DC United Inactives Outnumber Actives
by Martin Shatzer on Oct 7, 2025 10:29 PM EDT
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PrintThis 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?
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Hernandez
At this point its got to be a mind game, he’s had some nice games, I like him in there better than some of the others we’ve tried. (Though he doesn’t hold a candle to Niel of course) If he doesn’t score soon though, it may be hard to justify keeping him on the roster.
by Irrlicht on Oct 8, 2025 1:21 PM EDT reply actions
Goff says Moreno is fit and may even start. Everything’s coming up Milhouse!
Nonetheless, the point stands. The center back pairing of Simms and Zayner is especially troubling. We are catching a break with San Jose missing Ryan Johnson (who will be playing for Jamaica); his size and aerial ability are things that Simms and Zayner just wouldn’t be able to compete with, no matter how much effort they put into it.
Still, a quick look at the San Jose roster tells me that we’ll either be seeing Chris Wondolowski back up top (side note: what ridiculous world is Frank Yallop living in where he moves his 12 goal scorer to a wide midfield role? Maybe I’m just jealous of a team that has a striker that is scoring for fun and makes peanuts, but there’s no way I push Wondolowski wide) or 6’4" Brazilian Eduardo. Eduardo was supposed to be the big early season signing for the Quakes, but he spent virtually the whole season injured. He’s supposed to be fit now, and he’s a full 6 inches taller than our tallest center back for Saturday. Pair that height advantage with the fact that the Quakes love to feed the ball to Bobby Convey for crosses, and I think we’re going to have some big problems.
Of course, I thought Colorado would wipe the floor with us. Hope springs eternal?
by ChestRockwell on Oct 8, 2025 2:13 PM EDT reply actions
No Excuses for SJ
if they slip on this banana peel. DC should not have a chance without all those quality starters. If those inactive players like Hamid, Najar, Boskovic, Jakovic et al were active then it would be a different story.
You are 100% right, Wondolowski better be pushed back up top.
Convey may be playing LB again instead of LM.
Win or lose, we will always be here for you.
by johnjahafanclub on Oct 8, 2025 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions
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