D.C. United: The Men in Black

In a surprise move, Ben Olsen has been sacked of his managerial position by D.C. United. Olsen was a long time player and manager for the team, so naturally he was shocked by the news, "I've been a servant to the team all these years, and it's all I've known for a while. I'll take some time to regroup myself, then seek another position. It was just bad vibes all around." It'll be interesting to see who takes over the position held by such names as legendary US manager Bruce Arena and colorful beIN sport commentator Ray Hudson. D.C. United has made the playoffs just one time in the past 5 seasons, and although they made the playoffs last season, things are expected to deteriorate with an expected 17th-place finish.

Today, Nathan Limior was announced at a D.C. United press conference as the new manager of D.C. United. "It's a great honor to take over the reins of such a storied club, and one that I have played for in the past, 13 years ago. I promise to give Washington, D.C., a club that they can be proud of, and I promise that the rest of the MLS will soon learn to fear the Men in Black," said the assistant coach to the US national team, who will be leaving that post to focus on his club management debut. The Nashville-born man is said to favor attacking soccer, so that's what we might see from Limior's boys this upcoming season.

Squad

Doesn't seem terrible, although there's some bad contracts I want to get rid of, most conspicuously, Lionard Pajoy.

Tactics

This will be the primary tactic. You know how I roll, short passing, possession-oriented soccer, choke the other team out.

Good luck mate.

I can't wait for this, loved your FM 13 one, great start, decent squad to work with.

Nathan Limior again ey?:P goodluck mate!

You have a follower!! Good luck and please make 2013 much better. Vamos United!!

Loved your Portland/Everton story eb, so will definitely follow this!

Matches

January 26, 2013
Charleston Battery 0 - 4 D.C. United

Already, Charleston threw a surprise at us, deploying a 4-5-1 instead of their projected 4-4-1-1. Holy fuck, the new match engine is sexy as hell. We dominate things in the first half, but the breakthrough doesn't come until stoppage time where Perry Kitchen plays a nice long ball to Dwayne De Rosario who beats two defenders and blasts it in for the first goal. Substitutes come in in the 60th minute, and Conor Doyle beats his marker bad down the right side and lobs an uncontested cross to Kyle Porter for DC's second goal. Porter has tons of space off the left side and scores his second goal to make it 3-0. Carlos Ruiz takes it at the top of the box and blasts it in to make it 4-0.
Player of the Match: Kyle Porter (D.C. United)

February 2, 2013
D.C. United 2 - 2 CSKA Moscow

This will be a much sterner test of our capabilities. CSKA Moscow line up in their expected 4-4-2 Diamond. CSKA Moscow dominated the first half but couldn't get any goals out of it. CSKA finally got it together on a free kick, then Vintinho scored in the run of play to make it 2-0. D.C. United played a long ball over the entire CSKA defense and Kyle Porter latched on the other end of it, then blasted the ball into the net to pull one back. Sainey Nyassi tied it up in the 89th minute with an audacious run into the box and speculative shot into the net.
Player of the Match: Pontus Wernbloom (CSKA Moscow)

February 9, 2013
D.C. United 2 - 1 Boca Juniors

10th minute: A Boca player heads away a D.C. United corner, but he heads it right to De Rosario who volleys it into the net.
14th minute: Cangele takes a Boca free kick from deep and heads it past Hamid for the equalizer.
45th minute: Jakovic gets on a corner kick for DC but heads it wide. Goal kick for Boca.
72nd minute: Boca clears the ball, but it's right to Luis Silva, who skins a player and shoots at range to retake the lead for D.C.
73rd minute: The second shift comes in for D.C. United.
All in all, another surprise result for D.C. United, this time a win. Bill Hamid has been amazing at cutting out crosses the past couple of games.
Player of the Match: Luis Silva (D.C. United)

February 16, 2013
Orlando City 1 - 2 D.C. United

42nd minute: Nick DeLeon finally scored after missing two very good chances. He took an early cross from Iapichino and headed it in, 1-0.
61st minute: Molino has plenty of space and brings it to the edge of the box, firing true to make it 1-1.
80th minute: Kyle Porter heads in a Sainey Nyassi corner! 2-1 United!
The reserves had a solid performance in this match.
Player of the Match: Dennis Iapichino (D.C. United)

February 23, 2013
Richmond Kickers 1 - 2 D.C. United

41st minute: As Richmond has taken some chances that went begging, D.C. United finally makes a play as Moise Bambara took control of a cleared ball by Richmond and blasted it into the net, 1-0 D.C.
54th minute: Matthew Delicate of Richmond has a goal disallowed for being offside.
62nd minute: Kyle Porter takes the ball after a failed Richmond corner kick, flying down the left touchline, then cuts inside the box and fires the ball past the keeper. 2-0 United!
83rd minute: Goal for Richmond as Henry Kalungi heads in a corner kick! Still 2-1 D.C.
Player of the Match: Henry Kalungi (Richmond)

February 27, 2013
Rochester Rhinos 1 - 3 D.C. United

32nd minute: UNITED GOAL! Kyle Porter heads it in off the bar from a free kick.
42nd minute: UNITED GOAL! Kyle Davies takes the second header off a free kick and heads it in.
66th minute: Beck-Gomez volleys in a cross to make it 3-0 for United!
79th minute: Rochester goal as Daniel Woolard misses his interception on the long ball and Mayard gets clean on goal.
Player of the Match: Dejan Jakovic (D.C. United)
Injury Update; John Thorrington gashed his leg and will miss 2-3 weeks.

Club News

January 14: D.C. United has traded striker Lionard Pajoy to Chivas USA for their 3rd and 4th round picks in next year's Supplementary Draft.
January 27: D.C. United has signed promising Brazilian striker Pedro Henrique Beck-Gomez to a Reserve contract, he will hopefully take over for Dwayne De Rosario in the near future.
January 27: Defensive midfielder Kevin Pannewitz rejects a contract offer from D.C. United to sign with St. Pauli in his native Germany instead.
January 29: Carlos Ruiz is now an American citizen and will no longer take up an international player slot.
February 11: Center back Kyle Davies has signed with D.C. United on a reserves contract. He will provide sorely-needed depth.
February 14: D.C. United has signed center back Leo Krupnik to a $55,000/year deal. He's returning to the US after many years in the Israeli leagues.
February 19: Defensive midfielder Moise Bambara has signed with D.C. United for $185,000 a year. Before this, his entire career was spent in the German league system. Since he is not American, he takes up an international player slot.
February 27: Lewis Neal was waived by D.C. United to create a roster spot for Kevin Alston.

MLS News of Note

January 16: San Jose Earthquakes have named Carlos Valderrama as their new manager.
January 16: Columbus Crew have named Steve Nicol as their new manager.

MLS Waiver Draft

(In laymen's terms, this is a redistribution of players who were cut when teams were forced to adhere to MLS roster limits.)
Round 1, Pick 17: Kevin Alston, fullback (I was surprised that he was cut by New England, but I know he's a very good player for MLS. Oh, that's right, he had leukemia and can't play until July 2013. I'll just stash him until then.)
Round 2, Pick 36: Pass (All that was left were strikers, pretty much, and I already have enough of them for a one-striker team.)

Limior's Comments

A great preseason, we were undefeated and battled well in our biggest tests against CSKA Moscow and Boca Juniors. I think we can carry it into the preseason, definitely.

Great draw versus CSKA, and great to see Vitinho on the scoreboard for them,and a fantastic win vs. Boca, always a tough side.

Nice to have an eb story to read again, and a great pre-season to start with

Matches

March 2, 2013
Houston Dynamo 3 - 1 D.C. United

Some back and forth, but chances go begging until the 52nd minute, where Sainey Nyassi runs into the box from deep and makes his audacious run pay off for the first goal of the match. Corradi equalized it for Houston in the 67th minute when he got open and lobbed the ball over Bill Hamid. Brad Evans split the backs again and got through to take the lead for Houston. Honduran international Oscar Boniek-Garcia converted a cross into a third goal for Houston. Our lack of fitness going into the match hurt us.
Player of the Match: Brad Evans (Houston Dynamo)

March 9, 2013
D.C. United 1 - 0 Real Salt Lake

Nothing much of note happened until Dwayne De Rosario broke through on a counter attack and charged the right side. He was one on one with the keeper and won that battle easily. Real Salt Lake tried to come back, but couldn't equalize. Despite the score being so close, United dominated the game.
Player of the Match: Chris Wingert (Real Salt Lake)

March 16, 2013
New York Red Bulls 1 - 2 D.C. United

D.C. United had some chances early, but Chris Pontius finally got one in in the 28th minute when he took a lovely through ball from Dwayne De Rosario and came in clean off the left wing. Chris Pontius scored his second early in the 2nd half when Dwayne De Rosario's shot hit the crossbar, but the ball popped into the air and Pontius got to it and had an easy shot. Thierry Henry pulled one back for New York when he volleyed in a cross from Alexander. New York tried to rally back but ran out of time.
Player of the Match: Leo Krupnik (D.C. United)

March 24, 2013
D.C. United 2 - 2 Columbus Crew

Columbus took the early lead when Justin Heram slipped one past Bill Hamid on a speculative effort in the 23rd minute. Chris Pontius equalized in the 41st minute with a low shot after a run from deep into the box. Tony Tchani picked up his second yellow in the 63rd minute on a dumb foul, and D.C. United soon capitalized as Dwayne De Rosario gets free in the box and powers one in to take the lead. Federico Higuain equalizes for Columbus with deadly precision from point-blank range.
Player of the Match: Luis Silva (D.C. United)

Club News

March 6: Ashani Fairclough signed to a Reserves contract. He's a Jamaican center back, who will help to provide depth.
March 23: Leo Krupnik won his first cap for Israel, playing in a friendly against Hungary.
March 31: Marcelo Saragosa suffered a back strain in training and will miss 4-5 weeks.

MLS Standings

Not a bad start to the season but we can definitely improve.

Matches

April 5, 2013
Sporting Kansas City 2 - 1 D.C. United

Kyle Porter struck early for DC as he made a great run into the box and fired past the keeper. Paulo Nagamura counters for Sporting Kansas City, taking his own rebound into an empty net. Claudio Bieler headed in a cross in the 81st minute to take the lead for Kansas City.
Player of the Match: Chance Myers (Sporting Kansas City)

April 13, 2013
D.C. United 2 - 1 New York Red Bulls

D.C. took the lead on 36 minutes when Chris Pontius took a long pass, ran into the box and fired one past the keeper from point blank range. Chris Pontius scores again, with a bit of hard luck from Hartman as Kyle Porter's shot rebounds off him to Pontius, whose shot rebounds off Hartman back to Pontius, who blasts it into the open goal. A bit of bad luck for United as Moise Bambara tackles the ball, but it lands at Jonny Steele's feet on the left wing, who crosses it to Eric Alexander and he pulls one back for New York. New York almost convert a couple of free kicks, but Hamid makes fine saves up close and that's it.
Player of the Match: Chris Pontius (D.C. United)

April 21, 2013
D.C. United 2 - 0 Philadelphia Union

Our back line was just incredibly solid and didn't let Philadelphia have many chances. Sainey Nyassi gets the start at right wing here, and immediately makes his case as he cuts in from the right wing into the box and scores from point blank range early. Chris Pontius sets up DC's second goal by tackling a defender deep in his own end, securing the ball, and sliding it through to an open De Rosario in close range.
Player of the Match: Dejan Jakovic (D.C. United)

April 27, 2013
Columbus Crew 0 - 0 D.C. United

We were unlucky. Both teams struggled to move the ball upfield, and Columbus Crew was hobbled by the early injury of Federico Higuain, but we had plenty of chances late, with Sainey Nyassi and James Riley getting in close, but unable to finish.
Player of the Match: Agustin Viana (Columbus Crew)
Injury Update: Ashani Fairclough suffered a gashed leg and will miss 2-3 weeks. Daniel Woolard suffered a bruised rib and will miss 8-10 days. That's new, I got a question about Columbus Crew's rough play with regards to Fairclough's injury in the post match presser.

Club News

April 7: Striker Carlos Ruiz was traded to Vancouver in exchange for the rights to goalkeeper Andrew Fontein as well as their 3rd and 4th round picks in the 2014 Supplementary Draft.
April 19: D.C. United are awarded goalkeeper Dick Kaffo on waivers. Due to a bug he will not join the team until July 1.

MLS Standings

It can be hard to see where we are since the schedule is so unbalanced, but with a 4-2-2 record we're doing very well for ourselves and much better than expected. The last game was the first one where we didn't score, and I'm very confident in De Rosario/DeLeon/Pontius/Nyassi/Porter to score when needed. In addition, Nigel Jordan has been a good signing for us from the academy, he hasn't made me mad at him for making mistakes which is the best thing you can do as a defender, and he can make plays to set up goals, too.

You're grinding out some good results, I'm guessing we will see the return of the coveted 3-1-2-2-2 formation before long?

Nah, D.C. United has enough outlets with a 4-3-3 that I don't need to resort to such measures. Plus, I want to do something different. Still, it would be interesting to see how 14 handles the 3-1-2-2-2.