Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
Picking up three points at league-leading Los Angeles on Friday will be a tough task for D.C. United, but seeing as the visitors are coming off a historic road result and getting both their captain and leading scorer back from injury for the contest, they might like their chances.
United has upgraded both midfielder Dax McCarty (groin strain) and striker Charlie Davies (hamstring) to probable on its injury report ahead of the clash of longtime MLS powers at the Home Depot Center. D.C. became the first MLS team to win on the road at Jeld-Wen Field on Sunday when it triumphed 3-2 over Portland despite missing those two key cogs.
McCarty will likely step into central midfield for Stephen King, while Davies will be competing for playing time up top with rookie Blake Brettschneider (two assists against Portland) as he works his way back from a three-week layoff.
Here is some more news from around the Eastern Conference:
CHICAGO FIRE
In addition to taking over interim coaching duties after the firing of Carlos De Los Cobos, technical director Frank Klopas will also carry the burden of searching for Chicago's next full-time boss, a responsibility he said will take time.
"We'll search everywhere," Klopas said to Chicago-Fire.com. "I think we've got to be adaptable to stuff. It always helps to be familiar with the league and the players, but there are other elements. We need to be adaptable. The search doesn't stop in this country or with former players or coaches that just rotate around."
COLUMBUS CREW
With midfielder Robbie Rogers away with the U.S. national team on Gold Cup duty, Crew coach Robert Warzycha will have to shuffle his lineup to replace the winger, a situation made all the more complicated by an ankle sprain to Dilly Duka, who beat out Rogers for an opening day start on the left flank.
One experiment he probably won't be trying again is playing left back Josh Gardner in midfield, where he struggled in the first half of this past weekend's 3-3 tie with Chivas USA. "That didn't work," Warzycha said to MLSsoccer.com. "There was a little bit of confusion."
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Although Houston has been slumping of late, one positive has been the play of midfielder Colin Clark, who continues to round into form after coming back from a knee injury that sidelined him for much of last season. Acquired in a September trade with Colorado, Clark helped 10-man Houston salvage a 2-2 draw against Dallas this past weekend with a dramatic 87th-minute equalizer.
"We knew when we made the trade that he's one of the more talented guys in the league that can play on the right or left," coach Dominic Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com. "He's been scoring some goals for us, which is a positive for his confidence. The better his confidence is, the better his play is and the more he's going to help us."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
As the Revolution prepares to battle FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park this weekend, the players know possession will be key if they are to handle the Texas heat and get a result on the road.
"You can’t be chasing," midfielder Pat Phelan said to RevolutionSoccer.net. "It's important to go out there and make the field as big as you can, do your work off the ball and get in good spots to maintain possession, because if you're just chasing around, they'll pick you apart."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
With Rafael Marquez, Tim Ream, Dwayne De Rosario, Dane Richards and Juan Agudelo all set to miss time for New York while playing the Gold Cup, the Red Bulls will have to lean on their depth, including youngsters such as Austin da Luz, who made his MLS debut during this past weekend's 1-1 tie with Vancouver.
"It was a good start. I was pleased I didn’t make any major mistakes," da Luz said. "But I have to work on my fitness more, get that up there so I can be ready to help and contribute more."
PHILADELPHIA UNION
The Union waived forward Chris Agorsor on Thursday, parting ways with the University of Virginia product who, after falling behind the likes of Carlos Ruiz, Danny Mwanga, Sebastien Le Toux and Jack McInerney in the pecking order up top, had yet to make a first-team appearance for Philadelphia.
Agorsor saw action with the Union’s reserve team in matches against the New York Red Bulls, D.C. United and Toronto FC, notching a goal against New York.
SPORTING KANSAS CITY
With Kansas City finally on the verge of ending its 10-game road trip to start the season and open Livestrong Sporting Park, The Kansas City Star noted the team will have traveled 29,062 miles before playing a home game this year, more than the entire circumference of the earth.
"I just all blends together," goalkeeper Eric Kronberg said. "You don't even realize where you are. You just go from airport to airport."
TORONTO FC
Forward Joao Plata made his international debut for Ecuador on Wednesday in front of the Toronto fans at BMO Field during a 2-2 tie with Canada, entering as a 92nd-minute substitute.
The 19-year-old will remain with his national team for a friendly against Greece in New York on June 7 before rejoining Toronto for a match at Los Angeles on June 11.
Houston needs a technical director. Just look at their international player acquisitions. Fail.
I keep saying that I”m hoping DC United brings in Agorsor for an extended trial — say, through October. What he needs is time and patience.
Clark looks like a good pick-up, and is even a little younger than Mullan. I hope Davis fits in at CM well . Cameron may work better as the DM in a diamond midfield than as the attacking midfielder. He did well as a CB, DM could be a good balance. Once Cruz gets healthy, and assuming he can displace Watson on the right, that will be a relentless midfield.
Dormant
dynao yes. quakes more like 2013, even then it might be close.
Yes and Yes
Next year the Dynamo and Earthquakes are set to have their own stadiums right?
any idea what sorta friendlies are scheduled for the Fall? Please tell me there will be some matches in the South? Like Charlotte or Orlando or Houston or Memphis?
Davies will score 20 league goals this season.
First, his “phantom” injury came in the first half (he didn’t even make it to halftime) and it possibly cost his team points (as DCU got only one point at home). Second, it’s highly unlikely that CD will start against LAG. Third, did you know that DC played exactly 1 MLS match between May 8th and May 28th? No-one on the team needed a fake injury in order to get rest.
CD wanted to play on the GC team. DCU is fine with players like Jakovic and Najar playing on their international teams and views it as a positive reflection on the club if it has full internationals on the roster. Bradley make it pretty clear in his comments that the primary reason CD was left off the GC team was that his full game isn’t back yet (which is true) and oh, yeah, not sure of his fitness due to injury. But the first thing he mentioned was that CD didn’t have his full game back yet.
Maybe Mark Hughes resigned from Fulham to manage the Chicago Fire……haha!!!
now that GC is set to start, voila! CD is ready to go again.
Nice timing for a harmless injury to pop up so that CD/BB/US team/DCU don’t have to deal with nonsense from fans, media, etc about CD being left off the team.
Also, gives him time to recuperate from playing a lot in the first part of the season for the first time in a while.
Yes, this is a conspiracy theory. I have a lot of them when it comes to certain “injuries”