In Seattle the anticipation for today’s match had been palpable since Fredy Montero’s scored his brace in Dallas, Real Salt Lake (7-3-2, 23 pts.) and Seattle Sounders FC , winners of five in a row (7-1-1, 22 pts.) would be playing for the top of the Western Conference table.

Andy Rose found himself in the starting role for Brad Evans, who was nursing a hamstring injury. Rose’s debut sparked a minor controversy after a yellow card and a reckless tackle in a matter of moments against FC Dallas. Bryan Meredith looked to continue his debut scoreless streak sitting at 271 minutes and counting.

Bryan Meredith Pulls In A Save

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© 2012 American Soccer News - John Crouch

Real Salt Lake came into Seattle with a game plan typical of visiting sides, defend, look for an opportunity to counter and head to Sea-Tac with a point or three if things fall your way. RSL did not look to get forward and allowed Sounders space on the wings but kept Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero out of the middle of the box.

Eddie Johnson had the better attempts for his side, although one of his shots may hit the Sergio Ramos penalty kick somewhere around Mars. Johnson had several turnovers from several stepovers around the penalty area that were incredibly wasteful.

RSL appeared more active early in the second half, getting forward. It would be Fabian Espindola who would break the deadlock in the 51st minute on a ball over the top of Jeff Parke from Luis Gil, Adam Johansson may have had a chance to win the ball before Espindola, but he was off-balance when the shot was taken. Coach Jason Kreis mentioned that they were quite fortunate to get a bounce of the turf that confused Adam Johansson and allowed Espindola to score the first MLS goal on Meredith ending his scoreless streak at 322 minutes.

Johnson also picked up a ridiculous card trying to head the ball out of Nick Rimando’s hands in the 53rd minute. Not exactly how a forward should react when the other team just scored. When coach Sigi Schmid mentioned that his forwards were displaying a lack of creativity up top, this out-of-the-box attempt to create a scoring opportunity must not have been on his mind. Eddie Johnson now has four cautions and will miss his next match when he picks up another.

After the goal was scored RSL did not appear to get forward with the same level of urgency after they scored, Seattle once again appeared to have free space up the wings and room to play while RSL kept their shape and composure and left Seattle without allowing a single shot on target from Seattle’s 8 attempts in the match, not to mention 30 crosses and 6 corners taken by the home side.

Kreis mentioned that they were fortunate to get a lucky bounce on Espindola’s goal, Johansson was unlucky that he wasn’t able to prevent the ball from getting to Espindola, and it was a fantastic finish. RSL have picked up six points on the road in their last two matches which is even more impressive considering that they played more matches (13) than any other MLS side to date. and face FC Dallas at Rio Tinto  and Sounders look to get back to their winning ways on the road against Vancouver Whitecaps for their first Cascadian derby of 2012.

39,312 in attendance.

Scoring chances gone begging combined with defensive mistakes that enable its opponents to find the back net have been a nasty habit for the Galaxy in this young season, and the New York Red Bulls were the latest recipient of the Galaxy’s sudden misfortune on Saturday. A first-half goal from Joel Lindpere combined with an efficient bunker-down defense enabled the Red Bulls, minus Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and many others, to collect a 1-0 win over the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.

“It’s been kind of a broken record,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said of the Galaxy’s lack of finishing so far this season. “Throughout 90 minutes, there were certainly enough chances to at least get a point or win the game.”

With the three points, the Red Bulls thrusted themselves into the thick of the Eastern Conference race, as they sit in third place, two point shy of D.C. United and five short of Sporting Kansas City, who were upset 2-0 by the Montreal Impact. Meanwhile, the Galaxy continue to languish at near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, as they currently stand in seventh place in the conference.

“It’s little things and little adjustments, and we gotta keep working on it, but by no means are we giving up,” Galaxy left back Todd Dunivant said.

The Galaxy had a golden opportunity to score in the 13th minute when a long ball by Sean Franklin sprung Robbie Keane for goal. Keane chipped keeper Ryan Meara, but Markus Holgerson managed to clear the ball at the goal line. Once again, a missed chance came back to haunt LA, this time in the 19th minute, as Jun Gunnar Solli played a perfect ball to Joel Lindpere in the penalty area and the Estonian did the rest, beating keeper Bill Gaudette far post to put New York in front.

The Red Bulls didn’t do much attacking after the Lindpere goal, instead, opting to absorb the pressure that LA was sure to bring while waiting for counterattack opportunities. LA’s first chance at an equalizer came in the 37th minute when a David Beckham free kick went over an outstretched Edson Buddle, but found its way to Robbie Keane, Keane tried to get the ball to Buddle inside the six, but Buddle, on the ground, couldn’t fully control the ball and New York eventually cleared out the danger.

LA continued to create the chances in the second half, but Meara simply refused to let anything past the goal line. Meara’s first save of the second half was relatively easy, as Mike Magee blasted a 22 yarder at the top of the box, Meara stopped the shot, spilled the ball though Brandon Barklage did clear the ball out of the box. Meara’s next two saves were huge, such as a patented long-range attempt outside the 18 by Juninho in the 82nd minute, but Meara’s left hand redirected the ball over the crossbar, which was then followed by a point-blank denial of Landon Donovan four minutes later. The Galaxy had one last shot at an equalizer in stoppage time, as a cross by Chad Barrett into the box was chipped by a Red Bulls player, but it went to Beckham, but his volley in the box missed far post.

“The only way I know and the only way this team knows is to keep going,” Donovan said. “It seemed like pretty much everything went against us today.”

The Galaxy will try to right the ship next Saturday, as they make their first visit to Montreal to face the Impact, while the Red Bulls return home to face the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday.

Seattle Sounders (5-1-1, 16pts) put a makeshift lineup on the pitch to face the Philadelphia Union (2-4-1, 7pts). Sounders are fresh off their first home win against LA Galaxy in MLS three days prior and travel to FC Dallas on Wednesday and home against Real Salt Lake on Saturday . Philadelphia has struggled this season, although their Goalkeeper has posted the second longest scoreless streak in MLS this season at 408 minutes from March 25th to April 18th.

Fredy Montero, fresh off his amazing Golazo against Galaxy, was looking to keep a goal scoring streak going. Montero, and Andy Rose both took some long attempts in the first half. Rose in particular puts a lot of heat on the ball and Zac MacMath showed that he had trouble catching those shots out of the air. Montero had a header that sailed somewhat lazily to MacMath in the 19th minute, and a off-balance shot Montero hit as he was falling that needed to be cleared off the line by Raymon Gaddis in the 7th.

There were a couple of dicey moments, Mauro Rosales hit Kai Herdling with his elbow, that appeared to be inadverdent. A real moment of controversy occurred when a caution was given to Andy Rose for a reckless challenge on in the 18th minute and given a stern talking to by Ricardo Salazar for a tackle from behind on Freddy Adu in the 28th minute. It was one of those instances where a previous caution earns you leniency early in the match. Speculatively, the first challenge was less worthy of a card than the second, but Salazar did not wish to have Sounders down to 10 men so early in the match.

At halftime the Philadelphia Union had attempted 6 shots and only got 1 on target compared to 7 and 4 respectively for the Sounders.

No subs at halftime, and it wouldn’t be until Eddie Johnson came on for Andy Rose in the 61st minute that Sounders would awaken offensively. Johnson made his presence felt immediately on a lateral run with the ball found Montero in the middle against his run. Montero managed to curl his shot right into the crossbar with no teammate to follow up the rebound that was lazily collected by the Union defense and headed back to MacMath.

Montero would not be denied two minutes later, when in the 63rd minute, Johnson traps a long ball with his chest, leaves for Montero, who passed the ball across the top of the box to Mauro Rosales who finished the games only goal and sealed Man of the Match status. Eddie Johnson was originally credited with an assist on the play, but was later taken away. It was a very traditional target forward play, something Sounders have been seeking for their entire MLS existence.

In the end the Union only managed on shot on target the entire match. Considering that the Sounders were missing 4 out of 5 defensive regulars (Michael Gspurning, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Zach Scott, or Leo Gonzalez) in the starting lineup the Union offensive output was doubly disappointing.

Attendance 38,399

Nagging injuries, travel, and a Saturday fixture with NY Red Bulls meant that David Beckham and Robbie Keane would not be participating in tonight’s match in against the Sounders in Seattle. Galaxy would start Adam Cristman & Chad Barrett up front to match the physicality of Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado.

Seattle had two opportunities early that went wide: Brad Evans on a through ball from Zach Scott & Fredy Montero on the opposite side just missed a diving header.

Eddie Johnson showed some real skill with a couple of quick stepovers before shooting with his left foot. Gaudette saved Johnson’s shot & was right in front of Montero’s attempt on the rebound from point blank. For Montero it was the easiest chance to convert an opportunity for a goal this season, but it would not be his last.

The game appeared to show signs of getting out of control when Montero was brought down in the 30th minute. Donovan was demonstrably upset by the call, and made several Ferguson-Mancini talking hand gestures at Sounders players and bench. Both sides felt done wrong by the referee, Galaxy players were upset by what they say as embellishment by several Sounders players. Sounders were equally upset by the rough play through the back of players receiving the ball. Shortly after Marcelo Sarvas is issued a caution for a reckless tackle on Brad Evans 33rd minute and both sides settled down after that.

Adam Cristman made his real impression on the match with a header in the 35th minute. Wide of the mark, he had been marked ably by Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. It was one of the few times during the first half that LA looked threatening.

40th minute Mauro Rosales on a set piece found Eddie Johnson in the box for a header that would give the home side the lead before halftime.

Gspurning injured his hip during the first half, Bryan Meredith saw his first MLS action since joining the team full-time from Kitsap Pumas. Meredith was called to action, but not truly tested. His first save was a Landon Donovan strike that went straight to his midsection. Halftime statistics showed that the LA Galaxy were on the short end of attempts on goal, shots on target, possession, passes completed, passing accuracy and duels won by a significant margin.

Fredy Montero broke his season-long goal drought in the 48th minute with a spectacular 40 yard strike that curled into the upper left corner past Gaudette at full stretch. Assist to Alonso, amazingly, the Colombian did most of the work creating what is surely a goal of the week candidate.

Galaxy attempted to kick start their offense with Mike Magee coming on for Chad Barrett in the 58th minute and former Sounder Pat Noonan in the 71st. Schmid countered Bruce Arena’s subs with a tactical shift in the 74th minute replacing Mauro Rosales with Marc Burch and Alex Caskey for Johnson. Sounders controlled 56% of possession in the first half, and gave the Galaxy 64% of possession in the second half but only one shot on target that came in the second half and went straight from Donovan’s foot to Meredith capable hands.

Despite the lamentation of fans and journalists alike about the lack of Beckham or Keane the intrigue of why they were left off of the roster the simplest explanation is that there are too many fixtures for an aging team this week and they wanted to focus on getting three points at home. Coincidentally this marked the first time that Sounders have beaten LA in Seattle.

Attendance 39,002

This means that it will take time for any new coach to piece together enough elements to understand where his team is and what he needs to do make it all work. A similar learning curve applies to all the players, some teaching, and all learning.

Let’s look first at the success of Chris Pontius. When Coach Ben Olsen made Josh Wolff a player-coach it was probably as much a salary/cost benefit move as anything else, but it also involved an understanding of how a well-versed veteran can help a team in many ways.

Olsen himself had mentored Brian Carroll when they shared holding midfield roles and saw the value Wolff’s presence could bring to several of his youngsters.

Pontius certainly appreciates Wolff’s input, “It’s good, especially for me. I have the ability to work with Josh Wolff who has two World Cups under his belt. Sitting with him during practice and listening to what he’s saying, just trying to find good spots that the defense leaves. ….He’s very knowledgeable in the game. To learn off him as a forward, it’s a blessing for me.”

The very recently converted winger had always had a tendency to drift inside to make direct attacks, but his style combined with that of the other winger, Andy Najar, to congest the middle, allowing opponents to clog the lanes and stifle all of DC United’s efforts.

When injury to Pontius and Honduran National Team duty for Najar forced the use of two still younger wings, Nick DeLeon and Danny Cruz, they played much wider and suddenly Maicon Santos and Dwayne DeRosario had more room inside. The possession game grew easier and the scoring pace improved.

The space provided gave Santos a chance to deploy his three great skills, a devastating long shot, great strength holding the ball, and the experience to find and use space to shoot. The need to double cover both him and DeRosario inevitably made more space for everyone else.

Enter Pontius, in a new role. He could add a third attacker who would demand attention and further confuse defenders. As Olsen put it, “We wanted him to pull them out with runs in behind and runs underneath, and I thought he did a very good job of executing that. He got Maicon some room, and it gave them a bit of trouble.”

Interestingly, Houston, coached by the excellent Dominic Kinnear, presents their opponents with much the same dilemma. Defender Robbie Russell pointed out how difficult they made it for him and his fellows in the back, “You’re looking at all these different looks. That’s their strength, making you look a little confused.”

The loss of Emiliano Dudar added to the difficulty for United’s defense as his cool experience was replaced by rapid adaptation. The game see-sawed as each side sought to confuse and exploit the other, only to be met with resolute resistance.

Russell was particularly proud of his team, “For every single player there was a point at which they had to make a big play, and they did. All over the field, guys were making big plays and that’s what finally got us over the hump.”

The entire team has learned and gelled over the last month. Goalkeeper Joe Willis has increased his command of the box, “The more crosses I see, the more confident I am.” He always had good hands, but has improved in reading crosses. He credits his defenders as well, “We’ve got so many good players on this team, that Emiliano goes out, Robbie slides in, and Perry drops back and I don’t think we really lose anything.”

Still another youngster who has shown rapid development in the holding midfield role is Perry Kitchen. In the last two games he has increasingly taken charge of the midfield, confidently directing traffic and orchestrating movement forward or sideways as the situation demands.

His necessary move to wide defender when Dudar went down may have some beneficial aspects as he gets to learn a different view of play, but it will detract from his development in his expected future role.

He admitted that working in a new role had some small merit, but, “I think it’s better to be in one position and kind of understand that role better.” Having expressed that view, he recognized that, “Sometimes these things happen and I’m gonna play wherever the team needs me and I think I did that tonight.”

The strong willingness to work for the team first and the obvious belief in the coaches’ plans are rooted in the traits that both Olsen and Wolff display. Of Wolff, Pontius says, “He knows how to get across to people, he reads the game very well, and everyone respects him.”

Despite United’s recent success, Pontius believes that the team is not yet satisfied, “We want more, we expect more from ourselves.” He has some ideas on what he needs to do to improve. “I turned over way too many balls tonight, I’ve got to be better, I’ve got to be stronger holding it up”. Seems as if he may have noticed what Santos has been doing so well.

As the squad moves on to play at San Jose and then at Toronto in the next few days, the question of fitness and player rest is on everyone’s mind, even the seemingly tireless Deleon who has gone ninety minutes almost every game.

He believes that, “Its’ about taking care of your body…I’m doing what I can to stay fit. …It’s a lot of wear on the body, but I can handle it so far.” He is focused on conditioning because, “I’ve heard a lot of rookies hit a wall.”

DC United has hardly used some very well regarded weapons during their recent surge and that may well be their best hope to avoid hitting that wall later on. Both Branko Boskovic and Hamdi Salihi have not shown well as the rest of the team improves, but now that the center is less crowded and concurrently more confusing for opponents, they may well become as effective as their billing and salaries would indicate.

Just how and when to integrate them will be Olsen’s next big challenge.

Turns out all they needed was one chance.

In a wild match at the Home Depot Center, it was the battle-tested veteran Pat Noonan that played the role of hero for the Galaxy, as his goal in the 92nd minute helped LA avert what would’ve been another head-scratching loss, and instead, the Galaxy come out of Saturday’s match with FC Dallas with a point courtesy of a 1-1 draw.

“It was a good game,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “Both teams played real hard and we getting a goal in extra time can’t be complaining about the point.”

The goal came about when Landon Donovan sent a ball into the FCD penalty area, intended for Adam Cristman, Dallas left back Jair Benitez got his foot on the ball but was unable to clear it out of the 18 and as a result, LA’s Chad Barrett laid a ball back to Noonan, who blasted a point-blank shot from the middle of the 18 that beat FCD keeper Chris Seitz left post for the equalizer which eventually held up.

“I just gave it a shot,” Noonan said of his goal. “Chad laid the ball off perfectly for me and I tried to put it on net.”

Such a outcome seemed unlikely for Los Angeles considering LA was once again plagued by poor finishing, defensive errors that and the absence of starting keeper Josh Saunders, who was out due to personal reasons. Dallas had two opportunities in the first minute alone, but Brek Shea pulled his attempt over the crossbar while Fabian Castillo sent his chance wide right.

Then it was the Galaxy’s turn to create the chances. LA had it’s first chance in the 11th minute, when Robbie Keane played a ball forward, Landon Donovan looked to beat Jair Benitez to the ball, Benitez ended up turning the ball over to Donovan, who raced into the Dallas 18, cirlced Seitz, leaving him with an open net, but instead, Donovan’s attempt hit the near post and went past the endline.

Donovan had another shot in the 43rd minute, but this time, it was Seitz himself that denied him, though rather fortunately. A corner kick by David Beckham was headed into a crowd, the ball stayed alive, Edson Buddle tried to hit it close range but couldn’t get enough on the ball, but fortunately for him, the ball went to Landon Donovan, who quickeld tapped the bal towards goal, but Seitz dove to his left and somehow managed to scoop the ball up just short of the goal line.

“It happens,” David Beckham said of the Galaxy’s inability to finish so far this season. “We’ll get it right. We’ll score goals when we really need to.

A Galaxy goal seemed likely in the 47th minute, as David Beckham played a ball forward to a charging Landon Donovan, who got behind Jair Benitez into the 18, Benitez pushed him down from behind and Salazar signaled to the penalty spot. However, it wasn’t Donovan that stepped up to the penalty spot, but rather Robbie Keane, and while everyone at the HDC had to be surprised at who was a the penalty spot, they were still equally shocked when Keane sent the penalty wide right.

“I just told Robbie I wanted him to take it,” Donovan said of the decision on the penalty. “He (Keane) did everything right, he just mis-hit it a little bit.”

The missed chances eventually came back to haunt the Galaxy. Jair Benitez crossed a ball into the penalty area in the 59th minute, Galaxy Center Back David Junior Lopeswas in position to cut it off, which he did, but rather than clear the ball out of the box, he played it back to keeper Bill Gaudette perhaps unaware that FCD striker Blas Perez was right behind him. Perez alertly made the run, Gaudette tried to get to the ball before Perez could but ended up tripping him and referee Ricardo Salazar whistled for the penalty spot and in the 61st minute, Shea beat Gaudette left post to put Dallas up one.

“I thought we did a fantastic job holding out as long as we did,” FC Dallas coach Schellad Hyndman said.

Saturday’s match was the first appearence between the pipes for Gaudette since 2007, when he was with the Columbus Crew. The veteran keeper had bounced around the USL for years, first with the Brooklyn Knights from 2001 to 2003, then with the Puerto Rico Islanders from 2008-2010. Gaudette spent the 2011 season with the Montreal Impact before signing with the Galaxy in the offseason. Aside from his foul in the box that led to the Brek Shea penalty, Gaudette acquitted himself very well on Saturday night.

“The guys in front of me did a great job tonight battling the whole time,” Gaudette said. “Those guys really killed themselves for 90 minutes.”

Saturday’s match is the start of a busy week for the Galaxy, as they travel to Seattle to face the Sounders at Century Link Field, followed up with a matchup with the New York Red Bulls at home next Saturday.

The game began with both sides struggling unsuccessfully to create a rhythm. The same lack of flair that cost DC United a win against the Montreal Impact seemed to linger in the damp and chilly air of RFK Stadium. Then Pontius surged past Thierry Henry, fairly charging him off the ball and streaking toward the goal. He found a bit of space for his right foot and slammed home the opening goal.

A few days before, the same sort of move would have encountered several more defenders as the forward would have had more distance to cover. While the Impact had imposed their line of restraint well into United’s turf days before, United learned the lesson and set their own collective resistance well into the Red Bulls’ turf with great good effect.

Nick DeLeon explained, “We can’t afford to have that start (against Montreal). We came out bangin’.“ He went on to point out how at practice the team emphasized total defense up front, “We preached that pretty hard….bring the energy right from the get go.” He clearly enjoyed the approach and wants more of the same against Houston next Saturday, “We gotta keep that going.”

The emergence of DeLeon and Danny Cruz as aggressive players who also maintained their width freed up the entire center of the pitch for the trio of Dwayne DeRosario, Maicon Santos, and Pontius. Yet, it was an attack from the left side by Santos, who refused to give up the ball until he was almost on the goal, which gave Pontius a deflection with which to put United up 2-0.

Attitude combined with variety left a depleted Red Bull side with too many problems to solve. Not to be outdone, Dwayne DeRosario took on a series of players and forced the issue to set up DeLeon who happened to show up in front of the net just in time to make the score 3-0.

Deleon, whose selection by DC United had been panned by some, has proven himself to be a most aggressive and confident rookie. He believes that the main thing he learned from his father, a former professional player himself, was to have confidence and to use, “My attitude of going at defenders without fear. Sometimes you lose it, sometimes you get by them; but you just gotta keep going.” It was this quality that inspired DC’s Coach Ben Olsen to choose him.

The stunning success of both Deleon and Cruz pushed Pontius out of the starting lineup as he continued rounding into form after his broken leg from last season. Andy Najar, a former rookie of the year was also pushed aside as he went off to have a successful tournament for the Honduras National U-23 team.

Both had become too predictable for MLS opponents who knew that both tended to attack too directly into the center, thereby closing off options for their entire team. The switch of Pontius to forward simply played into his natural style.

Najar has been coming off a minor illness after the Olympic qualifying U-23 tournament, but seemed to stay wider in his stint on Wednesday and should continue to push for a starting slot.

Perry Kitchen, who suffered through a horrible spell as a central defender for the US U-23s, has grown rapidly into a leader in his defensive midfield role for DC. He could be seen directing traffic constantly while working smoothly with Emiliano Dudar, whose communication comes mostly from confident body language.

United’s strength down the middle left the Red Bulls with some options down the wings, but Daniel Woolard was just strong and wise enough to keep Dane Richards from wreaking havoc down the Red Bulls’ right. Good backup by the rest of the defense and hard work by DC’s wings kept the score sheet clean until Henry curled a classic free kick in to console his teammates.

The win continues the recent alternating win/tie pattern but the margin of victory and obviously improving team cohesion may portend the first successive MLS victories in Olsen’s coaching career when Houston comes to town on Saturday at 7:30.

The team that reads its opponent well, devises a good strategy, and then has the discipline to execute it will win more often than not and rise toward the top. DC United is not quite there yet, but has settled into an interesting pattern that resembles a frustrating bowling game, strike, spare, strike, spare, but no real strings that pile up the points.

Still, at that rate, the team will finish the regular season with 64 points and a playoff position. Just as the coaching staff analyzes each opponent, the other side reads DC’s tendencies and plans to exploit them. No side in MLS is sufficiently superior to simply impose its style on the other side.

Josh Wolff points out how the Montreal Impact resemble United and why the game was so often contested in midfield, “They’re an up-tempo, hard working team. They come at you pretty much all over the field. They want to try to force you to play. We didn’t deal with it that great in the beginning.”

That pressure by both sides had a predictable effect, “Obviously, we didn’t have a good bailout as far as going long. They’re physical in the back; Shavar and Ferrari were good for them. Those are tough balls for Pontius and DeRo to hold.

“So at that point we needed to do a better job of switching the field of attack, getting out of pressure, so that we could get some numbers on the weak side. When we did that we were OK, but we just didn’t do it enough.”

This season, DC United has generally played stronger in the second half than in the first. Wolff was one of many to observe, “I don’t think we were particularly solid in the first 25 minutes … the balance of being inside and then getting outside was sort of lacking a bit.

“As the game went on, I thought we did a bit better. The more we had possession, the better we were. It took a half for us to get that.”

It has become clear that other teams choose to pressure United higher than has traditionally been the case in soccer. For example, most away teams will begin serious resistance near midfield or slightly into their own half. The concept is to contain the other side and counter.

Montreal came out and made it immediately clear that they would play as if they were a home side, setting their restraint line ten yards inside United’s half and having their forwards pressure defenders almost constantly. This was a wise exploitation of United’s depleted defense and it forced adjustments.

Wolff explained the appropriate response to higher pressure, “We talked about being a bit more patient, not giving balls away.” As the game progresses, a good team will become more comfortable, “In the second half we did a better job of certainly moving the ball, creating a few more numbers out wide.”

That led to good results, “We got some good service and obviously the introduction of Maicon (Santos) was a big difference. When you have a guy that can hold balls continuously that can just batter their backs, and it provided us with a goal.”

Perry Kitchen had the huge burden of protecting his backs as the pressure game and switches of play forced him to cover both wide and deep. He responded well, “I just try to keep the pressure off the backs. Overall, I think it was decent.

“We weren’t our sharpest in the back. We gave up a goal; you never want to see that. Saying that, I think we showed well in the second half to come back and get it tied up.”

Switching to a bit of an attacking role, Kitchen provided the ball that set up Santos’ tying goal. He was modest about his first assist, rightly crediting the Brasilian’s skill, “When he came in there was an instant change and we started getting more chances, becoming more dangerous.” He went on to state the obvious, “He can do special things with his left foot. When he lets it rip it can create dangerous plays.”

Santos has two skills that combine to give defenders big headaches. Either he holds the ball, which allows his teammates to move and find space, or he is played more aggressively, which means he can beat his man to get enough space to crack a good shot on goal.

DeRosario presents a similar dilemma, but does it with guile and touch while Santos uses more strength. Thus, the Canadian does his best holding work a bit further out with a bit more space. In this particular game, he set an early pattern of quick one-touch flicks which sadly found no one running into the spaces where he sent the ball.

Finding no success, he changed tactics. Wolff was pleased to see the change, “It was good to see him moderate it. The flicks are tough to do. Certainly when they don’t come off you want to limit them a bit. For Pontius and DeRo it was tight up top. It would have been nice just to simplify things; when it comes in you hold, lay it off, and let’s get some guys in.”

With both Andy Najar and Danny Cruz reasonably fresh after limited time on Wednesday and Pontius having played the full ninety, I expect to see those two starting on Sunday while Nick DeLeon comes in later along with Pontius. It would be nice to see what problems Santos gives the Red Bulls’ defense.

He and DeRosario will draw double coverage, giving disciplined wide midfielders some room to maneuver. Najar has shown a greater willingness to keep wide, but Wolff explains why the Honduran is allowed to cut inside as often as he does, “Our wide guys have pretty good instincts, so you kind of want them to find the game as best they can.”

A coaching staff can only lay out the overall strategy, it is up to the players to improvise and the best coaches will let them. DC United has only found a rhythm sporadically, but the tools are there.

Wolff believes that the team is doing well so far and should improve, “You go through years of finding different players, systems, coaches, so I think you’ve got good enough personnel now and we’ve gotta take care of it. You’ve seen when we play properly and move the ball around and are calm on the ball that we can possess it and when we do we have good success.”

Kitchen agrees, “If we can put 90 minutes together, a solid performance, I think we’ll be a tough team to beat.” Yes, it’s a cliché, but accurate nonetheless.

United is not in a bad rut. Averaging 2 points per game (after 2 initial losses) is OK, but that pace can continue only if Olsen can get his charges to start out focused as opponents continue to refine their own countermeasures.