If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That was perhaps one of the lessons learned by D.C. United and head coach Tom Soehn in last season’s “nightmare” campaign, where “injuries, underachievement and simple bad luck conspired to produce one of the most trying years in the club’s existence,” writes MLSnet.com’s Charles Boehm.
So for 2009, it’s back to what worked and delivered the team back-to-back Supporter’s Shield trophies with the league’s best regular-season record in both 2006 and 2007.
Gone are highly touted (but injury-plagued and salary-sapping) Argentine World Cup veteran Marcelo Gallardo and Honduran international Ivan Guerrero, and back in the fold are the playmaking skills of 2006 league MVP Christian Gomez and a healthier version of gutsy MLS Ironman Ben Olsen.