I am down here in Florida enjoying the 70 degree days, the seafood and DC United preseason soccer. But it was chilly at the game, about 56 degrees with wind sweeping off Tampa Bay. We parked right next to the stadium amidst the Rowdy fans, no pun intended. I did spot one other DC United tailgater. The security getting into the stadium was tight. In fact it was much more thorough than in DC. We were wanded with a metal detector and of course I forgot to put my cell phone in the tray. Sheepishly I had to take it out and handed it to one of the security guards. Security guards walked the aisles of the stands, once helping a small child find his parents. Way to go guys. It just surprised me that the security would be so tight in St. Petersburg, Florida compared to Washington DC. I felt like I was traveling to the Middle East instead of a second division soccer game.

Lang stadium is designed for baseball, so the seats are mostly crowded around one of the flagpoles, formerly home plate. As a nod towards soccer, the Rowdies have built midfield seats along the west side of the stadium. I know the game is streaming in DC, so I will be mostly commenting on the off the ball play and the newcomer sightings. During the introductions Acosta looked like one of the youth players. Once the game started he looked much older than his 21 years. He and Espindola already have chemistry after 24 hours. How is that possible? His position was more like a withdrawn forward than an offensive midfielder. It's still undetermined what kind of formation the new DC United will have, but this team was more offensively minded than last year, at least in the first half.

Clowes looked great at center midfield. He had a few turnovers, but really put himself in good spots to defend and also to relay passes from the back. He seems like a super intelligent player, almost like a leader. I would be surprised if DCU let him go. Rob Vincent also looks like he belongs on the team. He was always in the thick of the action and making good passes. He was doing this while Nyarko on the other side of the field was waiting for the ball to come to him. I also liked the way Buescher played. He was very active and showed very well. He looks like a solid addition.

I know that many will disagree, but I think DeLeon is better on the wing. He is good at possessing the ball in center midfield and played well defensively, but lacks the passing vision for that position. He may improved, but presently he is half a loaf at center midfield. On the wing he would have done 100% better than Nyarko, who was totally unimpressive.

The German goalkeeper Kirsten flat out saved the game. He positioned himself very well all night and came up with some big saves. I'm not sure they have a foreign slot for him, but he would be a great addition at least until Bill Hamid returns to the field. Unfortunately Robinson made some really bad plays in his positioning, and he also let the ball and the player get behind him at several points in the game. This is a cardinal sin for a central defender. He does not seem ready for prime time. Martin is still a work in progress. As a center of the park player he did not influence the game enough. Aguilar got beat several times down his side of the field and never made much of an impact on the game. Supposedly he has improved, but it was a script from last year. To be fair he was playing with the second team.

The second half was like a fire drill. Tampa substituted all of their players and DC United by the end had no starters on the field. The announcer was so overwhelmed he did not get around to the DC substitutes for 15 minutes. The DC United goal was also suspect. The replay (shown on the Tampa Bay stadium screen) showed that Acosta grabbed the Tamp player by the arm, an obvious foul. Then to make things worse, the ball seemed to go out of bounds. The crowd went crazy after the replay. The referee kept his whistle in his pocket, perhaps a sign he also is in pre-season form. To be fair, one of the Tampa break-aways was preceded by an obvious push. Petrescu did alright for most of the game, but just missed some obvious important calls.

I had many layers on and was still somewhat chilled. Our neighbors who were Rowdy fans said they were going to build a bonfire. They were huddled together in blankets. At halftime I asked the whereabouts of said bonfire and they admitted, "Unfortunately we ran out of matches." But it is 70 degrees today (day after the game), and the forecast is 68 for game time on Wednesday. Sorry guys!

One preseason game down and two more to go!