I didn't bother recapping DC United's performance against New England and, to be fair, my frustrated post about Kansas City wasn't fair or even particularly accurate. So I'm off to a great start.
New England Revolution Half-Assed Recap - DC looked quite a bit better against New England than they did against KC, but that is not saying much. They managed to actually hold the ball in the midfield a bit more and drive forward with numbers. The defense was far better organized. Although Pena lacks speed, as one expects from a 37 year old forward, DC seemed largely able to cope. Hopefully, as the defense recovers from its injuries, the back four can play a larger role in starting the attack.
Therein lies the elephant in the room - DC lacked any sort of creativity in final third. Well, it's the MLS; games can be won without a dynamic offense. Unfortunately, DC played like they had one and once again failed to score. No one was willing to pull the trigger from any sort of distance. They didn't crash the box in hopes of fortunate header or deflection when service came in from the wings. There was plenty of movement around the top of the 18 and passing was adequate, but only laterally - runs were lacking and balls slotted through lacked quality.
Castillo, for me, has not lived up to the hype. Tino has the speed and aggression to be an attacking midfielder, but not the vision or creativity. He's going to have to step up - the man has plenty of drive, but he's going to have to make a conscious effort to play smarter. Pontius needs to finish - he's shown the most effectiveness and creativity in the offense, but if the ball doesn't end up in the net, it's all for naught. Julius James was the goat of this game for ball-watching on the first goal. He's still got some credibility in my book for that goal he scored last year in KC, but having made two gaffes that cost goals in two games, he's burning through it quickly.
Philadelphia Union Preview - Hopefully, no one is underestimating Piotr Nowak. Maybe he's not Sigi, I'm not in the position to say, and maybe his team lacks the quality in depth that Seattle had/has, but the Union did not look bad playing against Seattle. Now, that was one-off but Philadelphia had a bye last week, as did most of the league, so it is all DC has to go on (and all I have to go on as well). I expect mid-field battles. I was shocked to see Philadelphia control the midfield so often against Seattle who have one of the best midfields in the league. Granted, the physical style of the Union's play may have neutralized Ljundberg's playmaking, red card not withstanding. DC's tendency to play through the midfield is likely to cause more than a few violent challenges. This will also be DC's first opportunity to play against Fred and to see if he is as ineffective as we argued he was. He may not be.
It's tough to predict DC's line-up. There are a number of injuries and semi-recoveries. Najar did not travel with the team. It will be interesting to see if Allsopp starts. With a deficient attack, many fans have complained that we have not seen much of him. Even Onalfo has explained why, a shake-up seem appropriate. Moreover, Pontius is carrying a knock. If Pontius starts tomorrow, I'm going to begin to question Allsopp's fitness. That last thing DC needs is another striker that cannot go 90 minutes. It's also possible that McTavish will play. We didn't see much of McTavish last year and what we did see wasn't particularly good. I think the young man wanted to be like Benny a little too much. If he calms down a bit, his bit of speed and tackling are huge assets to this relatively slow team. Last year, however, he didn't play very intelligently, gave up many fouls in bad locations, gave the ball away a lot, and was caught out of position more than a couple times. I actually might not mind seeing Boyzz as a striker. His finishing historically has been poor, but his seeming-desperation to get into the box and put shots on goal may shake up the stagnant offense and lead to some scoring from rebounds.
DC should win this game. They have shown some promise. But they will have to put the ball on frame more than once or twice and it probably won't be pretty.
P.S. The strict Philadelphia regulations on flares, smoke bombs, and fireworks are actually not due to Joe Biden's attendance - the truth is Danny Califf's hair is high combustible.
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