Two weeks ago after a disappointing home loss to New England, Captain Keller was blunt: "We’re not in form to make the playoffs, something we need to turn around immediately.

Well,  with our second 2-1 victory in DC on Saturday, perhaps we've turned it around.

I thought I'd suss out the turn around by ranking everyone's everyone's performance, 10 (stellar), 1 (Co-rec level) and  8 (playoff form).

Keller (9)
Captain Keller made a few key, difficult saves, and rallied the team to win. That's why he's captain and National star.

Montero (9)
A lot of people are critical of Fredy, but his performance tonight should shut them up for a while. Granted, he's the type of forward that can't play defensively to save his life, but with a game winning goal that blistered the hands of DCU keep Wicks, this "weakness" is acceptable.

Hurtado (9)
Two greatest mysteries: Why doesn't Riley play for the US Nats, and why doesn't Hurtado play for Colombia. I assume that Colombia is rich in defenders (though, given their current standing, perhaps not). Hurtado is always amazing to watch. Wait, a third great mystery: Why the hell is he paid only $37k?!?

Zakuani (9)
Zak Baby Burn that MoFo of a Keeper! MLS MVP of the Year Candidate.


Zakuani/Photo by Jack Hunter

Alonso (8)
The best reason of having Freddie Ljungberg on the team is his influence on others, especially Oswaldo Alonso. Though "El Ljungbergo Cubano" doesn't (yet) have his ferocity (nor, thankfully, his temper), he always impresses and consistently hustles. And he will only get better.

Ianni (8)
I should've started calling him "Cringe" earlier. Like a variation of Murphy's Law, as soon as I coined him a nickname, he started to live it down. He proved himself last time against DC, and held it up again.

Gonzalez (8)
Leo dropped in on our basketcase of a team in the middle of our downward slide, and I'm sure he's a little confused. Thankfully, as he's bonded more with the team, the team has come out of its slide. This was his best game so far.

Riley (7)
Out of everyone on our squad, Riley most deserves a spot on the US national team (replacing Bornstein at least ). Tonight, he errored big time, failing to clear the ball and instead assisting with DC's goal, so I have to dock him a point. But like a pissed hornet he turned around and made up for his error, assisting with Montero's goal. Bradley, you watching?

LeToux (7)
Didn't have his best game (often he's an 8), but I'm glad to see him start, and more useful than Jaqua.

Vagenas (7)
His assist to Zakuani was the sort of perfect ball the Sounders have struggled to produce, but in general he could be more aggressive.

Levesque (7)
Second-half sub, hustled, ran, hurried, made plays, took shots. I could almost rate him an 8.

Evans (6)
The appropriate rating for a second-half substitute, he could be more impressive. I don't recall him doing anything, and I wonder why he played for the Nats.

Jaqua (5)
The good news is that if Jaqua is the weak link, he's a big one. Nate's been absent for a while, like his head is somewhere else. I call it the "Montero Syndrome"—playing under obvious distraction from personal events. It took about three months for Fredy to recover, so maybe Jaqua will be back in time for the playoffs.

Marshall (Incomplete)
I was ecstatic to see Marshall come on for the last 5 minutes. Talk about nailing down defense for a win. Usually he's a 9 and tied with Hurtado for  most important player on the team, but 5 minutes doesn't warrant a score.