A Tough Week For United, Even Tougher Times Ahead

A Tough Week For United, Even Tougher Times Ahead

Chris Webb

July 24, 2007

D.C. United and Ben Olsen (pictured) are struggling to find answers to what has become a season of ups and downs. From the possible unstable future of the club in DC to the myriad of injuries and suspensions in recent weeks to the hopeful resurgence in doing well in the upcoming SuperLiga competition.

Washington, D.C. Wow, that was a tough eight days. From blowing a never been done before three goal lead at RFK against FC Dallas a week ago Saturday to the Poplar Point collapse to another poor performance on the road in New Jersey, this wasn't a week to remember for anyone with a vested interest in D.C. United. As my co-host on The Soccer Show John Dyson likes to describe me on occasion, I'm a glass half full kind of guy while my audio nemesis Mike Martin usually holds the doom and gloom mantle over my head.

Well, I'm starting to waffle a bit. The recent poor results and the disheartening midweek news of Poplar Point being dead in the water is more than enough to make any Pollyanna doubt themselves. Add to that the growing apathy towards the front office in regards to trading Facundo Erpen and you have a fan base that is really worried about another season gone without any tangible rewards at the end of the day. Fans are screaming for Kevin Payne and Dave Kasper to match in kind the efforts of other MLS clubs in regards to their international signings like David Beckham, Cuatehemoc Blanco, Juan Pablo Angel and Juan Toja. I'm guessing Luciano Emilio and Fred just haven't satisfied them enough. While I don't necessarily subscribe to that panicked theory, one has to have faith in what Payne and Co. are on about. Emilio and Fred have had a definite positive impact on United this season and one could say without their contributions, who knows where United would be this season.

As we read this Payne and Kasper are in Argentina looking at possible prospects, the most noteworthy of which is Juan Sebastion Veron. That rumor is starting to pick up steam though club officials are still non-commital on any details concerning their trip. While Unied could definitely use the class and skill of Veron, this team has other glaring deficiences that need to be addressed if they want to start putting together a second half of the MLS season that will at least make some teams nervous. As it happens now United looks to be more of the same team we saw at the beginning of the MLS season rather than the team that went seven games unbeaten and generally played a positive brand of soccer. The performances of the team nowadays resemble more of a Jekyll and Hyde type of mentality than anything else. At the comfy confines of RFK Stadium United lets loose and enjoys the game. They take it to the opposition and the goals flow. Unfortunately it flows for both teams as the FC Dallas game will attest. While that seems an anamolous situation the fact remains that United has not shut out an opponent at home all season long, including international matches. The road form on the other hand harkens back to the gool ol' days of yore with Ray Hudson when the team would come out with the mentality of getting out of Dodge with whatever they can get. While the team does have two wins on the road, they have been shut out in four of their eight road matches and has looked listless in most of them. While this Sunday's 1-0 loss to Red Bull didn't seem as bad on second viewing, the fact that they couldn't score with numerous golden chances seems to feed the growing fear that this team simply doesn't have the fortitude necessary to make a dent in the playoffs in October.

Which brings me to my main point of this column in that things could go from bad to worse quickly. With SuperLiga starting tomorrow night at RFK against Morelia, United simply has to get a result from this match to keep what little confidence is with this team at the moment. A worse case scenario of going three and out in this competition is not as far fetched as it seemed a few weeks ago. Right now you have a United team and players in particular like Troy Perkins almost openly doubting their own abilities. As I've said about a billion times on the air and in print, confidence is everything in this game and right now United has bupkus in terms of confidence. It will be interesting to see how this SuperLiga turns out for United because it could be a springboard both negatively and positively for the club depending on their results. If they lose out, they head back into MLS play with a road match at Eastern Conference leading New England on August 5th and then come home to play host to BeckhamMania on August 9th before a packed house at RFK. While that seems to be an advantage for United, one has to remember that the Los Angeles Galaxy, without Becks, has only scored 12 goals in their last three appearances at RFK - all embarrassing blowout wins.

Let's just hope we don't piss off Becks like we pissed off Landon Donovan last year with banners deriding him. Yup, that worked pretty well.

At the end of the day United doesn't necessariy have to win their SuperLiga group (which also includes a game at home on Sunday versus Club America and then away to Houston on August 1st - only the hottest team on the planet at the moment), but they can't take the doughnut either. If they do, it could be the start of death spiral that United hasn't shown the fortitude to pull out of in recent years.

With the recent news that United is even threatening to pull out of DC for good (which in all honesty is horse hockey) because of the recent collapse of Poplar Point, confidence in the team and everyone involved is starting to turn towards the negative for the first time in recent memory.

Let's hope for some marginal success on all accounts.

View From The Mezzanine

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