RSL left in a defensive bind with Beltran, Wingert out against DC United

After Chris Wingert and Tony Beltran were both dealt rough draws last weekend against Colorado Rapids when they were shown yellow cards for time-wasting on throw-ins.

Which, you know, is a thing, I suppose, but it leaves us in a bit of a bind. They'll both be suspended for yellow card accumulation. Now, we could argue about whether those were justified yellow cards to be handing out, but really, we have more pressing matters now.

(Still, if I'm allowed a small bit of dismay, each took about ten seconds to take the throw, which is probably too long, but at what point do they receive a warning before being shown a yellow card, and at what point is it time-wasting if a player takes that long to take a throw-in at other times, really? Is there an impetus to take a throw-in increasingly more quickly )

Like: Who starts in the defense against DC United?

The easy answer is: Chris Schuler, Nat Borchers. Obviously, I hope that's the case, but there are one or two options we have outside of those fine young men.

Perhaps on the left side we will see Abdoulie Mansally, who is sort of a left back. On the right side, maybe we see Carlos Salcedo, who can play at right back. He's fast, strong and can kick the ball hard, so maybe that makes him a prime candidate. (Seriously though, he's played there in reserves action and has been pretty alright.) Maybe, too, we see John Stertzer at right back, but only because we've seen him in a reserve game there (they were unfortunate circumstances that saw him there — Aaron Maund's early early red card and all.)

Or, hey, maybe we see three at the back. We could see Carlos Salcedo join the fray at the back in a three-man back line, with Luke Mulholland on the right side as a wide midfielder, and Abdoulie Mansally on the left side as a wing back. It could happen — we've played three at the back before and it's not been the absolute worst thing ever.

Saturday will surely be fascinating, and maybe we can get one back on the evil DC United after their punishment of us last year. That US Open Cup final — and that early season loss — still sting.