D.C. United Player of the Month for May 2013

If you look at last month's player of the month post, the theme in the introduction was "brooding." And here we are a month later, still brooding. Because D.C. United's month of May wasn't much of an improvement - if at all - from it's godawful month of April. We did see a lone standings point earned this month, which is precisely one point better than last month's haul, so I suppose it's something. It's not much, but it's enough for us not to cancel the Player of the Month poll. Here are our nominees - please excuse us if it seems we had to stretch to fil out the four slots.

Kyle Porter - The Canadian winger has been among United's most consistent players this year. He's not playing at some rarified level, but he has been a step above the rest of his teammates, if only because he's actually willing to try things to put the ball toward and into the other team's net. It paid off this month as he scored his second first tally as a member of the Black-and-Red.

Nick DeLeon - Another player who has yet to give up the fight, even if he hasn't reached his previous heights as a player so far this year. After returning from injury this month, Nicky found himself playing a central position that many readers at this site had been calling for, but that he'd never occupied in his career. He did well, partnering with Perry Kitchen to give the defense a bit of shielding and to funnel the ball forward into the attack. His versatility has given Ben Olsen tactical options beyond substitutions that he didn't have available previously.

Sainey Nyassi - He's played no league minutes and made his debut just this week in extra time of United's U.S. Open Cup match at Richmond. But that means he hasn't been responsible for any of the team's myriad on-field issues. And that's enough to earn a nomination this month. Blerg.

bjohnsondc - He tried to warn us. He did. He saw deep issues very early in the season and called them out. But we didn't listen. We said it would get better, but it hasn't yet. The commenter gets a nomination for trying to at least spare us the pain of having lofty expectations battered by reality.

So there they are - probably the worst crop of Player of the Month nominees we've seen in this site's history. Who gets your vote?