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Ben Olsen has been busy in his first off-season as head coach of the Black-and-Red, and like Olsen the player, his acquisitions have a lot more than heart going for them.

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Hey, boys and girls, AMT here. You might recognize me from such hits as my curious defenses of Kurt "The Turnover/The Yellow Card" Morsink in some comment threads, or my SuperDraft SuperConjecture SuperFuntime FanPost. It's entirely possible you don't recognize me at all, in which case, Hi! I'm Adam. I digress. I'm your newest humble blogger here at B&RU, and I'll be popping up here on the main page every week or so to offer my take on all things United. I hope you enjoy it. Agree or disagree (especially if you disagree!) I hope to hear it from you in the comments. ¡Vamos United!

I'll put it right out front: I'm optimistic about D.C. United this year. I think a healthy Chris Pontius and Clyde Simms, an in-shape Branko Boskovic, and competition at nearly every position on the field will go a long way toward righting the ship after what can only be described as a disastrous 2010. Obviously, though, the team did not stand pat with the personnel from last season; there are going to be a lot of new faces at RFK come March 19.

A lot has been made on the Twitternet and here at B&RU about the nature of these acquisitions. Dax McCarty's motor, Josh Wolff's tenacity, Perry Kitchen's leadership, and even the World Cup-sized chip on Charlie Davies' shoulder have all been compared favorably with Ben Olsen's attributes as a player.

I won't deny these similarities - hell, I've been making plenty of hay about them myself. I'll even go so far as to say that everybody is right to say that motor/tenacity/leadership/etc. are all things United didn't have enough of last year, and the team will be better for having more of those Olsenesque qualities this year.

However, with all the talk about these intangibles, there has been a lot less discussion of the other qualities the new acquisitions bring into the mix - you know, the attributes you can measure. Just like everybody who underestimated Olsen's skill as a player wound up on the wrong side of the scoreline, those who look at his team as nothing more than scrappy players are going to be in for a surprise.

Jump with me, won't you, and we'll delve a bit deeper into the tangible benefits the Olsen's Army set brings to the table.

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After months of building up the anticipation, MLS has finally decided that five weeks before First Kick would be a good time to release the 2011 MLS schedule.

We learned today that D.C. United will be featured in primetime on ESPN2 three times in 2011, including one at home against the Red Bulls on Apr. 21. United is also fortunate enough to have two matches in the same week just once in the first half of the season (hosting the Seattle Sounders on May 4 and FC Dallas on May 7), but close out the year with two multi-game weeks in the final month of the season. They team will also finish the season the same way they're starting it - with important matches against Eastern Conference rivals with a possible battle for playoff position. Four of United's last five games are against the Philadelphia Union, Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire, and Sporting Kansas City.

The only downside I see in the schedule is that two of the typically best traveled road games - Philadelphia and Chicago - will both be on Thursday nights, which could complicate some travel/vacation plans.

Another big part of today's schedule announcement was what was left unsaid, as Brian Straus of Fanhouse pointed out earlier this week. We still don't know what the playoff format will be, and we still don't have a new TV deal with the league in place. Comcast SportsNet is sure to pick up somewhere in the range of 16-22 or so games in addition to the six that are already on TV. But what about the rest? Will FSC or Versus step up?

The full schedule for United follows below the jump:

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Charlie Davies entered training camp with D.C. United last week with his head on straight and a chip on his shoulder. Just like any other trialist. Who happened to have once been just months away from starting for his country in the World Cup before suffering devastating injuries in a city he would later try to play for.

When I spoke with Davies via conference call last week, he gave all the right answers. I asked him about possibly being the last remaining missing link necessary to help United score more goals in 2011 and maybe even return to the playoffs. Davies wanted none of it.

As far as now, I think my goal is to show that I'm ready. That I have what it takes to help the team. That's all I'm thinking about right now.

The goal of just making the team could be accomplished in the next few days. According to Steven Goff, Davies will be in D.C. for a medical evaluation tomorrow, and the team is expected to make a final decision on whether or not to add the forward to the roster by the end of this week. And so this thrilling and unexpected saga will conclude, either positively or negatively, just a few days after it started.

Its hard to resist reading too much into this new information. Has the team already decided to keep Davies and are going through the medical review process as a mere formality? Or has United already decided that Davies isn't worth the risk and isn't worth the money ($300,000 or so, per Goff) and are just looking for a good excuse to cut the guy loose without causing PR problems in the U.S. Soccer community that desperately wants Davies to be back to full strength?

Either way, I don't read anything into the fact that Davies didn't play in the preseason match against Florida International University earlier today. It was a match meant for United's reserves. Kurt Morsink, Devon McTavish, and the like. Andy Najar and Dax McCarty didn't play either. Davies' one goal and one assist against the Canada U-20s is what we need to be focusing on. Even if they are just kids.

Its crazy to believe that this will all be over soon. Will we be celebrating the addition of yet another talented young option for United? Or will we be left depressed, feeling as disappointed as we all felt after the home opener a year ago?

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My love for Kyle Beckerman is about all that's keeping me from wanting Real Salt Lake to fail miserably this season.

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If you've been following this blog for more than a few months, then you know that the MLS Power Rankings are something that we cherish around here. Even when the teams have barely just started playing preseason games, Power Rankings are a great way to see where your team stacks up.

The SB Nation MLS team does Power Rankings different from most folks. We operate under the standard that teams shouldn't be ranked 1-18. Rather, there are four general tiers of teams. I handed the reigns of the Power Rankings over to Jeremiah Oshan for this season, and the results can be found here.

For DC United, finding itself in the third tier is already a significant improvement for a club that spent every single week in the bottom tier in 2010. We even managed to somehow get one first tier vote, and it didn't come from me. We also managed to get one last place vote, which I still believe to be totally unfounded and based far outside reality.

The rest of our collective rankings follow pretty closely to my own. Real Salt Lake is the only team unanimously in the top tier, which makes me want to root against them pretty hard. As much as I like Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando, there's a certain arrogance to that organization and its fanbase that doesn't quite line up with their trophy case, which contains only one item at this point.

What do you think about our opening MLS Power Rankings? D.C. being ranked towards the top of the third tier seems pretty fair at this point. Will we shoot up higher once Charlie Davies is signed?

D.C. United played the closest thing to a competitive match of 2011 yesterday. And even though it was only his second day practicing with the team, Charlie Davies played all 60 minutes of the intra-squad scrimmage. Here's the video, via dcunited.com.

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Santino Quaranta has been demonstrating that he's got what it takes be captain of this team.

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Its been a very exciting and newsworthy second week of training camp for DC United. Fortunately for the players, they've been able to get out and kick the ball around in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, rather than needing their coach to shovel snow off the RFK Auxiliary Field like last year.

Here are some notable stories from some of the talented writers who cover the team over the past several days:

• Here's a story from Brian Straus of AOL Fanhouse detailing why false Honduran media reports could actually scare Andy Najar away from playing for that country's national team. Straus hypothesizes that the lack of soccer fanaticism in the U.S. could actually steer Najar towards wearing the red, white, and blue.
• I meant to link this earlier in the week, but Steve Goff of the Washington Post provides us with an update on Santino Quaranta and his battles with addiction. We can see how training camp would be a difficult time for Quaranta, but it sounds like he's fully aware of the consequences and is coming in prepared. Can't help but be proud of him.
• Lots of great stuff on dcunited.com related to Charlie Davies. In this interview with Alex Caulfield, Davies speaks about his excitement to return to the playing field, his good fortune to be joining a team full of young players, and his thrill to be coming to the place where he received so much love following his accident. There's also an interview with Ben Olsen posted on the site where he comes really close to using the word rebuilding.
• Travis Clark of MLSsoccer.com details the three unsigned rookies in training camp for United - Chris Korb, Joe Willis, and Blake Brettschneider. It may be too soon to tell on the other two, but Korb definitely looks to be in good position to make the roster.
• An analytic analysis from our friend Michael Hund of Fullback Files shirt color distribution in MLS, in reaction to United's unveiling of their third jersey. Complete with charts and graphs. Woah!
• And finally, United will be holding a media conference call with Olsen and Davies tomorrow afternoon, and barring any unforeseen fires at the office, I plan on being on it. What would be the best question you'd like to hear asked of either individual?

Charlie Davies will be joining DC United in Florida today to begin his evaluation. In Chest Rockwell's story yesterday reacting to the announcement, he called the move a master stroke. Once I quit giggling and realized that "master stroke" isn't a sex act, I decided that I totally agree.

You see, Davies isn't like any of the other U.S. National Team players who have returned to MLS via the Allocation System. Kasey Keller, Brian McBride, Bobby Convey, Troy Perkins, Jay DeMerit, Kenny Cooper - they all came to MLS because that was the next step they wanted to take in their careers. And the clubs that received their rights received them due to their place in the Allocation rankings. Not through much of any work of their own doing.

Davies is different. Because D.C. United is different. United found itself in a unique place this month. Top of the MLS Allocation order while still in preseason, and around the time that European clubs are considering moving players who aren't getting much field time. It was the perfect storm.

Davies coming to D.C. isn't luck or good fortune. If any other team were at the top of the Allocation list instead of D.C., Davies would probably be staying in France. United sought him out. The innovative approach was that they used Allocation as a tool for acquisition - not just something to keep in their pocket in hopes that some Yank Abroad would decide to return home later this summer.

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Where there's smoke, there's fire. DC United confirmed just a few minutes ago that FC Sochaux and US national team striker Charlie Davies will join the club's training camp in Fort Lauderdale, FL for what the Black-and-Red are calling a one-week "evaluation." United says that Davies will have to prove his fitness in training sessions, scrimmages, and will undergo a full medical administered by team doctors. The terms of the deal between Davies, Sochaux, United, and MLS are agreed upon by all sides; if Davies proves himself fit, he will join DC on a twelve month loan.

This news has obviously generated quite a buzz. Anything concerning Davies is already big news amongst US fans after the horrific, fatal car accident that nearly ended his career. Meanwhile, everyone that follows MLS knows that DC's biggest weakness is the lack of a big-time goalscorer. Within the realm of even remote possibility, there are few (if any) potential names that could create a bigger splash amongst United fans. Davies, for his part, seems excited.

Still, it's important to stay grounded. Davies has not played a competitive, top-level match since the accident in October of 2009. Sochaux has given him time in reserve matches - the rough equivalent of the French 4th division - and he has made the bench just once this season (and even that was considered more of a reward for his hard work rather than a serious move to use him in Sochaux's match against Bordeaux).

Read past the jump to see me more or less ignore that paragraph.

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If you were looking for major news out of MLS today, you got it. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the conference call this morning announcing the 2011 MLS All-Star Game in Red Bull Arena.

Steven Goff of the Washington Post is reporting that U.S. forward and national treasure Charlie Davies could be joining MLS on a one-year loan deal, and with D.C. United currently sitting at the top of the Allocation List , D.C. would be his destination. Although its not quite guaranteed that MLS is where Davies will go, Goff believes that a decision will be reached within the next 24-48 hours.

Lyle Yorks, Davies' agent, said that "we're in discussions for a loan possibility" but declined to identify a club or country. Although the international transfer window closed Monday in most of Europe, it does not prevent clubs from loaning or transferring talent to leagues that have open windows. MLS's acquisition period does not end until April 15. Some Scandinavian countries are also able to acquire players. Before moving to Sochaux, Davies played for Hammarby in Sweden.

Some have noted that there would still be some hurdles to be crossed. MLS has a requirement that any loan deal must include an option to buy. Would Davies’ current club Sochaux go for that? Its not like Davies has been playing in anything other than a reserve team role. Or would MLS bend the rules slightly to allow this blockbuster move to happen? This wouldn’t be the first time that MLS has bent its own rules.

This could be a great move for everyone involved. United gets the forward that the club has been sorely missing. They’d be solving the weakest link on the roster, and would have to be considered the most improved club in all of MLS going into the 2011 season. Davies would be arriving in a place where he would be embraced and where he could enter the starting lineup immediately. And Sochaux would be unloading the salary of a player who they probably don’t expect to contribute in 2011.

Obviously there are risks as well. Davies might not be the scorer that he was prior to his accident, and might not be worth the money. It would also be a lot of pressure on Davies as he’d likely become the face of the franchise. Although I’m pretty sure that pressure is something he’s handled before.

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Could Andy Najar help D.C. United defeat the 2010 College Cup Champions?

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The Akron Zips won the NCAA National Championship in 2010 with a 22-1-2 record, and had five players selected in the first round of MLS Draft 2011 earlier this month. It was their best season ever. D.C. United finished in last place in MLS in 2010 with a 6-20-4 record and are now in the process of rebuilding. It was their worst season ever.

The natural question then is this: Which team would win in a real match, the 2010 Akron Zips or the 2010 D.C. United?

The answer could depend somewhat on the rules, since professional soccer is different from college soccer. For example, in college soccer the clock counts down, teams are allowed unlimited substitutions, and whoever is closest to the ball when it goes out of bounds earns the throw-in.

Assuming we are playing under standard FIFA rules as used in MLS, I’ve got a hunch that D.C. United would win. Mainly because these are grown ass men playing against younger, smaller, and less experienced kids. While the Zips might have an edge in natural ability, possessing at least five of the most talented college soccer players in the country, and quite possibly the best and most promising American coach at any level, United should still have an advantage. Plus, since this match would technically be considered a friendly, United should prevail, because they always win friendlies. Especially if they're on Wednesdays.

You don’t believe me? Ok. Don’t just take my word for it then. Read on and you’ll see how I think this match would really turn out.

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