"No one denies, however, that DC United has a lot of talent at its disposal, and everyone brings up the 2001 Fusion when they talk about how it all might work. DC remains the 2003 Team of Intrigue." I could see this being a make or break year for Ray. I'd rather have him back in the booth either way.
Bradley is right though, DC is going to be exciting this year. I am not sure if they will be good or bad but they will be exciting.
I agree that DC looks pretty strong at midfield and in the back, but how deep is the team at forward?
DC is actually pretty deep at forward - but unproven. Earnie Stewart is the only proven scorer who is is good form, but Quaranta, Eskandarian and Barclay have lots of promise, and don't forget Stoichkov. Add in possible appearances at forward from the young salvadoran Quintanilla, Dema Kovalenko and maybe even Ali Curtis and there is a lot of depth there. This year DC won't be forced to send defenders up in the last 15 minutes of games to press for an equalizer as was done last year several times with Eddie Pope. But which of the forwards will earn the starting spots and proves to be consistent scoring threats (if any) is still a big question mark. But DC sure has lots of options to try.
Almost definitely. This is Ry's team, so it's Ray's responsibility. If he's coach beyond this season, it should be because DC made a run. If caught myself almost rooting for him to fail at times.