The team has tended for several years to play narrowly, with wide midfielders choosing very often to drive into a congested center where they lose possession. When Olsen took over last year, he continued a pattern of wider attacking that the team was already beginning to use.

The good pattern continued this year, but one still too often observed the half-width midfield and the congested central attacking lanes that cause an offense to wither. The width now often comes from overlapping wide defenders. It turns out that this is intended, at least some of the time.

Daniel Woolard who has stepped in very nicely for the injured Marc Burch, describes the rationale for Chris Pontius’ attacking inside and his assuming the wide attacking role down the left, “We do that in training. When he goes inside it’s my responsibility to get around him. It opens up the inside for him if the outside mid or the outside back comes out toward me that makes more space in the middle.”

There is some merit in that argument in that it presents the opponent with more choices he has to make, but it also places the erstwhile defender in a specifically attacking role for which only a few are well prepared.

Perry Kitchen served several good balls from the right when he got forward on Saturday, and he seems ready to be effective in an attacking role similar to the one that Bryan Namoff grew into. If Burch returns to action in the left back slot, he might provide a similar threat down that side.

It’s not quite that simple. The flaw in this strategy derives from the fundamental nature of DC United from its earliest days. A team which plays possession ball will trend heavily to a slower buildup and thereby allow opponents to clog the central attacking channels.

When wide midfielders choose the inside route too often they make the congestion worse. For years DC’s opponents have favored the quick counterattack from a semi-bunker. When congestion leads to a turnover and the wide defenders have come too far forward, an outlet pass down the wing will avoid the defenders and the goalkeeper and place the defense on its heels.

When both Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff went down with injuries in the first half against Colorado, their misfortunes may have worked to show another alternative to the congested middle. For years, Tino Quaranta has learned about the withdrawn forward position from Jaime Moreno, but rarely had a chance to play there.

On Saturday, he got that chance. Although the withdrawn forward role which favors his skills might seem to add to the problem, Quaranta’s effectiveness actually served to deter Pontius and Andy Najar from too much central play.

Quaranta’s forward pressure in defense and holding and distributing in attack allowed the wide mids to feel comfortable striking down the wings more often. Quaranta described the problem, “In the first half we were playing a 4-4-2. It looked like we were playing four guys in a flat row and they were too high.”

He went on to describe the solution, “Somebody had to drop underneath a little bit, give another option and give our team the ability to play wide and get our outside backs involved. By doing that it causes the defense a lot of problems.”

His description of the role seemed almost to describe a previous United forward, Alecko Eskandarian, “The most important thing in that position is to run, chasing defenders down, making it hard to clear balls, winning balls higher. It makes it easier for the guys behind us.”

The concept that everyone plays defense and everyone attacks is classic Bruce Arena ball; pressure, then possess, then attack, but only when it is clearly on and then very quickly with everyone involved. That is the historic United way.

With Davies resting his hamstring and Wolff happy to strengthen his groin, Quaranta may get a chance in a friendly against Dutch powerhouse Ajax next Sunday to develop some comfort in the role that for so long has seemed his best fit for DC.

Given Wolff’s age and the natural styles of other forwards, Davies, Joseph Ngwenya, and Blake Brettschneider, Olsen may have found a more deadly attacking approach.

Scoring Summary:

COL — Drew Moor 1 (unassisted) 23
DC — Chris Pontius 3 (unassisted) 62

Misconduct Summary:

COL — Drew Moor (caution; Tactical Foul) 46+
COL — Matt Pickens (caution; Delaying a Restart) 92+

Lineups:

Colorado Rapids — Matt Pickens, Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Drew Moor, Kosuke Kimura, Jamie Smith, Jeff Larentowicz, Pablo Mastroeni, Wells Thompson (Ross LaBauex 89), Andre Akpan (Sanna Nyassi 75), Quincy Amarikwa (Conor Casey 67).
Substitutes Not Used: Danny Earls, Joseph Nane, Scott Palguta, Steward Ceus.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard, Andy Najar, Dax McCarty, Clyde Simms (Fred 80), Chris Pontius, Josh Wolff (Joseph Ngwenya 44), Charlie Davies (Santino Quaranta 34).
Substitutes Not Used: Blake Brettschneider, Marc Burch, Chris Korb, Steve Cronin.

Referee: Terry Vaughn
Referee’s Assistants: Steven Taylor; Jason Cullum
4th Official: Daniel Fitzgerald
Time of Game: 1:52
Attendance: 12,499
Weather: Cloudy and 66 degrees

Tino Quaranta has been trying to understand it and draws real hope from the most recent performance against the LA Galaxy, “Continue to play like that and we’ll win games. It’s kind of been a theme all year, but they’re the best team in our league and I think we should have won this game tonight. Our record and our points don’t show what kind of team we are.”

Recovery began with the realization that United was inflexibly focused on central attack. Curt Onalfo emphasized wing play and saw some success. However, with the absence of Bryan Namoff and a constant series of injuries to defenders, he was forced to restrain his wide attackers to support those behind them.

Against the stronger United teams of old opponents were often forced into a counterattacking mode.
They would absorb United’s pressure and strike on the counter. If other teams are so superior to United this year, one might expect them to fight for midfield control. After all, a weakened defense gives opponents both options.

Yet, they win off the counter more often than not. Quaranta is correct in his assessment, “We’ve been creating a lot of chances. If you look around the league in that position, in the [wide] positions, I feel like this team is one of the best teams in those positions.”

Throughout the season, United has steadily improved in maintaining its overall shape while gradually improving in off the ball supporting runs, first on defense, and only very recently on attack. That can be laid to too intense a desire to carry the team to victory with individual effort.

The team has no pure speed player to keep an opponent off balance, but does have enough strong attackers to create and finish chances. Of late, Pablo Hernandez has gradually adjusted to the physicality of MLS play and has begun to interact better with his teammates.

With his arrival, the central attack has gradually improved as Danny Allsopp has begun to work a more effective partnership up front. Quaranta has been able to see players closer than Andy Najar as viable passing options.

Until recently, players would drive at and take on multiple defenders while teammates watched. In the last three games, against Columbus, Toronto, and LA, the attack has finally achieved effective support with good offensive runs and quicker recognition by of opportunity by those with the ball and those in support.

Hernandez had shared a tendency with Najar to hold the ball a bit too long. In both cases, teammates were partially to blame. The single most significant element that DC United’s coaches have instilled is the need for constant movement off the ball to support these two particular players when they get the ball.

The same lack of effective supporting movement has combined with his own age degraded skills to render Jaime Moreno no longer the game changer that he once was. Time and again, DC United players have emphasized that they play for one another. In fact, they have, but almost always in focusing on defense.

With the emergence of more active offensive interaction, the elements are now in place, just in time for some new actors to join in the play. Both Carlos Varela and Junior Carreiro give Coach Ben Olsen still more midfield support. Junior has been with the side long enough to have bought into the doctrine and Varela is experienced enough to figure it out quickly.

After strong performances in close losses against two of the league’s leaders, DC now gets a shot at a struggling Houston Dynamo squad whose fans must be as baffled United’s. The game is at 7:30 at RFK.

Brees’ 2009 Avg. Yards Per Game:             286.57

Avg. Yards Needed To Pass Marino:            342.11

WEEK    DATE                    OPP/RESULT        COMP-ATT %   TD-INT    YARDS    REMAINING

1      Sun 9/13           vs DET   W, 45-27           26-34    76.5      6-1       358      4,727

2      Sun 9/20           at PHI   W, 48-22           25-34    73.5      3-1       311      4,416

3      Sun 9/27           at BUF   W, 27-7             16-29    55.2      0-0       172      4,244

4      Sun 10/4           vs NYJ   W, 24-10           20-32    62.5      0-0       190      4,054

5      Bye

6      Sun 10/18         vs NYG  W, 48-27           23-30    76.7     4-0        369      3,685

7      Sun 10/25         at MIA   W, 46-34          22-38    57.9     1-3        298      3,387

8      Mon 11/2          vs ATL   W, 35-27          25-33    75.8     2-1        308      3,079

9      Sun 11/8           vs CAR

10      Sun 11/15         at STL

11      Sun 11/22         at TB

12      Mon 11/30         vs NE

13      Sun 12/6           at WAS

14      Sun 12/13         at ATL

15      Sat 12/19          vs DAL

16      Sun 12/27         vs TB

17      Sun 1/3             at CAR

PF-PA        COMP-ATT     %      TD-INT   YDS

TOTALS;                                   273-154        157-230   68.3   16-6     2,006

Nate Burleson is an experienced 7-year receiver out of Nevada-Reno College that is often overlooked when teams study the Seahawks. He never makes the headlines and he never makes the highlight film, but he always makes sure-handed plays.

Burleson has put up above average numbers, racking up 38 receptions for 487 yards and 3 touchdowns this season. But two things that stick out to me are that 24 of his 38 receptions come at home, as they are playing at home this Sunday, and that they are playing a bad defense in the Detroit Lions.

The Lions have allowed the second most points per game on defense and have given the opposing quarterback the highest average passer rating in the NFL at 108.97. This showing me that Burleson shouldn’t have any trouble getting the ball this Sunday.

Coming into this game, Burleson has an average of 8.4 fantasy points per game, including a 21-point performance on the Jaguars. So there’s no question that he can rack up the points, it’s just a matter of if he can take advantage a gaping opportunity in the Lions defense.

Brees’ 2009 Avg. Yards Per Game:             283.00

Avg. Yards Needed To Pass Marino:            338.70

WEEK    DATE                    OPP/RESULT        COMP-ATT %   TD-INT    YARDS    REMAINING

1      Sun 9/13           vs DET   W, 45-27           26-34    76.5      6-1       358      4,727

2      Sun 9/20           at PHI   W, 48-22           25-34    73.5      3-1       311      4,416

3      Sun 9/27           at BUF   W, 27-7             16-29    55.2      0-0       172      4,244

4      Sun 10/4           vs NYJ   W, 24-10           20-32    62.5      0-0       190      4,054

5      Bye

6      Sun 10/18         vs NYG  W, 48-27           23-30    76.7     4-0        369      3,685

7      Sun 10/25         at MIA   W, 46-34          22-38    57.9     1-3        298      3,387

8      Mon 11/2          vs ATL

9      Sun 11/8           vs CAR

10      Sun 11/15         at STL

11      Sun 11/22         at TB

12      Mon 11/30         vs NE

13      Sun 12/6           at WAS

14      Sun 12/13         at ATL

15      Sat 12/19          vs DAL

16      Sun 12/27         vs TB

17      Sun 1/3             at CAR

PF-PA        COMP-ATT     %      TD-INT   YDS

TOTALS;                                   238-127        132-197   67.0   14-5     1,698

Like Matt Holiday’s dropped fly ball in the NLDS, the Dodgers won Game 2 when Andre Ethier coaxed a bases-loaded, two-out walk from Philadelphia rookie J.A. Happ.

The Dodgers might not have done much at the plate, managing just five hits in the win, but Vicente Padilla (who pitched 7 1-3 innings of one-run ball), Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton allowed just four hits themselves.

Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Philadelphia.

Article originally appeared on BaseballDigest.com.

Brees’ 2009 Avg. Yards Per Game:             250.25

Avg. Yards Needed To Pass Marino:            337.83

Week 4: Although the Saints keep winning, Brees has been rather ordinary over the past two weeks after starting the first two weeks on pace to challenge Marino’s record. That’s probably just fine for Brees and New Orleans, who would probably prefer to keep notching wins over setting records. Marino’s record appears safe for now, but there’s a lot of football left in the 2009 season, and Brees is certainly capable of putting up some more big numbers (although next week against the Giants, who have defended the pass as well as anyone thus far, will be as tough a test as it gets).

WEEK    DATE                    OPP/RESULT        COMP-ATT %   TD-INT    YARDS    REMAINING

1      Sun 9/13           vs DET   W, 45-27           26-34    76.5      6-1       358      4,727

2      Sun 9/20           at PHI   W, 48-22           25-34    73.5      3-1       311      4,416

3      Sun 9/27           at BUF   W, 27-7             16-29    55.2      0-0       172      4,244

4      Sun 10/4           vs NYJ   W, 24-10           20-32    62.5      0-0       190      4,054

5      Bye

6      Sun 10/18         vs NYG

7      Sun 10/25         at MIA

8      Mon 11/2          vs ATL

9      Sun 11/8           vs CAR

10      Sun 11/15         at STL

11      Sun 11/22         at TB

12      Mon 11/30         vs NE

13      Sun 12/6           at WAS

14      Sun 12/13         at ATL

15      Sat 12/19          vs DAL

16      Sun 12/27         vs TB

17      Sun 1/3             at CAR

PF-PA        COMP-ATT     %    TD-INT   YARDS

TOTALS;                                   144-66                        87-129               67.4   9-2       1,031

Like DaMarcus Beasley, he is small and relies on quickness and guile to make his game. As a very young professional he would frequently get pushed around. He and Danny Szetela returned to Bradenton for two successive winters and Adu put on 10 pounds, mostly on the upper body, on each occasion. He went so far as to have his own gym in his home in Potomac and charted his progress as he developed.

He has progressed since then, “You’ve got to get stronger in your lower body and that’s what I’ve been working on. I’m not as easy to push off the ball anymore. Keep your balance and be quicker. When you get one step on a person, you gotta go. You can’t let him get his body into you.”

He has balanced strengthening his weakness with emphasizing his quickness, “You’re a smaller player so defenders are gonna want to hit you, because they’re much bigger and they might not be as quick as you. Whatever you’re gonna do, just do it quicker and just go.”

He had said when at DC that he had learned from Jaime Moreno to push off the defender before the defender could do the same to him. While he still often went down, his lower body strength has given him more confidence, “That’s all it is. Just anticipate it and then when the defender hits you, you can’t go down.”

At first, he would often not get the calls he might expect because he seemed to go down too easily. He has learned the value of demonstrated persistence, “You gotta try and keep your balance. Sometimes it’s gonna be a foul and you got to go down. But, most of the time now I just try to stay up on my feet.”

He was warmly received by the crowd as he entered and after the game, and has a nice Barra Brava tee shirt as a souvenir. He was clearly happy to return, “Unbelievable, unbelievable. After the game, I just stood there. This is where I started my career. It brought back so many memories.

“The fans were absolutely amazing. The best fans in MLS, hands down. I just stood there. I almost wanted to cry. Just hearing the crowd chant my name, it was unbelievable. I really appreciated that.

“DC United is a family. Every time one of their players comes back. Esky was telling me when he came back last time, they gave him a great, great welcome too. If you’ve played here, you’re part of the family.”