Cooler temperatures and focused minds marked D.C. United's return to training this week after a four-day holiday, as the squad steels itself to chase after the three trophies still within reach this season.
"They've come back pretty focused and pretty sharp," said head coach Tom Soehn on Tuesday. "I'm pretty pleased as to where we're at, having quite a bit of a break."
With five regular season matches remaining, United tops the MLS Supporters' Shield race (for the overall regular-season points leader) as well as the Eastern Conference race, and have already guaranteed themselves a playoff berth. But with three of their four final opponents in the thick of the fight for a spot in the postseason, the Black-and-Red are gearing up for the heightened intensity signaled by autumn's arrival.
"There's going to be no easy games from here on out," said midfielder Ben Olsen. "Everybody needs to make playoffs. I say it every year, once the weather starts changing, the mood and the atmosphere in this league changes, because you know it's coming up on playoff time. The summer is gone and now you can run a little bit more and have a little bit more energy to close the ball down, and more tackling. That's an exciting time, and fall brings that on."
D.C. will also return to international competition in the coming days, opening their Copa Sudamericana campaign against Mexican side CD Guadalajara at their RFK Stadium home next Wednesday. The timing of the tournament presents some risk of distraction as United travels to Chicago for an always-demanding clash with the Fire this weekend, but that seems to be balanced by a strong motivation to earn bragging rights as the regular season's best team for a second consecutive year.
"We're trying to get after that Supporters' Shield and we can't really afford to let any points pass us by," said defender Devon McTavish. "Chivas [USA] is right there, New England is right behind us and Houston is right behind us, so it's a tight race at the top. We know that. We have five games left and we need to get a result in every one of them in order to win the Supporters' Shield, which is a goal of ours."
According to Troy Perkins, Soehn's season-long commitment to focusing on one game at a time has fully taken root as the players keep their sights set on the near term.
"We're aware of where we're at [in the standings], but we're not really looking at it," said the D.C. goalkeeper. "We look at it as, five matches left, and we look to the first one in Chicago here this weekend, looking to get three more points. We just want to keep extending and moving on, just staying away from everyone else."
United play three of those final five games at home, and are in the enviable position of controlling their own destiny as they look to maintain their four-point lead ahead of New England for both the Supporters' Shield and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
"The good thing is that it's in our hands," pointed out Jaime Moreno. "We don't depend on anybody."
United's captain spent most of last week on international duty for Bolivia, and on Tuesday he admitted that he might miss more club matches as his national team participates in World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Colombia next month.
"Yeah, it's going to be pretty tight, especially with all the many games that we have -- especially if we go through Sudamericana too," said Moreno. "I'm going to miss a few games for D.C., but I think we're doing well and players are stepping up. When I wasn't here, they did a great job. I think we'll be fine."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
