Hey, I'm putting together something involving all the winners of the Supporters Shield. I was wondering if anyone who supported DC United 1997 could tell me more or less the exact formation that you guys put out there on most nights throughout the season. I've got the players down, but I'd like to know who played on the right/left, defensive mid/offensive mid, withdrawn striker, etc. Here are the players to jog your memories: Scott Garlick David Vaudreuil Eddie Pope Carlos Llamosa Jeff Agoos Richie Williams Tony Sanneh John Harkes Marco Ethceverry Jaime Moreno Raul Diaz-Arce striker----striker attacking mid left wing---------right wing defensive mid left back--centerback--centerback---right back or whatever formation your squad used Thanks for your help guys. I appreciate it.
Goal - Garlick Right back - David Vaudreil Center back - Eddie Pope Center back - Carlos Llamosa Left back - Jeff Agoos Right mid - Tony Sanneh def mid- Richie Williams Att mid - Marco Etcheverry Left mid - John Harkes Striker - Jaime Moreno Striker - Raul Diaz Arce That was the lineup that was most prevalent during the season and post season, but WC qualifiers called away RDA, Moreno and Etch for good chunks of the season.. Players like Roy Wegerle (striker), Ben Iroha (midfield and defense), John Maessner (mid/def) and Kris Kelderman (mid) stepped up bigtime in their absences... Also, Tom Presthus got a good deal of playing time in goal as well but Garlick took most of the action...
I'm old now and this is six years ago, but didn't Maessner see quite a bit of time at right back? One of the things I really remember from that season is him making those 80-yard overlapping runs (Vaudreil did too) and the crowd going wild(ish).
In 1997, DC United fielded a different starting lineup in 31 of the 32 games. So, to say that there was a set lineup during the season would be a complete and total mistake. However, the lineup given above is indeed the lineup that played all 90 minutes (with no subs) of the final at RFK...the pinnacle moment of DC United and one of the tops in MLS thus far, if you ask me. But, since this is the supporter's shield, and thus focuses on the regular season, I would like to emphasize again that it would NOT do justice to the whole wide group of players that started a lot of games that season to just name a starting 11. For instance, the best victory in the regular season for the team saw the following starting lineup, roughly: Garlick Maessner Pope Llamosa Peay Sanneh Williams Marsch Harkes Rammel Wegerle This team beat Colorado (the eventual runners-up in MLS Cup 97) 5-0. That was one of the critical victories in the season as Etch, Moreno, and Diaz Arce were all missing due to international callups. In the end, the contributions of Iroha, Wegs, Rammel, Peay, and Maessner should not be overlooked in the slightest. Cheers, Tim
Hang on a sec... I thought we traded Steve Rammel to obtain Roy Wegerle. I also thought that Wegerle normally played in combination with Jaime Moreno, who scored the MLS Cup-winning goal in 1997. Or is my memory faulty?
My bad. The two forwards on that day were Marsch and Rammel. This game was pre-Roy. We certainly did trade Rammel for Wegs mid-way through the season. Where I messed up on the line-up, I believe is putting Maessner in the back. Put Vaudreil in at right back and move Maessner and Sanneh to left and right midfield. Harkes was running the show that day...central midfield. Sorry about the slip. And about MLS Cup 1997. The lineup throughout the match was exactly as Cweedchop wrote...no changes for the entire 90 mintues. Wegs played quite a bit after the trade...however, he did not play much in the playoffs. It was the Jaime and Raul show for most of the season...except for the many times when one or both were away for national team duty (world cup qualifying). The goals in the final were scored by Jaime (Sanneh and Diaz Arce, kind of, assists) in the first half and the game winner by Sanneh (Harkes assist) in the second. Cheers, Tim
Tony Sanneh's run down the right flank was centered into the box by Diaz-Arce who let it pass right to Jaime Moreno. He stopped, cocked and loaded......goal!! Remember the Magic Triangle? Marco, Moreno and Diaz-Arce..... Wegerle came after the '97 season and then Lassiter.
Yeah, what about Mario Gori? Didn't he play in '97? I know he was hurt for a while but cannot remember what year.
Nor should we ever forget the contribution of JOEY THIEMAN. The man from Princeton, drafted last (30th) in the 1997 Supplemental Draft: http://www.mlsnet.com/special/draft/97supplemental.html has no starts, no goals, and no assists BUT he did get to come in as a sub in 3 games!! http://www.dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=tradition&cont_id=98474 before being waived on June 27, 1997, 6 days after DC United lost to Kansas City 6-1. His last playing game was taking the awesome responsiblity to hold the lead when he came in at minute 73 while DC United was up 4-0. Seems JOEY THIEMAN married Amy Bertelson (Bucknell) in Palo Alto, where Joey is a lawyer and Amy a teacher http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/class_notes_by_class/class_by_class/1990s/1994/class_notes_1994.html When you see "The Bruce", I suggest you ask him about how it felt to coach the great 1997 DC United superstar JOEY THIEMAN
Come to think of it.....................naaaaaaaaaaaa....... So........what has DC United done w/the 1997 champs?? Garlick: go away Presthus is better David Vaudreil: who?? Eddie Pope: we had to package you w/Moreno Carlos Llamosa: ever hear of the term "salary cap"? Jeff Agoos: see Carlos Llamosa Tony Sanneh: You want THAT much $$? Richie Williams: we'll kick you out once shame on us, we'll kick you out twice shame on you Marco Etcheverry: most hated man in the 2003 preseason history of DC United. Don't let the door hit your *ss when as we all are expecting you leave after this season John Harkes: thank god we traded you for Lassiter so we could continue to win championships Jaime Moreno: Ray says go to the Metros you're lazy and a team cancer Raul Diaz Arce: see Richie Williams
"John Harkes: thank god we traded you for Lassiter so we could continue to win championships" We traded Harkes for next to nothing to New England following the 98 season I think. We got Lassiter during the 98 season for Wegerle...right before the World Cup....I thought it was pretty amusing that Wegerle was called up and did nothing in the Cup and Lassiter had a point in what seems like the fist 10 games he was with DC united Starting line-up in 97 Garlick Gori Pope Llamosa Agoos Sanneh Williams Harkes Diablo Diaz Arce Moreno This was my in my opinion our best lineup. Maessner, Iroha and Peay all played a ton that year.
Oh ok then thanks for the correction I confused Harkes for Wegerle! I guess I'll change Harkes to: John Harkes: see Richie Williams OR John Harkes: see Carlos Llamosa OR John Harkes: we'll trade you for "whaaaaaaaa......????" How about this: "United won its third title Sunday and then rewarded its top goal scorer, Roy Lassiter, by showing him the door -- trading him against his will to Miami.....How many teams around the world dump their best goal scorer two days after he's just helped them win a title?" http://www.soccertimes.com/oped/1999/nov29.htm How about this: "They said they were trading me because of the salary cap, but I don't make enough for that to be an issue," Lassiter told the Times. "They always use the salary cap whenever they want to get rid of a player and then blame the league. They did that when they got rid of Raul Diaz Arce and John Harkes, too. But really, for whatever reasons, they just wanted to get rid of them and they did and blamed the league, and they're doing it again with me. I want the fans to know this is United's fault, not the league's." http://www.soccertimes.com/mls/1999/nov26.htm It's all fascinating stuff about what is without question the greatest team (DC United 96-99) in the history of MLS.
Not to bust chops Tim, but I have a copy of that game on my MLS Cup 96' tape and this was the starting lineup that day: -------------------- Garlick ---------------------- Vaudreil ------- Llamosa ---- Goose ------- Peay Kelderman ----- Williams --- Harkes ------- Maess -------------- Sanneh ------ Rammel ------------- This game is also noteworthy in that it was the first time in MLS history that an entire starting X1 were American.. We had not yet traded for Roy Wegerle at the time of this match.. Marsch and Theiman came on as subs late in the match with Marsch scoring a rather lucky near post goal...
I remember '97 like it was yesterday. If only it was. I don't recall Maessner ever playing right back. He was a right mid who was often used as a super-sub. At the time, he was one of the faster players in the league. He was the only United player to play in every game, and he might have started half of them. I think I realized how much better the league had gotten when we brought Maessner back in '99 and he wasn't even _fast_, much less one of the faster guys on the field. That 5-0 Colorado game with the all-American lineup (and played in the old Cat-in-the-Hat-style third jerseys!) might be my favorite regular season memory of this team. Even Jesse Marsch - who almost never got into games back then - scored as a sub in that game.
Looking at the archive on MLSNet, our other draft picks were Keith Beach and David Hayes. We didn't pick anybody in the Supplemental.