Washington Post soccer writer Steven Goff was online Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. ET to chat about D.C. United, the Women's World Cup and other soccer topics.

The transcript follows.

Goff covers the D.C. United beat for The Washington Post and writes the Soccer Insider blog for washingtonpost.com.

Discussion Archive

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Steven Goff: Greetings.....

Good to be home after three-plus weeks in China.

I welcome your Women's World Cup, D.C. United, MLS, U.S. men's team questions.....

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Falls Church, Va.: Is Beckham likely to play any more this season?

Steven Goff: He might play this weekend (ESPN is soooo excited)

Here's the deal: Beckham is close to recovering from his knee injury and, with the Galaxy suddenly back in the playoff race, he could make an appearance this weekend against Toronto or next Thursday against New York.

L.A. will wrap up the regular season next weekend against Chicago, and if the club wins all three games, they will have miraculously snuck into the playoffs.

Question is, with the Galaxy on a roll WITHOUT Beckham, do they really want him back at this point? Yeah, they do.

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West Lafayette, IN: Who is the best player in the world? Messi, Kaka, or C. Ronaldo?

Steven Goff: Beckham, of course!

(Kidding)

For me, Kaka is the most complete player of those three. So I'll go with the Brazilian.

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Capitol Hill: Thanks for your articles and blog. For the playoffs, any idea when the first round home game might be for DCU? I'm assuming it will be the second game of the home and home?

Steven Goff: United will play on the road between Oct. 25-28 (probably against New York, K.C. or Chicago) and then host the second leg of the series, most likely on Sat., Nov. 3. With so many playoff matchup possibilities still up in the air and stadium and TV issues to address, MLS will not be able to finalize anything for at least another week.

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Aldie, VA: Women's World Cup question - do you believe FIFA had the best refs in the world officiating the matches?

Steven Goff: Good question.

The problem with women's soccer and officiating is that there are so few matches for referees to work. There are only a couple leagues in the world and an inconsistent international schedule. In China, I know of at least one instance in which a referee was yanked from a scheduled game a few days in advance because of concerns about her work experience in big matches.

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Kensington, MD: More than once you have characterized DC United as not a "championship caliber" team. Houston, I recall, was one you awarded that distinction. Are you ready to admit your mistake? Or do you anticipate another playoff swoon?

Steven Goff: AT THE TIME that I said that, United was not performing like a championship caliber team and Houston was the team to beat. Should I apologize for that? Things change, teams evolve, stuff happens. AT THIS MOMENT, United is indeed a championship caliber team and Houston, among others, has encountered difficulty. United has positioned itself well to win the championship, but they've still got a potentially troublesome first-round matchup and possibly another showdown with New England awaiting them before they can think about playing in MLS Cup at RFK.

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Work: Now that the dust is somewhat settled from the woman's WC experience, ... don't you think it was an unwise move to bench Solo in the game against Brazil? Granted, she didn't react well at all, which another issue, but ... thoughts?

Steven Goff: Yes, it was a stupid move. You don't suddenly change goalkeepers before the semifinal of a World Cup. You don't yank a goalie who had recovered well over three games after a shaky opening match. You don't insert a goalie who, despite her experience, had not played a full 90 minutes since June.

That said, Solo's postgame rant was childish.

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Baltimore, Md.: If you're Hope Solo, do you even want to come back and play for the U.S. team after the way she was thrown under the bus for speaking out?

Steven Goff: Solo screwed up and she knows it. Yeah, I know, she has the freedom to say what she wants, but she also has to be prepared for the consequences. Her teammates lost faith and confidence in her and felt it was necessary to create some distance before the third-place game. Some of her current/former teammates are more forgiving than others, but it's going to take quite some time to repair the damage.

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Falls Church, Va.: I was gonna reprimand you for not saying the Galaxy "sneaked," but fine . . .

"Snuck has occasionally been considered nonstandard, but it is so widely used by professional writers and educated speakers that it can no longer be so regarded."

Steven Goff: sigh

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Washington, D.C.: Any update on Fred's status? Did he train today? Seems like without him (especially with Jaime and Josh out and Bobby suspended) we're pretty shorthanded, and Chivas is breathing down our necks.

I have until 5 p.m. today to take him out of my fantasy team if he's not going to play -- I'm counting on you to help me interpret the cryptic Soehn comments!

Steven Goff: I did not attend practice today, but I assume Fred trained as planned. With Moreno, Boswell and probably Gros out, I would imagine Fred will play.

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Fredericksburg, Va.: Based on what you saw in China, and your interaction w/the team, 2 questions:

1. Is there a chance Greg Ryan will keep his job?

2. Is Hope Solo really persona non-grata in the eyes of the team?

I ask the 2nd one because I was surprised to see Abby Wambach's quote that "someday I might forgive her."

Steven Goff: I can't imagine Ryan will remain the coach for very much longer. The goalkeeping fiasco, the team's ordinary play throughout the tournament, the failure to reach the final, the embarrassment of the Brazil match...

Expectations are high with the women's team; under his guidance, they failed to meet them.

As for Solo, she will have to work very hard on and off the field to rebuild the trust and confidence of her teammates. It's in the best interests of U.S. Soccer for this to happen because, frankly, she's the best goalkeeper they've got.

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S. Rockville, Md.: College questions: Anybody local going to make noise on either the men's or women's sides this season?

Will there be repercussions from the DCU/Llerena settlement for college/MLS friendlies?

Steven Goff: Maryland men are struggling, but with a few ACC wins, should be able to get into the NCAA tournament. Virginia and Virginia Tech -- who played to a 1-1 tie recently -- are very good and could go a long way. The Navy women are not as strong as last year, but should win the Patriot League and Virginia (with only one loss) is always in the national picture.

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Dida video: Can someone post this?

Will soccer ever be taken seriously in the US with these embarrassing displays/dives?

Having played soccer and hockey growing up, the juxtaposition of the two sports ethos used to drive me crazy. I hated having even my own soccer teammates dive and wince on the ground when barely touched. In hockey, your own teammates would hold you accountable for that type of behavior.

washingtonpost.com: Celtic fan assaults dida - Celtic v AC Milan (youtube.com)

Steven Goff: Okay, done.

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Warrenton, Va.: Even though shirt sponsorship is new to MLS, how much could D.C.'s potentially be worth? Compared to L.A.?

Steven Goff: Billions!

No, I'm sure DCU's shirt sponsorship (which should be set for next season) will bring in a substantial amount. Certainly not as much as the Galaxy's multi-million dollar deal, though.

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Poplar Point?: The MLS Cup is at RFK??? I read that the stadium was closed...

Steven Goff: zzzzzzz

huh?

Poplar what?

RFK is a soccer stadium again. Didn't you hear?

;-)

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Playoff Schedule: When's the MLS going to annouce the playoff dates?

Steven Goff: When the season is over. Too many variables at the moment. For instance, K.C., N.Y. and N.E. have potential NFL scheduling issues; Houston, L.A. and Chivas play on college campuses, which restrict some weeknight matches. ESPN has time slots set, which may or may not work for some teams.

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Los Angeles: Do you think MLS should put a franchise in Mexico? It seems like a logical move given the popularity of the sport there.

Steven Goff: Er?

Mexico already has a league. No one there cares about MLS.

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Fairfax, Va.: Based on contract issues, is there a chance that neither Gomez or Emilio will be back in United uniforms next year?

Steven Goff: Good question.

DCU has offered Gomez two guaranteed years at 325K per year. Given his age, I doubt they will increase that offer by much. If he has more lucrative offers elsewhere (Asia, Middle East), he will have to make a difficult decision. I do know he and his family enjoy living in America. However, the allure of one big final payday in his career might be hard to pass up.

DCU should do all it can to secure Emilio for future seasons; he's a big-time goal scorer who should win the MVP award. Whether they can compete financially with potential offers from Europe or Latin America remains to be seen.

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Gaithersburg, Md.: Your comment re, Solo: "it's going to take quite some time to repair the damage."

Maybe it's me, but I just don't get how the team could show so little understanding or forgiveness to Solo, but was able to forgive Ryan's far more faithless and damaging, idiotic move.

They were just fortunate that Norway was such a far cut below Brazil and Germany.

Steven Goff: Just a hunch, but I don't think the players have much faith in Ryan and his decision-making. That will be part of the reason he is likely to be fired.

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My Cube: Okay - followup on WWC ... would the U.S. have beaten Brazil with Solo in goal? or was Brazil so dominant they'd have won even if we had Dino Zoff in goal?

Steven Goff: Brazil was the better team and probably would have won anyway.

However...

Perhaps Solo would have taken charge and covered the corner kick that resulted in the own goal instead of sitting back, as Scurry did, and letting Osborne attempt to clear it. Perhaps Solo would have stopped Marta's first goal. Perhaps not.

Bottom line: Brazil was quicker and technically superior, and over the course of the tournament, was clearly the second-best team behind Germany.

The goalkeeping move and the fallout from Solo's comments clouded a more troubling problem: the U.S. program is not developing dynamic players who can take on defenders and change the game.

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Dancy: Any news/thoughts on the likelihood we will see MLS change before next season:

1. to a single table?

2. the roster size/salary cap?

3. to more than 14 teams?

Steven Goff:1. No.

2. Roster size, doubtful; salary cap, yes.

3. Rumors are Seattle might start next season, but at the moment, the only expansion for 2008 is San Jose.

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Spotsylvania, Va.: Was Ricardo Clark's fine and suspension too much, too little, or just right?

Steven Goff: I figured he would get six games, which, I believe, was the same the thuggish Dallas goalkeeper received for sucker-punching a player after a playoff game last year.

I just wish MLS were more consistent with its suspensions. Was Clark's action worse than Sala's? Was it more malicious than Ballouchy's elbow at Victorine's head this summer that earned him a two-game penalty?

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Washington DC: Any chance Freddy Adu's comments about DC United and Nowak could hurt his future w/the National or Olympic teams? He just seems to come off as a very selfish and self-centered player.

Steven Goff: If Nowak were the U.S. head coach, sure, it might affect his standing with the full national team. As for the Olympics, Adu is too important of a player in the under-23 program for Nowak to discard because of those comments.

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Alexandria, Va.: The RSL stadium construction webcam has dirt all over its lens. As the nation's premier soccer journalist, can you do something about this?

Steven Goff: Ha!

Are you sure that's the RSL stadium project? I swear it looks like Poplar Point.

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Reston, Va.: I thought Emilio was under contract for next year?

Steven Goff: Most MLS player contracts are year to year.

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Steven Goff: Time's up.

Thanks for your questions.

We'll do it again in two weeks.

Meantime, please visit the Soccer Insider blog regularly.

Cheers

SG

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