DC United is having quite a week as they clinched a spot in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) by finishing in first place in the Eastern conference. This week they clinched the top seed in this year’s CCL quarterfinals. This weekend they will close out an unforgettable season, which no pundit or fan could have predicted, first place in the Eastern Conference, only a few points behind the eventual Supporter’s Shield winner. Next week, on November 1st or 2nd, DC will begin their run for a record fifth MLS Cup as they open their playoff run against the winner of the 4th vs. 5th seed in the East. It has been a historic run and return to prominence for a team that just last year hit rock bottom.
DC’s turnaround from a three win season last year has been well chronicled from keeping Ben Olsen on as Head Coach after that disastrous 2013 campaign, to bringing on players such as Eddie Johnson, Fabian Espindola, Chris Rolfe, Davy Arnaud, Bobby Boswell, Sean Franklin, Steve Birnbaum and the improvement in play from Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Luis Silva and Nick DeLeon. This year’s team has jelled and managed to pick up the slack when key players went down or sitting out for disciplinary reasons. The past week and the weeks that lie ahead are a result of the ownership’s confidence in Olsen and general manager Dave Kasper to turn the team around and the player’s ability to get positive results all season.
Last Saturday DC clinched first place in the Eastern conference, along with a spot in next year’s CCL, at home against the Chicago Fire. The win crowned the mesmerizing achievement of a well-played season, but also marked the start of another one, the MLS Playoffs. With first place well in hand Olsen can now start tweaking his team a bit in the final regular season game against the Montreal Impact this Saturday. Olsen may choose to tinker with formations or positions or he could do what he did for the CCL game in Panama on Tuesday night and just send out a group of reserves to rest his starters and make sure no one gets hurt for the playoffs. The most likely scenario though is that he will probably put forth his best lineup and use this as a final tune up before next week’s layoff.
Olsen chose to keep most of his starters back home as DC traveled to Panama for their CCL match up with Tauro FC this week. DC had already clinched a spot in this year’s CCL quarterfinals, however, the reserves were able to pull out a 1-0 win, thanks to a Conor Shanosky goal. The win clinched a top seed for DC in the quarterfinals, which eventually turned into the number one seed as a result of games on Wednesday night. DC will meet Alajuelense from Costa Rica in the CCL Quarterfinals early in 2015.
DC has the luxury of closing out the season against a team that has nothing left to play for this weekend in Montreal, as opposed to a team scratching for positioning in the playoffs. They also have the added benefit that their opponent in the playoffs will have to play a game in the middle of the week next week and then turn around and play DC a few days later in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Ben Olsen will not allow his team to sit back and enjoy their successful campaign this season as the second, and most important, part of the season begins with their final game in Montreal. DC knows where they stand, they know the road ahead and now it is time to ramp up for the cup run.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @lwosjczambrano. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at /r/football.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
