff have the money to solve these problems with the money from Luciano Emilio’s departure.

As of now, this would be what I think the D.C. United starting line-up should look like:

Perkins

Namoff – James – Jakovic – Burch/Wallace

Quaranta – Simms – Wallace/Gomez – Castillo

Moreno – Pontius

What do you think of the Perkins trade? Vote in the poll!

United had only three shots at William Hesmer’s goal with none in the second half but Luciano Emilio capitalized on one of the precious few chances United could muster, finishing a nifty combination play with Boyzzz Khumalo just past the quarter hour mark of a first half.

Recently acquired goalkeeper Steve Cronin however was busy on the other end,fending off ten shots and commanding his penalty area

United head coach Tom Soehn took note earlier in the week of the Crew’s tendencies to sit back a bit on the road so he reverted to the 3-5-2 formation in hopes of taking the game to the yellow clad visitors early and often.

Although that did not materialize, they got the one chance they needed to win the game. He did finish the match with four in the back in hopes of protecting the lead, giving up on attacking freely in the miserable wet conditions

Dejan Jakovic got the call in the middle of the back line flanked by Julius James and Marc Burch. Lawson Vaughn came on in the second half to finish the match. The extra midfielder allowed Christian Gomez to push higher up the field in support of Emilio and Khumalo.

“Today was just about grinding out a result,” said Soehn. “The team showed a real commitment to working hard and defending, which you need to do at this stage in the season. Obviously everybody knows the importance of the game in keeping our playoff hopes alive. The guys grinded one out and gave everything they had.”

The Crew had several opportunities that didn’t necessarily translate into quality chances but spent most of the match with the ball and in United’s half of the park. They won the majority of 50-50 balls but the final penetrating passes in the attacking third were not of sufficient quality.

“I thought we played pretty well actually,” said Crew midfielder Robbie Rogers, “We outshot them, we kept the ball pretty well; we weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be in the final third but I think the field had something to do with it; it was really slippery and wet. It just wasn’t there.”

The Crew had an opportunity to clinch their second consecutive MLS Supporter’s Shield but their urgency was tempered by already having clinched home-field advantage throughout the MLS Cup playoffs with their 1-0 win at New England last weekend.

“We played a good game. We dominated 90-minutes but good play by DC in the first half with the goal,” said Crew coach Robert Warzycha. “We lost the game 1-0 and I am not worrying about us scoring the goals. We have 49 points so we have actually scored a lot.

“Today wasn’t our day. We created chances and what is very important for me is that we created the chances. The goals are going to come when the time comes. We could be a little sharper in front of the goal, we had 10 shots but nothing went in.”

They also have an opportunity to advance to the knock out round of the CONCACAF Champions League with a win or draw at the Puerto Rico Islanders (USL-1).

“We treated this game as another game,” he continued. “We tried to win the game; I wasn’t thinking about the Supporter’s Shield. We are first in the East so that is a big accomplishment and that is more important for me than anything else is the home-field advantage.

“The positive thing is we are playing good soccer and we are dangerous when we play and creating chances and that is the positive I can take from this game.”

Khumalo’s darting run into the heart of the Crew back line provided the initiative for Emilio’s goal in the 17th minute. Khumalo stepped around Danny O’Rourke before pushing a clever ball past both Jed Zayner and Kevin Burns to the slashing Emilio.

As the ball seemed to nearly come to a stop on the soggy turf, Emilio flicked it over the sliding Hesmer but, with the turf in front of the goal knocked down a bit, the ball had enough impetus to trickle over the line ahead of O’Rourke’s valiant recovery attempt.

United could generate very little else with the field tilting toward Cronin’s goal the rest of the match. United acquired the veteran keeper on loan from the USL-1 Portland Timbers with regular starter Josh Wicks lost for the season due to injury.

“He had to be at his best eight minutes after United surged ahead denying Rogers on a strong left-footed volley from inside the top left corner of the penalty area that was labeled for the upper right corner of the net.

Cronin was tested again in the 40th minute on a strong header from Eddie Gaven from just outside the 6-yard box off a well floated ball from the left flank. Gaven had just come back on to the field, having to leave for a brief spell after taking he was slammed into by Hesmer as both vied for a dangerous Christian Gomez free kick.

As the rain streamed down at an even quicker rate while the second half moved along, United switched to four in the back, content to absorb anything the Crew had to offer and counter when the opportunities became available.

“It was just scrappy in the end. We put Lawson in there, because we knew we were going to have to battle,” said Cronin. “They put balls in the box and we won all the first balls and if I could clean up anything, I tried to play my role. The guys fought hard and it was a good win, good win for the team tonight.”

“We started the half in a 3-5-2, and I think they adjusted because we played first half 3-5-2 also, and they adjusted and said ‘forget it’ and throw numbers on the wings and they were stretching us, so we adjusted into a 4-4-2 and I think that helped a lot late in the game with the crosses,” said United defensive midfielder Clyde Simms.

Cronin continued his solid play however, punching a Gaven cross safely over the bar in the 62nd minute and clearing away a Frankie Hejduk floater nine minutes later with added vigor. In between those, he cleanly handled another dangerous near-post cross from Rodgers from the right flank.

Warzycha brought on forward Jason Garey in favor of Guillermo Barros Schelotto in the 56th minute and Emilio Renteria ten minutes later in hopes of changing the match. Schelotto has been hampered by a hamstring injury and has started only four of the Crew’s last 13 regular season games. Renteria had an immediate impact, darting past two United defenders but his right-footed shot from just inside the penalty area skidded wide of the far post.

Renteria was not long for the match however, ejected for chopping down James on a fairly innocuous play in the 83rd minute. As James outmuscled Renteria for inside position on a ball heading over the United endline, the Venezuelan hacked at James’ Achilles tendon after the ball went over the line earning a straight red from referee Alex Prus.

United can still earn a playoff spot but need help along the way.

“It’s crazy this year, anything can happen. We can still finish second in the conference, that’s how crazy things are,” said Soehn. “Right now all we’re concerned with is that we kept our hopes alive and put ourselves in a spot where we keep fighting for another day. So credit the guys, they fought their rears off today.”

Scoring Summary:
DC — Luciano Emilio 10 (Thabiso Khumalo 2) 17

Columbus Crew — William Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk, Eric Brunner, Jed Zayner, Eddie Gaven, Kevin Burns (Andy Iro 82), Adam Moffat, Danny O’Rourke, Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Jason Garey 56), Steven Lenhart (Emilio Renteria 66),

Substitutes Not Used: Cory Elenio, Duncan Oughton, Gino Padula, Kenny Schoeni

D.C. United — Steve Cronin, Devon McTavish (Lawson Vaughn 46), Dejan Jakovic, Julius James, Marc Burch, Andrew Jacobson, Christian Gomez (Jaime Moreno 58), Clyde Simms, Rodney Wallace, Luciano Emilio, Thabiso Khumalo (Danny Szetela 66),

Substitutes Not Used: Fred, Avery John, Milos Kocic, Tiyiselani Shipalane

D.C. United Columbus Crew
Total shots: 3 (3 tied with 1) 10 (3 tied with 2)
Shots on goal: 2 (Luciano Emilio 1,
Christian Gomez 1) 6 (Robbie Rogers 2)
Fouls: 12 (Rodney Wallace 3) 7 (5 tied with 1)
Offsides: 3 (Thabiso Khumalo 2) 1 (Robbie Rogers 1)
Corner kicks: 2 (Christian Gomez 2) 7 (Robbie Rogers 6)
Saves: 6 (Steve Cronin 6) 1 (William Hesmer 1)

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Devon McTavish (caution; Reckless Tackle) 6
CLB — Emilio Renteria (ejection; Violent Conduct) 83

Referee: Alex Prus
Referee’s Assistants: Sean Hurd; Adam Wienckowski
4th official: Andrew Chapin
Time of game: 1:50
Attendance: 16,274
Weather: Rain -and- 45 degrees

“They were a better team,” said Ben Olsen who was ejected in the 65th minute for retaliating to a Yamith Cuesta foul that earned him a yellow card as well. “They took advantage of us, from some of our shortcomings and obviously after I’m out, the game changes.

“I think they were better without me out there. They’re a good team. They played hard and worked hard and we let a lot go on their end. I don’t know if we really matched that fight early on. That was part of my frustration.”

Though it was officially scored an own goal, Maicon Santos pulled the trigger for the first Chivas goal in the 32nd minute following a series of quality opportunities by Justin Braun that set the tempo from the onset of the match.

The rangy Brazilian collected a ball from Sasha Kljestan in the left channel, fought through Julius James and banged a left footed shot from inside the penalty area off the post that struck United goalkeeper Milos Kocic in the back and trickled across the goal line.

Jesus Padilla scored his first career MLS goal to effectively put the game away just after halftime, outdueling Marc Burch for a fairly innocuous Jonathon Bornstein free kick near the 6-yard box and knocking home the loose ball in the 53rd minute. As the two vied for the lofted ball , it deflected off of Marc Burch straight down to the Mexican-American who slotted home.

“I’m flustered that we could come out and not have real energy in the first half. I think we’ve been saying the right things all week and then to come out flat and have them take the game to us was very disappointing,” said United Coach Tom Soehn.

“We tried to energize ourselves and get some legs on. In the end, we didn’t have the legs to begin with. And then you get down a goal and then make another mistake for the second goal and obviously it’s disappointing on all fronts tonight.”

Chivas perhaps set the blue print for how to beat this United side, coming out and attacking from the opening moment of the game, never allowing United to establish any sort of rhythm.

“I think it went exactly as we wanted it to go,” said Chivas defender Carey Talley. “We planned on coming in here and getting three points, pushing the tempo the whole time and from minute one we were on top of them the whole time and we played well tonight.”

After being knocked down by a violent elbow in the back by Cuesta on the right touch line at midfield, a foul that may have been worthy of a direct red card on its own merit, Olsen got up and fired the ball at the retreating Columbian striking him in the back.

As referee Mark Stott approached the scene with yellow card already in hand for Cuesta, he was forced to make the quick switch en route and excuse the veteran midfielder from the match.

At that point however, the match was clearly in control of the visitors. United had no answer for Kljestan who repeatedly got into good spots in the attacking third of the field, punishing United with decisive passes that threatened their back line the entire match.

“Their wide midfielders played really wide tonight and I like to come inside and find the ball so it made Lawson Vaughn have to make some decisions whether he had to come up really tight on me, and if he did, the space behind him was open and if he held his spot, I could find some good gaps inside,” said Kljestan.

“I think I did a good job of trying to find those good spots and the guys around me did a good job of getting me the ball when I needed it so it was a combination of everyone doing well on the field tonight.”

Kljestan set up Justin Braun three times in the early going including a shot that skimmed the crossbar just seconds before Santos goal.

“He floated inside a lot and we lost track of him. But in the end we didn’t have the ball. You need to punish him when he comes inside and you open up the field and we didn’t have enough possession. And in the second half I think we did,” said Soehn.

With the abundance of recent league and CONCACAF Champions League games, Soehn started Vaughn and Burch on the defensive flanks with James and Dejan Jakovic in the middle. He chose to start Christian Gomez in a much higher position, playing with his back to the goal, a position and role in which he was clearly not comfortable.

In a curious decision by Soehn, an outwardly upset Gomez was replaced by Jaime Moreno just two minutes before halftime. Luciano Emilio did not start as well but came on in favor of Burch in the 62nd minute. Fred was also inserted for Boyzzz Khumalo to start the second half.

“Christian was forced to play with his back to goal a lot and they were surrounding him,” said Soehn about the move. “Jaime is obviously more capable of doing that and injecting some life. We were looking to add some possession at that point.”

“Our game plan was to go out push them and make them play from the first minute because some of these guys are going on three or four games in 10 days,” added Talley. “And until MLS rosters get larger and deeper, it’s going to be tough for these teams down the stretch that are playing in CONCACAF, SuperLiga, things where you’d like to actually have the manpower to compete game-in and game-out.”

Though United had more of the ball in the second half, it amounted to very few productive chances at goal. Chivas keeper Zach Thornton gave United some fleeting hope to crack the scoring column, misjudging a Santino Quaranta corner in the 78th minute.

With the ball getting to him quickly and unexpectedly, Emilio’s reactionary header popped straight up in the air allowing the veteran keeper to recover and ward off the threat.

Emilio combined with Quaranta again 3-minutes later but his stumbling left footed shot from a primo 10-yards away drifted harmlessly high and wide.

“They were better. We didn’t really play well in the first half. I think we attacked a little bit better in the second half, but in the end we just weren’t good enough,” said Quaranta. “I don’t want to make excuses. We’re professionals…maybe it’s expectations.

“Maybe we’re not as good as we’ve been. I don’t know if it comes down to individuals, if it comes down collectively, but we’re just not good enough, including myself as well. I don’t know.”

“Well, our playoff hopes are slim now,” concluded Soehn. “We’ve dug ourselves a major hole. Now we’re looking at everybody else, but in the end we still have to look at ourselves and find a way to pick ourselves out again. But it’s slim chances now. That’s the reality.”

Instead of following that example for the remainder of the game, the players relapsed into the central default mode that has plagued them the entire year. Play swung into the Earthquakes’ favor and DC lost to the MLS’ weakest team.

The season started on a very positive note as rookies Rodney Wallace and Pontius were pressed into service for the injured Santino Quaranta and Fred. Both veterans are interior players by inclination and experience. Their wing replacements brought effective width and United played a more complete game in their absence.

As they returned to service and other injuries depleted other positions, Coach Tom Soehn discovered that his rookies could play a variety of additional roles, Pontius as a forward or defensive midfielder and Wallace as defensive midfielder or left back. While their pleasantly surprising versatility gave the coach some flexibility and expanded the rookies’ capabilities, it led to the loss of effective wide play.

The preferred veteran wings naturally chose the inside route and drove themselves into a congested center. When frustrated, a veteran will tend to redouble his efforts and rely more heavily on his strengths, exactly the wrong response in this case.

In midsummer, Soehn tried to solve the problem. One would see Fred out on the wing almost begging for the ball to reward his disciplined position. He rarely got it. It was as if the others, when they bothered to look, wondered what he was doing out there.

He began to channel Bobby Convey, raising his hand in a plaintive “I’m available” wave. He wasn’t the only one. On a recent occasion, Bryan Namoff overlapped repeatedly and received almost no notice. He too became a hand waver.

In the San Jose game, Ben Olsen joined the semaphore crowd, but the only player who actually got service wide in the second half was Boyzz Khumalo, whose waving cast attracted enough attention to get him a pass.

Flash forward to the game versus San Juan Jabloteh and suddenly United returned to the Marathon game wide play that they had finally developed. Their first and fourth goals, both by Christian Gomez, were textbook examples of how to move the ball and find space by exploiting width.

It remains to be seen whether DC United is indeed progressing fast enough in broadening their game to get results in MLS and the CCL. All four games remaining (three in MLS) are now must wins for United as Toluca went to Marathon and lost 2-0 last night. With the Marathon win, DC must now concentrate on all four games.

If they get past Chivas this Saturday, they will have two weeks to train in the right habits to exploit width fully. Then they will have three games in one final decisive week.

Perhaps Soehn should take a close look at his players’ natural tendencies and place them where they are most comfortable. Use Wallace and Pontius on the wings. Let a resurging Luciano Emilio work up front with Quaranta. Bring in Jaime Moreno to change the flow if needed and Boyzz Khumalo to inject speed.

With Ben Olsen’s good health and the return of Dejan Jacovic, United has the luxury of rotating Clyde Simms with Olsen or Julius James who has come on board to good effect. Lawson Vaughn has covered well for Namoff who might return after a few weeks if needed.

Tom Soehn has the tools and the insight to know how they should work together. His only remaining question is how to train them to work across the entire field. The players have the vision, but the right habits are still forming.

The win was the Quakes first away from home this season and snapped a 20-game road losing streak dating back to June 7, 2008, a 2-0 result over Columbus.

Jaime Moreno gave United the lead in the 26th minute but United were lucky to go into the halftime break with the lead after a goal by Ryan Johnson was disallowed for a questionable offside call.

Johnson put the ball in the net again at the start of the second half but the play was blown down by referee Baldomero Toledo so an obviously injured Josh Wicks could be immediately attended to by United staff. Wicks dislocated his left shoulder on the perilous sequence and was replaced by Milos Kocic. Wicks could miss 1-3 weeks.

“We had every opportunity to run away with the game in the first half. We were unable to put our chances away and any team you keep around it’s going to come back to haunt you,” said United Head Coach Tom Soehn.

“We came out flat in the second half, on a day – any day you can’t afford it – but on a day when we’re trying to make the playoffs, it’s thoroughly disappointing. I have to go back and evaluate whether I had the right blend of guys on the field.”

Soehn chose not to start Christian Gomez but brought the playmaker on in the 76th minute, just four minutes after United fell behind.

The personnel move that changed the match however was San Jose coach Frank Yallop’s decision to insert Arturo Alvarez at the start of the second half. The quick and crafty Alvarez changed the tempo of the match and earned the Earthquakes some long needed possession and a threatening presence in the attacking third of the field.

“Putting Arturo on made a big difference to our team. He’s dynamic, he’s quick; it gave Ryan Johnson a bit more space to run around,” said Yallop. “At halftime we have made some adjustments before and they have really worked and today was the same thing. We went out trying to make sure were nice and solid defensively and see how the game pans out.”

“I think the game looked so easy to us the first 45 minutes of the game, the first half, that I think that we thought we were just going to go out and keep doing what we were doing,” said United midfielder Santino Quaranta.

“It seemed like they didn’t touch the ball in the first half and we could do whatever we wanted. We come out in the second half and they had Alvarez who changed the game. It just wasn’t good enough and that’s devastating, this loss.”

United had no answer for the sturdy Johnson the entire match and he became even more effective, along with running mate Chris Wondolowski, once Alvarez put his stamp on the match.

Luciano Emilio should have put United in front in the 18th minute but his uncontested header off a Quaranta corner kick bounced over the crossbar in front of goalkeeper Andrew Weber.

Moreno’s goal was indicative of the action at that time of the match, as the league’s all time leading scorer stepped in front of Daniel Hernandez to collect a Chris Pontius cross from the left flank near the tip left corner of the 6-yard box, turned and powered a left footed shot through Weber to give United a 1-0 lead.

Ben Olsen had sprung Pontius with a simple ball out of midfield with the West Covina, CA native playing a low cross into Moreno, who had darted to the spot with a slashing run from the top of the penalty area.

As rain finally broke through the ominously dark clouds that enveloped the Washington area all day, the Quakes fortunes turned clear and bright as the whistle blew to start the second half with the Wicks injury being the only sour moment.

Wicks jettisoned his goal to contest a high, floating corner from Simon Elliott, and as Johnson was doing the same, the two rose up, Wick’s extended left arm got caught under Johnson body as the rest of his body went forward and the keeper fell to the turf in obvious pain.

Johnson collected the rebound and banged a shot that deflected high off a United defender but the rightfully cautious Toledo blew the play down before the ball bounced inside the right post in the 49th minute.

Nine minutes later, Julius James took down Johnson in a plum location some 26-yards from goal straight on and Ramon Sanchez made United pay. The Salvadoran’s curving left footer over the wall drifted away from Kocic who barely made a stab at the equalizer.

The Johnson and Alvarez tandem combined to surge the Quakes ahead in the 72nd minute. Alvarez scooped up a poor United clearance and stumbled briefly but got off a shot that was deflected onto the crossbar by Clyde Simms.

The ball caromed directly to Johnson and with Kocic out to cut down the angle for the original shot, his diving header from some 11-yards out bounced into the vacated net for his 9th goal of the season.

“I kind of anticipated that the ball was going to hit the post and when it did, it came to me pretty fast but where the ball landed I saw an opportunity for a diving header,” said Johnson.

With their fading playoff hopes staring them squarely in the face, United did have a late resurgence but could not finish.

James rose well above the crowd to get his head onto a Moreno corner in the 74th minute but his attempt missed just wide of the right post.

Eight minutes later, Corrales swept a superb Pontius bicycle kick off the line from 10-yards out and Boyzz Khumalo’s left footed effort from the top of the penalty as the match went into stoppage time skimmed the top of the crossbar.

“We addressed a lot at halftime, talked about shoring up our shape a little bit better and I thought our energy was terrible in the second half. They came out with a little bit of bite and we didn’t adjust to it. We kind of just stayed in a lull,” said Soehn.

“It wasn’t until after they scored that we put in some legs and realized we had to get back in the game. It’s disappointing [because] it comes at a time when we’re desperate for points to get in the playoffs and we sure didn’t show that urgency.”

“It’s devastating but in the end we didn’t finish the game well,” added Quaranta. “We came out in the second half and it was a letdown and for the first 15-minutes we let them back in the game. It just wasn’t good, it’s not good.”

Scoring Summary:
DC — Jaime Moreno 8 (Chris Pontius 3, Ben Olsen 1) 26
SJ — Ramon Sanchez 2 (unassisted) 58
SJ — Ryan Johnson 9 (unassisted) 73

Lineups:
San Jose Earthquakes — Andrew Weber, Chris Leitch, Bobby Burling (Arturo Alvarez 46), Brandon McDonald, Jason Hernandez, Ramon Sanchez, Ramiro Corrales, Simon Elliott, Bobby Convey, Ryan Johnson, Chris Wondolowski,

Substitutes Not Used: Quincy Amarikwa, Mike Graczyk, Aaron Pitchkolan, Antonio Ribeiro, Michael Zaher

D.C. United — Josh Wicks (Milos Kocic 52), Lawson Vaughn, Julius James, Marc Burch (Christian Gomez 76), Santino Quaranta, Ben Olsen, Clyde Simms, Rodney Wallace, Chris Pontius, Luciano Emilio, Jaime Moreno (Thabiso Khumalo 78),

Substitutes Not Used: Fred, Dejan Jakovic, Avery John, Devon McTavish

Statistical Summary:
D.C. United / San Jose Earthquakes
Total shots: 18 (4 tied with 3) 11 (Ryan Johnson 3)
Shots on goal: 4 (Jaime Moreno 2) 4 (4 tied with 1)
Fouls: 9 (Julius James 3,
Chris Pontius 3) 8 (Bobby Convey 2,
Simon Elliott 2)
Offsides: 3 (Chris Pontius 2) 3 (Ryan Johnson 3)
Corner kicks: 8 (Jaime Moreno 3) 3 (3 tied with 1)
Saves: 2 (Josh Wicks 2) 3 (Andrew Weber 3)

Misconduct Summary:
SJ — Brandon McDonald (caution; Reckless Foul) 28
DC — Rodney Wallace (caution; Reckless Foul) 54
DC — Chris Pontius (caution; Simulation) 68

Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Referee’s Assistants: C.J. Morgante; James Conlee
4th official: Jeff Gontarek
Time of game: 1:51
Attendance: 14,375
Weather: Cloudy -and- 72 degrees

Coach Tom Soehn used the 10 day break to drive home the importance of wide play through consistent training and was fortunate to have an opponent well suited to allow his players to grow comfortable with it. His youngsters executed the plan with discipline and effectiveness to pull out a 3-0 victory which gives United the tiebreaking edge over Marathon.

Over the past several months DC United has very slowly improved its use of the flanks to build its attacks. While Tino Quaranta and Fred showed increasing discipline to stay wide as August and September slid by, and Bryan Namoff began more frequent overlaps down the sideline, their teammates seemed not to reward their efforts with proper service.

Then on Thursday night a Marathon team, wearied by long travel from troubled Honduras, provided a perfect foil to test United’s willingness to work the entire field. DC’s Coach Tom Soehn played a young and energetic lineup which provided the rapid transition to force Marathon to constantly adjust to a multifaceted attack.

Soehn admitted the previous problem with a predictable central attacking mindset, “Over this course of so many games, we’ve created some bad habits, where we haven’t been using the width. And not being able to work on it in training, or not having the time to do it, makes it difficult.

“We had a week to really focus on the strength to stretch the field to change the point of attack, and today I saw a real difference in that.”

As United chose to attack by encouraging both wings to play forward, Marathon chose to defend what amounted to their two goal lead in the important head-to-head tiebreaker. Both group dynamics and their travel fatigue drove the decision by Marathon’s coach to absorb pressure in their end, hoping to exploit United’s depleted defense with counterstrikes.

He pointed out that his team had taken an eight hour bus trip to fly out of Guatemala, only arriving at 1:30 on Thursday morning. Both coaches based their strategies on sound grounds, but the confluence of fatigue, several key first half saves by Josh Wicks, and the first strong sign of total team play by United gave the home side a 3-0 victory.

Ben Olsen was understanding, but willing to exploit the convenient reality, “They had a long couple of days getting here and unfortunately for them, they weren’t 100 percent. But we’ve played teams that weren’t 100 percent in the past and we haven’t taken advantage of them.

“It’s important when you do get these chances, when you play a team that’s down on their luck a little bit, you have to punish them and we did that tonight.”

Quaranta shared his teammates’ pleasure with DC’s performance, “With four (defenders) we have to get our outside backs involved and use the width. We did that tonight. We were smart. We were disciplined going forward and kept a good shape. We will break teams down here no matter who we play.”

He volunteered that there was room for improvement in exploiting the full width of the field,
“Absolutely. We can only get better. The guys who stepped in tonight did well. You can build off these types of performances. It’s very positive in the locker room right now. We put ourselves in a position to do what we need to do to advance.”

The squad has three days to rest up for Sunday’s clash against San Jose at RFK on Sunday at 3:00 PM. Advancement in another competition, the MLS playoffs, hinges on United’s continued improvement in understanding the value of full width play and applying it throughout a contest.

Scoring:
DC — Luciano Emilio 1 (Avery John ) 47
DC — Jaime Moreno 1 (Santino Quaranta ) 55
DC — Luciano Emilio 2 (Ben Olsen ) 71

Discipline:
DC — Avery John (caution; Reckless Tackle) 26
MAR — Mario Beata (caution; Reckless Foul) 82
MAR — Mario Berrios (caution; Reckless Foul) 83
DC — Dejan Jakovic (caution; Dissent) 88
DC — Jaime Moreno (caution; Reckless Foul) 90
DC — Jaime Moreno (ejection; Second Caution) 91+
MAR — Glen Brown (caution; Dissent) 91+

Game Stats
CD Marathon / D.C. United
Total Shots: 9 20
Shots on Goal: 5 9
Total Saves: 6 5
Fouls: 18 12
Offsides: 4 2
Corner Kicks: 7 9

Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Referee’s Assistants: Darren Clark; Daniel Belleau
4th Official: Baldomero Toledo
Time of Game: 90:00
Weather: Cloudy -and- 80 degrees
Attendance: 5,280

United’s strong midfield play, went for nought as Fredy Montero fired a stunning strike in the 84th minute to cap Seattle’s second win at RFK Stadium in the last two weeks.

The Sounders defeated United by the same 2-1 score on September 2nd to capture the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and their first trophy as an MLS franchise.

Sounders FC picked up right where they left off from that match, scoring a goal in the 5th minute before many of the 19,592 energetic fans had made it to their seats. Steve Zakuani slipped behind Bryan Namoff and beat goalkeeper Josh Wicks to give Seattle the early 1-0 lead.

Peter Vagenas played a perfect low, long ball out of the back to Zakuani streaking through the left channel and with Josh Wicks hesitating slightly in his decision to come off his line, the rookie nutmegged the keeper for his fourth goal of the season.

“Obviously when you get a goal that early that helps your team settle (in)” said Seattle coach Sigi Schmid. “We felt that going into the game the first 15 or 20-minutes were going to be really important. We wanted to make sure we matched whatever they threw out there and that goal helped us.”

United responded quickly however with Santino Quaranta’s crafty, bordering on clumsy, dribbling on the left side of midfield which gave him enough space to collect himself, exchange a ball with Ben Olsen, and play a wonderful diagonal ball to Fred, who snuck in behind Leo Gonzalez on the back side.

Fred’s touch failed him however, giving goalkeeper Kasey Keller enough time to sweep up the loose ball and eliminate the threat.

Head Coach Tom Soehn decided to rest Christian Gomez in favor of Quaranta, though the Argentinean playmaker came on in the second for Jaime Moreno, who ran alongside Luciano Emilio up front.

Wallace started in the middle but drifted primarily wide with Fred patrolling the other side. Julius James and Clyde Simms played centrally on defense in the relatively new four man back line with Namoff on the right and Avery John on the left.

Zakuani engaged in a subtle but intriguing battle with the veteran Namoff over the course of the two matches. The speedy, first overall selection in last year’s Super Draft rookie constantly probed the savvy defender for time and space on the Sounder’s attacking left flank.

“He’s a veteran and he is not going to let a first year player, a rookie give him problems so it was fun but at the same time I am going to try and play my game no matter who I am playing against and it’s nice like tonight when it works, it’s perfect,” said Zakuani.

Both teams exchanged functional possession throughout the remainder of the half with both creating chances but lacking definitive ideas in the final third.

Seattle’s Sebastian Le Toux finally found a crease but an alert Wicks cut down the angle with a strong slide to deny the Frenchman. The rebound however made it only as far as the left side of the penalty area with Montero collecting the ball with ample space, but his well struck shot missed over the top.

Seattle played without Freddie Ljungberg in the midfield as the Swedish legend was suspended for yellow card accumulation. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado returned to his customary location in the middle of central defense after missing the U.S. Open Cup win on red-card suspension from Seattle’s semifinal win against Houston.

Despite Ljungberg’s absence, Schmid changed very little and Seattle had no shortage of chances throughout the match.

“We have had to play a lot of games without Freddie and some games without Montero,” Schmid said. “We knew they were going to come with a four (man backline) this time so we didn’t really have somebody drop in that hole and we tried to stay high on the two center backs.”

Wallace’s equalizer in the 54th minute immediately stepped up the intensity of the match after an uneventful start to the second half. The United rookie pounced on a deflected ball in the penalty area and knocked it past Keller just inside the left post.

Wallace struggled with his first touch through most of the night, but a probing run into the heart of the Sounders FC defense started the sequence. The University of Maryland grad played a ball wide headed for Emilio that was deflected by a Seattle defender toward the middle of the penalty area allowing him to pick it up and step to goal.

“As soon as Rodney got the goal, I thought we were all over them. We had more of the possession, we were more dangerous,” said rookie midfielder Chris Pontius. “We didn’t put some balls away and they did at the end. It’s just tough, especially at home, after they beat us in the Open Cup final. We wanted revenge tonight and we didn’t get it on this night.”

The chances did tilt in United’s favor but not before Seattle had multiple quality opportunities to jump back into the lead. Just moments after the Wallace equalizer Le Toux spun a perfectly weighted, chest-high ball into Montero’s path at the near post, but Wicks beat the Colombian sharpshooter to the spot to punch it away to safety.

Zakuani followed that up in the 65th minute on a play where he appeared to be offside, but his last touch also got away from him, giving Wicks the opportunity he needed to knock the ball away. That rebound however went only as far as the edge of the 6-yard box where Montero hammered a hopeful left-footed shot from a severe angle that shook the side netting.

It was soon thereafter that the flow of the match turned in United’s favor.

Ben Olsen had two cracks from distance in the 67th and 72nd minutes that required Keller’s attention which were followed up by two attempts from Emilio, who muscled through James Riley on the first to collect a flick-on from Moreno but wasted the chance with a weak shot from inside the box that Keller scooped up with ease.

The Brazilian did activate Keller’s radar again a few minutes later however, going through Hurtado –losing a shoe in the process — but was dismissed by the former U.S. National team star with a good save at the left near post.

United continued to pour it on but could not find pay dirt as Moreno, despite a jersey tug from Patrick Ianni, got free to deliver a sharp pass to Olsen who had crept behind the back line on an opportune run from the back side.

“It was disappointing at that point because I thought we adjusted,” said Soehn. “First half I thought we killed plays off by being too cute in the final third and giving them counterattacks. We adjusted at halftime and I thought the energy and the way we opened up the game was pretty good.

“We obviously had so many less turnovers [tonight], created a lot more opportunities and giving away the goal on a half chance like that on the near post is deflating.”

The momentum was put to rest when Montero darted into an open space behind the United back line, latching on to a quick ball from Riley and pounded a right-footed shot, beating Wicks to the upper near corner from 14 yards out for the winning tally.

“At this point we just can’t make mistakes overall from the forwards to the backs…that’s what happens. We’ve got to put our chances away,” added Moreno. “So we know that, and we know that we have so many important games coming up and we can’t afford to lose any more points at home. ..we weren’t sharp enough, especially myself.”

Scoring Summary:
SEA — Steve Zakuani 4 (Peter Vagenas 2) 5
DC — Rodney Wallace 3 (unassisted) 54
SEA — Fredy Montero 11 (James Riley 4) 84

Seattle Sounders FC — Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Leo Gonzalez, Sebastien Le Toux, Osvaldo Alonso, Peter Vagenas (Brad Evans 62), Steve Zakuani (Tyrone Marshall 86), Nate Jaqua (Roger Levesque 77), Fredy Montero,

Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Zach Scott, Nathan Sturgis, Tyson Wahl

D.C. United — Josh Wicks, Bryan Namoff, Julius James, Avery John, Fred (Chris Pontius 53), Ben Olsen (Andrew Jacobson 83), Clyde Simms, Rodney Wallace, Jaime Moreno (Christian Gomez 83), Santino Quaranta, Luciano Emilio,

Substitutes Not Used: David Habarugira, Milos Kocic, Devon McTavish, Tiyiselani Shipalane

D.C. United Seattle Sounders FC
Total shots: 8 (Luciano Emilio 4) 11 (Fredy Montero 5)
Shots on goal: 3 (3 tied with 1) 6 (Fredy Montero 2,
Steve Zakuani 2)
Fouls: 13 (Luciano Emilio 3) 13 (Nate Jaqua 3)
Offsides: 0 1 (Fredy Montero 1)
Corner kicks: 1 (Jaime Moreno 1) 4 (Sebastien Le Toux 4)
Saves: 4 (Josh Wicks 4) 2 (Kasey Keller 2)

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Rodney Wallace (caution; Reckless Tackle) 57
DC — Santino Quaranta (caution; Simulation) 62
DC — Avery John (caution; Reckless Foul) 93+

Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Referee’s Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry; Nate Clement
4th official: Terry Vaughn
Time of game: 1:51
Attendance: 19,592
Weather: Cloudy -and- 70 degrees

“It’s a work in progress with some frustrating moments.” Although he was describing the simple change to a 4-4-2 formation against Kansas City on Wednesday, Bryan Namoff also highlighted the entire 2009 MLS season for DC United.

Overall parity in MLS, rooted in the salary cap, forces coaches to constantly adapt with limited resources. Fewer players capable of playing at a high level leave little room to deal with injuries, suspensions, and a heavy international schedule.

More in this season than in most, DC United has struggled to control the flow of play. Strong play down the middle, which could carry the day in past years when an Earnie Stewart or Josh Gros could keep opposing wings honest by skill or sheer energy, is no longer sufficient for success.

Even the struggling Kansas City Wizards severely tested DC on Wednesday night. Namoff noted that, “They were beating us through the run of play, which is not easy to do against us at home.” That applied throughout a first half when only superlative goalkeeping by Josh Wicks and comically bad finishing by the Wizards allowed DC to lead 1-0 at intermission.

The late Jimmy Breslin provided an apt description of the KC efforts calling a set of inept gangsters “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight”. The Wizards created and then squandered numerous chances through exceptionally fine combinations, made easier by United’s depleted defense and its new formation.

Clyde Simms has played a role as defensive midfielder that has required him to read the game and make constant adjustments to keep team shape. Recently, playing in both central defense and midfield, he has coped with a multitude of attacking styles.

The Wizards kept him busy, “Here they had some guys that were interchanging and it was tough.” KC chose to use the whole field and to play at greater speed than United. By the end of the half, it was clear that the 4-4-2 left DC too little midfield control.

Coach Tom Soehn brought in Ben Olsen to address that problem with considerable success. Rod Wallace appreciated the help, “Bringing Benny in there provided more defensive shape centrally.”

Namoff agreed, “With two ball winners coming in in the second half, it locked down that central area. We started to win balls there. I think that was kind of a weak point for us in the first half.”

Despite their rookie status, both Wallace and Chris Pontius have had to adjust to multiple positions on the field, often in the same game. Wallace played at left back until KC’s Chance Myers was ejected, and moved to defensive midfield thereafter. The change in numbers actually encouraged DC to return to the 3-5-2.

Although it might appear that a team with a lead should bunker in, Clyde Simms explained that too much emphasis on deep defense has its hazards against certain forms of attack, “If a team’s playing with just one forward, you don’t want four guys marking one. That creates disadvantages for us in the midfield and up front.”

Each season develops in its own way, but a common theme is the growing wisdom of players and coaches. By now, Simms has a more mature vision and understands the value of each experience. He recognized that for this game, “It was good that I got 90 in (on defense) in Dallas.”

For his part, Wallace picked up on the changing requirements of the game and his own role in adjusting, “You try to open up the field as much as possible. With four in the back, we have more freedom on the inside. It worked to our advantage.”

The now veteran Namoff believes that more width is vital, “I still think we need to get better at it. It’s just because we haven’t played this formation this year. I did generate some space out on the wing.” On several occasions he found himself alone or with excellent space in front to attack down the wing only to go unrecognized by his teammates.

United continues to slowly improve in the creation of space on the wings, but also falls short of exploiting it quickly enough. Opponents have chosen wisely to pin DC wide very quickly. United’s players have tended to work out of this with a controlled and slow swinging of the ball in an arc back through their own center.

By the time the ball gets wide on the other side, the defense has time to pin DC there. A bit more emphasis on slashing central runs to break out might seem to be the answer, but risks DC’s falling into the short central game that tends to clog the center.

Habits persist because they have succeeded in the past. Over time, more and more players on DC United are seeing more of the field and recognizing the need for both long and short vision. Tino Quaranta has increased the number of his long passes. Fred and Namoff have increasingly found space on the wing.

They have too rarely been rewarded with good service. When a critical mass of players reach a common understanding of the value of quick exploitation of their mutual movement, DC United can step up a notch and get some small separation from the rest of MLS.

As Wallace, Simms, and Pontius gain the soccer maturity of players like Olsen and Namoff, United might even compete with some of its CONCACAF Champions League opponents on an even keel. The rest of 2009 is a race between maturation and fatigue, both running up against short deadlines.

On that note, DC United will host the Seattle Sounders this Saturday at 7:30 at RFK for the second time in ten days.

Scoring Summary:
DC — Luciano Emilio 9 (unassisted) 39

Kansas City Wizards — Kevin Hartman, Jonathan Leathers, Matt Besler, Jimmy Conrad, Michael Harrington, Claudio Lopez, Santiago Hirsig (Graham Zusi 78), Jack Jewsbury, Herculez Gomez (Chance Myers 46), Davy Arnaud (Zoltan Hercegfalvi 69), Josh Wolff,

Substitutes Not Used: Aaron Hohlbein, Kurt Morsink, Boris Pardo, Lance Watson

D.C. United — Josh Wicks, Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, Julius James (Avery John 62), Santino Quaranta (Fred 85), Christian Gomez (Ben Olsen 46), Devon McTavish, Rodney Wallace, Chris Pontius, Luciano Emilio, Jaime Moreno,

Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Jacobson, Milos Kocic, Tiyiselani Shipalane, Danny Szetela

D.C. United Kansas City Wizards
Total shots: 12 (Luciano Emilio 5) 16 (Davy Arnaud 4)
Shots on goal: 5 (Luciano Emilio 4) 5 (5 tied with 1)
Fouls: 13 (Julius James 3,
Rodney Wallace 3) 15 (Michael Harrington 4)
Offsides: 1 (Santino Quaranta 1) 2 (Michael Harrington 1,
Zoltan Hercegfalvi 1)
Corner kicks: 7 (Jaime Moreno 4) 7 (Claudio Lopez 5)
Saves: 5 (Josh Wicks 5) 4 (Kevin Hartman 4)

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Christian Gomez (caution; Reckless Foul) 27
KC — Michael Harrington (caution; Reckless Foul) 69
KC — Matt Besler (caution; Reckless Foul) 74
KC — Chance Myers (caution; Reckless Tackle) 81
DC — Avery John (caution; Reckless Tackle) 84
KC — Chance Myers (ejection; Second Caution) 86
DC — Josh Wicks (caution; Delaying a Restart) 93+

Referee: Terry Vaughn
Referee’s Assistants: Adam Wienckowski; Cyril Madukanya
4th official: Niko Bratsis
Time of game: 1:51
Attendance: 8,033
Weather: Cloudy -and- 74 degrees