Over the past several seasons, D.C. United has had a reputation for sitting back and defending with their whole team in lieu of playing the game out in the midfield. This has produced a string of inconsistent seasons, from making the playoffs for the first time in five seasons (2012) to a record-worst MLS finish (2013) to Eastern Conference regular-season champions (2014). If 2014 is any indication, the tactics may be changing as D.C.’s squad continues to get younger with the introduction of players like Miguel Aguilar, Michael Farfan, and Conor Doyle to the first team lineup. Over the past several weeks, D.C. United managed to put together a four-game stretch without a loss while missing DP Fabian Espindola to a six-match suspension from the final leg of the Eastern Conference semi-final against the New York Red Bulls; off-season midfield pickup Markus Halsti and 2014 MLS Rookie of the Year finalist Steve Birnbaum are also sidelined with injuries.
It is less remarkable that D.C. United has played resiliently since their 2-0 loss at Red Bull Arena last month than it is how they’ve managed to do so. This is not all to say that D.C. are playing “attacking soccer” as much as they are trying to maintain possession to build a coherent attack from the defense. When all else fails, the D.C. United counterattack looks much more dangerous than it did most of 2014 and in the knockout rounds of the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League. D.C. dropped points at home against the Red Bulls and the Dynamo over the past two weeks. The coaching staff and players were disappointed in performances that they believe they should have been able to see through to the end. Last Saturday’s match with league-leading Vancouver saw United come back from a goal deficit to take the lead and defend it for the remainder of the match.
The return of Fabian Espindola and a few lineup changes brought a new wrinkle to D.C. United’s style of play. Rolfe was moved to striker to parter with Espindola. The two combined well together and were very active. Espindola provided high pressure at times, a different look from United’s usual sit back and bunker. Rolfe has the ability to drop back into the midfield to help with possession as well. While defense remained the focus of United’s play in Vancouver, their two forwards provided speed for the counter that hadn’t been seen much this season. Farfan and Pontius provided support as well. Kitchen remained in a holding role allowing the others to go forward and prevented the Whitecaps from responding dangerously. United held much of the possession in the second half. While this can be partially attributed to Vancouver playing with 10 men, it is undeniable that Espindola’s presence changes this team noticeably. Contributions here and there from the rest of the midfield cast, and D.C. is certainly able to come out of their shell and be a threat offensively without sacrificing much of their shape defensively.
-Matt Pollard, Featured Columnist at Last Word on Sports
While D.C. United may not have the depth of a team like the LA Galaxy or Seattle Sounders, there is serious competition for starting spots beginning to develop as the younger talent continues to prove itself and the older veterans start to succumb to injury. If these younger pieces continue to develop positively and perform consistently on game days, United’s future looks bright; the personnel are available to put together an attractive, dynamic, and possession-based squad that can compete even with the best-performing clubs in the Western conference. Despite falling behind 70 seconds into the match off a Pedro Morales strike, D.C. battled back to even the score with a Bobby Boswell header within ten minutes. After absorbing pressure (and a rainstorm of shots) for much of the first half, D.C. was able to settle into a rhythm that saw both teams play end-to-end for the duration of the match. A second yellow for Vancouver’s Matias Laba saw the home team go down a man, and that’s when the game really began to open up. While D.C. did not look like they were necessarily playing up a man, they did look like a team that was taking it to their opponent.
Throughout the second half, D.C. United took advantage of space in the middle of the field, with the Espindola and Chris Rolfe tandem working wonders; this could be a great alternative to the Espindola-Silva pairing that worked to such great effect for D.C. last season. Rolfe was able to create space for Espindola and involve the midfield in the attack, giving D.C. opportunities to press forward with numbers. It was only fitting that in the 64th minute, Espindola hit a pass to Rolfe at midfield that created D.C.’s go-ahead goal. Rolfe is a player who can see the field better than almost anyone in MLS. Chris Pontius was making a run toward the top of the penalty box, and Rolfe managed to hit the ball to him on a dime. Pontius is a player with incredible strength, and was able to keep the Vancouver defender off the ball long enough to tap the ball back to Chris Rolfe, who powered the ball past Ousted. It is this type of counter-attack that has served D.C. well this season, and we should expect it to be a hallmark of their best performances this season.
The Whitecaps didn’t make it easy for D.C. United, winning the shot battle (16-8), earning more corners (9-2), and putting in more crosses (26-14), but D.C. had some quite impressive numbers in their own right:
- Total Passes (DC 434-364 VAN)
- Passing Accuracy (DC 79%-77% VAN)
- Possession (DC 53.3%-46.7% VAN)
While they’re still playing a defensive game relying more on clearances by the defense (DC 25-13 VAN) and good goalkeeping, the eye test shows a remarkable departure from the defensive mindset that has become a staple of the D.C. United grind. As Ben Olsen continues his development as a young coach, it will be interesting to see if this is the start of a trend for him and how his teams approach the game.
