D.C. United face a partially defanged LA Galaxy attack as Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes have been called up for their respective national teams. Despite missing their most prolific scorers, LA presents a grueling challenge for a United side coming off a lackluster performance against their regional rivals in the New York Red Bulls. Defender Steve Birnbaum spoke candidly about the challenges facing United against LA, “They’re still a good team [without Keane, Zardes, and Penedo]…even without those guys, they’ve got a lot of depth. They’re the defending champs and we’ve got to go into the game thinking they’re going to come out on the front foot; we’ve got to take it to them from the get-go. I think my job and Bobby’s job is to really kind of keep Gordon and not let him have any chances.”
In that match, stringing more than two or three passes together seemed elude D.C.’s players and Head Coach Ben Olsen was rightfully irate in comments both at halftime and post-game, labeling his club’s play “mindboggling” (among other things I can’t repeat here). At training on Monday, Olsen reflected further on the loss, pledging to do away with the “passive” play that has been inextricably linked to his club for several seasons. Olsen commented further Friday, “I don’t know what played into our passiveness, but I think the more that I looked at that game it certainly wasn’t as bad as I thought maybe, and I was a little dramatic after, but I don’t like to lose. And hopefully our guys don’t like to lose and we have the right response against LA.”
United will have to ditch that passivity and become aggressive in their attack, all while missing four major components of the attack and midfield, if they hope to come out of Saturday’s matchup with three points. To do so, United cannot cede the midfield in favor of bunkering in the defensive third; the tactic won them first place in the Eastern conference in 2014, but their lack of bite has also cost them in the 2014 MLS Playoffs (also against the Red Bulls) and the CONCACAF Champions League (falling 6-4 to LD Alajuelense in the competition’s quarterfinals).
This is a tactic which has been criticized before as detrimental to the club’s success; as their stars age it will become ever more important to change the tactical scheme and incorporate younger talent, especially as investment increases in the D.C. United Academy system. Against the Galaxy, D.C. will need to press Robbie Rogers and expose him like the Portland Timbers were able to, while limiting or eliminating the threat from his excursions into the Galaxy attack. Defender Sean Franklin (formerly of the LA Galaxy) commented after training Friday, “He’s a good player. He has a good left foot…I’m just looking to not let him make the game and put him on his back heel as much as I can.”
United’s center back combo of Birnbaum and Boswell will have their hands full with Ishizaki and Maganto lurking, and the back line will have to communicate and execute better than they did against the Red Bulls if they hope to come out of the match with points.
