Galaxy of difference between L.A. and D.C.
By: Craig Stouffer
Examiner Staff Writer
August 21, 2009
It promised to be the one D.C. United league match guaranteed to be trumped by hype, mostly over David Beckham's third visit to Washington.
Instead, it might actually be about what happens on the field.
A summer swoon in Major League Soccer play has D.C. United (6-5-10) on the ropes -- they'd be on the outside looking in at the playoffs if the season ended last weekend -- while Los Angeles (8-4-10) has surged to within striking distance of first place in the Western Conference.
"I love that they're hot and we're not," said United midfielder Ben Olsen, "and we need to step up to the plate. It's a great chance for us to turn things around and show that we can be the team that is talented and focused."
United couldn't be more anxious for just its second league game at RFK in nearly two months -- it's the only place D.C. has won during its last seven matches, losing or tying six times on the road (1-3-3). That stretch doesn't include a 3-1 loss at Marathn in Honduras in CONCACAF Champions League play on Tuesday.
"I think this last game, the locker room got a little hot, as it should," said United head coach Tom Soehn. "I think it's them finally feeling that they're tired of the way results are going and the mistakes that are happening. There's some accountability right now. We'll see if that translates to the field."
One likely change is the omission of defender Greg Janicki, who was held responsible for all three Honduran goals.
"Some of the mistakes he's making are mistakes you shouldn't see at the professional level," said Soehn. "He's had a rough stretch, that's all I can say."
Meanwhile, after the Galaxy missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, former United head coach Bruce Arena has turned the franchise around, including the orchestration of a 6-1-1 record over the last eight games, only half of which included Beckham.
Arena's defense, featuring rookie defenders A.J. DeLaGarza and Omar Gonzalez from the University of Maryland, has surrendered only 23 goals (1.05 goals against average), 11 fewer in one more match than D.C. (1.62 GAA).
The rest of the Galaxy roster also includes plenty of former United players, including Tony Sanneh, Dema Kovalenko, and Alecko Eskandarian; the latter is listed as questionable with a broken nose.
