United seeking 'rightful perch' at top

After several years of falling short in big games, D.C. United has stepped up the tempo in its "drive for five" with a series of aggressive roster moves and shrewd foreign acquisitions that could well see the Black-and-Red playing for the MLS Cup championship at their RFK Stadium home come November.

United's front office has clearly constructed its 2007 squad with greatness in mind. A busy schedule featuring the MLS regular season, U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions' Cup and the inaugural SuperLiga competition offers D.C. many chances to shine - and further builds expectations for a veteran side anxious to fulfill its promise.

"Yeah, absolutely," said veteran midfielder Ben Olsen. "I mean, there's always the pressure of getting hardware at this club, though. If you don't win it, it's a disappointing year. That's the reality of this thing. ... But now, our task this year, there's so many tournaments and so many opportunities to further the brand along, and further the trophy case."

In 2004 an unheralded and inconsistent D.C. United squad surprised most of Major League Soccer with a late-season surge that propelled the Black-and-Red to the fourth league title in club history after several years in the Eastern Conference basement. Since then, the club has climbed back up to what it considers its rightful perch among the league's elite with three consecutive playoff appearances and the capture of the 2006 Supporters' Shield honor. But the spontaneous magic of that title run has still eluded United.

"We had a good season last year, but we were disappointed because we didn't hold up the Cup and that's important to us," said head coach Tom Soehn, a long-time assistant who took the reins after Peter Nowak moved up to the U.S. national team staff. "You always want to strive to meet your expectations, and especially this year [with the MLS Cup Final] in D.C., winning MLS Cup is probably the cream of the crop. We're shooting for that. We've kept our core of guys together, so we're expecting to be very successful this year, including all the tournaments."

United has prospered by blending hard-working domestic talent like Brian Carroll and Bobby Boswell with classy South American attackers like Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez, and the club's leadership has further accelerated that strategy in recent months.

Trading away mainstays Freddy Adu, Alecko Eskandarian, Nick Rimando and Brandon Prideaux has allowed D.C. to stockpile allocation money and salary cap space to lure Brazilians Luciano Emilio and Fred into the fold, and acquire promising young winger Casali Yinka Casal from English side Fulham FC - and more moves might yet be in store.

"Casal is a guy who's got incredible pace," said Olsen. "He's long, he's a strong guy, he's still young - his talent level is pretty high for being 19 years old. Fred is the real deal, too. He's great on and off the ball, and he instantly fit in well with our style already. And with guys like Fred and Emilio, you've got seasoned, veteran guys coming in and helping us. So they know what's going on as far as being in big games and playing at a high level."

Emilio's goal-scoring has already played a major part in D.C.'s progress through the Champions' Cup, and his teammates are full of praise for the new dimension he adds to United's already-fearsome arsenal.

"Luciano is a player we needed on this team," said Gomez. "We needed that target forward, someone that can do the business inside the box, someone that could hold the ball. ... And also working on the flanks to make a cross, we look for him - he's another point of reference in the box."

But United's 2007 aspirations hinge on quantity as well as quality. Participating in two international competitions will sorely test the team's roster depth and elevate the importance of the reserve squad. Soehn has already predicted that much more will be asked of young players like Justin Moose, Rod Dyachenko and Stephen deRoux.

"We've got a roster of 28. At some point they're all going to factor in," said the first-year boss. "We've got some guys who didn't get many opportunities last year, and they're going to be called upon this year. We drafted them and we kept them around because we believe in them. So they're going to get their opportunities."

The club's recent history offers encouraging precedents. United's system has successfully transformed the green rookies of yesteryear into battle-tested professionals over the past two years.

"I think experience is the key for this team," said Gomez. "The team that I came on to in '04 had some young players in Brian Carroll, Josh [Gros], Troy Perkins, Alecko at that time, who hadn't been through some big games. ... You can notice some of the younger guys now demanding more of each other, ordering each other on the field - which is a good thing to see - and whenever someone's down, bring them up and make sure they're in the right position at the right time."

Gauging character as well as playing ability, D.C.'s technical staff has worked to foster the positive spirit that will enable the side to cope with the inevitable highs and lows of a long, arduous campaign.

"You're around each other a lot, and if you have a bunch of friends battling together, that's important," said Soehn. "So we take pride in who we bring in: not just talent, but presence in the locker room. We're a family, and that's how we treat it."

That "family" will continue to look to Olsen, Gomez and team captain Moreno for veteran leadership and dependable performances in clutch situations.

"It's always important, because the young kids always look up to me," said MLS original Moreno. "They want to see how I do, as much as Bennie or Christian. I think all the veteran players are the big key, and we know that. That's not a secret, but we're a team and we have to go in the same direction."

United is proud of its fluid, entertaining brand of attacking soccer. But fulfilling their lofty title ambitions will require stability and focus in defense, which also happens to be their most shorthanded area.

"I'm sure they're still looking for a piece or two," said Olsen of the D.C front office. "But right now it looks like offensively, we're doing OK. I think we've got a lot of guys and enough firepower - it's just defensively, can we get together as a unit and hold down the fort? I think that's going to be the story of the year."

Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.