D.C. United's last match was a 1-0 takedown of the Los Angeles Galaxy last Thursday -- and while the Black-and-Red enjoyed the weekend off, the Galaxy's struggles continued with another loss in New England on Sunday. But United are bracing for a sterner test when they enter The Home Depot Center for Wednesday night's SuperLiga semifinal, mindful of the California club's critical need for a positive result in light of their flickering playoff prospects.
"You never like to play teams that are desperate," said D.C. midfielder Ben Olsen. "I expect a much better performance from the Galaxy. They're going to be at home and the crowd there is going to be giving them extra energy. I expect them to be playing as good as they've played all year, and it's important for our team to expect that, because this is a great opportunity for them, for where they're at in the league. This is a great chance for them to do well in a big competition."
Tom Soehn and his coaching staff are leaving nothing to chance, giving United two days off before flying to the West Coast on Monday, which allowed two practice sessions at The Home Depot Center and more than 48 hours' worth of acclimatization leading up to kickoff. The judicious scheduling was well-received by a squad that has kept busy with six games since the All-Star break.
"I think it's helped a lot, especially playing so many matches lately," said goalkeeper Troy Perkins on Tuesday. "Those two days off let everyone's muscles and bodies really recover, and then sitting on a plane for five hours to come out here, it's a little bit easier to recoup yourself after that. We had a pretty good training session yesterday, and I think the coaches and trainers are doing the right stuff to get us physically and mentally ready for this."
The Galaxy have scored nine times in their three SuperLiga matches. But United has conceded just one goal in their last four contests, paced by revitalized defensive unit that has benefited from a back-to-basics approach since hitting a rough patch last month.
"I think we're just doing the little things. We're communicating better, we're reading the game a little better, and we're covering the guys next to us," said Perkins. "Those are the things that worked in the beginning, and I don't know if it was laziness on everyone's part or if we just weren't seeing it [before], but the little things are carrying over to make big differences right now."
Marc Burch's suspension to yellow card accumulation means that Greg Vanney will likely step into the left back position. The veteran has only appeared in the center of defense for United so far, but he'll be eager to impress after missing several weeks due to a troublesome ankle sprain.
"Burchy's been doing well, and you never want to have somebody who's doing well be out of the lineup," said center back Bobby Boswell. "But with the card situation, Greg is healthy so he'll be back, and he's got experience and that's very important in big games."
After watching Galaxy midfielder David Beckham make his MLS debut at their own RFK Stadium last week, Boswell and company know that they may see more of the worldwide superstar this time around. Beckham has expressed his hopes to play as much as 45 minutes against United and his classy distribution presents United with a different -- but hardly unexpected -- tactical challenge.
"You've got to understand who you're playing against and respect them," said Boswell. "You don't want to give him any free kicks or any open looks at runners. We will adapt to that when or if he comes in, but as far as preparation goes, that's done by knowing your opponent and I think he's probably one of the guys in the league that everyone will know pretty well, just because they've seen him play so much."
At the other end, D.C. have shown a disconcerting tendency to waste good scoring chances and the Black-and-Red are aware that the margin for such errors is much smaller in high-intensity matchups like Wednesday's semifinal.
"Yeah, absolutely," said Olsen, when asked whether that lack of ruthlessness was a concern. "But what are you going to do if your team's not finishing? You'd like to think that over the course of the season, if you're getting in the right spots and you're getting your chances, things will take care of themselves. Right now we've had several opportunities in each game to finish off games and we haven't done that. That can change in any game -- breakout games happen all the time and hopefully we'll get one."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
