Two Weeks in One

Two weeks and two big wins at home.  4-1 over the  RedBulls, and 3-1 over the San Jose Earthquakes.  Something that’s strikingly similar to the two games is that both had those moments where the team would have folded it’s tents earlier in the year.  After van den Bergh scored for the RedBulls bringing them back to 3-1 with a lot of soccer to play, United answered five minutes later with a fourth goal to put NY out of its misery.  While San Jose bounced right back with a goofy goal within a minute of United opening the scoring, United didn’t unravel, but once again, answered with a goal of their own, and then left San Jose in the dust.

Both games were games where United should have won, they were at home against teams that were depleted or at the bottom of their conferences.  Twelve weeks ago, United may have fallen apart at those goals and settled for ties or losses, but something’s changed.   Take the game against Chivas USA in LA a few weeks ago, Gallardo scored, but Chivas managed a late second half goal, and you could see United push to regain the lead, and then deflate after conceeding the lead.  That’s not happening, the attitude we’ve seen over the last two weeks is actually very similar to the days of old with United when you knew United was going to answer a goal with one of their own.

Yeah, yeah, there were technical issues on the field that made the SJ game, but the important issue here is the character on the field to battle through.  Insert some strange Ray Hudson quote about swagger or throwing a spear in the ground here, but it’s an important issue.

Some random bits follow…

See What You Want to See

Some have written off United for the Supporter’s Shield.  This is MLS, and it’s way too freekin’ early to do that.  United is currently 8 points behind league-leading New England.  But they have a game in hand and the two teams meet head to head.  If United just picks up those points and maintains pace with the Revs, they’ll finish ahead of them.  Oh wait, though, there’s more.  New England is playing in this year’s SuperLiga and there’s a small chance they could squeak by Joe Public and qualify for the CONCACAF Champion’s League ( or CCL….but nested acronyms are silly).  What does this mean?  Well New England’s much vaunted depth will be put to the test in playing something other than MLS and the US Open Cup.  Fixture congestion and how they handle it could likely fall into United’s hands (though, of course, we’ve got our own issues).

Of the other teams that United is chasing for the Supporter’s Shield, Columbus has 24 points (5 more than United) and both LA and Toronto have 21.  Both of those teams are within easy reach.  The rest of the league is either tied with United or behind them.  So there’s no reason to give up the chase.  Though it’s too early to do any serious scoreboard watching in this regard.

Swinging Clubs with the Club

On Monday, the SE’s formed up three golf foursomes for United for DC’s annual Golf Tournament.  The teams were paired up with Brian Namoff, Jeff Carroll, and Pat Carroll.  Rain and lightning shortened the day, but it was still a great time that included a fantastic band-aid dispenser and appearance by world reknowned golf cart driver Kyle Sheldon.  None of the three groups finished in the top three, but were just warming up for a big run when the heavens opened up.

Up Next…

Some underwear salesman visits RFK…..