Becks Beats Us

Well, he did it. David Beckham got it done last night, and was by far the Man of the Match as DC United crashes out of the Superliga 2-0.

If you want to see one of his patented, Bend it like Beckham freekicks, watch the highlights here.

The freekick that Beckham took was just fantastic. An amazing take, and one that completely fooled poor Troy Perkins.

It all started when he picked up a Caution for being late to the ball in the 18th minute. Up to that point, United was by far the better team, and only good goalkeeping had kept them off the board. But when Beckham went in hard, studs up, and took out two DC United players, I was watching the reaction. And man, but while he rubbed the ankle, then got up and kept going, you could see his confidence level rise real fast. Real fast. From then on, it was just a matter of time until he got one or set up a goal.

All of Beckham's balls were played right to where they needed to be, he was all over the pitch, sideline to sideline, going after the ball and winning it. And when Wolverine (Benny Olsen) went in and got Beckham hard in retaliation for his yellow, the Golden Boy popped back up and was smiling. And I knew we were in trouble.

He is by far the best player in MLS right now. It was clear, very clear last night. His technical ability and his tactical awareness are head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Case in point, the perfectly weight through ball he put Donovan in alone on (although without the McTavish deflection that ball is saved by Perkins). If he keeps going out, jumping up to try when he was excited that Kyle Martino should have had a goal in the 66th minute.

That said, United looked awful. My player ratings (since I watched this game sober and alone on my bed) with 10 being the highest:

Troy Perkins - 4; Bobby Boswell - 4; Devon McTavish - 3; Bryan Namoff - 5; Greg Vanney - 3; Fred - 4; Brian Carrol - 4; Ben Olsen - 4; Josh Gros - 4; Jaime Moreno - 6; Luciano Emilio - 6. SUBS Christian Gomez - 5; Guy-Roland Kpene - 3.

As you see, pretty much everyone was below average last night. Only Emilio and Moreno did anything really good, and Gros would be a 3 except he almost snuck in that great drive about 10 minutes in.

Let me just quickly say that I think that Kpene has a lot of work to do. Feet like bricks, checks back too much and doesn't know how to lay off the ball quickly or turn himself. Does he have a goal yet?

Now we just have to focus on Copa Sudamericana and getting either the Supporter's Shield or the MLS Cup. Vamos United!!!