WASHINGTON – In the wake of last Saturday’s 1-1 draw against LA, the mood in D.C. United's locker room was mixed. The fact that they had managed to score a late goal in the 90th minute, stealing a point at the death after a flat offensive performance, was reason to be upbeat.
But coaches and players alike know that things must improve in future games if this team is to succeed on the field in 2011.
“Overall, I just thought we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be,” Ben Olsen said after the game. “I thought the energy was there, but we just weren’t a good enough soccer team.”
Midfielder Santino Quaranta, who picked up a second yellow card in the 84th minute, agreed, saying they expected better before the game.
“It wasn’t good,” he said. “That’s surprising because I think we thought it was going to be a better soccer game – it wasn’t. There’s a lot of things: a lot of us giving balls away, uncharacteristic stuff that usually doesn’t happen.”
After a decent 10-minute start against LA, United conceded a 12th-minute goal from a set piece. And while the hosts controlled possession for most of the second half, the frustration took over as the approach to the game shifted.
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS: D.C. United 1, LA Galaxy 1
Instead of trying to keep the ball on the ground, DC started lofting long balls forward, most of which were easily dealt with by Leonardo and Omar Gonzalez in the LA defense.
“I don’t want to play that way, I want to knock the ball around, I want to play to feet and I think we have the players to do it,” Olsen said. “We didn’t do it enough today, and I take complete fault for that.”
Like the previous games, the final ball was lacking in the offensive third. For all the possession DC had, LA 'keeper Donovan Ricketts wasn't really tested until Chris Pontius’ 74th-minute header.
Fifteen minutes later, Branko Boskovic’s through-ball opened up space for Charlie Davies to make his run into LA’s box and draw the equalizing penalty. Not only did the long-ball approach fail to generate offense, the ensuing danger off the counterattack put pressure right back on the United defense.
“A lot of the times we try to win the ball and play that perfect ball, and then it comes right back down our throats and then we’re tired, it’s a lot of running,” Dejan Jakovic said.
DC will head back out to the training field this week, looking to sharpen things up and improve ahead of Saturday’s trip to Toronto.
