United starts a tough three game stretch of matches this Sunday night with a tilt against Chivas USA at Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, fly back Monday, train on Tuesday in preparation for that critical U.S. Open Cup semifinal home match with the Crew, who they will also play the following Saturday in a league match.

“We all know it’s there,” said United midfielder Chris Pontius referring to the U.S. Open Cup match. “But we have to take one game at a time and we have to use these league games to get better as well as a team and pick up some points. It’s been a tough year but I do think the Open Cup game is a big game for us.”

This is the first time United coach Ben Olsen will deal with a three-game week as a coach and he completely understands that every healthy body will need to make a contribution regardless of the situation.

“Everyone is going to need to see minutes in the next week and a half that’s for sure,” said Olsen after Tuesday’s training session. “I have told the guys that and to start preparing themselves, especially some of the guys who haven’t gotten a lot of minutes, to see real game time and I think they will be up for the challenge and I think we got a lot of guys champing at the bit to play too.”

But in regards to Wednesday’s match Olsen said after a slight pause, “It’s certainly something to think about but we’ll gauge accordingly but right now it’s still about working on some of the things we need to work on right now and we can deal with that later in the week.”

United as an organization has always coveted trophies and the opportunity to play in international competitions and winning the U.S. Open cup will accommodate both of these items. Should they win the title, they will automatically qualify for next year’s CONCACAF Champion’s League.

Other than a quick exit in 2007 with a loss at Harrisburg City (PA), United have made deep runs in the Open Cup in recent years, defeating the Charleston Battery for the title in 2008 and losing in the final last year to Seattle FC, both at home.

Should United defeat Columbus, they would either host Chivas USA on Wednesday October 6 at RFK Stadium or travel to Qwest Field on October 5 to face Seattle.

“I am sure he is going to try get some minutes for the guys who haven’t played much. Then you gotta look to balance too, at this point, what really matters,” added a perhaps not so subtle Jaime Moreno. “All games are treated the same way with the same expectations so whoever is out there I am sure the coaches and players are expecting them to do the job.”

It’s these segments of an already crowded schedule where the abundance of injuries and relative inexperience of many of the player’s rear are key factors in the decisions and tactics.

After Sunday’s match, Branko Boskovic will fly directly from Los Angeles to Montenegro to join his national team for two Euro 2012 qualifying matches at home against Wales on September 3 and September 7 at Bulgaria. He will return for United’s September 11 match at Toronto.

Pontius (hamstring strain) and Carey Talley (groin strain) are both day-to-day with their respective injuries. Talley was initially hurt in United’s 3-1 loss at home two weeks ago, also coming out of the game with sore ribs after an awkward fall in a challenge with Brek Shea in the second half.

Clyde Simms (calf strain) is probable while Juan Manuel Pena (quad strain) took a cortisone shot to get him through the final stages of his recovery.

Many of the players who have returned in recent weeks are defenders, which is where the team currently has the most depth. Olsen will most likely need to give some time to Jordan Graye, whose rash of unfortunate turnovers cost United dearly in loses at home in mid-July to Los Angeles and Seattle.

“These guys always go through a little bit of a bad patch. Jordan happened to be starting every game because we needed to have him on the field during kind of his wall so to speak and he was also playing on the left side which is an unnatural position for him so in a lot of way it was a very tough, tough test,” said Olsen about the former United Academy player.

“We asked a lot of Jordan Graye. We still believe in Jordan and we think he is going to be a good talent but right now he needs a lot of training and training games…he knows he is not out of the loop and you can tell he is starting to respond and get his form back after that little rough patch he had.”

Danny Allsopp scored both goals for United taking over the team leadership in that category (4) despite not having scored since a 2-1 win at Kansas City in early May where he scored both goals as well.

The goal outburst was DC’s first multi-goal game since their last win in league play, 3-2 at Seattle, and the win snapped a five game losing and an eight game winless streak.

“What in a lot of ways I’m most happy about is zero goals, that’s a big feat and that’s probably more impressive than Danny’s two goals right now,” said United coach Ben Olsen, who also earned his first win as a head coach.

The win also spoiled a homecoming of sorts for Union coach Peter Nowak who spent three years at the helm in Washington and led the club to their last MLS Cup title in 2004.

“I’m extremely disappointed not only with the result, but with the way we played. There was no substance in the whole game today,” said Nowak. “From the back, with the simple mistake we should have cleaned up, and in the overall game, even offensively, I think that was the worst performance I’ve seen in the eight months with this team. I think we have to be real about the situation that this stuff is not going to fly with me.”

The match as a whole was sloppy and disjointed by both sides with Philadelphia giving the ball away far too easily and way too often in the early going. The nature of the game was further complicated as a soft morning rain gave way to sunshine at the kickoff, only to see the skies turn ominously dark as the half progressed, and then give way to torrential rain just after Allsopp’s first goal.

The Union should have taken the lead just seven minutes into the match but Fred failed to recognize a wide open Sebastian Le Toux, who lingered unmarked in the United box for several seconds, early enough to maximize a premium opportunity.

When the ball did arrive, Le Toux himself took a shade too long to corral it cleanly but still got a off a strong half-volley that United goalkeeper Bill Hamid parried away with a fine reflex save.

“Across the board, from the back to the front, we didn’t create the situations, we weren’t active like we normally are,” Nowak said. “The movement off the ball wasn’t there, so starting with me I think the preparation – we tried to give them the knowledge that D.C. is not only a very dangerous team, but a determined team, to play for those three points.”

The Union played without the injured Roger Torres who was left at home for precautionary reasons by Nowak. “Playing against a team that is physical and fighting hard to get the three points…the field was choppy and he is a very technical player and it was not the best set up for Roger’s game.”

United’s Pablo Hernandez asserted himself in the early going, scorching a shot from distance in the first 15 seconds off a turnover from the opening kick and then attempting to chip goalkeeper Chris Seitz in the 15th minute after yet more sloppy Philadelphia play out of the back. Neither of his efforts presented much of a problem in the end.

United took advantage of the Union’s early listless play in the 22nd minute when Allsopp pounced on an uncharacteristically clumsy clearing attempt by Danny Califf to give United a rare early lead.

Poor passing plagued United’s early possessions but a well weighted ball out of the back by Dejan Jakovic into space set the play in motion, leaving Andy Najar alone on the right flank. His bouncing cross into the box seemed innocuous enough but Califf slipped in his clearance attempt with the ball landing directly at the feet of the Aussie striker who made no mistake from a step to the right of the penalty spot, burying the ball into the left side netting for his 3rd goal of the season.

“I’ve had a bit of a virus for the past couple of days, and I was busting my backside trying to get in the box. It was just a relief [to score] and I was running around all over the place,” said Allsopp. “It’s always hard to chase games. Scoring early takes a bit of the pressure off, when other teams are up they recover a lot easier, and I thought it was the reverse today. We needed another goal in the second half and we got it at a good time.”

“It’s been so long I didn’t know if we knew how to play with the lead but I thought right when we did score, we actually didn’t . We dropped off a little bit too much and we forgot about what got us to that point, and that was pressure on the ball,” said Olsen.

“Second half we come out with the right mentality and I thought really dictated a good half of soccer. Killed the game in the proper way, the possession was right and the bite was there.”

United had the first dangerous opportunity of the sun soaked second half but Santino Quaranta’s right footed bender from the top left corner of the penalty area went just wide of the far post.

Shortly thereafter in the 63rd minute, Allsopp tacked on another for the home side on yet another transition, this time off a forced turnover near midfield. Hernandez stripped Kyle Nakazawa, who had come on four minutes earlier, in United’s defensive third of the park, springing Najar down the right flank, who then played a low ball across the top of the penalty area.

Hernandez, who immediately joined the attack, sold a crafty dummy at the top of the area leaving the ball for Allsopp who was unmarked to his left. The Aussie again left no chance for Seitz with a clinical left footed finish into the lower right corner to extend United’s lead.

United will next travel to Los Angeles to take on Chivas USA in a Sunday evening match and will return to RFK on a long flight to meet the Columbus Crew in a US Open Cup semi final on September 1st.

Take the two most recent losses in which the team seemed to play well only to have critical defensive lapses prove their undoing. Against New England, Branko Boskovic failed to adequately mark Pat Phelan, who scored the winning goal. The lack of strong defenders left the DC United coaching staff with no choice but to assign a fundamentally creative player to a specific defensive task.

Against FC Dallas, Dejan Jakovic, who is a defender by trade and talent, found himself in a superior position yet was outmaneuvered by Jeff Cunningham to stifle what had been a nice United recovery. This lapse was uncharacteristic of Jakovic, but can be laid to his coming off a hamstring injury with a consequently weaker sense of the game as he rejoins the fray.

At no time during the season has United had a consistent set of defenders. To his credit, ex-coach Curt Onalfo adjusted his formation to the sad reality by using two defensive/holding midfielders. The defense actually held up fairly well, but the offense went begging as the transition game failed in the now less creative midfield.

With the arrival of creative help in Boskovic and Pablo Hernandez, the coaching staff had to make a fateful decision. The midfield would lose a defender. The weak link moved a back a notch and the game got a bit more creative. The last two outings have seen a quicker, more dangerous, and more entertaining DC attack.

The dearth of goals from that attack can be laid to two causes, the greater of which is that United’s players have not moved as well off the ball as necessary. Despite showing a clear desire to transition quickly into attack, each United player with the ball is too easily closed down as teammates fail to move swiftly enough to open up passing sequences.

Some of that can be laid to a proper earlier emphasis on defensive responsibilities and the remainder to a lack of confidence as the team slips further into the cellar. If Jakovic continues to recover game fitness and Jed Zayner steps up as hoped, enough balance may be restored to allow a fully functional team.

As this season has progressed, United has gradually improved in its use of the full width of the field. Yet, against Dallas, they moved the game to almost half width after the Dallas goal in the 36th minute. The second half saw some improvement and some reward as United finally got their first MLS goal since July 18th courtesy of Dallas’ Jair Benitez, who poked the ball into his own net while defending the hard charge of Andy Najar.

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Union will come to town with DC Alumni Peter Nowak, Fred, and Andrew Jacobson. While United will be grateful for a bit less foot speed than they faced against Dallas, they can count on a disciplined and mentally quick Union team.

Alejandro Moreno will bear watching as he probes for weaknesses and Fred will have a chance to show the team that traded him that he can create and convert danger from midfield. Nowak is an intelligent coach and if he has balanced Fred’s dribbling prowess with other Union players’ runs, United may a have another difficult day.

On the other hand, Jakovic is a week stronger, newly acquired Jed Zayner should be ready to deliver on his promise, and a bit better off the ball running may open up the game and score sheet for United.

Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made three magnificent saves in that first half hour to keep his team in the energetic match and completely against the run of play, David Ferreira scored in the 33rd minute to open the scoring for the visitors.

Rookie Eric Alexander notched his first MLS goal in the 49th minute to extend the lead and second half substitute Jeff Cunningham added a garbage time capper, again off a careless turnover, in second half stoppage time. United’s only marker came on an own goal by Jair Benitez in the 80th minute.

The goal was Cunningham’s 128th of his career leaving him just four behind United’s Jaime Moreno, who announced earlier in the week that this will be his final MLS season, for the league’s all time scoring record.

The physical tenor of the match was set early with a belligerent tackle by Brek Shea on Pablo Hernandez in the 6th minute and four other unfriendly challenges by United in first ten minutes. The ensuing free kick from Shea’s challenge some 28-yards from goal led to a Marc Burch blast a minute later that the veteran Hartman did well to parry away at full extension near the left post.

Moments later, Danny Allsopp took down Dallas enforcer Daniel Hernandez near midfield on a seemingly benign but certainly foul worthy tackle, prompting the Dallas enforcer to linger inexplicably on the turf for over a minute.

Referee Abbey Okulaja decided to let them duke it out before finally pulling out the yellow card in the 22nd minute when Milton Rodriguez slammed his forearm into the back of the neck of Julius James away from the ball and after the ball had run out of bounds.

United pressured very high up the field in the first half hour, causing a rash of turnovers that the savvy visitors did well to sort out, but they were aided greatly however by the home side’s typical lack of precision.

“We wanted to pick our pressure up a little higher and I thought we did a very good job at it. And we created some good chances,” said United coach Ben Olsen. “Our final third, when we did pick up balls in the first thirty minutes, when we did pick balls off we weren’t clean enough in the final third and we weren’t maybe precise enough to get the goal, but that’s who we are, that’s what we’ve struggled with all year. You know, we get the chance off pressure and we don’t do so well with it.”

In the 28th minute, Boskovic penetrated deep into the left side of the Dallas penalty area and when his passing options seemed dim, cut loose a low left footed blast from 11-yards out, forcing Hartman to extend hard to his left again to keep the game scoreless.

Allsopp had the best opportunity of the bunch in the 34th minute, darting uncontested thru the heart of the Dallas back line off a nifty ball from Hernandez but Hartman prevailed once again, getting his right foot on the Aussie’s hammered shot from 17-yards out. Allsopp has not scored a goal in league play since scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over Kansas City in early May.

“I think up until that point there was some pretty good stuff. That was the positive side. It seemed like after we missed Danny [Allsopp]’s chance we took it the wrong way; I felt like there was some air let out. It’s disappointing but for the rest of the game it wasn’t good enough. It’s pretty simple,” said Olsen.

“You look at our chances in the beginning again, we came out pretty strong, the right mentality and we don’t score a goal. You know what happens is that mentally, it wears on you as the game goes on and as human beings you’re like ‘here we go again’ can we get that breakthrough and score a goal,” added United midfielder Santino Quaranta.

“And if we did it would have made that game a lot easier for us because we came out with the right mentality, we stuck to our plan, we pressed them and they didn’t have a lot of chances in the first half.”

Two minutes later and completely against the run of play, Dallas had that chance and made United pay. Shea caught United’s static back line flat footed, getting onto Alexander’s perfectly weighted ball through the left channel to run alone into the penalty area.

As United goalkeeper Bill Hamid unconvincingly came off his line, Shea played a square ball across the face of the goal to Ferreira, who tapped it into the open goal after darting around Carey Talley to the far post.

Dallas extended the lead shortly at the turn of the half on Eric Alexander’s first goal of the season finishing a quality series of passes in and around the United penalty area. Ferreira floated a ball from the left flank into the penalty area to a wide open Rodriguez who had two options, have a go himself or lay off to the unmarked Alexander. He chose the latter and the rookie buried it into the left side netting to make the score 2-0.

“I was hoping for a little bit more life right off the bat (in the second half) but we’re still okay, we’re still hanging in there. Then the second one comes and I saw some heads go down, which is very disappointing, very, very disappointing,” said Olsen.
The sequence happened while Talley writhed in pain on the turf after what seemed to be a rib injury after being slightly undercut by Shea as both were vying for high ball some 30-yards from United ‘s goal. Talley was unable to continue and was replaced by Dejan Jakovic.

United did creep a goal closer in the 80th minute on an own goal by Jair Benitez, who knocked a Santino Quaranta cross from the left flank inside the far post past a helpless Hartman to cut the lead to 2-1. The entirety of the play however, was created by Allsopp who worked his way out of a serious jam in Dallas’ left-hand corner to get the ball to Quaranta.

Cunningham’s goal looked much like many of the others this year given up this year by United. Jakovic seemingly had the situation under control on the left side near the top of his penalty area but a miserable attempt at a back pass left Cunningham with the ball and after dancing around the helpless Hamid, he tapped it into an open net for his third goal in Dallas’ last two matches.

Coach Ben Olsen summed it up, “On the weekend all that stuff was pretty good-the fight, the passion was there, the commitment but again we don’t have anything to show for it because we didn’t reward ourselves by making a better play on the defensive play on the free kick and we didn’t reward ourselves with a goal.”

Olsen’s reference to the free kick only highlights that even experienced players can lose focus. Designated player Branko Boskovic, hired primarily for his attacking skills, neglected his mark and gave New England a free header.

Olsen emphasizes a strong work ethic across the board and DC United will need that in spades as they confront an FC Dallas squad that has found its stride after early setbacks, including a 4-2 Open Cup loss to United.

Dallas has been tough to break down centrally with Ugo Ihemelu backing holding midfielder Danny Hernandez. Ihemelu’s absence due to concussion diminishes their defensive power and the questionable status of Dax McCarty as creative midfielder subtracts from their central attack.

The situation places extra responsibility on young Brek Shea who continues to grow as an influence in Dallas’ attack. Early in the season he displayed the expected youthful inconsistency, but his effectiveness has grown swiftly with experience.

With Dejan Jakovic still only probable with a hamstring strain, lack of speed could once again plague United. Expect Dallas to read the defense just as Real Salt Lake did a few weeks ago and to choose to feature speed with Shea and Jeff Cunningham.

A case can be made that Jordan Graye might be useful at the right back position to help neutralize Shea.
Like Shea, Graye made rookie errors early and improved as he learned from Carey Talley and Juan Pena, but his position as a defender means that his errors more directly hurt his team.

A missed shot is soon forgotten or forgiven. A missed mark converted by the opponent is long remembered. Graye has shown enough promise to give him another shot. With that will come greater risk.

As Andy Najar faces Shea directly, the play on United’s right will be in constant tension. Najar presents great danger to Dallas and will thereby force Shea to play more defensively. Najar will have to adopt a Josh Gros work ethic by working Shea all the way up and down the line.

On attack, Chris Pontius has looked both dangerous and frustrated. Although not listed as an issue, his hamstring remains a question mark and some other forward may see time alongside Pablo Hernandez.

Injuries continue to be a major team management issue with Clyde Simms’ calf strain pointing toward another tough game for Stephen King. Wings Najar and Santino Quaranta will be called upon to help on defense.

Olsen has a realistic understanding of United’s situation, “I am getting more comfortable in the role and I think the guys are responding and realize that there is still a lot to play for whether it’s still a playoff berth, which is a long shot but is still real and we have the Open Cup that is very, very important to this club and not to mention all of the other intangibles that come along with being a professional soccer player and doing your job and your duty.”

The young coach understands that, “It’s a thin line between going overboard and keeping your guys competitive. I’d rather have it that way than the other way; it means guys want to play on the field; it means guys don’t want to lose and that is a mentality that we all needed to get back to and I say we all because I was a part of that so we’ll see.”

That translates to a solid effort to win league matches with an eye to protecting players enough to have them healthy for the Open Cup match on 1 September.

Assistant Ben Olsen, one of the clubs most popular and accomplished players, takes charge of a club at the bottom of the league table at 3-12-3 (12 points) and in danger of missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

United have lost three in a row and are winless in their last six league matches. The latest loss, 3-0 at Real Salt Lake last Saturday, was the 12th shutout loss of the season, tying a club record set in 2001 and a record that will surely be eclipsed in their 12 remaining matches.

At the end of the day, the team was inconsistent not only from game to game but during games as well. They never had all 11 players put in a consistent effort for 90-minutes in any one game this season and consequently, the team did not improve and in many ways regressed.

President Kevin Payne, after consulting with Owner Will Chang and General Manager Dave Kasper made the move on Tuesday and informed the players early Wednesday morning.

“Yesterday was a pretty heavy day for all of us with our coach being let go,” said Olsen after Thursday’s training session. “Today was about putting that behind us and doing our jobs now and getting ready for New England and try and start getting results.”

The match Saturday at New England will be the first ever game that Olsen has coached. So why is Olsen, the least experienced coach on the staff, getting this opportunity? Olsen was a high IQ player and respected by all of his teammates so the soccer part should not be an issue.

But more importantly, Olsen is more marketable. He has the personality and cachet the others don’t and should United play well and get a result at New England, it’s an easy promotional campaign to put some butts in the increasingly empty seats of RFK Stadium.

Technical Director Chad Ashton, who was Tom Soehn’s right hand man last season, returns to the bench as well, in many ways, as an advisor to Olsen.

“We’ve asked for more commitment, more passion a lot of things that have been lacking throughout this year and that is my fault as well,” added Olsen. “That’s all of our fault’s; it’s the player’s fault’s, it’s my fault and we feel responsible for Curt being let go and now it’s time to fix it.”

With that, Olsen immediately altered the training mentality and structure focusing more on repetitive functionality in what they might actually see during an actual MLS match. Olsen, along with Ashton, were active in the middle of training stopping play at critical times to distinguish and identify situations that frequently occur during matches and how to exploit them on the attacking end and sort them out to make them predictable in the defensive third.

“We are dealing with some stuff on the field and we’ll see if it gives us an advantage,” Olsen said. “This is obviously new for me and our focus right now is just on, how we can get a result. We’ve got some ideas about how we can do that, the staff and myself, and we will move forward with those ideas.”

But the loss at Salt Lake more than anything, was a microcosm of a season that is easily on pace to be the worst team history. Setting aside that it may have been the worst performance in goalkeeper Troy Perkin’s career, the game was even both statistically and on the field.

However, Salt Lake was more consistent from start to finish than United as they did what all winning teams do in all sports-their best players made the plays at the critical times that won the game. And, oh yeah, United lost another player, Clyde Simms, to injury.

Onalfo, who is the first United coach to be fired in the middle of the season, made a tactical decision in the second half that perhaps contributed directly to their undoing. After conceding an early goal and chasing the game, United did well to seize back the match around the 60th minute and looked poised to equalize the match. In the 78th minute, Onalfo decided to remove a defender in favor of Jaime Moreno, leaving Andy Najar alone on the flank with very little defensive help.

One minute later, Salt Lake extended the lead, and perhaps not coincidentally, on a play down Najar’s side of the field. While the 17 year old is a colossal attacking talent, his naiveté and inexperience were exploited.

But the bigger question is, was that substitution and tactical adjustment even necessary when your team had most of the play at that point and the chances were about even? No. While you have to love the mentality of going with three in the back and attacking in hopes of equalizing and getting a well-deserved point on the road, tactically the game didn’t need it at that point.

The injuries, enigmatic starts and inconsistent performance were a constant dark cloud over Onalfo’s tenure. To his credit, he never used injuries as an excuse and neither did the players so again, not Onalfo’s fault.

The injuries forced the insertion of more youth and inexperience into the team and with that youth comes inherent inconsistencies in effort and decision making. Consequently, opposing teams made the appropriate adjustments and more times than not, United were punished for poor decisions and bad play.

But when you really break this roster down, is it really championship worthy even if Onalfo had been been able to put his best players on the field consistently? They would have been good and competitive but not a championship team. Not yet anyway. MLS is very balanced so chemistry becomes ultra critical and in reality, for this team to contend it had to be greater than the sum of its parts. For some reason, this team played as a group of individuals and not anything that even resembled a cohesive team and it cost Onalfo his job.

“Every single player needs to take a look at themselves and what is going on this year,” said midfielder Chris Pontius. “All of our jobs are on the line. Obviously if things don’t get turned around, there are going to be a lot more changes so everyone needs to take it to heart to know that a lot of us are lucky to still be here and that we need to get things done for the organization and these fans.”

United seemed to go into every match “hoping” for something…hoping to get a consistent effort out of their back line, hoping for that early goal, hoping to put away the precious few chances they mustered in each game, hoping to get a result for the fans.

Now I am no fan of the fans, but the supporters groups need to be commended for standing the post every game and loyally watching what has been often, unwatchable soccer.

While Payne acknowledged that many of the personnel moves have not worked out this year, most notably the acquisition of Salvadoran international Christian Castillo, he also put the players on notice that their jobs are not secure either.

“ Right now we are fighting for our pride and for DC United as a club and we need to win our fans back, we need to prove to our fans and prove to ourselves and prove to our management that we deserve to be here next year and that we can get it done with this team,” said Pontius.

“I think we as players, we can only control what happens next season by how well we play this season. Decisions will be made at the end of the year and what influences those decisions is how you do right now” added Talley.

They have shown steady growth as a team and the Onalfo style appears to lack only two elements which are now being addressed. The first is offensive variety and it has been improved impressively so far with the acquisition of Branko Boskovic and Pablo Hernandez.

The second is a defense weakened by injury, and that should be cured soon as two more players reach “probable” status and another two seem ready to return within a few weeks.

Let’s examine the squad as they prepare to meet Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Beginning with the heretofore anemic attack, Curt Onalfo appears to finally have sufficient variety and depth. The addition of a top line striker in Hernandez has made a major difference. The young Argentinian has the vision to link well with the midfield and make dangerous runs with and without the ball.

For the game against Real, he will probably be paired with Danny Allsopp who has earned a start with his recent hat trick. The Aussie has made clever runs with only rare reward until the advent of the two new signings. He will have his chance to shine on Saturday.

Moving to midfield, we encounter a very strong combination of wing attack and central vision. Boskovic continues to round into shape and grow more comfortable with his teammates. Although the altitude in Utah may limit his minutes this first time at that altitude, he should be able to drive the attack effectively long enough to unbalance Real.

He will require a more defensive minded Clyde Simms behind him for two reasons, the more important one being the need to protect a weakened defense which I will address later. The other is that Simms will be the sole defensive midfielder.

As the season has developed, DC United has steadily refined its wing attack, a major improvement over 2009. Until very recently, there has been no one inside to receive what service could be developed. With that inside help present, United has three strong players for the two wide slots.

With Chris Pontius just coming off a foot bruise, Onalfo is likely to start Andy Najar and Tino Quaranta, both of whom present serious threats. With the added midfield strength, United can place a bit less emphasis on defenders’ overlapping, thereby giving Simms a slightly less difficult job in support.

Real will attack with Robbie Findley, whose speed will demand that United have enough speed of their own. If Dejan Jakovic is fully fit (he is listed only as probable), he will be the key. If not, Onalfo will almost certainly need to start rookie Jordan Graye at left back.

If the game were a week later, Marc Burch might be ready, but the altitude presents too great a risk to allow two “probables” to start. Thus, we should see Julius James in the middle with Graye on the left and two slots filled by Carey Talley or Jakovic and Barry Rice or another “probable”, Devon McTavish.

It is clear that the final level protecting the goal will be sorely tested until the defense is fully healthy. United is fortunate to have two excellent keepers to provide the final impediment. Whether it is Troy Perkins or Bill Hamid, the keeper will have to excel. Given the altitude and his experience, it is likely that Perkins will start.

In what has been a nightmarish North American week’s journey for the English side frought with travel issues and serious injuries to compound their overbearing financial troubles and relegation to the Npower Championship, Portsmouth’s kits never made it to Washington in transit from Vancouver. So if those white uniforms looked somewhat familiar to you, yes, they were United’s standard road garb.

Danny Allsopp scored three goals including two in the first half, his second, a wonderful play generated from inside United’s half of the park from Branko Boskovic on their way to an easy 4-0 over the shell shocked English side. Pablo Hernandez added an even prettier goal in the 55th minute with a one touch passing sequence not previously seen at any point during this anemic United season.

United targeted this match among others in this recent busy stretch to get Boskovic and Hernandez acclimated into the team and their contributions tonight show a major step forward for both of the new acquisitions.

“He lasted longer than I thought (in the US Open Cup match on Wednesday) and then tonight was another game where we had a lot of the ball and to get sixty minutes in two games, for him I thought was good,” United coach Curt Onalfo said of Boskovic.

“You could see that he helps us possess the ball. He gives us something a little bit more going forward and certainly on that second goal you could see his class and he’s just going to continue to get better.”

His new running mate, and roommate, was equally as good. “Pablo is helping us on set pieces, which is nice to have, and through the run of play you can see that he’s just another quality player,” Onalfo continued. “So for those two guys it was good, but I think Santino [Quaranta] has come alive as well in terms of playing with them.”

United and their anemic attack have fared well in matches outside of MLS including this and a big win in a friendly against world giant AC Milan in late May. Their challenge now is to replicate these qualities in league play to avoid a cellar dwelling season filled with record setting futility.

Allsopp’s first in the 22nd minute was a carbon copy of Andy Najar’s goal against Los Angeles last Sunday. After Boyzzz Khumalo was hauled down just outside the right corner of the penalty area, Pablo Hernandez sent a perfectly weighted left footed inswinger that the burly Australian got up to head home for a well deserved United lead.

Right on the 30-minute mark, Boskovic showed his eminent class with a definitive ball behind defender Marc Wilson to Quaranta from the edge of the center circle in his defensive half. Quaranta slid it to Allsopp, whose first touch got a few yards away from him, but he recovered to get around the final defender and slot the ball into the right side netting to extend United’s advantage.

“It was obviously great; it was the first hat trick I have scored in quite a while, so it was pleasing,” said Allsopp whose family, from Southampton, Portsmouth’s biggest rival, may have been even more pleased.

United’s third goal was the prettiest of the match with Hernandez adding his quality and flair to the party in multiple ways. The crafty Argentine used a series of step overs and drag backs to skirt around three defenders on the right flank before playing a simple ball to Jordan Graye further up the touch line.

The much maligned defender played the ball to the top of the penalty area to Junior Carreiro who in turn one touched to Boskovic on the back side. The Montenegran one touched back toward the penalty spot to a running Hernandez who slotted the ball home with a classic finish.

Carriero, 18, a guest player, is the younger brother of former DC United standout Fred.

With Pompey Captain Michael Brown getting a yellow card for persistent infringement at the end of the first half, the tempers matched the 96-degree temperature and 103 heat index at the start of the second. The ill will culminated with Quaranta and defender Hayden Mullins being ejected for hurling abusive language at each other following a disagreement near midfield just moments before the Hernandez goal.

“I knew what their tactics would be…We were moving the ball quick. I thought we actually started a little bit slow, but once we kind of found our rhythm and started going at them a little bit and realized that the exercise was breaking down low pressure, they decided to foul us on every other play and that’s the job of the referee to realize,” said Onalfo. “So certainly, it was definitely a little chippy. It was competitive, which is good. It was a friendly, but it was heated.”

Brown and Mullins along with goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown and former English international David Nugent were the only recognizable names in a Portsmouth team torn by a revolving door of ownership throughout the past year. The instability has led to a mass exodus of their star players, stymied their transfer opportunities, and left many of the players going unpaid for significant periods of time.

“Probably that result summed up the tour for us really – it’s been extremely tough,” said Portsmouth coach Steve Cotterill. “We haven’t had a squad; we can’t change enough players, it’s taken us I don’t know how many hours to get here, we’ve got four hours sleep, and we looked like it.

“For 20 minutes we were OK, but after 20 minutes we were shot, and then the next 70 gets very painful and very hard for the players, so it was a tough game.”

Allsopp completed his hat trick in the 66thminute finishing a semi-breakaway through the right channel to make the score 4-0 off a lovely ball from Carriero.

DC United had to battle past MLS sides FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake to then take on the Richmond Kickers who went down 2-0 in a reasonably contested game. Last night’s 2-0 victory over the Harrisburg City Islanders was less difficult to achieve, but the outcome remained in doubt, however feeble, until Harrisburg went down to 10 men with the ejection of Tyler Ruthven in the 75th minute.

Throughout the evening DC proved faster of foot and faster in thought and execution. Their superior ball control individually and collectively allowed them a level of comfort and confidence the pleased the 2,089 in attendance.

DC Coach Curt Onalfo had certain expectations, “Our whole goal going into this game was to make sure we had the right approach, and we started well. I thought we started both halves very well; I thought there were times we played very good soccer as well.”

He got exactly what he hoped for in the very first minute of the game as Santino Quaranta broke down the left side and slid a perfect ball across to a fast closing Branko Boskovic who simply pushed it neatly into the net. Harrisburg held to their strategy, but their odds of an upset went way down.

The entire plan of lower division sides is to play hard and athletically, hoping to take the game out of the technical realm by unbalancing their more skillful opponent. The longer a tie stands, the better chance the weaker side has to somehow slip a goal in and walk out a winner.

Veteran Captain Carey Talley has seen it before, “They still came out and a lot of credit to them, they actually played some good soccer, even when they were down a man. You can see why they were tough to beat. With these teams, a lot of the time they’re going to be younger players and they’re going to come out and they’re going to run hard.”

Still, try as they might, Harrisburg failed to make even one shot on goal while United had nine and saw their second go in as Boyzzz Khumalo chipped what looked like cross in from the right wing only to see it sail over the surprised keeper and into the net in minute 47.

Among the other seven DC United shots were several powerful strikes by Quaranta who seems to have encountered a magic wall that has sent his blasts barely off target or just within the keeper’s range. It could easily have been much worse for the City Islanders.

According to Talley, the game provided an excellent chance to break in Pablo Hernandez and Boskovic in a competitive environment, “They’ve shown a lot of grit in their play, which is much needed in MLS. For a lot of foreigners there’s an adjustment period and I think that they’ve come and done a pretty good job in trying to match the intensity of the players in this league.

“Mixed with that, you throw in some of their savvy and I think they had a pretty good game tonight. It’s nice to play with technical players like Boskovic. Hernandez is a lot younger, but he has his qualities and he’s grown up in a soccer environment.”

Although the game has its primary value in securing a spot in the Semi-Finals against the Columbus Crew at RFK on 1 September, it provided a good transition to another preparatory event, the exhibition match against Portsmouth this Saturday.

Onalfo will make good use of that meeting, “Again, we want to utilize that opportunity to get more minutes for Boskovic, and even Hernandez. We want to work on how we play tactically, and it is an opportunity for all of the other guys to continue to make a statement on who should be playing and where.”

The team anxiously awaits the recuperation of Marc Burch, Rodney Wallace, Adam Christman, Juan Pena, and Chris Pontius, all of whom watched from the stands in good spirits. Their condition prompted Onalfo’s comment, “We need to see how we are physically, and then move forward and make sure that we approach the Portsmouth game in a professional manner.”

Pontius’ foot injury is “only” a bruise and he is walking normally, but will likely rest against Portsmouth. United goes into a series of weekly MLS contests in the month of August and that period should see all of the above returning to service.

Landon Donovan converted a penalty kick in the 58th minute after United had equalized just four minutes earlier, giving the Los Angeles Galaxy a 2-1 win at the once ominous RFK Stadium. United have dropped six games at home this season and with the win, the Galaxy are now 9-8-2 at the venerable old barn.

For the second consecutive match, United left back Jordan Graye committed an untimely turnover that led directly to the game deciding goal in the second half. He was also victimized by a sneaky Sean Franklin chip over his head, giving him the space on the flank to set up the game’s opening goal by Edson Buddle in the 38th minute.

With Philadelphia’s win Saturday over Toronto, United sits firmly at the bottom of the MLS table with just 12 points over their 17 matches.

The win also snaps a modest two game losing streak for the Galaxy, who lost 2-0 at New England last week and allowed multiple goals for the first time all season, while the other loss came at Seattle in a U.S. Open Cup match.

“You’re going to lose games along the way, and the way you respond in the next game is important,” said Galaxy coach Bruce Arena. “Our response was really good tonight. I thought we went out in the first half and set the tone. The conditions were going to be unbearable at some point tonight and they were. I think it was really challenging obviously for both teams, and I’m happy the way the team came out on top.”

They lost both of those games without Donovan but statistically, this result should not surprise anyone as Los Angeles have scored the most goals, allowed the fewest and own the best goal differential in MLS, while United sit at the opposite end of all three categories.

“We haven’t been used to losing at all this year,” Donovan said. “We needed to stop that and I say all the time that winning is a habit. We got out of the little things that we do right last week and this week we did them well and when we do that, we have enough talent and we are going to win.”

Both Donovan and Buddle were both loudly cheered by the appreciative DC United fans for their commendable performances for the U.S. National Team in the recent World Cup in South Africa.

“Nice applause before the game which was nice. It’s definitely a lot nicer than getting boos,” said a fairly stoic Donovan.

Los Angeles dominated possession from the start stringing multiple, coordinated passing sequences from all angles but United maintained a sturdy back line. Conversely, United attacked in a more singular manner with very little movement off the ball. The Galaxy pressured United very high up the field showing very little respect for the home side’s ability to create from the back with a cohesive attack.

“In the first half their runs were a little more decisive. They were working a lot harder,” said Perkins of the Galaxy attack. “In the second half they just tried to hit long balls and look for counter attacks. We weren’t really tight enough; especially in the first 15 minutes we were too loose. I think a lot of times we were tight enough but a lot of time we just weren’t good enough.”

A Buddle goal looked imminent for Los Angeles in the 21st minute when he beat Perkins to Sean Franklin’s near post cross from the right flank, but the sliding keeper got his leg on the poke and Julius James repelled Buddle’s rebound attempt from the goal line to keep the scoreboard empty.

Franklin and Buddle combined again however, to give the visitors a well earned opening goal aided by good dose of luck. After getting loose down the right wing with a crafty chip over Graye’s head, Franklin sent an initial low ball toward the top of the penalty area which was well read by a back tracking Stephen King.

However, Buddle read his clearing attempt even better, collecting the ball and advancing into the United box. Dejan Jakovic slid nicely to block the rangy forward’s first shot but as Jakovic rolled around trying to avoid handling the ball, Buddle gathered the loose ball, side stepped around King and slammed a left footed shot off the inside of Perkins’ left heel from 7-yards to make the score 1-0.

“I tried to get back into position when the play takes you back across but I should have been set a little earlier but it was a great individual effort on his part,” said Perkins about the goal. “Dejan does a great job of blocking the first attempt but unfortunately there was no cover there for the second one.”

United did respond well however with a flurry in the closing seconds of the half. Santino Quaranta was in the middle of all of it, with an ambitious run from the right flank culminating in his being taken down creating a foul at the top right corner of the penalty area. Pablo Hernandez stepped up, labeling a bending free kick for the near post that Donovan Ricketts smothered with a great diving save.

King immediately had another shot from inside the box blocked and Quaranta followed that with a side volley knuckled toward Ricketts which was parried away to safety to end the half.

The Galaxy quickly resumed their attacking ways, nearly extending the lead some three minutes into the second stanza. McTavish showed a bit too much respect for Donovan on the left flank, allowing the U.S. hero to rip a low cross to the far post that was just a touch long for a sliding and unmarked Alan Gordon.

The miss was punished by United as they equalized on a sensational free kick in the 54th minute. The left footed Hernandez drove a perfectly weighted inswinger into the heart of the crowded penalty area that drifted over the ill-timed leap of Buddle and somehow found the head of the smallest player on the park, Andy Najar, who pounded it passed the diving Ricketts to make the score 1-1.

The joy was short lived however, and much like in their 1-0 loss to Seattle on Thursday, a Graye turnover in his own end proved damaging again, freeing the omnipresent Franklin for a 20-yard shot that was blocked by the hand of the sliding James forcing referee Jasen Anno to correctly point to the penalty spot and subsequently issue the yellow card. Donovan calmly stepped up and hammered the kick inside the right post, just past the outstretched fingertips of Perkins.

“Coach told me to go with my first instinct during the game but I’ve kind of been hesitating since the play the last game, on the second goal I didn’t go with my first instincts,” said a dejected Graye. “I should have probably taken it out wide but instead I just tried to give it up because in my mind, I’m just not really trying to dribble out of the back so I tried to pass it quickly and he ended up deflecting it and it was right down our throats.”

Onalfo made two late changes, one due to injury however, bringing Carey Talley on for Jakovic, who injured his right hamstring and Branko Boskovic for King. United’s lackluster ideas and missed passes amounted to very little, other than a Hernandez flick over the bar from a Quaranta delivery from the right flank, and the Galaxy killed the game off for their 12th victory of the season.

“Again it came down to a couple of mistakes. It was an even game. I felt that in the first half we started slow, I think we dropped off too much. Our back line was too deep. We adjusted that and made that better after 15-20 minutes and all of the sudden we started getting some outside back involvement, started getting a little bit of the game,” added Onalfo.

“But overall I think it was a very even first half, except Edson Buddle makes an offensive play. In the second half we come out motivated and ready to get back in it. Credit to our guys for fighting back in. You get the equalizer and you have the momentum and then we make an error and we shoot ourselves in the foot.“