Bryan Namoff has played alongside a number of outstanding defenders with D.C. United.
The list begins with Ryan Nelsen, an irreplaceable member of United’s 2004 championship team and now captain at Blackburn Rovers, and now includes Bobby Boswell, the 2005 Major League Soccer defender of the year, and Greg Vanney, a former U.S. international with nearly 12 years of professional experience.
But it was Namoff, with more minutes played (2,089) than any other member of the back line this season, who was named the 2007 defender of the year at United’s awards reception Monday.
“I was just fortunate enough to stand out a little bit more, which is great,” said Namoff, who was briefly choked up after receiving the award. “It’s a great honor. I’ve always kept that on the back-burner as one of my long term goals.”
But it will mean little if United can’t overcome Chicago, a team they’ve failed to beat them in three different playoffs, in the Eastern Conference semifinals. D.C. was 1-0-2 against the Fire during the regular season, but Chicago is particularly suited to giving United fits.
“I think they match up well against us because they are an unpredictable team,” said Namoff. “They’re not so much a possession-type team. They’re very hard-nosed. They like to get into challenges, trying for second balls and 50-50 balls. They strive to play off of emotion.”
While United prefers to attack and defend as a cohesive unit, the Fire let the game come to them, with defenders and midfielders that pounce on loose balls and errant passes and then quickly find deep-lying forwards and wide midfielders.
“They’ve got a couple guys that cheat all over,” said Boswell, referring to Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Chris Rolfe, who rarely track back to assist the Chicago defense. “That causes guys to be out of place, having to adjust to Blanco and Rolfe being way out. And then [forward Chad] Barrett’s got some wheels. Overall they’re very unorthodox team, and that seems to have worked for them, but at the same time, they are beatable.”
Eastern Conference semifinals, Game 1
D.C. United (16-7-7) at Chicago Fire (10-10-10)
Where » Toyota Park,
Bridgeview, Ill.
When » Thursday, 8:30
TV » ESPN2
Radio » 1160 AM, SRN (1540 AM, 1390 AM, 1600 AM and 1350 AM)
