Blanked Slate: D.C. United Has No Attack Left in It

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D.C. UNITED HAS PROVEN IT CAN SCORE. Twice this season it has feasted on visiting opposition, scoring eight goals combined against Toronto and Salt Lake — clubs that don't exactly represent the highest echelon of MLS competition.

The problem is that those games appear to be anomalies. D.C. has managed just one additional league goal this year and sits last in the Eastern Conference at 2-4-0.

"We are not clicking this year," midfielder Santino Quaranta told reporters following Sunday's embarrassing 2-0 defeat in Denver. "Everything has been put into place, [but] we keep getting let down by each other. There is no fighting — it's a good group here. We just can't figure it out."

The defense continues to struggle somewhat, but the problems really begin up front. Coach Tom Soehn has called United "an easy team to play against," and much of that is due to a predictable, deliberate attack that doesn't seem to know what to do with the ball when it has it.

Strikers Luciano Emilio, Jaime Moreno and Franco Niell are unimposing and rarely threaten, making it difficult for playmaker Marcelo Gallardo to orchestrate anything near the goal. Fred can be dangerous off the wing, but like Moreno and Gallardo, he's nursing an injury and is questionable for Thursday night's home game against United's traditional nemesis, Chicago (4-1-1). D.C. has won just one of its past eight against the Fire.

Soehn said a turnaround would require "a better mentality." United will get its opportunity on national TV on Thursday.

"We have to bring our best game to these kinds of matches," Moreno said. "Sometimes the soccer isn't going to be pretty, but we need to win the battles and the loose balls. Our performances are going up and down right now, which is not good, and we need to fix it."

Written by Express contributor Brian Straus
Photo by Joel Richardson/The Washington Post