DC United Coach Troy Lesesne took over a reorganized, plodding 2023 team with the intention to create an aggressive atmosphere by bringing in many new players to build on with some strong youngsters and a few reliable holdovers. Two trends stood out in their season opener against the New England Revolution.
First, the restraint line which had formerly been somewhat conventional near midfield became a full court press with a swarming defense. In a first game, that was certain to unbalance the weak Revolution who could only respond with similar aggression when a man down in the second half. It is worth noting that United was somewhat put off their own game by that response, a possible indicator of problems later in the year.
Second, the widely used build from the back was abandoned to good effect as both teams chose to lift goal kicks and defensive clearances to target forwards. In the event, Christian Benteke showed the value of the approach by scoring a hat trick to earn MLS Player of the Week honors as he controlled one long air ball after another.
Lesesne put it simply, “In terms of us playing into Christian Benteke, I don’t know why you wouldn’t play into Christian Benteke.” In addition to his impact as a player, the coach noted Benteke’s overall value, “Beyond the goals and the impact in the game, what’s great about him is that every single day this guy comes in and is probably the most humble guy in our locker room. He buys into everything that we do and he sets the example and he set the example again tonight.
In a pregame interview, goalkeeper Alex Bono had indicated that there would be less use of the sweeper-keeper tactic only to have that approach be a solid feature of the DC’s pressure game on the night. Lesesne explained the positioning, “I think that the actions that you’re talking about for him to be a sweeper keeper were reading the game. We stepped really high up the field. So he has to be attached to our back four.”
An interesting feature of the game was the positioning of the five listed defenders. In practice, the wider two were more often the main attackers down the flanks. In 2023, that was usually Pedro Santos, however, Aaron Herrera, the right-side defender, explained, “Throughout the week, we kind of worked on me playing a little higher than Pedro, playing a little more up – – – It was part of the plan for me to get higher and him staying lower allows me to do that. So, but yeah, I mean we’re both going to get forward as much as we can and take whatever the game gives us – – – I have a lot of freedom here to go forward on this team.”
Herrera went on to discuss the value of the experienced Mateusz Klich in midfield as he drifted about to control flow sometimes taking the ball down the left as Santos laid back. His duties were varied, “Klich’s a guy that we want as high as we can get him and we want him as close to the goal as possible. We like when he does the defense work. He’s a guy that’s going to put in a defensive work and we love that about him. But we want him saving energy on going forward and creating.” Klich’s ability to pace himself to play both roles is the hallmark of a wise player.
Less obvious in the overall scheme was the person expected to direct the attack, Gabriel Pirani. With Benteke doing so much, the young, designated player was less involved. As opponents adjust to Benteke’s role, we can expect DC to work more often through Pirani and the rapidly developing Ted Ku-Dipietro. Lesesne’s ability to instill the ability to adapt to opposing tactics will set the tone for the season.
In contrast with the relatively easy time Saturday, the next three games will show just how effective the new approach will be. United goes to Portland Saturday and then on to a strong Cincinnati only to return to the Leonel Messi led Miami FC at 2:00 PM on 16 March.
