Sports Talk: United Tries to Wake Up Sans Stars

WITH JAY NOLLY MAKING his D.C. United debut, goalkeeper Troy Perkins filled the role of observer rather than starter during the June 23 game at winless Real Salt Lake. He didn't like what he saw.

"Just watching people warm up, you knew it was going to be a long night," he said. "We weren't focused on what we were going to do. You see so many different things when you're watching the game. It's frustrating. You're sitting there kicking the bench. You want to get up and go, and you can't."

Perkins could do nothing as United (5-4-2) lay down before the worst team in MLS, suffering a 2-1 loss that ended the momentum generated by its streak of seven games without a loss. The opportunity to start a new streak comes Thursday night in a nationally televised home game against the Colorado Rapids (4-6-3).

"We have to work hard and come out with a fighting mentality. We didn't do that in Salt Lake," coach Tom Soehn said. "It was one game, and we're going to go back to where we were before that."

To do that, Soehn will have to find a way to compensate for the absences of captain Jaime Moreno, midfield anchor Ben Olsen and central defender Bobby Boswell, all of whom are in Venezuela for the Copa America. Moreno scored in Bolivia's 2-2 draw with Venezuela on Tuesday, while Olsen and Boswell joined the American team on Monday and will be available for Thursday night's opener against heavily favored and fully stocked Argentina.

Defender Devon McTavish likely will get his fourth start of the season in place of Boswell, but the situation is murkier in midfield, where there is no obvious fill-in for Olsen.

"Everybody loses guys at times, and the next guy gets an opportunity," Soehn said. "Guys know their roles in the system and can come in and fill those gaps."

Written by Express contributor Brian Straus
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images