After coming off of a 4-1 loss to the LA Galaxy to open their 2016 Major League Soccer campaign, D.C. United’s midfield will look for their first points against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium this Saturday.
Despite the score line, D.C. were dominant throughout the first half in LA; they managed to get on the board in the fifth minute off of newcomer Lamar Neagle. Both Neagle and Patrick Nyarko provided speed on the flanks, allowing D.C. United the option of bypassing much of the Galaxy’s experienced midfield. “It was exactly the way we wanted to start. We needed to start with aggression. We knew they were gonna come out hard—it’s their home opener—so we knew we’d need to come out and weather that storm.”
Nick DeLeon and Marcelo Sarvas looked like they could potentially grow their partnership in central midfield into a net upgrade, after United lost Davy Arnaud to a concussion and Perry Kitchen moved on to pursue European opportunities (he landed at Heart of Midlothian of the Scottish Premier League last week). D.C. United, despite the loss, does not appear to be a one-trick pony anymore.
New England and D.C. have a history of hard-fought matches dating back to the first MLS season, but there are questions about whether their defense will continue to be a liability going forward. Ned Joyce of Sports Events Guide points out that “they push forward on offense a lot from the defensive perspective and get caught on a lot of counters, a lot of bad positioning.” But he was careful to point out that New England is deep in the midfield and is capable of dictating the pace of the game with the likes of Fagundez, Nguyen, Rowe, and the rest.
Jon Sigal of SB Nation’s The Bent Musket points out that Steven Caldwell is an anchor for the Revolution midfield. Combined with Gershon Koffie and Lee Nguyen, “that triumvirate combines and really thrives off of each other, and plays off of each other’s strengths while compensating for each other’s weaknesses.” This will be a huge test for the re-forged D.C. United midfield which, in many ways, is looking to emulate some of what has made New England so dangerous the past couple seasons.
Ben Olsen elaborated on what makes the Revolution such a difficult opponent after training on Wednesday: “Guys who can create their own shots. Service. Outside backs. They’re a very dangerous team; they’re not much different the they have been the past couple years, and that’s a playoff soccer team. So we’ll have out hands full—their home opener, we know all that, but again we’d like to go there and spoil the party and come away with something.”
