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This has got to be unprecedented.
There are plenty of MLS teams that have struggled with injuries, discipline, and international call-ups before. It's hampered D.C. United in years past. But never before like this.
I'm not one to blame our poor record on injuries, but it's definitely been a factor for United this year. Obviously the front office deserves some blame for assembling a roster with so many aging and fragile individuals, but you've also just got to chalk some of it up to bad luck.
Clyde Simms has played his fewest minutes since 2006. Our best player over the course of 2009 was Chris Pontius, and I still don't think he's played a single game at 100% this year. Fellow sophomore Rodney Wallace appeared in just 11 games, and his competition at left back Marc Burch saw action only four times.
We could actually field an entire roster of inactive players. And if they were to scrimmage against our active players, they would probably win.
Active players:
| Perkins | ||||
| Graye | McTavish | Simms | Zayner | |
| King | Morsink | |||
| Varela | Quaranta | |||
| Hernandez | Allsopp | |||
| Bench: Cristman, Junior | ||||
Inactive players:
| Hamid | ||||
| Namoff | James | Jakovic | Burch | |
| Barklage | Boskovic | |||
| Najar | Wallace | |||
| Moreno | Pontius | |||
| Bench: Pena, Rice | ||||
If these two sides were to scrimmage when fully healthy, the match might not even be close.
Jed Zayner wouldn't stand a chance against Andy Najar. Especially not when he'd also have to deal with Bryan Namoff overlapping from the back. The Inactives' central midfield of Brandon Barklage and Branko Boskovic would dominate that of the Actives. And Wallace would be back in the position that earned him three goals and three assists last season.
On the other side, I'm not sure I see the Actives scoring any goals against this group. Burch looked to be having his best season defensively before suffering another injury, and Julius James may be on his way to becoming a premier MLS central back. Perhaps the best strategy for the Actives to score would be just lobbing the ball over the top to Danny Allsopp and waiting for Dejan Jakovic to make a mistake.
Yeah, so this is depressing. And if I can't come up with a reliable way for our current list of active players to score against the worst team in MLS, how are they going to score against the playoff-bound San Jose Earthquakes?