By the way, here’s my Washington Freedom story, which is also in today’s print edition, and my D.C. United game story, which is not.
Going back through my in-game notes from last night, let me see if I can hit both D.C. United and Chicago.
United’s first half was quite strong indeed. Bryan Namoff was superb — two strong showings from him in a row, one on each side of the back line, too — as were the two rookie wings, Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace. Pontius is an early front runner for rookie of the year (did I say it first?).
Christian Gomez was active, too. He nearly picked out Ben Olsen’s head for a goal, and just before halftime he burst down the middle on a counter, but chose a through-ball to Luciano Emilio when he should’ve hit Pontius, who had a better chance to out run the Fire back line.
Emilio, by the way, used the word ‘panic’ to perfectly describe United’s early second half. Dejan Jakovic lost his poise, Josh Wicks got anxious, and Chicago’s second-year forward, Patrick Nyarko, was too good not to make them pay. Nyarko — break-out season on its way, don’t you think?
That said, it’s hard to figure out how Chris Rolfe wasn’t in Chicago’s first eleven. Marco Pappa, though he assisted on the Fire goal, was far too predictable burying himself in the right corner and trying to cut the ball back to his left foot. Justin Mapp was dangerous, too, but there didn’t seem to be enough going forward centrally for the visitors. It didn’t feel like a formation that made Chicago one of the preseason favorites. Perhaps that changes if Cuauhtemoc Blanco gets more fit.
