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POSTED May 14, 4:16 PM

Back to the blog. With VW, the DCU/Chicago debacle, Fulham's escape, what a week it's been...

Here's where we stand:
D.C. United closed practice today. No one can possibly be allowed to see whether Marcelo Gallardo or Fred are actually kicking a ball again. I said stop looking!

Next, spoke with Luciano Emilio's agent. Speculation is speculation, and I'll be the first to say that I expect changes on United's roster before July 1, but for now Emilio isn't on the trading block. He is, however, in a slump.

Ben Olsen was helping out in practice yesterday, and his mere presence made a noticeable difference. Olsen, however, said it was more for him than for the team. "Nobody wants to hear from the hurt guy," he told me. Here are some of his other thoughts:
"We need to stay together at this time because these stretches are tough. It’s easy to point fingers, but we’re in this together as players. We need to fix this somehow. Certainly staying together is the first part, and fighting our way out of it is the second. Sometimes the soccer’s not going to be good. We go through stretches where we’re not finishing, we’re not playing the right ball, but defensively it starts there, competing, and competing as a team, fighting for each other...
There’s some heat on everybody, anybody involved right now, but hopefully we have the guys who take that and do the right thing. You can fold or you can step up and fight your way out. Hopefully we have enough guys that want to fight their way out."

Jaime Moreno was also singled out for his leadership and play in the Chicago game:
Said Clyde Simms: "I think more guys put that effort in also, but we lacked it as a team. Five or six guys playing that hard, you’re not going to win the game because you need the whole team doing it. It was great leadership on [Jaime's] part. The way he played, we have to have everybody playing that way to succeed in this league."

Head coach Tom Soehn: "I can see a change in Jaime, he’s really taken on a much bigger role than just a captain. He’s shown the confidence needed to win games, and he’s really stepped up through this stretch. I think some of that’s contagious, I think some of the other guys are going to follow on that."