Hopefully you’ve seen my story this morning on D.C. United forward Charlie Davies, who opened up this week about opening up to a sports psychologist to help get out of his scoring rut this summer. It seems to have worked against Chivas USA, but facing Seattle at CenturyLink Field will be a far bigger test. With that in mind, here are few observations heading into the weekend:
1. Losing Chris Pontius hurts
The third-year midfielder had played every MLS game this season, was having a career year (5 goals, 7 assists), and may just have been the best player on the field against Chivas (before breaking his right tibia on an ill-advised challenge), having received a boost of confidence from his U.S. national team call-up.
“It’s a big blow,” D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen said in a phone interview earlier this week. “But these things happen throughout a season, and you just have to adjust. Salt Lake’s adjusted (Javi Morales), Seattle’s adjusted (Steve Zakuani), now we’ll have to have some guys step up. But I’m not going to sugarcoat it. He was a big piece of what we’re about.”
What impressed me the most was Pontius reasserting his ability as a forward, and Davies felt that their chemistry – though having never played alongside one another – was incredible. With Pontius done for the year, by all indications, Olsen may have to choose from Josh Wolff (nagging minor injuries), Joseph Ngwenya (not good enough), and Blake Brettschneider (still young) at the other forward or move Dwayne De Rosario to a withdrawn striker role behind a lone attacker. It would seem clear that Charlie Davies has won his spot back, eh?
2. Davies appears to have his mindset back, and his fit with D.C. United appears strong
“In a way, we lost Pontius, but we got Charlie back,” is how Olsen described the team’s fortunes after last week’s turn of events.
From the moment he arrived in Washington, Davies has refreshingly honest, and it appears that’s the case again with regard to his connection with sports psychologist Tom Perrin and the hat trick that was quick to follow.
“I’ve been able recharge my batteries and get a reset,” Davies said. “I feel like my concentration is there, and it’s a good feeling to know that I can really build off of this.”
Davies also likes the way D.C. played against Chivas, displaying an improved ability to absorbing pressure and release quickly.
“It’s great for me as a striker, a guy that likes to play on the last defender,” Davies said. “These type of things get defenders to commit and it opens up a lot of space, or it forces them to drop because they’re scared of us flying at them and it opens space for DeRo. It’s great that we’re coming into an understanding at this stage of the season and trying to find a rhythm.”
3. Hamid a question mark for Sounders game
According to Travis Clark’s story, goalkeeper Bill Hamid could be a question mark for Saturday after re-aggravating his right hamstring against Chivas and playing only in a limited capacity in training this week.
While this seems like a legitimate concern, it would be surprising to see D.C. United opt for Joe Willis in a match of this magnitude, in front of 35,000 fans, unless Hamid is really hobbled. From Hamid’s behavior when he first suffered the injury to his actions last weekend, it’s clear he’s still learning about how the hamstring strain affects him and his ability to play through it or not.
Like Hamid, defender Dejan Jakovic also has a hamstring strain, and is also listed as questionable.
4. Clyde Simms should be fine despite vision problems
According to Olsen and D.C United general manager Dave Kasper, Simms is expected to be just fine after vision problems forced him to have unscheduled eye surgery during United’s recent extended break.
5. In the playoffs, for the moment
For the first time in four years, it seems safe to say, D.C. United has a playoff spot as of the middle of September. Simms, Marc Burch and Devon McTavish are the only players still on the roster from the last time that United made the playoffs, and it hasn’t been lost on the current group that it’s on them alone to preserve that berth over the final nine games, especially given D.C.’s games in hand.
“I think we all know,” Davies said. “We’re extremely fortunate and lucky that the teams around us in the East haven’t done well when we haven’t played well.”
In fact, despite an impressive 4-2-3 stretch that started with a 1-0 win at New York in early July, United doesn’t exactly have a treasure trove of intimidating results to brag about. The wins have come against the three worst teams in MLS’ Western Conference (Vancouver, San Jose, and Chivas USA), and even the Red Bulls victory doesn’t look nearly as impressive given the way they’ve fallen off in the East.
The Sounders (13-6-9) have lost only twice in their last 14 MLS matches, going 9-2-4 over that stretch. They also received two goals from Fredy Montero in a 2-0 win over CD Herediano in Costa Rica on Wednesday night for their third straight victory in three CONCACAF Champions League group stage matches. They’ll also host the U.S. Open Cup final next month against Chicago.
“I don’t think we’re under any illusions that Seattle’s not going to be a much bigger test,” Olsen said. “They’ve been as good as anybody of late, and the atmosphere is great. I hope our guys enjoy it and embrace it because it’s a special place to play.”
