DC United All-Decade Team: Second Starting Central Defender
by Martin Shatzer on Apr 9, 2025 6:53 AM EDT
in All-Decade Team
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PrintFor the final position in the All-Decade Team's starting lineup, we turn once again to the defense to try to find a central defensive partner for Ryan Nelsen. The first round of voting for central defense wasn't as close as I thought it would be, with Nelsen running away with 69% of the vote.
Will this one be closer? There are some very strong candidates below, including an MLS Defender of the Year winner, a member of the 2004 MLS Cup winning team, and a player who was a big part of United's early history, although not quite as much in this decade. Most have gone on to bigger and better things, but only one player from this group played in more than three seasons, and he happens to still be on the team.
The candidates are:
Bobby Boswell (2005-2007), 80 matches, 4 goals, 4 assists
Devon McTavish (2006-2009), 64 matches, 1 goal, 4 assists
Mike Petke (2003-2005), 58 matches, 5 goals, 1 assist
Eddie Pope (2000-2002), 57 matches, 1 goal, 5 assists
Facundo Erpen (2005-2007), 49 matches, 4 goals, 4 assists
Judah Cooks (2000-2001), 16 matches, 2 goals, 1 assist
Please make your selection and go ahead and tell me why in the comments section.
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I went with Boswell. Pope really didn’t play all that well for United in 2001 and 2002. Sure, part of that was down to being surrounded by crap players, and it also looked like Rongen spent no time on team defending whatsoever, but still. I always had the impression that, once things went south here, he would have preferred to be somewhere else.
Boswell had a couple of pretty good seasons on teams that went forward with a borderline reckless approach. I think he edges it, even if his last season here was underwhelming. Seeing him do so well in Houston’s back four after struggling a bit in ours underlines the difference between Tom Soehn and Dom Kinnear.
by ChestRockwell on Apr 9, 2025 7:12 AM EDT reply actions
That’s an interesting thought. So you think it was Soehn’s fault that Boswell went from Defender of the Year in 2006 under Nowak to losing his starting job to Greg Vanney in 2007 under Soehn?
by Martin Shatzer on Apr 9, 2025 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions
I wouldn’t use the word “fault,” but I do think that Boswell needed a lot of coaching at the time. Given Boswell’s play in Houston, it seems safe to say that Boswell’s development went faster under Kinnear than it would have under Soehn.
It’s not as much about blame as it is one more sign that Kinnear is a better coach than Soehn (not that there aren’t enough such signs).
by ChestRockwell on Apr 10, 2025 3:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Boz
Still wish we’d been able to hold onto Boz. Big, good on set pieces, calm on the ball. Not perfect but who in MLS is. Plus when Boz left we had to experience Peralta.
by Irrlicht on Apr 9, 2025 12:41 PM EDT reply actions
Don't forget that we traded him for Zach Wells
Who is coming to mind far too often these days as I watch Perkins.
by Brendanukkah on Apr 11, 2025 1:42 AM EDT up reply actions
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