Match Previews

DC United Hosts Revolution in Open Cup Semifinals

The US Open Cup is the longest running club competition in America and among the oldest in the world as it’s been contested every year since 1914, but this year there is added incentive to nab the Dewar Trophy as the winner is one of the four teams guaranteed a ticket into CONCACAF Competition next season. A fact not lost on MLS teams that normally put this tournament on the back burner.

Bryan Namoff made it clear that although DC United wants to win every tournament they enter, the Open Cup is certainly more important this year. “It’s a lot more motivation to win the Open Cup. There’s definitely a lot more importance now on the Open Cup. We’re going to fight do all we can to get into those types of international competitions because that’s another opportunity to get ourselves outside MLS and measure ourselves against international competition.”

Jaime Moreno also asserted that getting into international competitions is important for both DC United and the league. “Any thing like this [the Open Cup], that helps teams get into international competitions are good. All these types of tournaments are good for players and good for the league.”

Despite a rather sketchy record in the Open Cup, this is actually the sixth time the team has been to the semifinals of the tournament in the eleventh time they have entered it (United didn’t enter in 1998 in order to play a South American tournament that was subsequently cancelled, and didn’t qualify in 2002). But, United is 2-4 in those previous trips to the semifinals all played away from home. In fact, since their second trip to the final in 1997 after winning it all in 1996, DC has not advanced past this round, even losing to NE in a brutal semifinal match with numerous fouls and red cards (Moreno and Marco Etcheverry were both ejected) in 2001.

While Moreno refused to talk about that match saying more or less that the past is over and this one is the match to be thinking about, another player from that 2001 one match was a lot more enthusiastic about getting a chance for revenge. Defender Bryan Namoff was a rookie that year and he apparently still has a bit of an axe to grind.

“That game is still definitely in my mind!” he said after practice last Thursday. “I’m definitely taking this game personally. Having never won the Open Cup, it’s something I aspire to. And it’s good to get back to winning trophies as a team. But, ironically playing New England again in such a big game, I don’t want to allow those same things to happen again (NE was not shy in administering some brutal fouls on Jaime Moreno in particular that swayed the match in their favor as they won 2-0) “So yeah, I’m looking to take that game a little personally. I still hold that loss in the back of my mind. I’ll take that little grudge into Tuesday’s game.”

Frankly, a little grudge might be well in order considering the way DC is played this past weekend. With that debacle in NY coming so soon after the Superliga slump, a tournament that NE just won by the way, DC United is apparently right back onto their rollercoaster ride of results this season. Even worse, the defensive disasters thought to be banished with the shutout last week are clearly not so easily eliminated.

Obviously, the hope is that the team merely overlooked NY a bit and the roller coaster will be on the way back up tomorrow night, but given the evidence presented in NY, there’s some real cause for concern about how well United will be able to handle this game.

First and foremost, Emilio, Fred, Simms, Guerrero, and the entire defense played the full 90 minutes in a lost cause in NY, and surely will be limited in the Open Cup match which could easily be a 120 minute effort. Plus, in an even more ominous piece of news, talisman Jaime Moreno came out at halftime with back problems. Now, Moreno nearly faced retirement a few years ago after the pounding he took on that turf in his brief sojourn in NY, so even taking the risk to play him on that crap field is criminal especially as he is so important to the team with Gallardo out. The team is saying he’s much better and should play tomorrow, but it still throws a wrench in the works as he surely can’t be relied upon to go the full match.

Which brings up the other side of United’s roster, the players who didn’t play, or didn’t come back all that well. Gallardo not even making the trip to NY means he is extremely unlikely to make an impact in the Open Cup if he even plays at all, which is more than doubtful. Peralta too, played nary a minute in NY making his contributions tomorrow suspect as well. While Santino Quaranta did come back and was very active, but was decidedly rusty as you might expect.

So with no effective reinforcements likely, United’s slim pool of healthy starters is going to have to play a majority of the match, a match that could easily become a 120 minute marathon considering the Open Cup plays full 30 minute overtimes if tied at the end of 90.

So, with that in mind, I see Emilio and Moreno starting at forward. Possibly Santino starts and Moreno comes in for the last 30 to 60 minutes if there’s overtime, but with NE, it’s dicey for DC to start off with less than their best as the Revs can put the game away by the 60th minute and then no sub can dig DC out of a hole without a miracle. Surely Quaranta will come in the second half, but if that’s the case, then either Emilio or Moreno simply has to go the full match unless DC actually puts the game out of reach in an unlikely but certainly glorious eventuality.

Then in midfield, United has no choice but to play their best four for a ton of minutes, which means Fred and Guerrero as well as Simms all bite the bullet, and hopefully don’t run out of gas. However, Soehn has an even more serious concern to think about for that playmaker role. Vide has been playing there more as a defensive stop and it worked against an ugly weak four man midfield when KC came to town, but it failed miserably against a strong and tough four man NY midfield. Well, NE’s five man midfield is as good as it gets in MLS, and there’s no reason to think playing without a playmaker has a chance against them.

But Dyachenko is the only guy with playmaker skills on the bench, which isn’t too promising of a situation as he’s far better coming off the bench late in game. Moreno playing attacking midfielder would be decent especially if he can go at least 80 minutes, but that means Santino starts and there’s no possibility for quality substitutions in any of those attacking positions and Santino is a stretch to go long just coming back from injury himself. So, I think Soehn takes a bit of a chance and plays Fred in that attacking role and Thompson plays the right.

Fred played decently as the playmaker in Superliga, but the superior technical Mexican teams forced him into too many turnovers that punished the team. NE is not as good as those Mexican teams despite their winning that tournament. So I think Fred gets a run there especially as NE is playing Larentowicz as a defender lately while Parkhurst is in China for the Olympics. Taking the ginger assassin’s presence out of the midfield means Fred has it slightly easier having only having Shalrie Joseph to beat. Ouch. But, Fred contending solely with Raggety Andy may well be the best shot considering Gallardo’s absence.

Finally in the back, without Peralta and Burch (red card body slamming Blanco), but getting back Martinez for that left side, United will almost certainly go with Pat Carroll and McTavish in the middle and Namoff on the right for the entire game. Maybe Peralta comes in for a few minutes, but unless the match is out of the reach one way or the other, it’s hard to imagine he can play important minutes after being out of live matches for over a month.

So, if that’s the way it goes, United at least has some good matchups on paper. Moreno and Emilio going against Heaps and Larentowicz is easily a slight edge unless we get a blind referee. Then Thompson and Namoff on that right side against Castro and Tierney (or Igwe) is pretty even. However, Fred and Simms going against Joseph and Ralston is dicey at best.

But, on the left it could be magic, as Martinez and Guerrero going against Albright and Nyassi (or Wells Thompson) is a clear advantage. Those two have to dominate so much that they either set up goals, or force NE to shift far enough to help that someone else comes free. Martinez has been huge going forward and with Guerrero they could be the most dangerous sideline tandem in the league and tomorrow would be a great time for that relationship to gel.

Defensively, DC is in good shape unless Twellman goes wild which he has been known to do against United. He scores goals against us like he’s strolling through the tall cotton. At least Dube is out so Cristman the banger is his likely running mate. That’s a tough matchup for Pat Carroll and McTavish, but if they can frustrate those guys early, DC has a decent chance to keep it tight as long as they keep the set pieces to a minimum.

So, DC is in with a fighting chance at least against the best team in MLS, but I fear that’s only for the first 60 minutes, after that, the short turnaround from Sunday might be deadly. NE played the weekend too and lost as well and has to travel to boot, but they are almost certainly to be fresher and are playing better overall.

The one small hope is that Soehn is holding something in reserve. Practice has been mysteriously closed for weeks so maybe Gallardo and Peralta are much further along than expected and simply didn’t play in NY due to that horrible turf. Bryan Namoff hinted as much by giving an interesting answer when asked about the team being able to handle two games in 48 hours.

He said before the NY match that “It’s definitely going to be tough. Having depth now is critical. It’s not feasible for having the same team out there for both games, for 90 minutes. So, you’ll definitely see some changes. But, we’re getting some guys back at a critical point in time.” So, maybe there’s a chance that Soehn is holding a lot in reserve. More likely that was just wishful thinking, especially in terms of Gallardo, but we’ll see.

This could easily be a defining moment for DC this season. They could rise to the occasion and pull off a stunning upset, or they could tank and have a very slim shot at playing internationally next year since the Supporter’s Shield is out of question and an MLS Cup is awfully elusive even when you have a good team as United has had the past two seasons.

But, the bottom line is that DC simply has to play much better than they’ve played the past month. Assistant coach Chad Ashton gets the final word as he sums up the matchup with NE perfectly. “It’s the same as it always is. Every time we play them we know what they bring to the table. They’re a quality team, you saw that in Superliga, and they’re playing well right now. I think we know that we have to show up with our A game to get away with a win.”

Should United win, they’ll be pulling for the Charleston Battery to win the other semifinal as that would mean DC would host the Battery in the final. Should Seattle beat the Battery, the Sounders would host the final. Obviously, if NE wins no one cares where the final would take place although it is certain the cheapskate Kraft will not pay to host it.

United returns to MLS action next weekend in Chicago as they take on the Fire in Toyota Park.

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