Caught in Possession

Former DC United boss Peter/Piotr Nowak, presently leading the US footie delegation in China, had a number of important phrases he would use as touchstones/talking points when talking to media during his time in DC. One of his favorites ran something along the lines of, "always ve haff to do tree tings: run, fight ant play good zoccer," essentially emphasizing a sort of holy trinity of fitness, spirit and technical/tactical quality as central tenets of his team's style.

All three were/are important to Nowak-led teams, but the first two were the most important because they were the easiest to control and produce. In many ways his current and former teams -- Chicago, D.C., the U.S. U23 National team and probably going all the way back to his Bundesliga playing days, too -- reflect differing variations on that philosophy...but I digress. The point is that even on a day when your touch is off or you're a step slow or the rhythm just isn't quite clicking, you can still dig in and get something out of a game with the proverbial p*ss and vinegar.

Rivalry games are usually decided on this aspect, too. When DC United heads up to the Meadowlands tomb of turf on Sunday to try and nab some league points from Red Bull while still keeping one eye on Tuesday's USOC visit from the Revs, is there going to be enough cussedness on the (plastic) field to do the dirt, as they say? Or does a fired-up Red Bull side get it just by wanting it more, having little else to think about?

I think it's safe to say that the Olympic Nats' best hopes for the big clash with Clockwork Oranje lie in turning that match into a bit of a streetfight, too. Who wants it more?

(But maybe some people just want to be loved, and get tired of conflict and enmity, especially when it mysteriously follows them everywhere they go. It's important to keep scoring goals or whatever else it is you're good at, though.)

The rivalry factor sometimes brings out the best in the press box, too.

If there's one thing to be thankful for when it comes to the explosion of the U.S. footie media blogosphere, it's potshots du snark like the ones that occasionally fly back and forth between foes like TOR and MLSR, and oh, let's say...a major-daily pack leader and the tenacious commuter daily dog snapping at his heels!

Goff gets scooped on the VW announcement and doesn't like it...now Craig throws some ever-so-subtle 'bows...y me encanta! I work alongside both of these guys and find them to be smart, decent, hard-working gentlemen -- but so competitive, eh?

When I visited RFK on Wednesday to chat with some DC United players in advance of Saturday night's home match against the K.C. Wizards, I was fortunate to get a little time with Ben Olsen. Olsen is usually -- and understandably -- reluctant to talk to media too much these days, since with his ankle troubles he's spent virtually no time on the field this season and would prefer to direct attention to the guys who have.

But Benny is obviously one of the most engaging personalities on the team and his insights on the game remain as sharp as ever. We talked briefly about United's recent struggles and he offered the following observations.

"The obvious part of it is, we got some big guns out. We need those back. I think this team believes in the reserves and players that haven’t gotten much time, but with that comes a loss of cohesiveness...

But saying that, I think we need to start gutting out some wins. If it isn’t working soccer-wise, we can still kind of get the other stuff right, the marking and the fighting and the things like that. I’ve seen a lot of teams go through injury stretches and gut out wins, gut out results until the guys that have gotten us those eight wins in a row get back."

After a gritty but effective display like this, I think it's safe to say, "mission accomplished," for now.