It’s the return of Tommy Soehn! The ex-DC United coach will make his return to RFK on Saturday night to face off against his former club. While games for Vancouver are arguably meaningless now, DC faces the possibility of a post-season berth for the first time since 2007. At the moment, they are trailing first place Columbus by only seven points and have played two less games. Even though those stats look pretty good, DC finds themselves in another match that ought to be a win if they have any chance at a post-season run.
Vancouver comes into Saturday’s match at the cellar of the Western Conference. With only 18 points and a dismal 3-11-9 record, it can be safe to say they are having the season that United had last year. But, they are an expansion team which means there is also hope. They have a great DP in Eric Hassli, who has found ways to score some incredible goals this year. Currently he leads the team with 10. Vancouver also has USMNT center back Jay DeMerit, who could come back to the first team this weekend after playing in a reserve team match this past week (which they won). One player to note is Brazilian foward Camilo. He’s scored seven times this year and is a great young player for the future. While they seem to be getting some of the pieces into place, let’s not kid ourselves here. Their win over Chicago last week was very impressive, but this is also a team who is win-less on the road this season. Given the way their season has gone, there is little chance of a back-to-back win to occur at RFK. You never know.
After a disappointing draw with Toronto FC last week, DC United has to be focused on getting a full three points from this match. Dwayne De Rosario is in fine form, winning the MLS Player of the Week for two weeks in a row, and United fans are hoping he can continue to punish Vancouver like he’s punished Toronto and San Jose these last two weeks. Steve Cronin will more than likely be named the starting keeper for the match, since starting keeper Bill Hamid was ejected last weekend after a late tackle just moments into the match. If that wasn’t bad enough, United’s coach Ben Olsen was also shown a red card after running onto the pitch to disagree with the head official after a controversial goal in the second half. Assistant coach Chad Ashton will take over the coaching duties instead. Some good news is that Andy Najar will be back from his suspension which will give a creative boost for United. While I am thrilled with De Rosario’s form, I’m hoping that Najar’s return will get others back onto the scoring sheet including himself. Having a more versatile attack will make DC the dangerous team that makes a far post-season run, and they definitely have the talent to do so.
Well, I said this about the Toronto match and I ended up eating my words, but I’ll say it again. This should not be a tough, grinding, heart-stopping match for DC United. It’s that time in the season where they need to take back their home and dominate there. This is another good chance at the door for DC to get three points, and this time they hopefully won’t blow it. Soehn may know a little about DC United, but this is a vastly different team than the one he left less two years ago. While that team was on the decline, this DC team is rising back, and hopefully will be one step closer to the playoffs after his next match.
(image courtesy of dcunited.com)
