DC United season assesment and thoughts on Jaime Moreno

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The MASR today ltalks to Coach Nowak, Eskandarian, and Bryan Namoff about United's season so far. As a fan, you have to be happy with the best start ever, and being in 2nd place this early should pay off later in the season, barring a devastating losing streak.

They also discuss Moreno's form, which after a promising start has slumped. I'm a bit confused about what to make of some statements made by Nowak who says of the Bolivian international "[I think sometimes he needs to play the ball a little faster and simple. He needs to use the options around him and create space for other people, like our second line players, such as Christian [Gomez] and Freddy", and later says the biggest weakness on the team is the coaching "That's mainly me".]{.bodyText}

So, he's asking Moreno to sort of play against his nature. Moreno has always been prone to dribble a bit much and pass up what look like decent shots on goals. So Peter's critique that he needs to play faster and use the options around him are valid. But then he goes on to say he should play more like Gomez and Freddy, who are midfield players, not forwards. Talk about confusing - maybe that's one of the coaching weaknesses? Is Moreno being asked to play a game much different than what he's used to? 

A better writer than me would go back and recollect on Moreno's stellar 2004 season to see what he was doing right. Definitely toward the end of that season, it seemed Gomez, Eskandarian, and Moreno had a near perfect understanding of how each of them could be dangerous. They may need to sort that out again.

Tags: Bolivia, Goals, People, Soccer, Space

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Garber meets with Potentional DC United Investors

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Dan Steinberg reports that Don Garber met with potential DC United investors, and hints at expansion . Its reassuring to see Kevin Payne is actually getting interest in the team from new owners, and that we're not constantly titilated with announcements in 60-90 days.

Garber declined to identify the group he met with yesterday, but said that the potential for a soccer-specific facility at Poplar Point in Anacostia has made the team attractive to would-be investors with an interest in real estate development, and that locating a single-team ownership group would help cement United's status as a model franchise.

Tags: Soccer

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Alaska Pictures

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My good friend Dave is getting married at the end of this month. Instead of the usual bachelor party, and since he was going to be in Alaska doing work, he wanted to spend a weekend in a remote cabin in Alaska. The hiking was challenging and the landscapes around us were spectacular. I've posted some pics, including thess bear tracks that we came across during on Saturday.

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Tags: Real Life

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