Santino Quaranta knows exactly how to combat the risk of D.C. United’s abysmal road performances seeping into a home match.
“Just look around,” said Quaranta on Wednesday at RFK Stadium. “You just walk out of the tunnel. If that happens, and a guy or two is not doing it, [head coach] Tommy [Soehn] will take him off. I think it’ll be 11 guys tomorrow who are dedicated to working for the team, for each other, the guy next to you, not this selfish stuff.”
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Facing the Fire (4-1-1), arguably the best team in Major League Soccer, United (2-4-0) players and coaches have talked this week about the need for players to individually take responsibility for the result, a factorespecially pertinent as the already injury-plagued team this week added playmaker Marcelo Gallardo (groin) to its list of casualties.
“I just think we need to change our attitude a little bit,” said goalkeeper Zach Wells. “The thing is we usually don’t have problems at home putting pressure on, playing our type of game.”
Former George Mason standout Denis Hamlett has excelled in his first season as head coach for Chicago. Its league-leading defense (3 goals allowed) squares off against a United squad that has scored nine times in three home games.
“It’s nice to watch a team that every game is tough to play against and they work so hard,” said Quaranta. “I can tell you, we have to match that because it’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be a cracking game.”
