WASHINGTON - Following their 1-0 loss to the Columbus Crew on Saturday, D.C. United's coaching staff remains in search of a fix for the problems that have resulted in three consecutive losses to start the 2007 season.
"It's frustrating, because we had two weeks to prepare from the game against Kansas City," said assistant coach Mark Simpson. "You would have hoped within two weeks, as coaches, you would have been able to fix things."
Coach Tom Soehn, still seeking his first victory as an MLS head coach, emphatically stated that nobody on the team was above reproach, and is unafraid to bench any of his stars in order to turn the team around.
"Everybody gets held accountable, whether it is your highest-paid guy or your lowest-paid guys. You've got to come out with more passion and right now I'm not getting it out of them," he said. "So I'm going to look to the guys who are going to be able to do that, whether they're paid a little or a lot. It doesn't matter, it just has to get better."
In Columbus last weekend, defender Facundo Erpen - named to the MLS All-Star team a year ago - did not start, as Devon McTavish was preferred in the United back three. Then Brian Carroll - whose play over the last couple of seasons has earned him call-ups to the U.S. national team - was taken off at halftime and replaced by Justin Moose.
Since the 2006 All-Star break, United have a record of 3-9-5 in all MLS games, including the MLS Cup Playoffs. With two home matches this week, against the always-tough New England Revolution on Thursday and Chivas USA on Sunday, Soehn understands the importance of coming out of the weekend a different team than the one that enters it.
"It's very important to turn things around," he said. "Everybody can say we are a good team, but in reality we are 0-3 and if you go back to the end of last season, right now we are not a good team and we need to fix that."
Similarities can be drawn between the current squad and the 2000 United team. With a largely unchanged lineup following their third MLS Cup victory in four seasons, United were expected to once again run away with the league. But United lost its first two games that year, and only some stoppage-time magic from Ben Olsen against Chicago on April 8, 2000 prevented them from going winless in their first seven matches.
Despite having three U.S. national team defenders in Jeff Agoos, Carlos Llamosa and Eddie Pope on that team, United gave up a team-record 63 goals and failed to make the playoffs for the first time in their history. Simpson was a member of the 2000 team, playing 13 games in goal, and agrees that there are parallels.
"I remember not getting a lot of breaks, and a lot of goals came off of set pieces or own goals," he said. "But more importantly, the biggest thing back then is that we had the same exact team from 1999, and we weren't getting quality performances out of our big name guys, and that's stood out in my mind, and that's kind of what's happening now."
This year, United have been outscored 7-3 in its three matches, and has not had a lead in any game this season. Simpson believes that situations like these bring out the true character of a team.
"The sign of a good team is not when you're winning and everything is great," Simpson said. "It's when things aren't going well, and how you rebound from everything tells you a lot about your character and what kind of a teammate you are.
"Losing is no fun for anybody, and obviously you want to be successful," he continued. "If you fight through the valleys, it's only going to make you stronger on your journey to get through the highs."
David Lifton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
