If D.C. United were playing better, this would be billed as a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference finals. And technically, Wednesday’s visit from Houston still is, though if you’re picking from storylines to promote tonight’s game at RFK, 2012 nostalgia would be pretty far down the list. Coming off a huge win in Los Angeles, the Dynamo are justifying preseason hype that slotted them at the top of the Eastern Conference. Ben Olsen’s team, however, is in free fall.
[MORE: PST’s Power Rankings capture D.C.’s slide]
The explanation for D.C.’s slide: Nothing’s working. Along with New England, they’ve got the league’s worst attack (four goals in eight games), but unlike the Revolution, they’re having trouble preventing goals. Only three teams have allowed more than United’s 13. With that combination of inept offense and poor defense, it’s no surprise United have the league’s worst record.
Two months ago, though, that would have been a hard one to call. D.C. was coming off a second place finish in the East and looked set to push on. With young players like Nick DeLeon, Perry Kitchen, Chris Korb and Bill Hamid, there was reason to believe they would improve, especially with another year under Olsen’s belt. Instead, D.C. United’s experiencing a power outage. Partly due to health reasons, Olsen’s yet to get a goal from DeLeon, Dwayne De Rosario, or Chris Pontius, while imported strikers Rafael, Carlos Ruiz, and Lionard Pajoy (acquired late last year) have only three. Right now, there’s just nothing there, which only magnifies the problems of a defense threatening to revert to 2011 form.
The Houston Dynamo are near the other end of the spectrum, their points-per-game rate ranking second in the Eastern Conference. And coming off a road win over the Galaxy, there’s reason to think Dom Kinnear’s team is transcending their current standing. Where road performance has been a problem with Houston in recent years, the Dynamo got a convincing victory at a venue where they’re lost the last two MLS Cup finals. That their captain and best player, Brad Davis, was suspended for the game made the victory all the more impressive.
This is exactly what we expected from Houston: a team which, bringing back almost its entire squad, would be able to get even better with a little more time and talent. On the talent end, that means the additions of Andrew Driver, Eric Brunner, and (the seldom used) Omar Cummings providing the depth Kinnear needs to improve on last year’s fifth place finish. And with time, Ricardo Clark’s a bigger part of the team, Corey Ashe and Kofie Sarkodie have continued to improve, while Gilles Barnes has asserted himself playing behind Will Bruin.
Tonight’s matchup at RFK pits a complete team against one without answers, and unfortunately for United, they need the result more. But with Houston coming off a big road win, D.C. can’t count on the Dynamo’s old road woes tilting this one in their favor.
