Remember how our trusted front office brought in all these talented foreign players with the hope of giving us a better chance to advance in international competitions this year? With United finishing the Champions League with just 1 point in 6 matches, that seems like a distant memory. This was more like the team we've all grown used to after watching the Champions Cup and Superliga earlier in the year. Click to continue reading...

By definition, the Popie Award goes to the DC United defender of the year. I think this category is pretty self explanatory. The award's namesake Eddie Pope was the MLS Defender of the Year in 1997, and anchored our team in central defense from 1996 to 2002. Pope remains a member of the MLS All-Time Best XI. Click to continue reading...

What a wild ride. How is it possible that after all the injuries, all the mistakes, all the questionable decisions, and all the unlucky breaks, I can still go to mlsnet.com right now and see United currently in the playoffs? Pretty strange turn of events. It just seemed so fitting for this season to officially end on a stupid individual mistake that cost us a goal to a team that didn't deserve one. Click to continue reading...

Virtually unknown CFR Cluj beat Roma 1-2 on the road in the UEFA Champions League yesterday! Wow!


CONCACAF Champions League News

Official CONCACAF website
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All televised games shown on FSC.
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Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 16
DC United 0-2 Saprissa - Sap goals by Walter Centeno & Jairo Arrieta. Click to continue reading...

What else is new? Another night of CONCACAF Champions League Action and another loss for an MLS side while another result is recorded by a side from our second division, USL-1. However we must all cut DC United some slack: without so many key players and then down a man after Devin McTavish's strange sending [. Click to continue reading...

I was wrong when I suggested earlier that DCU would probably be taking the CCL seriously, since they had rested Emilio and Fred for the Dallas match. Instead we sent out an even weaker team tonight, that included the reappearance of Zach Wells! Goff says it's because Crayton had a sore knee, I'm not so sure. Click to continue reading...

A tie at home against a lesser Western Conference opponent certainly should feel like a loss. Somehow for me though, this one doesn't. Maybe it's because we outplayed Dallas, to the point where I think we really deserved the win. This felt like it should have ended at 2-1. Oh well. I guess we'll just have to steal back those extra two points when we play them again on the road in two weeks. Click to continue reading...

So Moreno is hanging out with Butch and Sundance, and Emilio's hurt, and I'm thinking, "Well, with Crayton in goal and the steadying presence of Bryan Namoff, Peralta and the new infusion of energy from Joe Vide, perhaps we can eek out a goal on a counter while keeping San Jose at nil." Except, of course, we have neither Namoff nor Vide nor Peralta, and Martinez was clearly watching his "Best of Facundo Erpen" highlight reel.

Click to continue reading...

By definition, the Richie Award goes to the hardest working, most underrated player on the United roster. The award's namesake Richie Williams is probably most famous for his diminutive stature, but he is second most famous for his work rate. The dude just went nonstop, constantly interrupting plays for the opposing team. Click to continue reading...

Okay, if all I want for the remainder of this season are gritted out wins, then I'll take this one. To give Chicago the respect they deserve - the Fire had done quite a bit and could have legitimately walked out with a draw. That said, United was a post away from a multiple goal win. Ultimately, this kind of win is satisfying.

Click to continue reading...

I remember writing before the season started that we would probably have to win a lot of games 1-0 this year. Well it took five months and a goalkeeper change to finally do it.

I got back from a great week at Ocean City today and opted to purchase the discounted $9.95 MLSlive package, which will probably be used only to watch tonight's match and next Saturday's. Click to continue reading...

Throwing this up for the couple of you that like to comment on this here blog. Lineup: *CRAYTON*; Namoff, McTavish, Burch, Martinez; Fred, Simms, Quaranta, Guerrero; Moreno, Emilio. Subs: Wells, Zaher, Kirk, Vide, P. Carroll, Thompson, Cordeiro. You read that right. A goalie, who has trained with the team for a week, and has just signed [. Click to continue reading...

How's that for a confidence booster? With only 7 of our normal starting 11 in the lineup, and only 6 guys starting who started against KC in the season opener, United somehow came together to produce a big win and their first shutout of the year. With a first look at the starting lineups and the revelation that Ryan Pore was starting at forward, I kind of had a feeling that this could finally be THE ONE, and the team did not disappoint. Click to continue reading...

Greetings from RFK Stadium, home of D.C. United. The stadium is old but comfy for the home side usually, but they've struggled recently at home.

Will Daniel is in town for this match again. If you don't recall a story from earlier this year, check it out here. Daniel first met Jimmy Conrad back in 1997 when Conrad was a member of UCLA's NCAA Final 4 team. Click to continue reading...

We bring you this brief interruption to the MSR with the news that DC United has acquired Ivan Guerrero from the Earthquakes. The best endorsement of Guerrero has to be this one (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2008/07/greetings_from_rfk_1.html) from Bryan Namoff: "He took us apart in the playoffs [with Chicago].

Click to continue reading...

D.C. United eliminated from Superliga 2008

I suppose that there should be some feeling of grief, but really there isn't. Tom Soehn did the right thing and sacrificed this match, and I imagine most of us had already gritted out teeth and pulled the bandage off that hairy bit of the arm. It hurts, but not as bad as you might think.

Click to continue reading...

To finish in last place in the tournament that we all had charted as our lowest priority this year isn't exactly a tragedy. It's a little bit disheartening, but not discouraging. Because I think the team played quite well, considering our current injury status and packed schedule. And I also think we showed more and maybe deserved better than the 3-1 loss last night and zero overall points in Superliga. Click to continue reading...

Just got finished watching the match immediately following my three hour drive home from Virginia Beach. At least I should say I just got finished watching 81 minutes of the match. I missed the rest thanks to the lights at RFK delaying the match past 10:00 pm. What's with that anyway? That's just embarassing. Click to continue reading...

For those who have been following my blog from the very early outset, you are familar with the Stream of Conscious blog. For those who have only started following my blog since moving to CSRN, the premise of the blog is simple. I watch a game live and as I'm watching it just whatever comes to my mind about a particular situation during the game you'll see my opinion of it.

Click to continue reading...

Apologies, but for some reason our MatchTracker isn't working this evening. If there are a few of you looking to follow the game, I'll give periodic updates here.

24th minute: Chivas goal by Omar Arellano (assist Ramon Morales). 1-0 Chivas.

56th minute: McTavish gets free down the middle of the goal box, but his shot slams off the post and out of danger.

Click to continue reading...

After a couple of underwhelming victories the past few weeks, this win was just what United needed to not only continue their unbeaten streak, but also gain some confidence going into Superliga. Recently, United has been beating lesser opponents while giving up too many goalscoring opportunities. But in this match, against inarguably one of the most talented offensive teams in the league, DC dominated possession, dominated the scoreline, and performed admirably well on defense. Click to continue reading...

D.C. United 3 : 1 San Jose Earthquakes
Six Word Novel Recap

Gonzalo Martinez's right foot of DOOM!

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Washington Post, Steve Goff: "D.C. United had plenty to savor from its 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes yesterday at RFK Stadium, a result that extended its unbeaten streak to five and pulled the club into a three-way tie for fourth place in MLS's Eastern Conference. Click to continue reading...

DC United can now boast of a 4 game unbeaten streak. But how about a streak of 2 underwelming wins at home against weaker opponents? Makes you wonder how this team will fare against a much better team in the Galaxy next week.


1. Clyde Simms extends his goal scoring streak to 2 games, and has another solid performance in the midfield. Click to continue reading...

D.C. United 4 : 1 New York Red Bulls
Six Word Novel Recap

Rebound? Or Regression to the Mean?

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Washington Times, John Haydon: "The revival of Luciano Emilio continues. Emilio scored three goals Saturday night - his first MLS hat trick - as D.C. United beat the New York Red Bulls 4-1 at RFK Stadium. Click to continue reading...

Just when it appeared that United had found its best starting XI, we have to go and get two players ejected. I guess we all know that players are going to have to sit out a game here and there for disciplinary reasons, but two at once can be brutal. Especially when those two are your highest paid player and most consistent player. Click to continue reading...

BASIC NUMBERS  Week Avg. Season Avg. Games 7 77 Players 191 27.3 2,105 27.3 Goals 18 2.6 218 2.8 Assists 16 2.3 201 2.6 Shots 173 24.7 1,780 23.1 Shots on Goal 78 11.1 778 10.1 Fouls 175 25.0 1,932 25.1 Offsides 40 5.7 418 5.4 Corners 76 10.9 731 9.5 Saves 60 8.6 562 7.3 Cautions 32 4. Click to continue reading...

No, I'm not referring to the team's decision to trade Christian Gomez to Colorado. Or the decision to name Luciano Emilio as our second designated player. I'm talking about this...



I'm sure Devon's going to be really happy that I made this video. Do you think there's any chance that he slipped on purpose on the wet plastic surface that was for some reason being referred to as a "field"? Click to continue reading...

Am I the only one who feels like watching that game was a waste of my time? Really an ugly match, with a lot of giveaways by each team. Neither team looked like they should be in the playoff hunt, save for maybe Toronto's defensive unit. At least last week at Chivas it appeared that both teams really wanted to win. Click to continue reading...

This weekend begins DC United's one-week break from official matches, and with the team, DCUMD will be taking a break as well. United played 6 matches in 20 days. Well I typed 92 posts in 6 months. Who do you think had the tougher schedule?!

My disappearance though will be mostly attributable to being sent to the midwest for a week on a work assignment. Click to continue reading...

After such a tiring and emotionally draining match just three days earlier, I guess it was pretty easy to see this coming. Especially once you saw the starting lineup. Gallardo, Martinez, and Wells deserved the rest, so I won't complain about the lineup, especially since I don't think that starting our true top XI would have even really made a big difference in this game. Click to continue reading...

2-1 was probably a pretty fair result to this match, with all three goals being scored by substitutes. Dyachenko's goal was well-deserved from the run of play, and Niell's goal was probably a bit lucky for him to get the ball in that position, but it was great to see him finish to stop the Kpene comparisons. Click to continue reading...

The MLS Players Union just released the annual salary figures for the league. For easy reference, below are the guaranteed salaries for each DC United player currently under contract as of 3/31/08:

DC Barlow Jeremy D $ 12,900.00
DC Burch Marc D $ 33,000.00
DC Carreiro da Silva Fred M-F $ 242,000. Click to continue reading...

3/29/08 at Kansas City
4/1/08 at Pachuca (Mex)
4/5/08 vs Toronto
4/9/08 vs Pachuca
4/12/08 at Real Salt Lake
4/17/08 vs Columbus

It all starts this week! With all of the competitions and tournaments that United is playing in this year, we knew this would happen eventually. Click to continue reading...

Wow, what a game. Even before United ran away with it after the 60-minute mark, this was a totally exciting game. Obviously 5-0 is an incredible result, but it's the 0 that stood out to me more than the 5 for most of the match. I tallied only 4 legitimate scoring opportunities for HVFC, and I don't think they had one shot on target in the first 60 minutes. Click to continue reading...

Last night's match saw the debut of my new player ratings system. And tonight: the debut of my player rating icons...


1. Marc Burch - So energetic in both halves of the field. I see a theme developing this year with the Burch/Fred combo. More on that later.
2. Clyde Simms - Looked like the best player on the field at times. Click to continue reading...