A lull in their hectic schedule has provided a well-timed reward for D.C. United's nine-game unbeaten streak, and players and coaches alike are taking advantage by escaping soccer for a few days before a high-intensity conclusion to their regular season.
"Well, it's going to be nice for them to not have to hear from me for a little while," joked head coach Tom Soehn after Wednesday night's close-run win against Real Salt Lake. "I've driven them pretty hard and we've had a push to make sure we got through this stretch, and I think it's going to be nice for everybody to get away for a few days -- including the coaching staff, who has worked really hard."
The 2-1 victory against RSL was D.C.'s third game in seven days, and the mileage showed in a subpar performance that was followed by relief rather than joy in the United locker room.
"It was a really important win because we had been playing a lot in a few days. Now we can spend the rest of the weekend with our friends and family relaxing," said Christian Gomez. "It didn't matter if we didn't play very well. We needed to get these three points, and luckily now we can relax a little bit."
With no practice until Monday, many are getting out of town or otherwise doing anything possible to clear their minds before the onset of an equally demanding period beginning next Sunday. A trip to Chicago and a home date with Toronto FC bookend the opening of United's Copa Sudamericana adventure, as Mexican giants CD Guadalajara return to RFK for the first match of their two-leg series on Wednesday, Sept. 26.
"We haven't had a lot of time off, and we're about to go through a big stretch again where we're going to need everybody 100 percent every day, especially going into Sudamericana and finishing off the season trying to win the Supporters' Shield and set ourselves up for the playoffs," said Bobby Boswell. "The rest will be good for us, but we've got to make sure we come back and get right back to work, get all over Chicago, and take care of business and keep going the way we've been going."
Boswell is flying home to Florida to spend time with his family, where the household's newest arrival is likely to be one of the few soccer-related topics.
"We've got a new puppy, Giggsy," he explained. "He's a Welsh Corgi -- I think my mom only knows one Welsh soccer player, and that's Ryan Giggs, so she calls him Giggsy. And he does apparently run all over the place."
Goalkeeper Troy Perkins believes the team needs a mental respite more than physical rest at this point in the season. He will be joining his wife -- whom he hasn't laid eyes on in six weeks -- and her family at their vacation home, and he's already laid out specific conversation parameters for the weekend.
"No one's allowed to ask me anything about soccer at all, because I don't want to talk about it," he said. "Physically, it's going to help, but at this point, we're all fit. Obviously, guys with knocks and injuries, it's going to help out, but this is more of a mental break than anything."
Brian Carroll has a similar outlook. Known as one of the squad's most dedicated weightlifters, he'll still be working out this weekend -- as long as it doesn't involve a soccer ball.
"I'm going to get in the weight room, do a little bit of training and then relax," he said, "not on the soccer field, maybe something else. Maybe like tennis or something, with my wife."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
