Poor communication in draw with Revolution
D.C. United head coach Tom Soehn said his hand was forced last weekend when midfielder Clyde Simms pronounced himself too sick to play just before the start of the second half against New England. Soehn was required to use the second of three valuable substitutions, a move that nearly proved costly in a 1-1 draw.
“Clyde didn’t do a good enough job of communicating,” said Soehn, who had already pulled Marc Burch after the first-half whistle in favor of Santino Quaranta. “He came over when we were about to start the second half, and he said ‘I’m not feeling well, I don’t think I can go.’ I would’ve never done the first sub, so he put us in a little bit of a bad spot.”
Simms, who started the match despite a cold that had him sweating in his sleep, had a slightly different version of events.
“I was supposed to start the second half,” said Simms, who played all but three minutes of the regular season in 2008, starting all 30 matches. “But then [Soehn] came up and asked me if I was alright, and I just told him. I could’ve played. Andrew [Jacobson] was good and healthy so I think it was the right decision.”
But United’s subs were exhausted only 15 minutes after the break when Christian Gómez came off with cramps and was replaced by Fred. Although he has started every game this season, Gómez has yet to play 90 minutes.
Making his second start of the season against the Revolution, forward Jaime Moreno needed a replacement too, but managed to stay on the field and serve up a free kick in the first minute of second-half stoppage time that Ben Olsen nodded home to salvage the tie for United (1-1-3).
“I was struggling,” said Moreno. “I was cramping. But I was able to finish the game even though I wasn’t on my best performance.”
