Normally with a playoff team, you would not expect extensive turnover in the part of the field that usually supplies goals.  However, DC United has bucked the trend and (almost) completely overhauled its strike force for the 2013 season.

Last season, Albanian Hamdi Salihi was brought in to score the goals that the previous “solution”, Charlie Davies, was unable to.  That didn’t exactly work out, as Ben Olsen decided that a forward should be more concerned with defense and harassing defenders passing out of the back than finishing (see: Lionard Pajoy).

As an aside, I don’t like watching Lionard Pajoy play soccer.  It’s sort of my bone that I won’t stop chewing on.  You won’t convince me otherwise.

As Salihi attempts to find greener pastures on the continent, United has brought in some new faces to fill the net.
Rafael

Anyone who will tell you they know a lot about what Rafael can do is either a liar or a intense watcher of the Brazilian league and its bottom dwellers.  What we can tell for sure is that he has scored 10 goals in 36 appearances for Bahia, who currently sit 15th out of 20 teams.  We can also tell you that he is classified as “Young Designated Player”, which is a thing that I had never heard of until he was signed.  What that means is that only $150k out the players salary will count against the salary cap, and that he’s making about as much as Brad Evans, Diego Chara, and a bunch of other non top tier players.

Ben Olsen remarked at the time of Raphael’s signing that “we aren’t looking for any other number 9″, which is true both symbolically and literally as Rafael has taken Salihi’s jersey number.  With that said, you can expect to see Rafael getting a lot of time on the field this year, hopefully occupying the heart locket Olsen wears that previously had a picture of Pajoy in it.

Prediction: It is a rare occasion where a young player comes into MLS in their first year, and lights the league up.  We just don’t know enough about him to make an informed opinion.  I will wager that coming from the fringes of a lower level Brazilian team does not put you in the best position to light up MLS.  I’ll gladly be wrong, but I can see this move being disappointing.

7 goals, 27 appearances

Michael Seaton

Signed from DC United’s academy, Seaton looks to be a “one for the future” type of signing, similar to Conor Shanosky, who spent all of last year on loan with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, of the NASL (2nd division).  Seaton has represented Jamaica at the U-17 level, but is still eligible to play for the United States as he has dual citizenship.  There’s a long way to go until we have to think about that, and Seaton seems like a prime candidate to spend the season in Richmond, getting some experience playing against men in a professional setting.

Prediction: If we see Seaton in RFK, something has probably gone very wrong.  Hopefully, Seaton gets some seasoning in Richmond this season, and is in a position to help the team next year.

No appearances for DC United, 4 goals in 16 appearances in Richmond

Casey Townsend

I picked this picture because his face is…something.

Its a rare opportunity to profit from institutional racism, but DC United may have done that on Friday.  Chivas USA are in the process of trading all non hispanic players from their roster at cut rate prices, and DC United gave them a pallet of Modelo and a 2nd round pick for Townsend.  Townsend, who only scored 1 goal last year, is rated highly around the league and was seen to be a steal for DC.  He scored 43 goals in 85 appearances at Maryland, home of Sasho Cirovski, occasional United color commentator.  At a $77k salary, Townsend fits the role of reserve forward perfectly, and is a sizable upgrade over Long Tan, who was let go following Townsend’s acquisition.

Prediction: I think that Townsend recaptures some of the magic he lost in Los Angeles, and is a solid contributor for DC United.  To be fair, not many people scored for Chivas last year, so he was in good/bad company.

5 goals in 17 appearances

Mark Geiger will say he was following the rules.  He was.  But in soccer, and in life, being consistent is much more important than being strictly right.  Well, unless you’re just a jerk.  Or a cop.

Salihi did indeed encroach in the penalty area on De Rosario’s first penalty, but so did Sheanon Williams.  As Kyle Martino tweeted, if De Ro had missed that, would Geiger have forced a retake?  We’ll never know, but we’ll always know what we think about that.

The red card for Boskovic was another one of those, “Well he DID extend an arm at another player, so…” situations.  He CAN give a red there.  Should he?  No.  A yellow is sufficient.

Dudar’s red card was just stupid.  He has disappointed consistently this season, and I am hoping that his contract for next year is not guaranteed.  His style of play is just not a fit with the team, and his not being in the lineup is not a major problem.  What IS a problem is what his absence does to the rest of the lineup.

Jakovic will slide back in the middle (THANKS BE TO BABY JESUS), but that means we get treated to round 2 of the Mike Chabala show.  The first episode wasn’t very good, so I don’t think we need to see the second one so soon.  Also, Ethan White becomes the only option of the bench in case of injury.  We just got really thin, really fast.

In summary, Mark Geiger will probably sleep just fine tonight.  He will consult his trusty dogeared rule book, read aloud from its text, and enjoy the smell of his own flatulence.  You can be “right” and very wrong all at the same time, and we saw it tonight.

(Edit:  I’ll bet he’s related to Matt Geiger, who is burned into my brain as sucking at basketball.  Fixed, and thanks)

When Boskovic arrived, no DCU fan had any idea about him, aside from poorly edited Youtube clips and press releases.  Those videos showed a poaching midfielder, and a motivated attacking player; aka exactly what DC was missing at the time.  The player that arrived in DC was not that player.  I have seen a player who I would liken to a less skilled Andrea Pirlo; a deep lying playmaker, looking to play reverse balls and diagonal balls to the wingers.  He does not take the initative to attack center backs and drive toward the goal to create his own shots.  This may be the result of a crisis in confidence, but the team cannot afford to run Boskovic out on the field until he regains his drive.  The current form of Boskovic is like throwing a square tire on a Mustang.  He destroys the shape of the midfield, and does not provide the attacking drive that De Rosario brings to the team.

This is not an indictment of Boskovic as a player.  I think he will be able to go back to Austria, work his way into form, and excel once again.  I just think that his time here is nearing an end, and it will go down as another misidentification of talent by the front office under the Designated Player rule.

The jury is still out on Hamdi Salihi, but some reserve games would do him good, and the MLS Reserve League is too much of a joke to serve the purpose that it provides everywhere else in the world.  Hopefully, I won’t have to write this post for the Albanian in the summer.  But if I do, I already have the alliterative headline ready… “Arrivederci Albanian Asset”.  Needs some work.

Tonight, at 10 freakin 30 EST, DC takes on the impressive San Jose Earthquakes.  DC flies into this buzzsaw with one true centerback, having to cobble together the remaining backline from Chris Korb, Robbie Russell, and Perry Kitchen.  For the first time this year, the injury to Ethan White has hurt this team, as this would have been the perfect opportunity for White to deputize.  Additionally, Conor Shanosky would have been another CB to fill in, but he is on loan to the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and getting major minutes for the NASL side.

Hopefully, Dwayne De Rosario continues his dominance of his former teams, and DC can outscore the proficient San Jose offense, while scrambling at the back to try to keep the team’s head above water.  Ben Olsen will probably roll with the same lineup (aside from injuries) tonight, although he may look to give Bill Hamid another hack at the starting job.

My prediction:

Hamid-Woolard, McDonald, Kitchen, Russell- Najar, Saragosa, DeRosario, DeLeon- Santos, Pontius.

DC 3- SJ 2 (Pontius, De Rosario, DeLeon)

The thing that came to mind as I watched this game from my new favorite section of 303 was that Sigi had turned on Team Pressing on high, and moved them to the very defensive setting on Fifa.  United players had 0.5 second on the ball before they were attacked with flying arms and legs, and the United players would usually oblige and give up the ball.

Luckily for DC, Seattle looked about as lost as they did in the final third.  The game was basically, “Long ball, interception, short pass, foul, free kick, interception, bad pass, throw in.”  At one point, there was a scrum in front of Seattle’s goal and my wife said that it looked like a youth soccer pack.  It really did.

The post was probably Inanimate Object of the Match, with two saves.  Hamdi Salihi, who I’m really gonna need to start scoring because I like him so much, had a square ball from Nick DeLeon to put in, but rung the top of the crossbar.  If I’m picking nits, the ball was a little behind him, but if you’re a goal scorer, that’s gotta be in the net.

Mr. Marc Burch, who was booed emphatically when he entered the game at the end, almost played the villain to a tee, when his header smacked the bar.  That would have been the most bitter pill imaginable, so lucky for us all, that’s not the narrative this AM.

PLAYER RATINGS

Joe Willis: 6

Wasn’t called on too often, but did a good job at stopping crosses and directing his defense.  He finally got a little rowdy on the field, which it a good thing to see.

Daniel Woolard: 6

He got called out, and for the most part, he met the challenge.  Although in Woolard’s case, meeting the challenge is not making any giant mistakes.

Dejan Jakovic: 7

Man of the match for me, Jakovic shut down Freddy Montero, received the silliest yellow card I’ve seen so far this season for a tackle, and made me forget about Brandon McDonald for 90 minutes.  As an aside, after the silliness of McDonalds suspension for a yellow card last week, I’m wondering if Jakovic can get his yellow overturned for what was clearly a ball first tackle?

Emiliano Dudar: 6

The thing I still get from Dudar is that he’s tall, and he likes to go up for corners.  I’m always afraid that he’s going to kick someone in the box, but he hasn’t validated that fear.  Yet.

Robbie Russell: 5

Yeah, this is getting to be a problem.  Russell, who I assumed was going to be a massive upgrade to the defense has looked really, really old and out of his depth at time.  He came off with a knock in the second half, replaced by Chris Korb, so it remains to be seen what his outlook is for next week.  However, Korb is not really an upgrade.  Aside from our centerbacks, our outside back options look like what happens when you spend all your money on forwards in MLS Fantasy.

Perry Kitchen: 4

I thought Perry had an awful game passing the ball.  His pass completion had to be around 50% (Edit: 31 passes completed, 19 intercepted.  Not great) and he looked off the pace a bit.  Perry needs a rest.

Dwayne De Rosario: 4

Part of this was a function of Alonso’s defense, but De Ro looked baaaaad last night.  Wasn’t on the same page with his teammates, wasn’t creating his own chances.  Just looked completely neutralized.

Danny Cruz: 6

I could watch this guy play every week.  100 MPH all the time, and he also has some skill.  Imagine if Andy had his engine….

Nick DeLeon: 5

A step down from last week, as I think Seattle game planned for him better than Dallas did.  Wasn’t awful, just not impactful.

Hamdi Salihi: 5

As mentioned before, I need Hamdi to score.  He didn’t, again.

Maicon Santos: 5

He was always going to have this game after he exploded in Dallas.  He held the ball up excellently, though.  So, good job Maicon!

SUBS

Branko Boskovic: 5

I thought he did better this time than he has in his previous substitute appearances.  I say that because you were actually aware of his presence last night, and that can’t always be said.  One thing I do not understand is that once he starts the attack, he will just stand near the center circle, with no effort to get into the attack.  Not a fan.

Chris Pontius: Meh

Chris Korb: Meh

The quick and dirty of it all is McDonald got a yellow card for a slightly “vigorous” tackle in last week’s game against Chivas.  The referee saw the foul, and judged it to be just a yellow card offense.  MLS has decided that regardless of what the guy (who’s job it is to make these decisions) says, McDonald needs additional punishment.

Conspiratorially, I think that has more to do with punishing McDonald for the swearing at the referee on a nationally televised game.  Same for Danny Cruz’s fine, which was said to be for simulation.  He was yelling at the linesman all game.  So, I think that has more to do with MLS saying, “Hey, stop sullying our image on the national stage.”  What do you think about my theory?

DC United went to BC Place with one goal in mind (probably).  Don’t lose.

After starting the season 0-2, albeit to very strong competition, United was facing the undefeated Whitecaps at home, who had yet to concede a goal so far this year.  Well, they still haven’t, but at least United destroyed the bagel in the points column.

No one watching would confuse this game with beautiful soccer.  Between the still gelling United team, and the seemingly bumped turf at BC Place, this game seem poised to offer goals only in transition or set pieces and not in slow build up.  The chances that came were just that, and DC looked eminently beatable on the counter (as noted by Fullback Files).  United must work harder to get back when they lose possession in the attacking third or else it could be a long season.

Ben Olsen made a few changes again, still looking for his magic formula for victory.  Woolard took over for the ineffectual Korb, and did an excellent job.  Still no Boskovic, with Olsen preferring the rookie Nick DeLeon to start on the left side.  Boskovic came on as a sub in the second half and had some nice passes and some bad passes.  As I said to someone else, you can see Boskovic is rusty and not match fit, but you’re paying him a lot and the only way to become match fit is to play full matches.

Player Ratings:

Willis 6:  Hard to rate someone who doesn’t have to face any shots on goal.  He gets a point for almost concussing himself but staying in the game.

Woolard 8:  Probably his best game for United.  Was all over the field, shutting stuff down.  Seeing Woolard in the midfield making tackles in stoppage time might have been THE definitive BEN OLSEN TEAM MOMENT.

McDonald 6: Solid, did his thing.

Dudar 7: I love this giant Argentine.  Astute pickup by the brain trust, as he is winning headers and stealing the ball off of forward’s feet.  He needs to be a little less Bambi-on-ice in the attacking box though.

Russell 5:  I really thought this guy would be awesome for United.  And he really hasn’t been, at least to my eyes.  He also has no one REALLY challenging him for time.

Saragosa 5:  Bite, etc.

DeLeon 6:  Moments of skill, moments of excessive skill leading to suboptimal outcomes.  Will be a good player for United, not ready to start IMO.

Cruz 5:  He ran around a lot.  He committed some fouls.

DeRosario 6:  Aside from Salihi’s header, DeRo had the lion’s share of DCU scoring opportunties, and by that, I mean he had two scoring opportunities.  Still not MVPDERO yet.

Santos 4:  NO MAS SANTOS.  NO MAS.

Salihi 5:  Hard to rate someone who doesn’t get service, but he had two chances, one of them stopped only by quasi divine intervention.  Starting to think that maybe United shouldn’t buy forwards that don’t create their own chances.

SUBS

Boskovic 5:  You know that I love Boskovic, for whatever reason.  But he needs lots of game time to be effective, and right now, he is neither effective or playing a lot.  Olsen appears to not have the patience to let Branko get his feet wet, so Bosko will have to bear down in training.  Either that, or he’ll be free to return to Austria in July.

Wolff NA:  Well, we know he’s still on the team.

Pontius 5:  Did the same as Cruz, wasn’t very noticeable.

Thoughts?

The first one talks about what all fans have been saying since Sunday night, “Why the hell are Salihi and Boskovic not starting?”  I said at the time, this looks like a desperate power move.  Craig seems to agree.

While it’s admirable for Olsen to hold both of them to the same obligation that every other player on the team has, to fight and earn their starting jobs each week, Boskovic and Salihi are two of D.C. United’s three highest-earning players. The franchise has made a commitment to each of them. Olsen singled out Boskovic repeatedly as a big reason why D.C. didn’t achieve what it had hoped last season, and from everything Olsen has said during preseason, he played as big a role as he could himself in landing Salihi. Without further explanation from Olsen after last weekend on his lineup change, benching the pair looks like the strong-arm tactic of an inexperienced coach.

The second one just follows up with that, with some questions about whether Olsen is or can provide the type of steadying and calming influence on his players that is necessary.

All I have to say is, Preach.  Olsen made the wrong moves on Sunday, and fans will have to hope that he puts the best 11 players on the field (that are with the team), and lets them work together to figure it out.