April 18,2015; Washington D.C.- Giles Barnes does his best triple jump impression to avoid D.C. United defender Sean Franklin (photo credit: Jennifer Jordan Harrell photography)
Apparently everything is bigger in Texas.
D.C. United (4-6-4, 16 points) will hope that is true as the club returns from their two week break to take on the Houston Dynamo (3-7-4, 13 points). The match will take place at BBVA Compass Stadium at 9pm EST on NewsChannel 8 in the D.C. Metro area and Root Sports Southwest in Houston.
Both clubs come off the break needing points in this match. D.C. lost their final match before the FIFA international break losing 2-0 to the Seattle Sounders. Their luck was not much better on Wednesday night as the club bowed out of the U.S. Open Cup with a penalty kick defeat at the hands of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
Houston meanwhile has shown some life in recent weeks, drawing their final two league matches while putting out a strong 4-0 victory on Wednesday over San Antonio FC. Long-term interim coach Wade Barrett seems to have found a measure of stability for a club that had just two wins in ten matches prior to his hire.
The improvement in form seems to stem from a refocused attack. Barrett’s gone back to the tried and true 4-5-1 that held so much success for the Dynamo in the past with Will Bruin as the lone striker. With Ricardo Clark and Oscar Bonniek Garcia behind him, Bruin can push defenses on their heels and thus open space for his two center-midfielders. That move coupled with the return of Giles Barnes on the outside will give the Dynamo a real chance to break the D.C. defense.
With center-back Steve Birnbaum still away due to Copa America duty it will be interesting to see how United copes with this strategy. Although United’s center-back pair of Bobby Boswell and Kofi Opare have been teammates for close to two years they struggled with tracking center forwards in Birnbaum’s absence. Sounders forward Jordan Morris made short work of the United defense two weeks ago partially because he could find these gaps.
That being said, this will not be a one-sided affair. The Dynamo defense has struggled this season dealing with sides that can effectively run the counter-attack. Although United’s attacking options are limited with injuries to midfielders Chris Rofle and Patrick Nyarko (concussion) the club still has one of the fastest players in Major League Soccer in Luciano Acosta. Acosta still has yet to find his scoring touch with United, but has shown that he can provide opportunities for his teammates. With leading goal-scorer Alvaro Saborio back from international duty look for United coach Ben Olsen to attempt to rekindle their budding partnership.
The main question for United will be in the midfield. Midfielder Nick De Leon has not adjusted well to the center-midfield role, often acting more as an attacker and less as a distributor. While this helps on certain plays against a side like the Dynamo that favor possession it can mean that D.C. will be without the ball for long periods of the match. De Leon has to pick his moments on the attack or the Dynamo may make D.C. pay.
Although United used to have issues winning at BBVA they were able to snap their losing skid in 2014 with a resounding 3-1 victory. In that match D.C. was able to break through a Dynamo midfield with two goals from the counter-attack. Although many of the players have changed since then, United will be banking on a similar strategy with the hope of breaking down a team that at times can be very dangerous on the attack.
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