Luck favors DC United in 3-0 Season Opener

DC United’s 3-0 victory over Charlotte FC, although expected, was nowhere near the blowout the score line implies. Both teams showed only the sporadic cohesion expected in a season opener. Two reasons account for the lack of impressive attacking.

First was the decision by both teams to play from the back and to press consistently. The result was a preponderance of midfield frustration as play was reversed. The decision to play at a high tempo is made easier with the continuing allowance of five substitutions as players have less need to conserve energy.

Second is the typical miscommunication not only from season beginning jitters, but also from Charlotte’s entrance with all new players and United’s introduction of a significant number of new players. Again and again potentially effective runs were made and the pass not given (not unusual in normal times) or the pass made to a place where the runner would have gone but changed direction or stopped his run. As familiarity grows this facet should improve markedly.

Both teams maintained wide play except when throw ins were made. In particular, Julian Gressel and Brad Smith were effective on the wings because of the space they created by their positioning. Smith’s debut showed us that he was a good acquisition as his challenges for the ball and delivery from the wings kept Charlotte defenders worried.

Attacking corner kicks were addressed in an interesting manner as DC chose to hold two players in midfield with Andy Najar sliding into the center circle from his position on right defense. As expected, Steven Birnbaum and Brendan Hines-Ike took their height into the fray in front of net.

The effect of withholding three from attack was to allow containment as the ball was cleared. That is consistent with the pressing policy that Coach Hernan Losada has implemented. That tactic may need adjustment in the future if opponents choose to place a swift forward near midfield or otherwise deploy defenders away from the fray.

Michael Estrada had an auspicious debut with a brace in the first half. He took the stutter step approach to his penalty kick, sucking Charlotte keeper Kristijan Kahlina into diving to his left and calmly passing the ball to the opposite corner of the net. His blast from 25 yards out as the half was about to expire took a fortuitous deflection off Charlotte’s Christian Fuchs just out of Kahlina’s reach and into the net.

In addition to Estrada’s scoring prowess, he played with his back to goal on several occasions and was able to control the ball and distribute despite consistent pressure. This skill will help him in the future as defenders leave themselves vulnerable to his turning around them to use his speed if they play too close.

The final goal of the night was also the result of a few lucky bounces as Ola Kamara was happily placed in front of Kahlina as he parried the ball in an attempt to clear. Conversely, Charlotte had several clear one on ones with United’s keeper Bill Hamid but the homegrown stalwart blocked them cleanly. Clearly, but for a few bounces opportunities were fairly equal, as illustrated by the fairly even possession statistics which showed Charlotte slightly ahead of DC.

United did “excel” in one category which may foreshadow future problems. In the aggressive play by both teams, DC players accumulated four yellow cards, a pace which could lead to future loss of player availability. Andy Najar’s dissent seemed to stem as much from frustration growing from his game long war with Charlotte’s Yordy Reyna on the wing. Adrien Perez also collected one for the silly act of kicking the ball away. Such indiscipline needs to be curbed if United’s strong pressing approach is to succeed.

United moves on to visit FC Cincinnati, who are coming off a 5-0 blowout by new team Austin FC, next Saturday at 6:00 PM CST.