MLS is changing rapidly this off season.
A new CBA, big-name trades, two new expansion teams, stars departing the league, and stars joining the league occurred all in the span of just a few months.
For D.C. United, stars leaving was the biggest issue facing the team in 2020.
D.C. couldn’t make the loan deals for designated player Lucas Rodriguez and Leonardo Jara permanent, as the two returned to their Argentine parent clubs, Estudiantes de La Plata and Boca Juniors, respectively.
We knew about the departure of Wayne Rooney and Luciano Acosta, but that didn’t make it any more challenging to say goodbye to one of the most exciting duos in the league.
Just like that, four impactful starters – a DP and and a TAM player- were gone.
It left United in limbo. Before Rooney and Acosta linked up for for a combined 39 goals over two seasons, D.C. United languished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference in 2017.
Fears that the team could return to the basement were assuaged when United bought Peruvian international Edison Flores from Liga MX side Morelia for a club record $5 million.
“He is an exciting and dynamic attacking player who creates and scores goals,” Dave Kasper, United’s general manager and vice president of soccer operations, said in a statement. “What has really impressed us is his commitment to the team. He is a versatile and gritty two-way player who plays with a real pulse.”
In August 7, of last year, D.C. United purchased MLS veteran Ola Kamara.
Acquiring a 30 year old usually isn’t planning for the future, but with Rooney’s imminent departure, D.C. planned ahead, and got a forward who might not score the flashy goals, but at least puts them away at a high rate.
In Kamara, United has a forward who has scored 51 MLS goals in 95 appearances. That .54 goals-per-game is better than Rooney’s .48.
Flores and Kamara might not have the initial appeal of LuchoRoo, and there isn’t quite the portmanteau for them just yet (Flomara anyone?), but the duo has ostensibly joined as like-for-like replacements.
As to Jara and Rodriguez, D.C. United found suitable successors in MLS Cup winner and 2017 MLS Rookie of the Year, Julien Gressel and his former Atlanta United teammate, Yamil Asad.
Asad, like Kamara, was signed last season in September. Because of work visa issues, he couldn’t join right away, but will likely be a starter for 2020.
Replacements are never guaranteed to live up to their predecessors, but it seems D.C. United found four who can make in impact. Gressel, Asad and Kamara are MLS proven players, something that is more valuable than many realize.
Flores is one of many big names joining MLS from Liga MX, along with Alan Pulido, Oswaldo Alanis, Lucas Cavellini, Lucas Zelarayan and potentially a few more.
Still at the club is Venezuela international Junior Moreno, Russel Canouse, Joseph Mora, Felipe, Steve Birnbaum, Frederic Brillant and USMNT internationals Bill Hamid and Paul Arriola to name a few potential starters.
The pieces left over from last season are all good enough to retain their starting spot, and don’t seem to have competition from any newcomers.
In Paul Arriola, United has a winger who works up and down the pitch. He is strong enough technically that his work rate isn’t his only positive attribute, and it’s a main reason why he is a regular starter for the USMNT.
Bill Hamid is a top five goalkeeper in the league. He will probably win United a few points throughout the season, which is more than most goalkeepers can say.
Paired in the defense, Birnbaum and Brillant are two strong defenders who win most of their aerial duels. The biggest worry for that defense is pace. Brillant and Birnbaum can get exposed by quick forwards. If D.C. wants to play on the front foot, this will be a constant worry.
Junior Moreno might be one of the most underrated players in MLS last year. The Venezuelan international does just about everything in the midfield, and without him, the center of the pitch becomes much weaker and the play suffers for it.
The one worry about the midfield might be the lack of a true defensive midfielder. Moreno, Canouse and Felipe are all closer to a box-to-box style player, with the bonus of each also being more defensive minded than attacking. A lack of creativity as well as a holding player makes the midfield seem weaker than it actually is, and there will be a bigger onus on players like Gressel and Flores to support the midfield and help transition defense into attack.
That front four of Kamara, Asad, Flores, and Arriola is scarier than many will give credit. The creativity and technique of those four is paired with a top-notch work ethic that could make United hard to break down. Time will tell what kind of player Flores is, but Ben Olsen will surely expect his star player to be just as big a defensive asset as Arriola or Rooney last season.
The back line is adding just one name, and Gressel is a dynamic enough player to adjust quickly to a new environment, given he’s played three different positions last year.
With head coach Ben Olsen’s propensity to switch to a three-man defense, he has Gressel who could be one of the best wing backs in the league.
Last season, D.C. finished 5th, and ended the season in a strange 5-1 extra-time loss to eventual Eastern Conference Champions, Toronto FC. MLS Cup odds are not yet up on all betting sites, but the ones that already have them have United at +2000, which puts them yet again at fifth among the Eastern Conference clubs.
Given how much so many squads such as the Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire and FC Cincinnati have improved, the standings could fluctuate greatly in 2020.
It will be a challenge for any MLS team to qualify for the playoffs this year, and each club somehow seems to have a shot to be relevant.
The fight for seventh could be more vicious than any in recent memory, and because of that, DC United needs to figure out what it is, and how it will play early in the season, and not risk falling behind and playing catch up.
Here is what the line up might look like:
4-2-3-1
Bill Hamid
Julian Gressel, Frederic Brillant, Steve Birnbaum, Joseph Mora
Russel Canouse/Felipe, Junior Moreno
Paul Arriola, Edison Flores, Yamil Asad
Ola Kamara
or a 3-4-2-1
Bill Hamid
Frederic Brillant, Donovan Pines, Steve Birnbaum
Julian Gressel, Russel Canouse/Felipe, Junior Moreno, Joseph Mora
Paul Arriola, Edison Flores/Yamil Asad
Ola Kamara
DC United
MLS Eastern Conference
