D.C. United's weekend road trip to take on Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center on Saturday represents something of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object -- statistically speaking, at least.
United have never lost to the Red-and-White in the club's four years of existence, and have enjoyed plenty of success at the stadium where they captured their fourth MLS Cup in 2004, having gone undefeated in their last seven league visits to southern California.
But lately the Black-and-Red have been woeful away from home, and must go back to September of last year to recall their most recent road win.
"I don't know," said midfielder Clyde Simms. "For some reason we haven't brought the energy. I think that's the difference in the home games compared to the away games. I don't know why we haven't been able to bring that same energy on the road, but we have to treat those games the same, obviously."
D.C. have surrendered a whopping 11 goals through five away games in all competitions in 2008, adding up to an ugly 0-4-1 road record.
"That's something that we need to correct, the mentality to go out and fight and scrap for points on the road," said general manager Dave Kasper. "It's now about collectively doing all the little things necessary on the field, fighting for each other...Those are all things that can easily be fixed, with the right mentality of the players. So we're all aware of it and we're working to correct that."
Goalkeeper Zach Wells is particularly eager to stop the rot and with center back Gonzalo Peralta's availability in doubt due to his wife's advanced pregnancy, he might need to produce a strong performance on his return to the area where he grew up.
"I think it's just a subconscious thing, maybe a mentality thing," said Wells of his team's poor road form. "We come out and have a good week of practice and then we don't show the results on the field. It's kind of bizarre -- we're out here hacking each other and getting after each other (at practice), then we get on the field and it's not really the same bite. It's a little frustrating. I think we're getting the right information, we just need to execute now."
Talk out of the United camp suggests that the squad may return to the 4-4-2 formation to bolster the back line, and even with the team stuck in a 190-minute-plus scoreless streak, striker Jaime Moreno suggests that defensive rigidity will take first priority at this point.
"Definitely we've got to improve, and like Tommy said, we've got to keep the zero in the back," said D.C.'s veteran captain. "That's our main goal right now, to keep the zero in our net and we're going to be working and also going forward and trying to create some chances."
Chivas USA won the Western Conference last year and challenged United for the Supporters' Shield right up until the final weeks of the campaign. But the Red-and-White have hit hard times of their own this season, and are presently one of only two MLS teams with fewer points than D.C. It would seem to set the stage for a desperate encounter on Saturday night.
"We're fighting for your lives, especially with this type of record that we have so far. We just have to battle for one another and make sure that another teammate knows that I've got his back and he's got mine," said United defender Bryan Namoff. "You see frustration beginning to build a little bit throughout teammates and the coaching staff. That's why I think we're really concentrating on going back to the basics, and in order to do that we need to concentrate on just working hard for one another."
Chivas' starting lineup has been hammered by injuries -- United's attack will surely look to test Bobby Burling and Eric Ebert, the two youngsters likely to start on the Chivas defensive flanks -- but one clear threat remains in the form of Sacha Kljestan, an attack-minded midfielder capable of popping up in dangerous spots all over the field. D.C. will be eyeing him closely, while looking for ways to exploit his aggression at the other end of the field, though with United's own struggles, Namoff readily admits that this week's preparations have been more inwardly focused.
"[Kljestan's] got the type of freedom to roam around in search of the ball and if we can win balls in good areas, especially in their own half of the field, I think we can try to play to that area where he might be out of position," said the veteran right back. "There's several ways to counter this team but right now we're almost throwing [those] type of different tactics out the window, instead just trying to outcompete and outplay them."
United head coach Tom Soehn cuts short any detailed discussion of Chivas as well.
"Whatever. I'm not worried about them, I'm worried about us, making sure that we're in the right frame of mind to win ball games," he said.
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
