DCU 1, Colorado 1

I know I wrote yesterday that a tie would be disappointing, and if United had scored in the second half on a badly given PK while playing just as listlessly as in the first half, it would have been, as well as worrisome. I'm hoping that first half is the low point of the season; it better be if United has ambitious goals.

But United came out in the second half with as much intensity and urgency as I've them display in a league game in what seems an eternity. If Gomez' goal itself was odd and soft, it was deserved as United should have had three or four. Around the sixty minute mark Colorado bunkered, and at the final whistle the Rapids clearly were happy with a tie.

Nowak started Stokes for the yellowed Namoff and then subbed out Stokes for Walker at half, dropping Gros back on defense. The move was made for offense, and Walker's speed on the wing helped open up the Colorado defense. If MLS teams are going to clog the middle and jam the midfielders - and Colorado did - than United has to go wide. It made me think about the signing of Donnet. If the description of Donnet's speed and skills on the wing are even half true, I have to assume that an Argentine professional, in academies since an early teen, would exploit the openings Walker had far better than Walker can. Watching Walker yesterday with yards and yards of space and watching Walker just not have the skills to finish, the signing of Donnet - if he is all that - made infinite sense.

Yes, a win would be better, but I'm more encouraged with this tie than I was with the recent past. That second half had a buzzing United playing before a buzzing crowd. Yes, United ran out of gas and yes, Gomez limped off with a hammie-pull (no one knows as yet how bad, or is saying). But I get the feeling that United is sick of this shit. They played the second half with an attitude which makes them the best team in the league. If they play whole games with the urgency they played the first thirty minutes of the second half yesterday, they'll be fine. The issue is, can they?