There's Always Next Year

What Do You Mean There Are Two Months Left?

Well, this season has been somewhere between a disaster and a fiasco and there are still a couple months left. Before the season began, I wrote a post about what I feared might go wrong. Judging by that list, I clearly had no idea how bad D.C. was going to be.

A Disaster and a Fiasco

I honestly did not see D.C. competing for any trophies this year. However, while some D.C. United fans felt that D.C. had downgraded at every position, I did not, and still do not (precisely), agree with that premise. Losing Gomez as central playmaker, even with his reduced skills, was problematic since D.C. did not have an obvious replacement. Also losing Emilio without an obvious replacement meant trouble, but I had railed against Emilio in the previous seasons and thought a change in formation and a new striker would more than make up for his loss. I worried also that Moreno would no longer be productive, but would be skilled enough to earn a first team spot and that certainly happened. While those were among my concerns and they proved accurate, they were just the tip of the iceberg and we were the Titanic. Below is a list of what I did not see coming.

I Call It a "Diasco"

• Bryan Namoff never recovered and was forced to retire.
• Santino Quaranta's form did not recover from the end of last year and may have even dipped further.
• Dejan Jakovic spent considerable time on the bench injured.
• Rodney Wallace had a season ending injury early in the year.
• I split my knuckles thrice on a tree outside of RFK.
• Chris Pontius has been playing injured all season and is out for the rest of it.
• Pontius and Wallace both suffered sophomore slumps when they did play.
• Troy Perkins went from a national team consideration to a national joke staple.
• Ronnie Raccoon took up residence in RFK, furthering its dilapidation.
• The D.C. offense replaced the striker Luciano Emilio as target man with 16/17-year old rookie-winger Andy Najar, with predictable results.
• The D.C. offense has been shutout as many times as any team in MLS history and there are still two months to go.
• D.C. has to struggle not to have the worst league record in MLS history (they're not clear of that dubious honor yet and don't look on pace to do so).
• D.C. United has generally refused to win on either the Christian or Jewish Sabbath.
• Danny Allsopp and Adam Christman are the same striker and neither scores.
• The team has moved closer than ever to a move to Baltimore.
• The symmetry of Pompey wearing D.C. United jerseys during the friendly is not lost on me.

Who Am I Kidding?

Yes, D.C.'s season is "over." I will still continue to go to all the games and I will be sad to see the season end, if only because I enjoy live soccer. These are also the last few games for D.C. and MLS legend Jaime Moreno. My desire to see him hang up his boots should not be taken for disrespect. His number is on my jersey and I fully recognize that he has given this team and city a great deal, not the least of which is a career-record number of goals. I will be there on 23 October 2010 when Jaime puts on the red-and-black jersey for the last time.

Moreover, there are bright points to this season - Andy Najar is a phenomenal player and Bill Hamid has shown tremendous talent in goal. Tino appears to be gradually emerging from his slump and both Paulo Hernandez and Branko Boskovic have shown promise, if not results yet. Hopefully, there is quiet progress being made on the stadium front and 2011 will not be the last year in D.C. I'm just not sure there is much more to write about D.C. United until the off-season.