Game after game down the stretch, something would go wrong, usually in the last few minutes. Chances to score fell just short of realization or inattention to defensive duties let an opponent pull out a win or a tie. Coach Ben Olsen has an inexperienced squad and is himself still learning.

It showed all season as the team gradually gained better shape and style, only to slide into ineffectiveness toward the end.

The coach took most of the burden on himself, but was sanguine about future prospects, “It was a pretty good performance overall. We know what we need; I know what we need for next year. But it’s not as much as you guys think. I still have a lot of confidence in this group of players.”

The players have always shown the most obvious signs of Olsen’s influence; they play with grit and persistence. Their failures have been not with heart, but with smarts. Experience brings wisdom, and neither the coach nor the players are quite yet where they need to be.

A winter of reflection and study by players and coaches combined with the acquisition of a few key pieces that Olsen has his eye on should justify the coach’s optimism. Olsen has always been more cerebral than he lets on, but his knowledge built up over years will take time to communicate.

This year he has struggled with the actual teaching techniques, when and exactly how to structure practices to create a shape to fit both his team’s and the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

We saw a hint of his thinking on Saturday as he sent out an unusual formation as described by Tino Quaranta, “We changed our formation tonight which was encouraging I think for not working on it. Call it 4-3-3 or 4-5-1, whatever you want to call it. I think the guys responded well. We created chances.”

Stephen King, who got to ply his trade in central midfield, liked the idea, “I think it was good. I think it was something worth trying. Maybe going into next season we’ll work on it in preseason and see if that’s the direction we want to go….

“Playing against a team that does clog the middle a little bit and plays with 3 central midfielders we thought that we could counter their formation with what we did….We definitely noticed that there was a lot of space out wide especially when we’d switch the ball quickly to Andy or Austin or Tino early on….It’s something we looked to do.”

Austin Da Luz agreed, “I think with a little more time we can be successful with that formation. We’ll see what happens. At the end of the day it does make for a more exciting game. It opens up a little bit more and it can be a good thing.”

On the flip side of the argument, Kansas City’s coach, Peter Vermes cited the downside if the formation drifts too much in the 4-5-1 direction, “I think it was a little hard for [Dwayne De Rosario] because he was a man on an island tonight playing as one up top.”

In theory, the wide midfielders should alternately either draw coverage from the center or go poorly marked, with advantages flowing from either development. Both responses increase space for an attacking side to exploit.

DC United is one of the shorter and less physical sides in MLS, explaining a major weakness that was on display Saturday when Sporting Kansas City scored the game winner. Set pieces require at least some size to defend and also to attack.

Interestingly, one of United’s most anticipated improvements for next year will feature the slim, gritty, and clever Perry Kitchen. His skills in the defensive midfield position are such that he is expected to be one of the best in the league as he grows into the role. Yet, he indicates that he has no intention of spending the winter putting on pounds of muscle.

He believes that enough international stars at the position are built like him that he is best off going with his natural skill set. He may well be right, and if so, Olsen would do well to look for a large strong central defender to join the also slim Dejan Jakovic in the back line.

Scoring Summary:

KC — Matt Besler 2 (unassisted) 54

Sporting KC — Jimmy Nielsen, Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic, Kei Kamara, Roger Espinoza (Davy Arnaud 46), Graham Zusi, Julio Cesar, Omar Bravo, Teal Bunbury (C.J. Sapong 68).
Substitutes Not Used: Michael Harrington, Lawrence Olum, Jeferson, Soony Saad, Eric Kronberg.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb, Ethan White, Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard (Marc Burch 46), Andy Najar, Perry Kitchen, Clyde Simms (Austin Da Luz 17), Stephen King (Josh Wolff 75), Dwayne De Rosario, Santino Quaranta.
Substitutes Not Used: Blake Brettschneider, Charlie Davies, Joseph Ngwenya, Joe Willis.

Misconduct Summary:
KC — Roger Espinoza (caution; Tactical Foul) 26
DC — Perry Kitchen (caution; Reckless Tackle) 34

Referee: Alex Prus
Referee’s Assistants: -Eric Proctor; Corey Parker
4th Official: Mark Kadlecik
Time of Game: 1:49
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-56-degrees

“It’s funny; it was basically my pre-game speech. Let’s go down swinging; let’s show the people that we are completely committed out there and we’ll need to push it to the limit to get this result,” said United Head Coach Ben Oslen.

United will now miss the playoffs for a club-record fourth consecutive year.

Dwayne De Rosario, with his right ankle heavily taped and noticeably limping after being kicked in the first half, scored his league leading 16th goal of the season for a brilliant equalizer in the 73rd minute after Kenny Cooper had given the Timber the lead with an easy header in the 24th minute.

“It was disheartening. It is but it isn’t in the sense that we showed some fight,” De Rosario said. “Yeah it was basically both teams having chances at the end. We definitely had some great opportunities, and if we had a little more hunger and a little more fight, we finish those chances. Those are things we really need how to learn – to commit to that final ball and get your body behind it.”

After taking a good ball from Josh Wolff, De Rosario drifted to left side of the penalty area, took a turn and beat former United goalkeeper Troy Perkins with a definitive strike to the near post.

“If Dwayne De Rosario doesn’t get MVP of the League there’s something wrong. Plain and simple,” said Timbers coach John Spencer, who coached De Rosario during his time as an assistant in Houston. “For the last three months of the season since he came here he’s been the best player in the League by far – a country mile. He needs to win MVP.”

United thought they had what would surely have been a season saving goal in the 89th minute but Blake Brettschneider header was disallowed when he was correctly ruled to be in an offside position. Perkins came out to play the original shot and ended up going past Brettschneider thus leaving just one defender as the cross was played in.

Cooper’s goal was much simpler, as he slipped between McDonald and Ethan White to nod home an equally simple but perfect cross from another former United player, Rodney Wallace, from the left flank.

Regardless of the implications, the game was apparently destined to be played in wet conditions. The match was originally scheduled for August 25 but was postponed due to Hurricane Irene and on this day, a steady rain all day drenched the Washington metropolitan area but stopped shortly before kickoff.

Despite United’s comprehensive attacking posture with De Rosario playing behind Josh Wolff and Charlie Davies, neither team managed to create more than a half chance through the first 20 plus minutes with one exception. McDonald rifled a header just over the bar off a Santino Quaranta corner kick that disturbed the netting enough to cause an unfounded roar from the home crowd in the 10th minute.

Andy Najar made a strong run with his usual touch of flair down the left flank in the 34th minute, but his right footed shot targeted for the near post from inside the penalty area was not equal to the quality of the run.

Quaranta had an even better opportunity in the 42nd minute but that also went awry. After a strong cut back dribble around Lovel Palmer at the top left corner of the penalty area, his left footed attempt across the face of the goal somehow bounced over the extended foot of a charging Wolff and then skidded just wide of the far post.

But the real drama and thrills did not come until after the break.

“It was a bit of a blur those last 20-30 minutes, and the whole second half,” said Oslen. “But I am extremely proud of the guys tonight – I can’t believe nobody scored down that stretch. The amount of chances that were going on was pretty remarkable. I have to look at it, but it seems that we had the better ones. It just wasn’t our night. Troy [Perkins] came off with a couple of saves, and they did well to put their bodies in front of us on some and we didn’t do well with some finishes as well.”

Knowing it needed a goal quickly in the second half, United formulated significant stretches of coordinated attack but could not find the final idea or execute the final ball to get through Portland’s solid defensive structure.

When White’s lay off for De Rosario in the penalty area was woefully off the mark, the Timbers counter nearly produced the sure clincher in the 60th minute but Kalif Alhassan’s late-contested whistler from the top of the box went just wide of the right post.

Shortly thereafter, hobbling or not, De Rosario muscled his way around a much bigger Mamadou Danso but as another defender closed down the space, he got bumped and fell to the turf but not enough for referee Jair Marrufo to point to the penalty spot.

“It felt like a schoolyard game at the end,” said Quaranta. “Every time we got the ball going forward I felt like it was going to be a chance to score.”

Portland thought they had the go ahead goal just seconds later but Brian Umony’s attempt from close range hit under the crossbar and came straight down but clearly did not cross the goal line.

Umony scampered into the penalty area uncontested seconds later but Bill Hamid came up with a tremendous save to keep United’s hopes alive in the 85th minute. Hamid made an even better reflex save a minute later to deny Bright Dike who fired from with in a crowd but straight away from 14-yards.

In extra time, De Rosario beat Perkins to a bouncing ball but his shot toward the open net was blocked by an alert Eric Brunner.

De Rosario sent another ball across the face of the goal seconds later that Joseph Ngwenya got onto but his foot was clipped by a Portland defender and the weakened result was knocked away by Perkins and Blake Brettschneider’s desperate follow up was blocked.

United will conclude this year’s efforts against conference co-leader Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

Scoring Summary:
POR — Kenny Cooper 8 (Rodney Wallace 2) 24
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 16 (Josh Wolff 7) 73

Portland Timbers — Troy Perkins, Lovel Palmer, Eric Brunner, Mamadou Danso, Rodney Wallace (Mike Chabala 79), Eric Alexander (Brian Umony 63), Jack Jewsbury, Diego Chara, James Marcelin, Kalif Alhassan, Kenny Cooper (Bright Dike 84).

Substitutes Not Used: David Horst, Jorge Perlaza, Steve Purdy, Jake Gleeson.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb, Ethan White (Joseph Ngwenya 89), Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard (Austin Da Luz 71), Andy Najar, Perry Kitchen, Santino Quaranta, Charlie Davies (Blake Brettschneider 51), Dwayne De Rosario, Josh Wolff.

Substitutes Not Used: Stephen King, Kurt Morsink, Clyde Simms, Joe Willis.

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Brandon McDonald (caution; Tactical Foul) 58
POR — Bright Dike (caution; Reckless Foul) 85
DC — Austin Da Luz (caution; Reckless Foul) 90

Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee’s Assistants: -C.J. Morgante; Frank Anderson
4th Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Rain-and-68-degrees
Attendance: 14,317

In July, there were a couple of games when the team could be described as bereft of ideas. While players usually moved effectively to support teammates on defense, there were too few runs off the ball on attack.

Then things improved as coach Ben Olsen gradually brought his team along to a point in early September where they were making such runs for one another, not only in defense, but also in possession and on attack.

Somehow, that fluidity went away and United’s play and results have suffered greatly.

Perhaps fatigue played a part as United had two spurts of crowded play. Olsen pointed out that, “Flying back from Vancouver after a tough loss, I thought there were some heavy guys out there to push through it. The game plan was to grind it out, and we did it.”

However, the Fire were also tired and thus fatigue combined with mutual decisions to contest midfield aggressively, causing play naturally to become narrowed. Both teams played hard, but both also played unwisely.

Dwayne DeRosario, a hard working and clever player was hard on his teammates, “It’s frustrating because you want to see that commitment, you want to see that passion and desire to win every ball – to do whatever it takes to stop a shot or block a ball to stop a play – but that isn’t the case and I don’t see that right now.”

His viewpoint reflected mostly on Chicago’s exceptional defensive efforts. In a most unusual statistic, DC United took 13 shots of which 8 were deflected by Fire defenders almost immediately. Only the penalty kick was on goal

In contrast, the Fire had no shots deflected. Their errors were normally wide, high, or saved. They were not particularly worthy of the points they obtained either. Only incisive play at the very end redeemed their poor shooting earlier.

Team qualities, fatigue, and coaches’ recognition of both meant it would be a grinding game.

Olsen’s comment reflected that, “I thought they put a lot of numbers in the midfield – it’s a lot of work in there. That’s why we put some of the guys in early, to deal with that. We had to push the game and I thought we put the right guys in to get the game changed. I think everything worked out, except the last couple of minutes.”

The game opened with a few long forays by both sides and then deteriorated into narrow contests over possession. Width of play was lacking for the first twelve minutes. Then the Fire’s Marco Pappa started to exploit the space on Chicago’s right wing. His DC United counterpart, Austin Da Luz’ responded well, also playing wide.

Sadly, the good shape lasted for about another twelve minutes until both teams lapsed into a shortsighted, narrow style again. The emphasis on control distorted intelligent play and worsened the fatigue factor.

The surest way to save energy is to let the ball do the work. Certainly, pressing the ball is necessary and will concentrate players. Still, once one has possession it is far easier to let the ball do the work by making or finding space with wide play and insightful supporting runs into that space.

Late game fatigue leads to lapses in concentration and Olsen is certain to emphasize the need to maintain focus throughout United’s last two games on Wednesday and Saturday. In Vancouver, United gave up a goal in the first minute. At home, they lost focus late. Neither lapse is excusable in a professional team.

While players must accept responsibility for their own efforts and decision making, it is the role of the coaching staff to set them up for success. In the next few days, Olsen and company must somehow return the team to the intelligent play they had so recently displayed.

With two consecutive wins, a novel idea this year, and a Red Bull loss, United may yet see the post-season action they have thus far not merited.

Scoring:
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 15 (penalty kick) 90
CHI — Sebastian Grazzini 5 (Gonzalo Segares 4) 92+
CHI — Diego Chaves 5 (Gonzalo Segares 5, Orr Barouch 2) 94+

Lineups:

Chicago Fire — Sean Johnson, Michael Videira (Yamith Cuesta 19), Josip Mikulic, Jalil Anibaba, Gonzalo Segares, Logan Pause, Sebastian Grazzini, Daniel Paladini (Diego Chaves 89), Marco Pappa, Patrick Nyarko, Dominic Oduro (Orr Barouch 73). Substitutes Not Used: Corben Bone, Baggio Husidic, Pari Pantazopoulos, Jon Conway.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb, Brandon McDonald, Perry Kitchen, Daniel Woolard, Andy Najar, Stephen King (Marc Burch 75), Clyde Simms, Austin Da Luz (Santino Quaranta 57), Dwayne De Rosario, Josh Wolff (Charlie Davies 79). Substitutes Not Used: Blake Brettschneider, Joseph Ngwenya, Ethan White, Joe Willis.

Misconduct:
CHI — Josip Mikulic (caution; Reckless Foul) 46
DC — Andy Najar (caution; Reckless Foul) 76
CHI — Orr Barouch (caution; Dissent) 78

Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Referee’s Assistants: Greg Barkey, Matthew Kreitzer
4th Official: Terry Vaughn

Attendance: 16,548
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Clear and 66 degrees

That’s all there is to do at this point and what exacerbates the situation is that winning still doesn’t guarantee you anything after all of the point squandering that was done earlier in the season.

“I’m tired of looking at the standings and what we need and what other teams need; we need to win now. It’s pretty simple,” said United Coach Ben Olsen.

United (9-10-11, 38 points) are currently 6th in the Eastern Conference with four games remaining and two games in hand on every team ahead of them. They travel to Vancouver for a late Wednesday game then return home to face Chicago on Saturday, who stand just a point behind United.

United are likely to take on Vancouver without the league’s leading scorer, Dwayne DeRosario (14 goals), who may not be fit for play after a hectic travel schedule with the Canadian National Team. Central defender Dejan Jakovic (R hamstring strain) is listed as questionable but is “hopeful” according to Olsen and may be healthy enough for consideration by game time.

After squandering points on a regular basis throughout the season, especially at home, United have no one but themselves to blame for this predicament. Whether it’s giving away leads and settling for draws, a league wide problem not exclusive to just United, or just diabolical mental breakdowns, they have been pushed to a state of singular focus.

On a positive note, they have had a nice break to get healthy, clear their heads after two divergent loses on the road and to get ready for these last four matches.

They crawled back to level before halftime after conceding two early tallies to Philadelphia before failing to hold on for what would have been a worthy point. United took the lead late in the first half two days later at Columbus before conceding two, including an unlucky own goal for the equalizer, to drop another winnable game.

“I don’t look at those two games as bad efforts. We made some mistakes and down the stretch when you tend to make mistakes, you get punished. I’m not disappointed in the effort overall but we need results now so in one way we know what we have to do now and that’s a good thing,” Olsen said.

Regardless of the results, at some point these mistakes have to go away or unfocused may be just who they are this season.

“Ties on the road are good,” said Josh Wolff. “Ties at home are not so good… When you get to this point in the season it would be nice to be in before these games start but like I said to a lot of the guys you are not in the playoffs until you are in and you are not out until you are out. We lost our way a bit in two games on the road where we were in position to get some points and we let them go.”

Young or old, tired or spry, that doesn’t matter at this point either. “Throughout some of these games we lose our focus and our concentration and it’s not just one play. A play may lead to a goal but it’s usually a compilation of many things,” added Wolff.

“You keep pressing and try to make the points that need to be made with the entire group; it’s the group being able to assess it and make more plays that are there to be made. The last game we didn’t do that and we need to and we got punished for it.”

United still have the youngest starting XI in the league but that excuse, though perhaps still viable, is irrelevant as well. “I don’t think they know any better but these playoffs are not easy to make,” Santino Quaranta said about the team’s young players.

“We haven’t been in the playoffs in a couple of years so you try and stress to them that getting there is not easy and it’s been a long year and you try and reward yourself with something.”

Finally, the finer points of technical and tactical soccer are for another day and time as well. It’s all about making plays and the plays that win games. “It’s not technical; we’ve been through all that stuff. You know what you have to do. It comes down to one-on-one battles and more mental stuff for us, like can we see a game out,” Quaranta said.

“This has been our problem this year; 1-0 against Columbus…we should probably see that game out. Guys are getting real uptight and I am getting more uptight; you are thinking more about every play, every situation instead of playing on instincts and playing free.”

Granted, the spectacular hat trick from Dwayne DeRosario, which set a new MLS record at 31 minutes for earliest completion of the feat, was a masterpiece of individual effort, but the real story was how he was set up to succeed.

The Canadian emphasized the contribution of those around him, “I can’t speak more highly about the performance all around from the guys. I think collectively, as a unit, it was first class, from Bill right up to the forwards.”

DC United and Real Salt Lake have a history of playing possession soccer. Often that results in a grinding fight in midfield. In this particular game, both teams came out with the same idea, play compactly to thwart midfield linkups and flip the ball over the top or slip it through openings to get behind the defense.

DeRosario credits the strategy for both Najar’s goal off his finely threaded through ball and his own header off Najar’s perfectly placed lob. “Most importantly, we kept our shape and that’s what Ben wanted us to do.” He later added, “We stuck to the game plan, stayed compact.”

There is an adage in soccer that says, “Front to back, play compact; side to side, keep it wide.” Although most often adhering to the rule, both teams sometimes reverted to half-width play, leaving space down the sides which was almost never exploited by Salt Lake and more often put to use by United.

Veteran and captain, Josh Wolff seconded DeRosario’s praise of the overall team effort, “We’re not a one man show although DeRo takes a lot of the credit tonight…It comes back to the discipline of how we approach things.”

He elaborated on playing a compact style front to back and featuring over the top balls, “It’s indicative of the guys you have out there.”

When a team has players like Najar, Marc Burch, or Santino Quaranta who can place long balls onto attackers’ heads or feet, opponents can more easily be bypassed when front to back distance is shortened. “They (RSL) do a good job of closing space like we talk about in our group, keeping the space between forwards and the backs to 35 yards.”

A shortened midfield negated one of Salt Lake’s most potent weapons, Kyle Beckerman, who never seemed to have enough room to dominate play as he has so often in the past. Conditions were a bit unusual for both teams and, “I think we responded better…Andy’s ball to DeRo was amazing and obviously DeRo’s to Andy was as well”, was how Wolff summed it up.

Former DC United coach, Peter Nowak will surely study the films of this game and it will be interesting to see whether he chooses to play the compact game on Thursday or finds another way to open up play to put extra stress on United’s young back line.

Scoring Summary:

DC — Andy Najar 4 (Dwayne De Rosario 11) 13
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 11 (Andy Najar 6) 22
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 12 (Josh Wolff 6) 27
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 13 (unassisted) 31
RSL — Alvaro Saborio 10 (Paulo Araujo Jr. 4) 86

Real Salt Lake — Nick Rimando, Blake Wagner (Will Johnson 62), Nat Borchers, Rauwshan McKenzie, Chris Wingert, Arturo Alvarez (Luis Gil 62), Kyle Beckerman, Collen Warner, Ned Grabavoy, Paulo Araujo Jr., Jean Alexandre (Alvaro Saborio 75).

Substitutes Not Used: Fabian Espindola, Javier Morales, Chris Schuler, Tim Melia.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Brandon McDonald, Marc Burch, Andy Najar (Brandon Barklage 81), Stephen King, Clyde Simms, Austin Da Luz, Josh Wolff (Blake Brettschneider 74), Dwayne De Rosario (Joseph Ngwenya 65).

Substitutes Not Used: Charlie Davies, Santino Quaranta, Daniel Woolard, Joe Willis.

Misconduct Summary:

RSL — Collen Warner (caution; Reckless Tackle) 59

Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Referee’s Assistants: Chris Strickland; Adam Garner
4th Official: Andrew Chapin

Time of game: 1:49
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-73-degrees
Attendance: 16,367

Juan Pablo Angel continued to haunt United regardless of the shirt he wears, scoring twice in the second half to bring the game to level terms after United extended a first half lead just a few minutes into the second half.

“There is a mentality to this game right now that some of our guys don’t have. You have to have it for 90-minutes and you have to have it game-in-and-game-out and we don’t have it. Part of it is youth and part of it is complacency.

“It’s the way we fade in and out of games as a group, the way we take breaks; it’s the reason why we haven’t won two games in a row in three years. It’s a mentality that after you do well then it’s okay now and we can afford to let down.”

United have not won consecutive league matches since early June of 2009, a span of over 70-matches, and those also represent the last successive home wins as well.

United (8-8-11, 35 points) not only frittered away this game but an opportunity to leapfrog New York (7-7-15, 36 points) in the tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff race, as the Red Bulls were dumped at home by Real Salt Lake.

“I don’t know if we should have been up 2-0 but we were and to tie that game is absolutely ridiculous,” Olsen continued.

Chivas had lost four in a row coming into the match and are now winless in their last seven games. United pounded Chivas 3-0 in at Home Depot Center just 11 days earlier but this was not the same team that United faced that night.

Dwayne De Rosario scored his 10th goal of the season with a rare header to give United the lead in the 39th minute with Ethan White adding another in a seemingly rarer fashion, off a corner, to give United a two goal cushion shortly after halftime.

De Rosario was awarded a less than deserved penalty kick to possibly win the game in the 93rd minute but in what could be deemed poetic justice or just plain fair, the kick was saved by goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.

As De Rosario was aiming to get onto a weakly floated ball into the penalty area, Angel barely got his hand on the back of the Canadian international. When De Rosario flopped to the turf, Referee Chris Penso bit, and pointed to the spot for the late game gift.

In the first half, De Rosario had snuck through a crowd of players to nod home Andy Najar’s free kick after Jorge Flores carelessly handled the ball just outside the top right corner of the penalty to give United the lead.

Other than an early deflected shot by Marcos Mondaini that challenged United keeper Bill Hamid, the goal was the most compelling moment in an otherwise listless first half where neither team looked ambitious enough to take hold of the match or worthy of a playoff spot.

Chivas had been very diligent in quickly double teaming any United player that received the ball in a dangerous position.

“We played like boys and not just the second half; I thought in the first half we played soft,” said Olsen. “We are up 2-0 and we think the game is easy; we think we don’t have to tackle, we don’t have to win second balls, let’s just roll the dice and hope we get lucky. It’s absolutely gonna stop, it has to stop or we will not be going to make the playoffs it’s that simple.”

On United’s second goal, De Rosario got into another good spot, flicking a short range shot that Kennedy did well to get flare out his right hand and knock away. But no one bothered to mark Ethan White on the follow up and he knocked it home with authority to make the score 2-0.

Charlie Davies had a good chance to tack on another one and possibly put the game out of reach in the 53rd minute with a left footer from a step right of the penalty spot but Kennedy was well positioned to deflect it away to safety.

“When it’s 2-0 in the second half you have to take those opportunities to kill off the game whether it’s getting that third goal or shoring up things around the field and we lost that urgency on the defensive end after we got that two goal lead and thinking it was going to be a little easier to close out the game,” said Josh Wolff.

“We have to do the little bit of extra work that closes the game down and makes it difficult for the other team. There is a lot that goes into that but at that point, our general makeup has to play with a little more bite, a little more urgency and not give anything away.”

United were duly punished for sloppy coverage in the 58th minute by one of the great finishers in MLS history. Angel easily beat Perry Kitchen to a simple, and uncontested, cross from Nick LaBrocca at the right edge of the penalty area to draw one back for Chivas.

Brandon McDonald had slipped on the wet turf, giving LaBrocca plenty of time of time and space to deliver the fruitful ball across the face of the goal.

Angel corralled Ante Jazic’s bouncing ball from the left side, took a step inside and blasted home a relatively easy finish from 8-yards for a player of his caliber to bring the game to level terms in the 69th minute.

Laurent Courtois nearly stole a win for the visitors but Hamid neatly blocked the Frenchman’s left footed shot from 13-yards after the Frenchmen inexcusably got behind Kitchen for a semi-break away in the 85th minute.

“I haven’t seen consistent, game after game, high level performances. It’s there – the talent is there, but talent is not enough. I have been on terrible teams that have won games because we had guys that would do anything – anything – to win a game,” said Olsen.

“And that means if they are tired, if they lose the ball, they don’t stop. If you have to run 40 yards as hard as you can to tackle or to help a teammate, you do it. And that part is missing, and it has got to stop.

“I don’t know necessarily how to instill it right now but certainly I am going to do my best to try and instill it.”

He seems also to have learned to deal with the uncontrolled variables that plague MLS teams, dealing with random injuries while picking off good value via trades for Wayne DeRosario and Brandon McDonald after earlier acquiring the recovering Charlie Davies. Another wise pickup was Josh Wolff.

United comes into Saturday’s game in Seattle off a solid performance against an admittedly struggling Chivas side. The loss of an in form Chris Pontius in that game will take some of the edge off, but Wolff may have recovered from his own injuries in time to be very useful.

Seattle comes off a league loss that stopped an extended unbeaten streak followed by a nice CONCACAF win on Wednesday at Herediano. The short turnaround and travel involved should put a slight dent in the fitness of a few Sounders’ players, but the wise Sigi Schmid left a few key elements at home.

In turn, Olsen has kept his charges out West to shorten their travel. He will probably opt for a maximum effort despite the upcoming Wednesday-Saturday home stand in the next week. Schmid has an even quicker turnaround as Herediano visits on Tuesday, but has just beaten them away and risen to a solid position atop Seattle’s CONCACAF group.

Although Dejan Jakovic is listed as questionable, Olsen is unlikely to risk him in light of the upcoming stressful schedule. The early season blooding of Ethan White has given the rookie a much improved vision of the game and he should do well.

Following their season long development plan, the United staff are confident in their depth for now. Joe Willis has developed nicely and may fill in if Bill Hamid’s hamstring remains touchy. Austin DaLuz has also shown well on the left side and Marc Burch has come back strong from injury to support the portside as well.

Tino Quaranta missed several months with an extended concussion recovery, and looks fresh and sharp. The energy he will provide if he is kept on the left wing will be vital to replace some of Pontius’ dynamism.

An alternative to Wolff up front might be to start the aggressive Blake Brettschneider , who is a lesser skilled version of Pontius, in order to wear down Seattle’s defense before throwing Wolff in to outthink and outrun them.

Both teams have a big investment in the match as Seattle nears clinching a playoff berth and looks to a high seeding while DC wants to claim maximum points from the games they have in hand on so many rivals for a playoff spot.

As with most MLS games, this one will have twists and turns as the game progresses. Ben Olsen’s strategic vision has proven to be solid so far, but Sigi Schmid is one of the most astute coaches in MLS and will provide a stern test to Olsen’s still developing tactical sense.

Too many draws, too many squandered points, especially at home to reach their stated goal of getting into the playoffs.

George Allen, the legendary Hall of Fame former coach of the Washington Redskins, coined the phrase “the future is now” and perhaps they should heed those words because they are currently at the door of the club talking to the bouncer trying to worm their way into the party.

United is close; very close which makes their predicament both tantalizing and frustrating. It’s not how often you make a play but when you make it so it boils down to one question- who is going to make the play that wins the game?

Though they have played the fewest games (24) in the Eastern Conference along with Philadelphia, they could quickly run out of games with a couple of bad results. On the flip side, a couple of wins and a few favorable results elsewhere, they could sneak into second place if the big bouncer turns his head for even a second.

“Playing a half of soccer over the last two games is not good enough,” said United coach Ben Olsen about the results of their last two matches, both on the road, that included a come-from-behind 1-1 draw with Chicago last Thursday and 1-0 loss to Kansas City where they were badly outplayed.

“We can’t wait to be in the playoffs. We can’t let others dictate whether we are going to be in the playoffs,” he continued. “We have to go take it and that’s collectively, it’s me, the staff and the players, we have to make sure we are ready to make this push or it will be a long off season if we don’t.”

United (31 points) have 10 games remaining, split evenly between home and the road. They have had some masterful performances on the road and some equal duds at home and vice versa. Other than Seattle (45 points), no team they play currently has more than 36 points.

“We have to bring the grit, determination and fight that these other teams are bringing,” said defender Brandon McDonald.

“It certainly isn’t going to be given to us we are going to have to go get it. Teams scrap and fight here in this league and this is what this league is. You have to make a play. It’s always going to be one or two plays, teams are very equal,” added Santino Quaranta.

“You find this time of the year that teams that work hard and outwork their teams win games. It’s going to certainly take creating more chances than we have been creating and playing more urgently.”

United have been plagued with bad starts through most of the season and last week’s two losses were no different.

“It’s the time we need to get a little bit better in every area. The area that has to be better is the way we start and our mentality and that wasn’t there in the last two games and it costs us,” Olsen said.

“The message to the guys was everyone else in the league is ratcheting up and everybody is making sure that the fight and the commitment is a little bit better because the weather is changing, playoff time is coming.”

Despite the miserable starts, especially against Kansas City, they were still just one play away from yet another draw. These matches followed one of their best matches of the year, a 4-0 home win over Vancouver.

“We have to be better with success. A win doesn’t mean we can let down for a game or two; it means we have to rev it up rather than be okay with it,” Olsen said. “We got the (expletive) kicked out of us against Kansas City and we still could have tied that game. That is who we are; we can do that because we have players that can do that.”

United’s big players, like Dwayne DeRosario, for the most part have been making plays. Josh Wolff scored the equalizer against Chicago but he admittedly can play better. Charlie Davies has been hampered by a knee injury and has not scored since a 2-2 home draw with Houston on June 25.

Someone else needs to step up and make the critical play that leads to the goal that wins the game-and it doesn’t necessarily have to be scoring the goal.

“We have to bring that tenaciousness, that willingness to compete every game and that fight because we have technical players but sometimes you got to be a little bit nasty and see out a 1-0 game,” said DeRosario. “Across the league those are pretty much the games you are going to see when teams are fighting for the playoffs; teams are going to battle, scrap, do whatever it takes and we have to get that mentality sooner or later.”

These results may just be who they are – perhaps a decent, middle-of-the-table team? Or maybe they are pretty good or pretty good but just not good enough. Or maybe they are just not that good.

“This is no surprise the situation we are in. This is what we said from the start of the season that it was going to be a grind,” said Olsen. “We are a young team. We are going to have ups and we are going to have downs and it’s important for us to stay in the hunt right now and push soon, very soon. It’s true we haven’t had that stretch that we’ve wanted to have.”

United’s results since his arrival, however, have been equally respectable but still uninspiring, especially at home despite fighting their way back into the muddled Eastern Conference playoff picture.

And just like those stars, he has quickly become the focal point of an attack and a team that is showing some promise at perhaps just the right time. But for that promise to be actualized, some of the other key players have to step up do their part.

United’s 4-0 pasting of Vancouver last Saturday was their first home win since a 2-1 performance against Seattle on May 4 and the mood in the locker room was certainly happy with the subtle tones of relief.

United is now over .500 this late in the season since 2009 and have drawn their goal differential back to level terms (33 goals for and against), despite giving up four goals on four different occasions and three goals once.

“We’d all be lying if we didn’t say that the home record wasn’t wearing on us and this gives us a little bit of an exhale when we come home,” said United coach Ben Olsen.

United have scored 12 goals while conceding just six in the seven games with DeRosario in the lineup. He did not score but had two assists Saturday night and after scoring a dramatic goal to beat New York in his second start, United’s attack has run exclusively through the Canadian International.

“The guy has worked very hard to be an option up there and the players trust him. When you make real plays time after time, it’s pretty natural that you start to try and find that guy. We do preach get the ball to Dwayne as much as possible but that is what you want to do with all of your good players,” said Olsen.

“Your go-to players need to touch ball, that’s what they are there for. He’s always getting one, two and sometimes three guys at times so we are going to have to get some guys to step up.”

Every time DeRosario touched the ball or made a penetrating run in the attacking third of the park, Vancouver double and triple-teamed him, running defenders at him from seemingly all directions. That sort of attention makes decisive and timely runs off the ball by his mates extremely critical.

“With DeRo now we want to possess the ball and keep it and so we actually get a few more numbers in advance of the ball. He’s a guy (with the ball) at his feet, he can make things happen, he can score goals, he can slip guys.

“He’s been fantastic since he’s come to us. We have got to find other ways to get it done but he is obviously the guy we want to shape our attacks around,” said forward Josh Wolff, who did not play last weekend still nursing a hamstring strain.

Despite all of the attention from opposition on which his teammates now heavily rely, the championships with San Jose and Houston, the multiple MLS Cup MVP awards and All Star games, DeRosario is quiet and humble and quick with standard clichés.

“I am happy about that (the goals) but I am looking for the results,” he said. “Credit goes to the guys around me; they are the one’s giving me good service and putting in the work and finding me in good positions. I am definitely happy with that position but I would like to see us get some points at home.”

United visits Chicago, Wolff’s original team, this Thursday night for the first of three games in ten days. They will then travel to scorching hot Kansas City, Wolff’s next stop during his lengthy career, for a Sunday tilt before returning home Saturday for their first ever match against Portland.

Charlie Davies, who has also been hampered by a recent knee injury, was routinely threatening and played the full 90-minutes against Vancouver. As all of their critical players are now basically healthy, United have also caught the most unlikely of breaks as the temperatures in Washington have been, and will continue to be, unseasonably cool, hovering in the low to mid 80’s.

“It’s been a good week as far as weather for us so we’ll be able to push the guys a little more than usual but we are deep; we are as deep as we’ve been all year right now,” said Olsen. “A lot of healthy bodies; and I expect to use more than eleven guys in the starting rotation over the next week.”

Whether playing as an attacking midfielder or a forward, DeRosario has the freedom to attack from any angle he wishes. Teams must cover him at all times, usually with a primary cover and close backup.

Since he varies his runs across the entire field, defenders are forced to choose to follow or pass him on. If he operated as a sole threat, that would be very achievable. With the speed and still growing strength of Charlie Davies to complement him, he gets a bit of breathing room.

Add the continued maturing of Andy Najar and Chris Pontius on the wings, and the poor defenders require even more support from their midfielders. Either player is more than happy to take on several at a time, sometimes cutting directly inside and sometimes choosing a wider route.

More classical soccer teams have a few large central players to reward the down-to-the-line cross. United, one of the smaller teams in MLS, does not. Instead, Najar and DeRosario seem to take special delight in dancing along the line to fire a short pass or surprising shot from close range.

Najar’s shocking goal against the Whitecaps was a classic example of just that aggressive mentality. Pontius’ style is a bit more subtle. His movement looks deceptively smooth until he suddenly swings around his marker to strike.

He still tends to drift inside to find the ball, but an examination of both his goals reveals that it was his holding back from closing in until the right moment that gained him the momentum and space to score.

On his first goal he paused, saw DeRosario beat his men and only then went sharply at goal. That reflects a mature and dangerous vision. On his second goal, he held his width as he saw two teammates already inside and thus owned the wider space which allowed him to shoot cleanly.

Tino Quaranta’s recovery from concussion came just in time for him to step into a creative midfield role with which he has struggled before. DeRosario’s success as a forward, and his willingness and that of Davies to withdraw to receive and work the ball, has allowed Quaranta just enough additional space for him to pick out long range targets to bring out some of the confidence of his first few years.

Quaranta’s blast from 35 yards nearly beat the Whitecaps’ keeper Jay Nolly and another similarly hard shot rocked the ‘Caps wall. Defenses now know that they must guard him more closely and the keeper will have yet another movement to track.

The aggressive attitude has now permeated the team. Left back Daniel Woolard barely missed his own 25 yard rocket. Marc Burch came on late to spell Pontius at left midfield and added his own attacking movement, nearly setting up yet another United goal.

Finally, Stephen King wrote his own short horror story for Vancouver as he came on for Santino Quaranta and got the goal that Quaranta had tried so hard all game to obtain. King was cool and smooth as he cut smartly around his marker and sharply slotted the ball past Nolly.

He has shown well in cameo appearances and reserve games and gives the hard working Clyde Simms an occasional chance to rest.

In his own younger days, Simms would pair with Olsen in a holding midfield role and either player would occasionally crack low and hard drives at goal. Saturday saw him do just that as he began again looking for such long-range chances.

Olsen has successfully encouraged a team that has a sad history of trying to dribble the ball into goal to try whatever works from whatever distance and to do it with a menacing attitude.

DC’s defense, which helped Joe Willis keep a clean sheet in Bill Hamid’s absence, seems to have settled in nicely as the strength of Brandon McDonald and speed of Dejan Jakovic have combined with the growth of Perry Kitchen and Daniel Woolard to somewhat lighten the load on Simms and King who previously had too much space to cover.

Balance is a vital component of good soccer, and Olsen seems finally to have the tools in place to achieve it. As more players come off the injured list, he has the depth to use reliable contributors like Burch, Ethan White, and Josh Wolff.

This team is within striking distance of first place in the Eastern Conference and is about to enter a testing pair of tightly spaced away games which make up their very valuable games in hand to close on the leaders. Depth is of the essence, and DC United has it.

Scoring Summary:
DC — Chris Pontius 6 (Dwayne De Rosario 7) 47+
DC — Andy Najar 3 (Santino Quaranta 2) 48
DC — Chris Pontius 7 (unassisted) 70
DC — Stephen King 1 (Dwayne De Rosario 8) 81

Vancouver Whitecaps — Jay Nolly, Jonathan Leathers, Michael Boxall, Jay DeMerit (Davide Chiumiento 62), Jordan Harvey, John Thorrington (Jeb Brovsky 70), Gershon Koffie, Peter Vagenas (Mustapha Jarju 71), Shea Salinas, Eric Hassli, Camilo.

Substitutes Not Used: Bilal Duckett, Michael Nanchoff, Long Tan, Joe Cannon.

TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Camilo 3, Eric Hassli 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Camilo 3); FOULS: 8 (John Thorrington 2); OFFSIDES: 1 (Camilo 1); CORNER KICKS: 2 (Camilo 1, Shea Salinas 1); SAVES: 4 (Jay Nolly 4)

D.C. United — Joe Willis, Perry Kitchen, Brandon McDonald, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard, Santino Quaranta (Stephen King 63), Clyde Simms, Andy Najar (Austin Da Luz 74), Chris Pontius (Marc Burch 77), Dwayne De Rosario, Charlie Davies.

Substitutes Not Used: Blake Brettschneider, Ethan White, Josh Wolff, Steve Cronin.

TOTAL SHOTS: 19 (Dwayne De Rosario 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (3 tied with 2); FOULS: 13 (Dejan Jakovic 3, Andy Najar 3); OFFSIDES: 2 (Dwayne De Rosario 2); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Andy Najar 2); SAVES: 6 (Joe Willis 6)

Misconduct Summary:
VAN — Camilo (caution; Reckless Foul) 15
DC — Brandon McDonald (caution; Dissent) 39
VAN — Michael Boxall (caution; Reckless Tackle) 46+
DC — Charlie Davies (caution; Dissent) 60

Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Referee’s Assistants: -George Gansner; Paul Scott
4th Official: Mark Declouet
Attendance: 11,738
Time of Game: 1:48
Weather: Cloudy-and-77-degrees