Time to play spoiler, right? The San Jose Earthquakes (11-8-7) can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win over D.C. United (6-18-3) and a Seattle win over Kansas City, but D.C. interim head coach Ben Olsen said earlier this week that he hasn’t spent much time concerning himself with other teams.
He’s certainly got his own challenges with a massively depleted roster of players available on Saturday. Three players are away on international duty – Dejan Jakovic (Canada), Julius James (Trinidad and Tobago), Branko Boskovic (Montenegro) – while another seven guys are out with injury (and, by the way, won’t be back again this season): Bill Hamid, Juan Manuel Pena, Barry Rice, Marc Burch, Rodney Wallace, Chris Pontius, Brandon Barklage.
Most importantly, perhaps, is a missing Andy Najar, who is suspended due to yellow card accumulation. But seriously, the way United has become so over-reliant on the long diagonal ball to the 17-year-old, he can certainly use the rest.
“Sometimes they send me the long ball, and I have to run a lot,” said Najar. “For me right now, it’s a little break, and I’ll be prepared for the next game against Chicago.
If you saw my tweet yesterday, D.C. has brought up defender J.P. Rodrigues from Miami FC to provide some depth on the bench, just in case.
Where’s that put the starting lineup?
Troy Perkins in the net. Devon McTavish, Clyde Simms, Jed Zayner and Jordan Graye on the back line. Santino Quaranta, Kurt Morsink, and Stephen King will be in the midfield and then if there’s an effort to squeeze Jaime Moreno back into the starting lineup, it could be a pairing with Pablo Hernandez, or it could be as a three-man attacking set that also includes Danny Allsopp, with either Hernandez or Moreno dropping in behind them as the playmaker. If it just two forwards, then don’t be surprised to see Carlos Varela on one wing. Have I hedged enough?
The questions may be on offense, but the makeshift but still organized defense is a bigger reason why D.C. won its first game in Colorado in more than a decade last weekend.
“The way we handled the second half was very professional,” said Olsen. “It’s something that’s been a thorn for us all year, and it shows that we’re growing, as if the light bulb switched on. All 11 guys were on the same page and realized what they needed to do to get the result. We kept the ball in the right way. When it was time to be safe, we were safe. I’d like to see the second goal to finish them, but again, we’ve gone for the second before and it’s cost us.”
Zayner played a significant role in that effort at center back – he’s been an asset since his arrival over the summer.
“He’s a great guy to have on the team,” said McTavish. “He’s a very good one-on-one defender, very good organizer, he can pass the ball, and he’s a good guy to have in the locker room. He’s done very well, helped us a quite a bit, and moving him to center back in Colorado, he did a great job, made the play when it needed to be made. We’re glad to have him.”
United is also excited to at least start showing some signs of promise before the season is over. If D.C. can beat the Rapids on the road, the worst has to be behind them, right?
“It doesn’t fix a bad season, but winning there is a very tough thing to do” said Olsen, who told his team it was a victory they would be able to look back and remember as one of the few bright spots this season. “I’ve never done it, one other team’s done it this year, so there’s something to be proud of with that result.”
