The emergence of rookies such as Perry Kitchen bodes well for 2012

There are two ways of looking at DC United’s late-season collapse. You can look at the dropped points and lapses in concentration with disdain, or you can reflect on the whole season as one great stride forward from a miserable 2010 campaign.

Last year, a thin squad and minimal star quality saw a United side led by Curt Onalfo finish the season with a feeble 16 points.

Ben Olsen had taken over on an interim basis towards the end of the season and got the occasional decent performance out of a largely disillusioned team, while promising teenager Andy Najar was named rookie of the year, but beyond that there was little to write home about.

A turnaround in the club’s fortunes was never likely to happen overnight, but steps were taken to make consolidation, if nothing else, a distinct possibility.

United States striker Charlie Davies – a player who few MLS outfits could have imagined signing 12 months earlier – arrived at the start of the 2011 campaign, and his goals have offered glimpses of the star quality needed to drag Olsen’s side up the standings, and the same quality has been present in the performances of Dwayne De Rosario towards the tail end of the year.

However the autumn collapse, with just one point collected from six games, left United seven points shy of a wildcard place in the playoffs, reminding everyone that there is still plenty to be done before the club can become a consistent challenger for honours.

Injuries have not helped, although some might have been predicted. Having gone months without playing following a near-fatal car accident, the club will have known that Davies would need to be used sparingly, and few could argue they didn’t get the best out of him in the 18 starts to which the 25-year-old was restricted in the regular season.

More crucial was the early-season loss of Designated Player Branko Boskovic. The Montenegrin captain had begun to give his club a sense of leadership and direction as the 2010 season drew to a close, but a cruciate ligament injury in April – the same day he scored his first United goals in a US Open Cup match against New England Revolution – ended his season and exposed the team’s lack of midfield depth.

With the facade of depth created by impressive early-season performances and name players ready to step in and take a more active role, few could have predicted the impact of Boskovic’s absence, but it remains the case that when the front line is not firing on all cylinders the weakness further back is highlighted.

And it was a further injury which brought about that domino effect in the final weeks of 2011. Chris Pontius was one of the success stories of the year, with his April double in Toronto among the highlights, but the winger has not played since being carried off injured against Chivas USA in September and his absence can be summed up by the statistic of the club’s five points in the nine games which followed.

These injuries simply emphasise a paper-thin squad which placed too much weight on players not quite ready to carry it. Santino Quaranta has lost his spark somewhat, while Najar only showed the occasional glimpse of the ability which got him noticed last season, and the combination of convincing attacking displays (United scored three or more goals on seven separate occasions in the league) with defensive paucity (conceding three or more just as frequently) is emblematic of a side lacking consistency across the team.

Whether that is a result of the loss of Boskovic, or the hit-and-miss performances of midfield lynchpin Dax McCarty before he was traded to New York for De Rosario in a gamble which – while superficially paying off with the Canadian’s 13 goals – may have done more harm than good in putting too much pressure on a leaderless midfield, United ultimately fell just short of their goal.

One could argue that – after long-serving attacking talisman Jaime Moreno bowed out of the game at the end of the last campaign, there was a subliminal need to overcompensate with a healthy attacking roster, but ultimately this movement came at the expense of similar strength further back.

A stronger defence would also surely have helped, with a lack of investment and the injury-related absence of Dejan Jakovic seeing rookies Perry Kitchen and Ethan White play a more active role than may have first been envisaged, but in this case the recruitment of a more assertive partner in Brandon McDonald may soon bring out the best of two youngsters thrown in at the deep end.

Behind them, 21-year-old Bill Hamid has emerged from the shadows of Troy Perkins to put himself forward as one of the most confident young goalkeepers in the league, and once he irons out the errors understandable in one so young he will likely prove a valuable asset for both club and country.

Next season will see some personnel changes, most notably the likely return of Davies to parent club Sochaux, but progress will be dependent on those who stay. With a year’s experience under their belts the likes of Kitchen, White and Chris Korb will only improve, while fellow rookie Blake Brettschneider can expect more game time in his sophomore season.

It should also not be forgotten that head coach Olsen is himself practically a rookie in terms of taking charge of an MLS team, and he will have learned valuable lessons both in terms of what has worked this season and what has not.

With uncertainty ruling the day at the start of 2011, many would have regarded a 39 point haul as an achievement considering the struggles of 2010. While the manner of DC United’s late season collapse is hard for fans to take, if the team progresses at the same rate next year then it is difficult to see them failing to make the playoffs again.