D.C. United Battle for Playoffs

The most successful club in the MLS... A team ratcheted with talent from the veterans: Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio and Ben Olson - to the consistent talent of Christian Gomez, Fred and Santino Quaranta - to the new talent of #7 draft pick Chris Pontius - This team should be destroying.

Instead, according to many fans, coach Tom Soehn is making a complete travesty out of what on paper should be a trophy. Currently contending with a heavy schedule in both MLS and CONCACAF Champions League, the team needs some redistribution. Unlike European Association Football clubs, which constantly play in inter-Europe competitions, North American clubs are hard pressed to field two or three squads when faced with back-to-back games. This was demonstrated in last weeks demoralizing Champions League loss to Honduran side Marathon, 3-1. Moreno looked tired, Gomez didn't feature, and Emilio had his head split open on DC's only goal of the night. Either the MLS salary cap and investment doesn't allow for expanded rosters, or the young-age of our association football hasn't developed the depth of reserve squads.

Having personal experience in playing English youth sides from West Bromich Albion, Derby County, and various London teams at the age of 15, expectedly being smeared left right and center on all occasions by players living in residency schools and being paid to play demonstrates the commitment that Europe has for this game. For my part, I would detest the lifestyle, but from it I receive a lifetime's worth of happiness every time I see the game played by these die-hards. No doubt we have the youth infrastructures already to support sponsored sides, whether the sport can attract the interest of the landed elites to pay kids to keep with the game until they mature as an investment remains to be seen.

However, major finance capital is of course alive and well in MLS. DC United perhaps one of the last teams still playing on a pitch of the Keynesian Era where sites of main attraction were named after great men of modernism, i.e. Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. The Home Depot's, Qwest's, and Red Bull's of global capitalism have seen our game into a flashy new overcoat. Without going too intensely here into the pervasively destructive/consumptive/raping that capitalism demands, it has given MLS the likes of underwear models David Beckham and Freddy Ljunberg. Ambassadors of the European game never looked more token masculine than this. Granted we are fortunate that money can buy talent to get throwball fans to take notice of soccer in North America. Thankfully our fans have also taken notice of the commitment by these players as demonstrated in the vehement rejection by Galaxy supporters to Beckham receiving a warm welcome home from his loan spell to Italian giants AC Milan one month ago.

Like capitalism, the good comes with the bad in MLS. As long as we know the questions we want answered about how to build our game and what each supporter takes solace in watching, we can at least begin to define where we want to go.