Tony's Take: Bouncing back, looking ahead
08/06/2008 12:00 PM by Tony Limarzi
Everybody pretty much agrees that the regular season in MLS is a little bit long. There are so many ups and downs that it's difficult to maintain maximum focus every time you step on the field. In short, there are very few (if any) critical regular season MLS matches played in August: except maybe for this past weekend at R.F.K. Stadium.
Entering Saturday's match, D.C. United had lost four in a row [three SuperLiga games and one League match] and were taking on a team that was considered to be on the rise. The good news for D.C. was that for the first time in a long while they had a regular work week with no mid-week games. And, in spite of the missing personnel, they still had two of the best players in the League. Those two players provided the two goals in a comprehensive 2-0 win over Kansas City, as finally the defense collected their long-awaited first MLS shutout of the season.
As for the two key players, they were both involved in the first goal. Jaime Moreno picked up his 96th career assist, playing a ball into the feet of Luciano Emilio. His first touch took him around Jimmy Conrad, his second touch put the ball in the back of the net. Luciano Emilio has been on a torrid goal-scoring streak. He's played so well during the past two months that he is once again in the running for league MVP. Not only is he scoring goals, but his team is winning. That's something that cannot be said about the other players at the top of the race for the Golden Boot.
Meanwhile Jaime Moreno continues to quietly be the best player in the history of MLS. Every match seems to be another chance for Moreno to showcase re-discovered abilities that continue to impress and confuse opponents. The Wizards were fouling Moreno at every opportunity, but only about half of them were called. The referee was very lenient in not booking defenders for repeat offending, and it looked like Moreno was unhappy with the ref and Kansas City. Moreno struck back in the best way possible, heading in the insurance goal off a free kick. After the game Jaime said he couldn't remember the last time he scored off a header, interestingly enough it was in 2006 against Kansas City, off of a free kick.
Things have been coming in bunches for D.C. this season: the losses, the wins, the goals, the injuries. Everything seems to happen all at once, or not for a long time. That's another reason why the Wizards game could prove very valuable over the next weeks. Coach Soehn always says that winning is a habit, and now they've started a new winning streak as they enter another busy and important stretch. This Sunday, the team will play at the Meadowlands against New York, then they have the Open Cup semifinal on Tuesday, another road game in Chicago that Saturday, and then another mid-week game in New England the following Wednesday. That's three road matches in a row in League play.
It's fitting that New York is the first obstacle on the road ahead. The D.C. – N.Y. rivalry has been a little one-sided lately, but I can promise you that D.C. will not be looking past the Red Bulls. New York is only three points behind United in the standings, and they'll be looking to avenge the 4-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of D.C. June. Plus, both the teams in this rivalry tend to springboard after beating the other. The players and coaches for D.C. are not overly concerned about the busy stretch of games; they're just looking forward to playing as well as they did on Saturday.
Tony Limarzi, the Radio Voice of D.C. United, provides live match commentary for all D.C. United games on WFED 1050 AM. He recently published his first book, Forza Italia, which is the story of the summer of 2006 – both Italy’s World Cup win in Germany and United’s MLS season.
Comments
2 Comments
About This Blog | Contact Us | dcunited.com
© 2008 D.C United & MacFarlane Chang DC Soccer, LLC - All Rights Reserved
08/06/2008 1:14 PM by jgildea
The others, except for Buddle, all take penaltys too, right?
Jaime has gotten crap for this in the past so I think it is only fair that other teams take it into account for their guys as well.
08/06/2008 8:09 PM by ArlingtonforUnited
Toni, thanks for writing. I enjoy reading your contribution here.