Well, it certainly has been an interesting week in the Swamplands. I believe it is safe to say that the main topic over the past seven days has involved the defensive part of the squad.

New England 4:2 Metro

Zach Wells and the rest of the defensive unit had a shocker on Saturday night, falling 4-2 to New England as a host of mistakes contributed to each New England goal. Mr. Wells and his goalkeeping coach have best be working on positioning as Zach was caught twice off his line, causing him to fall victim to a nice goal by Cancela after 25 seconds (it really was well struck) and a chip from distance by Pat Noonan, Metro killer.

Jay Heaps scored on a free header off a corner as Jeff Agoos had trouble running five yards to mark him. I am still wondering how he could be so open. Have any of the Metro players or staff watched a New England match on ESPN? Everyone knows from Rob and Eric that since Jay played basketball at Duke, he can jump!!!

The one that probably got me the most pissed-off was the Jeff Parke blunder. I thought it was a case of Deja-vu as Jeff won the ball on a tackle, and instead of clearing it, he decided to take the piss with it, and he was easily dispossessed by Steve Ralston, who then scored the easiest of goals. It seemed like a replay from the Chicago match earlier in the year, when Jeff once again decided to show his ball skills. FOR F@#KS SAKE MAN, CLEAR THE DAMN BALL!!!! If I was Bob Bradley, I would have taken him off the field immediately.

I will not, however, say that our defense is in shambles. We have known for sometime that we have an inconsistent team, and on this day, the defense decided to play like they were out for a stroll in the park.

In the midst of all of this, the goalkeeper saga continues. It is finally looking like Johnny Walker is on his way to Columbus while Metro have signed Fat Tony. My concern is that Metro got just a 4th round draft pick in return. That is very disappointing.

The Warden

I think we are starting to see the effects of the missing Tim Ward. Ward was having a good run on the left side of defense before he went down with an injured hamstring. Also during that time Tim Regan was playing his best soccer of his career in the center of the Metro defense.

When Ward went down, Regan was forced to the left, where he has not been as strong. I have said it before, and I will say it again, Tim Regan needs to play in the middle, he is not an outside back. When he is on the outside, the "Tim Regan is a hard worker" type comes out. He works hard, but does not perform well enough. When he is in the middle, he contributes positively throughout the match.

With Regan moving to the outside, Jeff Agoos and Jeff Parke have been the tandem in the middle. Agoos has had a very poor run the last few weeks, and Parke keeps having some sort of brain malfunction at the worst times. I also wonder if Jeff Parke is like Tommy Boy... you know: "Say the average person uses 10% of his brain... how much do you use... One and a half percent. The rest is filled with malted hops and bong resin".

With Ryan Suarez now added, he may be sent into the line-up rather quickly to try and solidify the middle of the field. If he is able to do the business, I think a combo of Suarez and Regan may do the trick (once Ward is back). If Suarez struggles, then I would like to see Bob give Mendes a run-out to see what he can do.

4th of July

Metro are on the road against Real for their 4th of July match. Hopefully the result will be better than the drubbing last season vs DC. I also hope that Real can muster an above average crowd for the match. These are three points that Metro could really use, as they should really hope to be in, at worst, third place at the end of July.

Have a happy and healthy 4th of July weekend.