By some measurement, D.C. United’s current seven-game unbeaten streak could be devalued when looking at the state of the teams that it’s played.
Its most recent wins have come against a fatigued New York team, which had played three games in eight days, and a severely undermanned and injury-laden Chicago.
Not that either situation inspired any mercy from United, who are happy to embrace any potential criticism.
“That’s fine with us. But it’s still three points,” said United midfielder Ben Olsen. “It’s still professional soccer, and it’s still a results-oriented business. We need to get these results and continue to build. What can you do but win these games? If we lose them, then we have some issues.”
From its surprising spot in the basement of the Eastern Conference after the first three games of the year, D.C. has risen intothe thick of the playoff hunt, a place it expected to be given its status as a preseason favorite.
Seven games without a loss doesn’t quite match last year’s franchise-best 14-game unbeaten run and lessons gained during that stretch still resonate clearly with coaches and the front office.
“I would expect that [head coach] Tommy [Soehn] will do a little bit better with our depth,” said United president and CEO Kevin Payne. “Last year we had a lot of the same guys playing almost every game. But this year we’ve already seen guys like Justin Moose, Clyde Simms, Devon McTavish and Rod Dyachenko start to get minutes.”
Despite beating up on teams that have been down, United’s latest results are proof of an ever-growing hunger for victory, and hint of just the kind of solid foundation the team needs to turn regular proficiency into postseason success.
“It was weird last year,” said assistant coach Mark Simpson. “We just found ways to win games. Sometimes our performances didn’t match the result — we’d get lucky or have a team fall asleep on us or something and we’d come out with a result.”
“This year, the work’s taking care of itself and guys are able to see that, hey, we busted our tail today and got a result out of it. That’s why we won a game, not because someone else made a mistake, but because we were the far better team.”
