Much Needed Catching Up

After missing several weeks, jumping right back in is a precarious task, but I will brave the frigid water of blogging...and in the smoldering heat of summer and get back in the saddle. Even before going on hiatus, I went away from previewing and then reviewing matches. I expect to continue that discontinuity for the most part. However, the season is looking pretty good for United after a couple of trades.

Despite my personal belief that DeRo is one of the league's best midfielders, this trade was a real shock. Early in the season, Dax's energy was much needed in the center of the field, but after the first month, what he was delivering was something less than what was expected or needed. In fact, he started to remind me of the section in Soccernomics where Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski discuss the tendency to over-value redheaded players. Specifically, they state that redheads stand out on a soccer field differently from players with black or blond hair. Scouts and other players see them more and can more easily pick out what the redheads do. Sure there are great soccer players out there with red hair, but Dax is just "pretty good".

If you compare DeRo and Dax's successful passes last Saturday to each other, the difference between them is clear. DeRo is involved all over the field and his passes are distributed pretty evenly. In contrast, Dax's passes, were almost all from the defensive middle to either the wings or full backs. Even DC's defensive midfielder Clyde Simms moved around the field more and distributed the ball more broadly than Dax. I do not know how Dax will pan out in New York, but it may be to his benefit to play under a guy like Kyle Beckerman (at RSL) at some point; a tough center-mid playing in a withdrawn position.

The addition of Brandon McDonald is also welcome, and has shorn up our defense the last few weeks. At 25, he provides some experience and greater physicality than our injured young roster. I still feel Julius James got screwed in the off-season and suspect our defense would have been better earlier if we had kept him. However, in MLS we do not need to dominate the table, just fight to make the play-offs; preferably high enough in the table to avoid the mid-week wild card round. With the international transfer window opening on 14 July, we will see if United selects one more player to shore up the defense in order to make up for injuries.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Coming up on the All-Star break, DC United are again plagued with a boatload of injuries. I will not harp on this too much, but we now have Blake Brettschneider's on the injury report with a concussion. I wonder if along with the cliche journalists and soccer geeks once repeated like a mantra ("DC United plays with a certain style"), we will soon start to hear sexy new catch phrases such as "wounded like United" or better yet "get yer head injury on".

Two Days To United's 2011 First Kick

With just two days to go before the start of the season for DC United, the anticipation is almost overwhelming. DC United have increased their public profile in recent months by ramping up PR across the region. Meet the Coach events, happy hour with some players, revealing the new all-red kit at a car show, even commandeering U street's Ben's Chili Bowl for St. Patrick's Day. It is clear DC United is trying to reinvigorate public support.

Despite the public efforts, all of this will be a wasted effort if the team fails to perform on the field. Charlie Davies's loan has provided an enormous boost to ticket sales according to team officials, but if they do not start the season strong, the specter (and bad luck) of last year's poor performances can return to wreak havoc.

Ben Olsen has done a great job assembling this team however and his work ethic seems to have already transcended onto his team. Midfielder Dax McCarty promises to anchor the center of the field with a burst of energy that drove Dallas FC for several years and a young US National team in January exhibition games. Add a recovering Davies (still with something to prove) and a strong forward like Joseph Ngwenya, and you now have an attacking core that will give defenders different things to worry about. Add to that, a strong support cast of wingers and defenders, and what you have is a young team that has every reason to at least qualify for the playoffs.

PREDICTION: Against a Columbus Crew that is looking to find its identity, DC United will win their home game 2-1 on Saturday night.