Their late-season slump has led to questions about all aspects of D.C. United's play, but in the leadup to Saturday's playoff opener against the New York Red Bulls, no area is under more scrutiny than the club's troubled back line.
First-choice defenders Bobby Boswell, Facundo Erpen and Bobby Boswell were the league's most effective rearguard for much of the year, rolling up eight shutouts to help netminder Troy Perkins earn MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors with a 1.13 goals-against average. But it's been a dramatically different story over the past two months, as United have leaked 18 goals in their last nine league matches.
That skid has provoked a palpable sense of urgency in the D.C. locker room as players and coaches alike try to ensure that a season's worth of hard work is not squandered by another postseason flameout.
"We just make too many mistakes defensively, and that is why we are where we are," said coach Peter Nowak after Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Fire, when D.C. found themselves down two goals after just 24 minutes. "We cannot feel sorry for ourselves, and we are not. We will find a way to fix these things, and I'm sure it's going to be a completely different team playing in New York next week."
Center back Bobby Boswell has enjoyed another breakout year at the heart of D.C.'s defense and remains in contention for the MLS Defender of the Year award, but following the Chicago game he admitted that United's coordination and organization have not been up to par.
"Any time you give up three goals, it's not the best," he said. "[Last Sunday] it was more of a commitment to mark up. We've got to have a little more effort as individuals to win the ball, but overall it just goes down to, can we get the job done this upcoming weekend when it matters? It's do or die now."
Perkins has fully recovered from the strep throat that sidelined him against Chicago, which he says was aggravated by the stress of "trying to do too much" in recent weeks. The third-year shot-stopper pointed to the necessity of strong communication with his back line in a pressure-packed playoff environment that amplifies every misstep.
"The big thing is, we have four good days of training now to fix a lot of things," said Perkins on Monday. "From my standpoint, whoever's back there in the net, we have to stay on top of it and point it out before things happen."
United have dominated their Atlantic Cup rivals in recent years, and won the season series again this campaign. But D.C.'s present struggles, combined with the Red Bulls' Bruce Arena-inspired revival, have wiped away any complacency the Black-and-Red might have carried into this meeting.
"There is no comfort level," said midfielder Christian Gomez. "We have to respect every opponent. We can't go in thinking that we are better than them, we've just to focus on what we do best and hopefully we'll get the result."
One crucial battle will take place in the "hole" between United's defense and its five-man midfield, where influential Red Bulls playmakers Youri Djorkaeff and Amado Guevara can wreak havoc. Responsibility for patrolling this key area will fall to D.C. holding midfielders Ben Olsen and Brian Carroll, though Nowak and his staff are anxious to see all 10 field players applying more of the lively, buzzing pressure on the ball that made United so formidable in the season's early going.
"Defending starts at the top and we've got to make sure we get the pressure right from the top, through the midfield and in the back," said D.C. assistant coach Tom Soehn. "If you make it more predictable, it's easier for everybody. I think as a unit we've gotten separated a little bit, too many gaps, and we're going to work to correct that."
Mental breakdowns have taken their toll on United's record this fall and with the league's fiercest rivalry now carried over into the playoffs, the ability to sustain 90 minutes of intensity and focus could prove decisive.
"I expect a war. That's always how it is with us and New York," said New Jersey native Alecko Eskandarian. "You can throw pretty much all the records away, how we've done all year and things like that. It's just going to come down to two teams who are going to fight until the end."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
