The Pitch - Soehn and Emilio

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Soehn and Emilio

POSTED May 20, 3:21 PM

Building on what you already know from my post yesterday, D.C. United's outlook is positive, if urgent, going into tomorrow night's contest at Toronto.

Take United head coach Tom Soehn, for instance, who apparently is done with doling out criticism. Building up the team's confidence was job No. 1 when he spoke with reporters today:
"Teams that go through difficult stretches and then find a way to get out of that build character, especially early in the season. Tests that you go through are important as far as experience for the team and having a team come together. There’s two directions you can go, you start pointing fingers and self-destruct, but I’ve seen the exact opposite, that guys are actually working harder to make sure everybody’s together, and that’s a real positive sign.
"I think the losing the other day really ticked people off even more. I’ll say this, that as soon as this team gets it, I wouldn’t want to play against us, and we’re getting real close."

Hold on a sec. Actually, there was one tactical concern:
"We’re not very good with the ball at the moment. That’s partly because some of our experienced guys who are good with the ball are off the field. When you have those guys on the field, that translates into more opportunities because you break teams down. As we get an influx of guys back, it makes guys like [Luciano] Emilio more effective. In some respects, some of guys are trying so hard, they’re going above and beyond what they’re really good at and trying to do too much."

Speaking of Emilio, he appears to be through taking blame:
"I’m working hard in practice every week. I’m not frustrated right now. I think we’re not getting enough service in the box to begin with for the forwards to have enough opportunities. So it’s just a matter of working hard. I’m not down on myself right now, I’m just trying to do my work and hopefully we’ll get enough service in the box for the forwards to be able to convert."

And then there's this, which is interesting because it seems to differ from what Soehn said last week and was a bold prediction given United's normal secrecy when it comes to its starting eleven:
"I just want to clarify that the last game I was injured. That was one of the reasons why I wasn’t in the starting lineup. I feel better now, and I expect to be in the starting lineup tomorrow night."