That Soccer Guy

DC United hosts Marathon on Sept 24 at RFK Stadium for CONCACAF Champions League. Last night Marathon took on Toluca. Toluca just helped United have a chance to go further in the Champions League by beating Marathon, by 7 goals! This could be the best opportunity DC has had since competing in the Champions League in the last 2 seasons. The key for United is going to be the shaky offense that we have seen as of late become solidified and try to get a couple of early goals and play hard defense. United can not rely on get a good free kick or penalty kick. This will not work on a team like Marathon. United’s best bet will be to get some of the younger guys with speed on the field. Marathon is a very fast team and in order to find the back of the net, the best chance will be to feed the ball into players like Pontius and Wallace because of their skill on the ball and the speed that they have.

Looking ahead, DC United has 2 chances to improve their place for the MLS playoffs with 2 teams either on the downward spiral or struggling for points (much like United). San Jose will not make the playoffs. BUT they can screw up other teams chances of playoffs. DC plays host to San Jose on Sept 27. This could either be an easy 3 points if United plays traditional Black and Red soccer. OR this will become a complete fight to see the playoffs. From there DC takes on Chivas USA who is the same boat as United at RFK Stadium on Oct 3. Currently, both teams are sitting with 36 points (with United having played more matches) and both are having problems with walking away with a full 3 points. This will be a very big match for both teams because this may decide who is in the playoffs and who is not.

As I have said before, if you United wants to stay afloat I say this is the time to start utilizing more of the youth of the team. I would like to see more use of the subs at halftime. Ben Olsen and Jaime Moreno, as much as they are fan favorites, are not 90 minute players anymore. The bench is full of uprising youth that could help push United to a playoff berth. One player that I am surprised is not used more is John DiRaimondo. I have watched him when he was sent on loan to the USL Second Division side Richmond Kickers. When he was brought on, he definitely made a difference including a goal scored in the USL-2 Championship match, which the Kickers went on to win. With injuries and age playing a huge factor right now for this team, this is the kind of player DC needs right now.