After the debacle in LA, DC United must quickly put an admittedly embarrassing outing behind them. The talking heads and fans may not agree, but DC are a better team than Wednesday night’s 4-1 loss shows. The win against Sporting Kansas City on the road is more of a statement win than LA was a statement loss. The New York Red Bulls are slated to visit RFK stadium on Sunday, August 31st, and it will be up to the midfield to shut down Bradley Wright-Phillips, Thierry Henry, and Tim Cahill. At the same time, DC United’s offense must have a better showing than they did against the Galaxy. Lucky for United, Fabian Espindola will almost undoubtedly start on Sunday. There is good reason to be hopeful that United perform as long as Espindola is on the field, and looking at the LA match in 30-minute intervals proves it. If you’re interested, my good friend Sean Steffen over at Corner of the Galaxy wrote a great tactical preview of the match which outlined the threat the United A-team posed with Espindola and Silva playing forward. Between a knock to Chris Rolfe and what is hopefully a final experiment with Eddie Johnson as the starting striker, that A-team lineup was just not possible.
The Midfield Meltdown (0′-30′)
The Galaxy were able to dominate DC United from the moment Bobby Boswell gave away the first possession of the game to Landon Donovan. The Galaxy capitalized off the error, forcing the play down the throat of the DC United defense through Zardes and Gordon, with Gordon putting away the poorly-defended ball. Here, a comedy of errors starting with Boswell and ending with Bill Hamid made complete fools of the United midfield, with the confusion leading up to an early 1-0 deficit. Steve Birnbaum and Lewis Neal were caught out of position, with Taylor Kemp unable to make a recovering run on the left side of the defense to stop Gordon from gathering the second ball.
This is the epitome of a defensive meltdown, and quite atypical for United thus far this season; the success of the Boswell/Parke and later Boswell/Birnbaum pairing in central defense has been the most critical component of United’s success this season. Note: Hamid is a promising prospect for the USMNT, but errors like that one could cost him a second look by Jurgen Klinsmann for the next cycle.
The defense, however, was not the biggest issue. The DC United midfield, absent key starters Davy Arnaud and Nick DeLeon, was unable to go toe-to-toe with the Galaxy midfield quartet. At the same time, Eddie Johnson was an inadequate alternative to Espindola at the top of United’s formation. There simply wasn’t enough possession for DC at midfield for Johnson and Luis Silva to initiate any offensive pressure, let alone to hold up the Galaxy defensive line while United players made overlapping runs into the LA penalty box.
Lewis Neal was the big surprise of the night; he is usually able to dictate the pace of the match and keep possession in the middle third, but seemed outmatched. While it’s not time to worry about whether DC United is up the the challenge for the rest of this season (and likely the MLS Playoffs), it is important that Lewis Neal get back to his old ways and provide effective distribution to his forwards. The combination of midfield options at United’s disposal (Neal, Rolfe, Kitchen, Arnaud, DeLeon, Espindola, and Estrada) is formidable, but the newly acquired Estrada has yet to make a meaningful impact against the bigger sides in MLS. The 30-minute period rounds out with an LA set piece goal which, once again showcases the United center backs in the midst of a midfield meltdown, allowing Omar González to score from the top of the six-yard box. The corner was the direct result of the LA midfield exploiting an out-of-tempo United midfield.
The Hangover (30′-60′)
By the time DC United’s defense and midfield had settled into the game somewhat, they were already down by two goals. To get themselves settled they had to bunker down, effectively dooming them to close out the first half without a goal. I’ve spoken about the dangers of United heavily relying on the bunker, but to see them do it when down by two goals was downright infuriating.
While United were able to limit the number of chances LA could take, they almost entirely ceded possession and let the game play out in midfield…the same midfield that was incapable of stepping up to the LA Galaxy mids and claim possession from them. At this point, it becomes clear that United’s midfield and defense are both mentally and physically exhausted from chasing the ball and halftime can’t come soon enough for them.
United was able to get one chance on the half and, surprisingly, it didn’t come off their one and only corner kick before the halftime whistle. It also wasn’t a shot on goal. The few times that United did have possession, they wasted it on a bad pass or unforced error in the midfield and the Galaxy came streaming up the space DC vacated on the flanks by bunkering. It’s one thing to try to stop the bleeding, but one could see from literally the first minute that this lineup was not capable of pulling off a point against the Galaxy in Los Angeles, let alone surprise them and take all three. A goal from A.J. De La Garza in the 45th minute made even a goal against this Galaxy side seem impossible. Admittedly though, this game was still salvageable, but the Galaxy were again able to exploit the wings as DC bunkered down in front of the goal and ceded that space to the home side.
The the first couple minutes of the second half did not go much better, as almost all off-the-ball movement by DC stops when they are in possession. It is precisely this mentality that makes the bunker so dangerous, as the players are unsure of what to do with the ball when in possession and offensive creativity stops. This is precisely why United cannot rely on their defense in the postseason, and players like Eddie Johnson and David Estrada must start producing soon to ensure that DC stay atop the Eastern Conference. To be fair, Eddie Johnson nearly did score while forcing an own goal by José Leonardo in the 58th minute; it was at this moment that Olsen chose to substitute Espindola for Neal, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
Ben Olsen took a gamble with his lineup that simply didn’t play out well, while failing to course correct until the damage was nearly insurmountable. It was the logical outcome of a flawed strategy, one which United has proven it doesn’t need to execute to win and arguably makes them play worse. If there is one takeaway from the DeLaGarza goal, United fans should hope Ben Olsen and his coaching staff have concluded that bunkering will result in an early exit in any 2014 playoff run, as the Eastern Conference sides look to put as much pressure on the wings to bring DC back down from the top of the conference.
The Hair of the Dog (60′-90’+)
The minute that Espindola comes on, a whole different DC United team starts playing the match. Yes, they were still vulnerable in the midfield, but the entire team started playing with purpose again as Espindola lit a fire under them. DC’s first shot on goal came within three minutes of Espindola dispossessing Leonardo and playing the ball to Johnson, who laid it off to Sean Franklin inside the penalty box. Penedo was forced to make a diving save and United had earned a corner. This is the type of play that United is consistently capable of, but Espindola excels at initiating from the midfield as a “false 9”.
Off the corner, DC once again got a shot on target as the ball was played to Boswell inside the penalty area. Prior to the Espindola substitution there was no indication that DC was capable of dangerous shots from point blank range against this LA Galaxy lineup. By allowing Espindola to initiate holdup play in the attacking third, United now had two shots on target within seconds of one another. By the 70th minute, Leonardo almost forced the ball into his own net again off a cross from Johnson and intended for Espindola, who was lurking near the top of the penalty box; Penedo had to tip the ball over the crossbar.
Landon Donovan managed to notch a fourth Los Angeles goal when the referee called a foul in the box against Boswell off a Robbie Rogers corner kick; he was awarded a penalty kick, which he promptly slotted in past Hamid. Looking at the replays, Omar González unquestionably flopped. Unfortunately, that was just to rub salt in DC’s wounds to seal the final scoreline at 4-1. At this point it doesn’t make sense for either side to commit numbers forward to the attack except for on obvious scoring chances, and both sides seem to put the daggers down. It’s unfortunate that the referee essentially put the match to bed prematurely, but it was the result of a lackluster DC United lineup falling almost hopelessly behind in the first half. Hindsight may be 20-20, but this match would have been a nail-biter had DC fielded their full-strength starting lineup.
Implications
Several interactions with DC supporters on Twitter the night of this match suggested that DC United fans were more concerned about sealing the Eastern Conference win and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League next year. I disagree with that assessment, as a win against the Galaxy would have put DC well on their way to both sealing the conference and helped their chances at challenging Seattle and LA for the Supporters Shield. Last season’s dismal record was the result of bad luck with injuries and a team that lacked the depth to compete against the rest of MLS afterward. With several key pieces still missing for United this season after a slew of summer injuries, it is a testament to the ability of this team to develop the talent from that roster into a potent force.
Still, there is much to be done for Ben Olsen and his coaching staff. If United want to return to the glory days of old, they need to be able to recognize the critical pieces in their roster that will help the team perform at their best consistently. Fabian Espindola brings out the best and most dangerous aspects of this team, and it may have been a better decision to go into the match against LA at the highest tempo possible to get on the scoreboard. Ben Olsen surely must have realized that he needs either Espindola or Chris Rolfe on the field to marshal the troops and bring the type of soccer that wins games to the United midfield and offense. It will be especially critical for the midfield to come alive on Sunday against the Red Bulls, as it will be nearly impossible to keep Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips at bay otherwise. Ultimately, a full-strength DC United at the top of their form should make quick work of the Red Bulls, and United’s supporters should expect a dazzling display out of the attacking core. This is a team that is capable of challenging the best in MLS; they proved that in Kansas City, but failed to execute against the Galaxy.
