D.C. United suffered yet another second-half slump in an up-tempo 1-1 draw with the visiting Houston Dynamo. Despite playing well for most of the match, lapses in defense continue to create opportunities for opposing teams; meanwhile, the offense has had decent build-up play but can’t seem to bury the ball in the net with enough regularity. The more aggressive attacking style D.C. has adopted this season is admittedly a welcome change, but once the full strength team is back on the field come May (with the impending returns of Steven Birnbaum and Fabian Espindola) there will be few excuses for the lapses that have plagued United the past two weeks.
D.C. United vs Houston: Attack Struggles to Finish in Home Draw
The Dynamo were able to control the opening minutes of play, putting several dangerous shots on an untested Andrew Dykstra, who did well positionally to keep Houston off the scoreboard; his last minutes came in D.C. United’s 5-2 CONCACAF Champions League loss to Alajuelense in February, 8 months after being sidelined due to a torn Achilles tendon. The young goalkeeper played well in Bill Hamid’s absence. Hamid suffered a thigh contusion in United’s 2-2 tie with the New York Red Bulls a week ago. Dykstra ultimately couldn’t stop Houston from scoring off a Brad Davis cross to Will Bruin, which he spilled directly into the path of an oncoming Ricardo Clark, who smashed it into United’s net from point blank range.
While Dykstra should have controlled the initial shot better, there are serious questions about D.C. United’s defense as the team seeks to play a more attacking-style. In 2014, United were notoriously stingy in defense, conceding only 37 goals on the season (tied for best in Major League Soccer with the LA Galaxy). They did this largely by sitting back and putting numbers behind the ball, then hoping to spring a counter-attack; this strategy was quite successful in the 2014 regular season, as D.C. finished at the top of the Eastern Conference in a historic turnaround from their 2013 campaign.
D.C.’s 2015 edition seems to be more comfortable playing the game out of the midfield and maintaining longer spells of possession–a statistic in which they edged out Houston and kept close against the Red Bulls. If this tactic is to be successful, the center back and holding midfield pairings must consistently shut down the opposition in the middle third of the field; failure to do so draws Taylor Kemp and Sean Franklin out of position on the wing, exposing D.C. on their flanks and allowing the opposition to swing crosses in with minimal difficulty. This has happened with increasing regularity for D.C. and the results have reflected that trend, with United dropping four points over the past two matches and losing sole-claim to first place in the Eastern conference. With the upcoming challenge of traveling to BC Place to take on the league-leading Vancouver Whitecaps next weekend, it will be critical for Ben Olsen and company to find answers.
With Fabian Espindola returning from a six-match ban next weekend, the D.C. United attack will be at full strength for the first time this season. The Espindola-Silva tandem which was the hallmark of United’s success in the defensive-minded tactical scheme of summer 2014, will make its 2015 debut. The ceiling is arguably higher for both players in a system that appears to rely less on the bunker-and-counter tactics of old, but finishing opportunities has not been a strong suit so far this season. Many of the newer and younger pieces in D.C.’s attack (Arrieta, Pontius, Farfan, Aguilar, and DeLeon) simply haven’t done well enough to put the ball away with any sort of regularity. D.C. United has needed to rely on set pieces and scoring chances off crosses to score for the past three weeks. Coach Ben Olsen was candid after the match, “We need that because we haven’t been clinical out of the run of play, and that part needs to get better. Set pieces are big part of successful teams in any league and we are fortunate to have guys on this team that can capitalize on them. It’s another result, however you want to put it. We’re certainly disappointed in the last two weeks with not coming away with more than we have.”
Still in early-season form, D.C. United has a strong opportunity to take their level of play to the next level over the course of the next several weeks. As mid-season approaches and all the pieces of the squad come fully online, United look to be a team that is potentially both a quick attacking threat and a formidable defense–the key is finding and meeting a certain threshold of consistency. With several injuries and suspensions, the road has not been an easy one thus far; still, with the true first squad yet to be fielded, United can be happy with their current position in the table. Starting next week, however, the performances must build.
Photos by Hugh Clarke (Flickr) (Twitter).
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