New England Revolution 1 : 0 D.C. United

Or

Why United is Like Reading a Weekly Jobs Report

United is not a very good team, and perhaps that becomes most apparent as they fail to beat other teams that, well, aren’t particularly good.  The annoying thing is that if I wanted to strap on the rose colored glasses and talk about progress, and pride, and playing for the shirt, I could.  There is an argument to be made that United had better possession in this match than in most of the last five league matches, that they actually manufactured chances, that the team as a whole defended decently.  Of course, the fact that United wasn’t defending a Robbie Findley or Dane Richards who could torch the back line probably helped (No, Nyassi does not count as a speed demon.)  And the fact that the players were playing up for a new manager.  And the fact that New England is running out a team of subs and hacks.  And the fact that Shalrie Joseph is many things, but a great playmaker in the center is not one of them (He’s a hell of a good central mid, or holding mid, but he’s not a classical #10).

It’s as if we so desperately want things to be better that we imagine goodness all the time.  Even United’s official website has this problem (OK, this is probably a typo and not a case a Pravda, but still, and that’s my highlighting added)…

United's website indicated a nil nil draw, not a one-nil loss

See, everything looks better, until you remember that United is essentially graded on a curve this match, at which point everything is recolored to suck.  To pay off on the metaphor at the top of this post, it’s as if we were told “Good news!  The Economy lost only 20,000 jobs last week.”  See, we’re still losing jobs, but not as many, so that’s progress right?  Only the economy would have lost 120,000 jobs if not for temporary census work.  And industrial orders are down.

I want things to be better as well.  But I can’t say they’ve gotten there until United puts together some points in league matches.

QUICK UPDATE: The only possible reason for the existence of Adam Christman is for him to score garbage goals.  If he can’t do that, when presented multiple opportunities, then he needs to go.  In other words: Seconded.