The first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinal between D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls saw the home team fall 1-0 at RFK stadium. Despite being thoroughly outplayed in the midfield by the Red Bulls and dominated in both shots and shots on goal, Bill Hamid singlehandedly kept the score line manageable heading into the second leg at Red Bull Arena. There was one other bright spot for D.C. United: the Birnbaum-Opare center back tandem worked…and it worked extremely well.
For the better part of this season, I’ve questioned why we’d never seen the Birnbaum-Opare in a regular season match; the suspension of Bobby Boswell after the play-in match against New England forced the issue and, in a game with huge implications, the young center back tandem impressed with a game largely free of errors. The set piece goal scored off a diving Dax McCarty’s head was not the result of bad defending, but rather hesitation by Hamid.
That center back pairing, without question, is a huge bright spot for future editions of D.C. United. Bobby Boswell is unquestionably one of the best defenders in MLS, but is one of the older players on the roster and not as quick as he used to be. Defensively, D.C. United’s future is sound. And, were some depth to be added to D.C.’s midfield, there are many ways to adjust this lineup to capitalize on the defensive prowess of Birnbaum and Opare to improve the issues plaguing the team in elsewhere.
Passing accuracy in that first half between #DCvNY. @dcunited numbers are not for the faint of heart. pic.twitter.com/hMRbvJKkCx
— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) November 1, 2015
Unfortunately, D.C. United spent most of today’s match struggling to maintain possession and complete passes. This was partially an ongoing trend that’s plagued D.C. United for the past several seasons, but was exacerbated by the injury to Chris Pontius. This forced Ben Olsen to play Chris Rolfe in central midfield, rendering him largely invisible after United’s offensive flurry in the opening minutes of the first half.
https://twitter.com/LWOS_JB3/status/660926088835649540
Ultimately this midfield is what is costing D.C. United games in the back end of the season. The midfield may very well be the reason D.C. United is knocked out of the playoffs if they don’t score two goals at Red Bull Arena next Sunday. Many of the issues D.C. had putting in shots and shots on goal are a direct result of a midfield that can’t maintain possession or complete passes over the course of 90 minutes. This offseason, D.C. must make adjustments there to compete in the knockout rounds of the CONCACAF Champions League in the Spring and mount another MLS Playoff campaign in 2016.
