After the game Wednesday against Vancouver Whitecaps getting called off due to weather, TFC remained at home to take on Philadelphia Union.

The starting line up saw a few changes from the midweek Canadian Championship game. 
Keeper: Stefan Frei.
Defenders: Richard Eckersley, Dicoy Williams, Ty Harden, Dan Gargan.
Midfielders: Tony Tchani, Julian De Guzman, Mikael Yourassowsky.
Forwards: Nick Soolsma, Maicon Santos, Joao Plata.

This is a very tough game to talk about, it was a very horrible performance by Toronto FC.

In the first half TFC looked like they didn’t show up or were depending on mother nature to save them once again after falling down 2-0 after just 10 minutes and 3-0 by the half.

Second half changes provided a spark, with Javier Martina and Danleigh Borman coming on for Julian De Guzman and Dan Gargan. Danleigh Borman was what TFC needed  from the start of the game as he provided something that Dan Gargan did not provide at the left back position. With that in mind TFC was able to get themselves back in the game with Maicon Santos scoring a brace to make it 3-2.

Shortly after Maicon Santos’ second goal the Union scored another and that was when TFC fell apart letting in 2 more for a final score of 6-2.

It was a historical day with TFC suffering their worst loss at home and conceding the highest number of goals against in their history. Even Real Madrid didn’t score this many times against Toronto.

Luckily TFC has no midweek game and are staying at home next week, this will give them time to regroup and hopefully improve their performances.  On the negative side several players will be leaving for international call-ups which may have TFC short handed. Plata will be with Ecuador for their game against Canada on June 1st and against Greece June 7th. Julian De Guzman and Dicoy Williams have been called up by Canada and Jamaica respectively for the Gold Cup (June 5th – 25th) and are expected to be reporting to their teams this week. Therefore, TFC will likely be without Plata, De Guzman and Dicoy for some of their upcoming games.

On a side note, the TFC reserves tied the Philadelphia Union reserves 0-0.

Toronto will face  Sporting Kansas at BMO Field on Saturday June 4th.

Ratings for players from 1 (low) to 10 (high), ranked by position:

Toronto FC
Stefan Frei: 5
Not one of Frei’s best performances and maybe even his worst. Could he be to blame for all of the goals… no! Should all the work be put on him… no! But his performance was not the greatest, a bad clearance resulted in an easy goal in addition he almost let in what would have been the most embarrassing goal. All in all a bad performance but the defenders need to help him out.

Richard Eckersley : 7.5
Did well and may have been the best player on the field for TFC both defensively and offensively. The player with the most heart on the team on this day.

Ty Harden: 4
Should have been substituted way earlier in the game .Without Attakora or Cann on his side he is too much of a gamble .

Dicoy Williams: 5
Too much responsibly for him, the pair of Harden and Williams is not one that should exist.

Dan Gargan: 4
Another disappointing performance, was at fault for one or more of the goals in the first half.

Mikael Yourassowsky: 7
Did well overall, the effort and heart he puts into the game is what each player should be doing.

Tony Tchani: 5
Not his best performance, did not complete his passes and lost the ball too easily.

Julian  De Guzman: 5
DP? Not for much longer! With performances like this, TFC is lucky to have him be gone with the National team for a while. Lost the ball way too easily and was doing unnecessary things when he had the ball.

Nick Soolsma: 5.5
Has his moments and tries very hard but he is too slow.

Maicon Santos: 6.5
Did what he could in the second half for the team scoring a brace, but it was not his best performance overall.

Joao Plata: 6
Has his moments in the game and needs to be more consistent overall, but TFC shouldn’t be depending on him so much.

Subs Used:
Javier Martina: 6
Came on in the second half and provided something different but once Philadelphia figured his positioning out he was silent.

Danleigh Borman: 7
Provided the spark TFC needed from the start and contributed well in the second half.

Alen Stevanovic: N/A
Was only on for a short period of time and it was too late for him to make an impact..

Young or younger, experienced or naïve, skilled or not-so-skilled, DC United coach Ben Olsen has held every player and this team as a whole, to a standard of play and accountability that perhaps far exceeds their capabilities…not that it’s a bad thing.

“I expect a lot from these guys and I want the culture to change and maybe I’m a little tough on them but guess what; this is our job, it’s my job and we have to make sure we realize the importance in all of our roles in turning things around here,” Olsen said.

After a dismal first half in a 1-1 draw with Colorado last Saturday, Olsen laid into his team a bit and they responded with one of their best halves of the season.

“Could I sit back and say, ‘hey, we are a young team and we are in a good spot and we have had some good games and we just tied the champs’ sure I think I could get away with that. But right now, that is the wrong mentality for me and these guys. It’s got to change around here and it starts with me and hopefully my not feeling good about the situation we are in translates and we all fix it together,” continued Olsen.

United (3-4-3, 12 points) have been madly inconsistent through their first ten games but one thing has been very consistent – a bad start equals a bad result or at best, a subpar performance.

“I think that is probably fair,” said Olsen about the notion that bad starts lead to poor results. “Even though I think we were a little flat in the first half (against Colorado), we still didn’t give up many chances and we had, gosh, I mean think about it, we had two tough calls go against us and two offside calls and we are in once or twice and those are the type of calls that change games.

“Even though we didn’t come out with the right energy, it was still some good stuff and we should have come out of there with a goal or two. Now the second half was very good; very, very good.”

In their previous two starts against Seattle and FC Dallas, a win and a draw respectively both at home, United started well and it led to a good overall performance. They limited chances, moved the ball well and most importantly, defended as a cohesive unit in all parts of the field.

But just that quickly, they reverted back to some old habits and had to chase the game from midway through the first half. The flank midfielders were floating too high up the field leaving way too much space for Dax McCarty and Clyde Simms to cover in the midfield and the goal was given away on yet another free kick.

“We were not sharp enough from the get-go. This is the part of the process that needs to get better with this young group. We think we are better than we really are because we had two games, so now we go out and forget about the commitment, the fight, all the little things that got us the results we had in the last two games. We started off in an unacceptable manner,” Olsen said.

“We have to stop giving up the first goal,” said McCarty. “We are a good enough team in this league that if we score the first goal we are going to win most, if not all of the games that we play. We didn’t start the game off as well as we should have but that being said, we limited their chances but again, it feels like a broken record here, but they scored off a set piece.”

Olsen didn’t expect a level run all the way through this marathon so the first third of the season has not surprised him.

“We all expected the ups and downs because of the youth and the new team but what is disappointing is that the peaks have not been super-peaks. We have had had some games where we are on them; we are stepping on the gas and we have had some opportunities to punish teams and we are not doing that and that’s disappointing.

“We have left a lot of points on the table and that is probably why I don’t feel so great because there have been points (to get). We are growing and as long as continue to have less peaks and valleys and have better performances from here on out I think we will be okay.”

United host the recently-crowned Eredivisie champion Ajax Amsterdam in an international friendly this Sunday at RFK Stadium. While injury issues will limit Olsen’s choices for the match, he said he will field a respectable team in deference to the legendary Dutch side but his focus is clearly on next week’s league match at Portland.

“Obviously our focus is on Portland and fixing some of the things we need to get better at. We can use this as an opportunity to work on those things, maybe look at different personnel because it’s always exciting to play the best,” said Olsen. “We want to be smart but we want to put the best team out available out of respect for Ajax and our fans but I am not going to do it and jeopardize someone’s health for the Portland game.”

Saturday’s 1-1 tie against the reigning MLS Cup Champions demonstrated how far along Coach Ben Olsen has come in molding a young team into a pattern which served him so well as he developed as a player with DC United. They are working smarter and harder as they learn more with each game.

The team has tended for several years to play narrowly, with wide midfielders choosing very often to drive into a congested center where they lose possession. When Olsen took over last year, he continued a pattern of wider attacking that the team was already beginning to use.

The good pattern continued this year, but one still too often observed the half-width midfield and the congested central attacking lanes that cause an offense to wither. The width now often comes from overlapping wide defenders. It turns out that this is intended, at least some of the time.

Daniel Woolard who has stepped in very nicely for the injured Marc Burch, describes the rationale for Chris Pontius’ attacking inside and his assuming the wide attacking role down the left, “We do that in training. When he goes inside it’s my responsibility to get around him. It opens up the inside for him if the outside mid or the outside back comes out toward me that makes more space in the middle.”

There is some merit in that argument in that it presents the opponent with more choices he has to make, but it also places the erstwhile defender in a specifically attacking role for which only a few are well prepared.

Perry Kitchen served several good balls from the right when he got forward on Saturday, and he seems ready to be effective in an attacking role similar to the one that Bryan Namoff grew into. If Burch returns to action in the left back slot, he might provide a similar threat down that side.

It’s not quite that simple. The flaw in this strategy derives from the fundamental nature of DC United from its earliest days. A team which plays possession ball will trend heavily to a slower buildup and thereby allow opponents to clog the central attacking channels.

When wide midfielders choose the inside route too often they make the congestion worse. For years DC’s opponents have favored the quick counterattack from a semi-bunker. When congestion leads to a turnover and the wide defenders have come too far forward, an outlet pass down the wing will avoid the defenders and the goalkeeper and place the defense on its heels.

When both Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff went down with injuries in the first half against Colorado, their misfortunes may have worked to show another alternative to the congested middle. For years, Tino Quaranta has learned about the withdrawn forward position from Jaime Moreno, but rarely had a chance to play there.

On Saturday, he got that chance. Although the withdrawn forward role which favors his skills might seem to add to the problem, Quaranta’s effectiveness actually served to deter Pontius and Andy Najar from too much central play.

Quaranta’s forward pressure in defense and holding and distributing in attack allowed the wide mids to feel comfortable striking down the wings more often. Quaranta described the problem, “In the first half we were playing a 4-4-2. It looked like we were playing four guys in a flat row and they were too high.”

He went on to describe the solution, “Somebody had to drop underneath a little bit, give another option and give our team the ability to play wide and get our outside backs involved. By doing that it causes the defense a lot of problems.”

His description of the role seemed almost to describe a previous United forward, Alecko Eskandarian, “The most important thing in that position is to run, chasing defenders down, making it hard to clear balls, winning balls higher. It makes it easier for the guys behind us.”

The concept that everyone plays defense and everyone attacks is classic Bruce Arena ball; pressure, then possess, then attack, but only when it is clearly on and then very quickly with everyone involved. That is the historic United way.

With Davies resting his hamstring and Wolff happy to strengthen his groin, Quaranta may get a chance in a friendly against Dutch powerhouse Ajax next Sunday to develop some comfort in the role that for so long has seemed his best fit for DC.

Given Wolff’s age and the natural styles of other forwards, Davies, Joseph Ngwenya, and Blake Brettschneider, Olsen may have found a more deadly attacking approach.

Scoring Summary:

COL — Drew Moor 1 (unassisted) 23
DC — Chris Pontius 3 (unassisted) 62

Misconduct Summary:

COL — Drew Moor (caution; Tactical Foul) 46+
COL — Matt Pickens (caution; Delaying a Restart) 92+

Lineups:

Colorado Rapids — Matt Pickens, Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Drew Moor, Kosuke Kimura, Jamie Smith, Jeff Larentowicz, Pablo Mastroeni, Wells Thompson (Ross LaBauex 89), Andre Akpan (Sanna Nyassi 75), Quincy Amarikwa (Conor Casey 67).
Substitutes Not Used: Danny Earls, Joseph Nane, Scott Palguta, Steward Ceus.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard, Andy Najar, Dax McCarty, Clyde Simms (Fred 80), Chris Pontius, Josh Wolff (Joseph Ngwenya 44), Charlie Davies (Santino Quaranta 34).
Substitutes Not Used: Blake Brettschneider, Marc Burch, Chris Korb, Steve Cronin.

Referee: Terry Vaughn
Referee’s Assistants: Steven Taylor; Jason Cullum
4th Official: Daniel Fitzgerald
Time of Game: 1:52
Attendance: 12,499
Weather: Cloudy and 66 degrees

Through most of April where they managed to win just once in seven total matches, it was defense optional for DC United. Not only did they concede four goals on three occasions, they looked indecisive and disorganized, especially on set pieces.

In their last two matches however, a 2-1 win over Seattle and scoreless draw with FC Dallas both at home, an unlikely combination across the back line coupled with a commitment to defending have produced two dramatically different performances and better results.

“Coming off the bad losses we had, the team came out with a different attitude. We came out knowing we had to play stingier defense and that is what we have done the last two weeks,” said Daniel Woolard, who played left back in these last two results.

“We have played defensively well as a team; we’ve battled for each other and covered for each other in the mistakes that we’ve made and we’ve been fortunate enough to keep some goals off the board.”

In their previous three matches, United gave up a total of 11 goals including three to a marginal bunch of New England reserves in a U.S. Open Cup match that was sandwiched between two four goal leaks to New York and Houston.

The Red Bulls moved the ball freely and consistently forced United into odd man situations, forcing them to make decisions for which they were severely exploited. So regardless, something had to change.

“Focus,” said center back Dejan Jakovic abruptly about the primary change. “Defensively we are a lot sharper. We aren’t making any mistakes in the back and we are concentrating for 90-minutes, not just the back four, we are just playing well defensively.”

United coach Ben Olsen responded with an odd combination in the back that so far has been effective. Along with Woolard, rookie Perry Kitchen was shifted to outside right with another rookie, Ethan White, playing alongside Jakovic in the middle.

“Both of them think like backs a little bit more than the other guys we’ve had in there and neither one attacked a lot and maybe we can get a little more involved in the attack and getting them higher up the field,” United assistant coach Chad Ashton said about Woolard and Kitchen.

“But we said we wanted to be better defensively and not give up goals and you could see that’s what those two brought to the game. They are not giving up chances. They are doing the little things of when you are a weak side back of tucking in and organizing from the weak side. If we can add a little attack to it from those guys now, we’ll start to get them on both sides of the ball,” Ashton continued.

Kitchen last played right back in 2009 with the U.S. Under-17 National Team but seemed fairly comfortable with his movement and decision making.

“I wasn’t trying to do too much,” said the engaging rookie from Akron. “I was just worrying about defense first and trying to get forward when I could. We know the work that it took to give up the one goal so we have to keep that same mentality. It wasn’t just the backs and the goalie, we kept a tight shape and everybody was defending.”

Despite the better results, their inability effectively and consistently to defend set pieces is a clear issue. In response, Olsen and his staff resorted to their version of the “Herbie” during a training session the previous week.

“The set pieces are a problem. It was like from the movie Miracle where you are saying ‘again’ and ‘again’ and ‘again’ and we just kept going until guys won their battles,” said Ashton, referring to a tactic used by 1980 U..S Olympic Hockey Coach Herb Brooks, after a listless tie 4-4 tie with Norway in a tune up game leading up to the Olympics.

Brooks lined his team up on the goal line and they skated; line-to-line and back multiple times, with a whistle and the chilling sound of “again” as the only sounds other than their skate blades cutting the ice. They skated so many times that the rink workers turned the lights off and left.

“It’s a pride thing; it’s a mentality and I think we are getting better at it but we need to do better not only on defensive set pieces but offensive set pieces as well as just saying that we are going to win our individual battles,” said Ashton.

Jakovic corroborated the incident. “We were giving up a lot of chances on set pieces. Defensively and offensively obviously it wasn’t good enough. One training session where we might have worked on set pieces and Benny was just yelling at everybody until we got it right. It has to do with concentration and we are man marking so everyone has to stay with their man.”

All sports share two elements, physical commitment and intelligent play. The team that plays hard and smart usually prevails. DC United coach Ben Olsen was a tough and wily practitioner as a player and his team showed how those attributes work synergistically last night.

The coach summed it up, “Andy (Najar’s) final ball was fantastic, and it was great that Josh (Wolff) gave Charlie (Davies) one, and then Charlie gave Josh one, right on the spot. They both did a great job.

“Charlie was more physical than what he’s been since he’s come back, and I think that is a big step for him. Wolff worked really hard and held the ball up; he was a handful all night long.”

The former, who continues his recovery from serious injuries, echoed his mentor’s emphasis, “Coach Olsen has really been harping on me to be more physical and hold the ball up, and today I took a big step toward being that force up top where I can not only make runs, but hold the ball up for the team.”

His first goal in the run of play this year had featured a clever application of pressure to Chad Marshall and a sudden release which sent the Columbus defender to the ground. He used a similar move to twist around his Seattle marker on Wednesday to set up Wolff’s goal.

Asked about this application of judo-like balance, he explained it as the product of, “Four years of wrestling – In wrestling balance is a big thing…Not only that, but the mental toughness part. Wrestling is a sport where you’ve got to be really agile and have a lot of balance. That’s really helped me as far as making runs and being able to throw defenders off.”

Both he and Wolff share US National Team experience with Olsen. The strikers also share speed, both physical and mental. While the classic striking combination features a powerful and large player paired with a quick one, this tandem presents a unique danger with speed the main feature.

As Davies states it, “After tonight I think everyone knows ‘Hey, Charlie and Wolffie, you gotta watch out for both of them and we’re only gonna grow as a pair. I think it can be something special.” The pair has worked on cooperation over the past month and especially last week.

On a similar note, winger Chris Pontius has paid attention to positioning and movement on the field and advanced his own insight into United’s effective wing play, “Seattle’s midfielders tend to move inside. If can get the ball wide I can take on (James) Riley one on one.”

Seattle was confronted with an aggressive Najar on one side and usually chose to double mark him quickly. Pontius’ wide play opposite him forced the Sounders to either mark him and leave the middle less covered or allow him space to do just what he did in taking on Riley.

The emphasis on wide attacking play allowed United to slide Dax McCarty more into a defensive posture in which he and Clyde Simms were somewhat flatter with either player advancing as space opened up. Seattle’s tendency to play centrally, which Pontius noticed, did keep the center mids in a more protective mode most of the game, but allowed the two brilliant Najar passes to set up the winning goals.

The team continues to grow and learn, but still gave up many opportunities which the Sounders frittered away. The maturation process will continue on Saturday when FC Dallas comes to RFK at 7:30 PM.

Scoring Summary:
DC — Josh Wolff 2 (Charlie Davies 1, Andy Najar 1) 31
DC — Charlie Davies 6 (Josh Wolff 1, Andy Najar 2) 52
SEA — Brad Evans 4 (penalty kick) 71

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Ethan White (caution; Reckless Tackle) 13
DC — Charlie Davies (caution; Tactical Foul) 35
SEA — Nate Jaqua (caution; Reckless Foul) 55

Lineups:

Seattle Sounders — Kasey Keller, James Riley (Mauro Rosales 59), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Fredy Montero, Alvaro Fernandez (Leo Gonzalez 76), Nate Jaqua (Roger Levesque 64).
Substitutes Not Used: Servando Carrasco, Mike Fucito, Jeff Parke, Terry Boss.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Ethan White, Dejan Jakovic, Perry Kitchen, Daniel Woolard, Andy Najar (Fred 77), Dax McCarty, Clyde Simms (Stephen King 82), Chris Pontius (Santino Quaranta 49), Charlie Davies, Josh Wolff.
Substitutes Not Used: Blake Brettschneider, Chris Korb, Joseph Ngwenya, Steve Cronin.

Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Referee’s Assistants: Bill Dittmar; Paul Scott
4th Official: Daniel Fitzgerald
Time of Game: 1:50

Weather: Partly Cloudy and 52 degrees
Attendance: 11,254
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Assistants: Bill Dittmar, Paul Scott
4th official: Daniel Fitzgerald

Attendance: 11,254