We have been saying for almost as long as this podcast has been around that if this team is going to be bad, it needs to be at least interesting. Grinding out a 0-0 draw at home with no shots may have been the nadir of “results first football”, and I think the collective fanbase was ready to jump into the Potomac if we had to ever endure something so visually dire ever again.
Luckily for us, we didn’t have to!
Ben Olsen set DC United in a nominally attacking formation with 2 strikers (Rivas and Kamara), DC United’s best player Kevin Paredes (DCUBP henceforth) in the 10 and unleashed to get into the attack as much as he pleased, and two wingbacks hoping to provide width. Chris Seitz started again, with Bill Hamid making his first bench appearance in 4 games (which will be another post at a later date).
The game started brightly, with DC United on the front foot for most of the opening 25 minutes. DCUBP specifically was very bright, taking players on and being short just a little polish to make those moves turn into goals. This year is all about getting him the development and confidence he needs to next year turn those thoughts into actions resulting in goals. Twitter was on board with the new formation, and on board with Gelman Rivas’ attempted scissor kick goal that was unfortunately saved. (Had he scored, it would have been the best opening goal for a DCU forward since Rafael, but please don’t look up what happened after that)
Alas, in a scenario we probably should have forseen, the stout defense from the previous two games magically turned to jelly when the Offense knob was turned to 3 from 0. Awful marking on set piece led to NY’s first goal and a Donovan Pines goof on a ball he should have cleared led to the second goal. After the second goal, NYRB gave United a taste of its own medicine with a low block of 8 that stifled any attempt at an attempt. Even Pipa Higuain’s insertion in the last 25 minutes, who offered more sauce and style than the team had offered up to that point, could not turn the tide.
Failure aside, I will wager that most DCU fans would rather see the first 20 and last 20 minutes of this game, where the offense was more than a theoretical notion than a draw with no shots taken. This team isn’t going to win MLS Cup this year. This team might make the playoffs since there are 10 spots available in the Eastern Conference this year, but the ending has already been written. With that in mind (and with the sad reality that there is no US Open Cup for this team to steal unlike in 2013), the team should focus this season entirely on building the skills and confidence of its young players, identifying the areas that need improvement (…), and figuring out what this team hopes to be in 2021 and beyond. That isn’t done by continuing a defend at all costs philosophy but it can be done in losses like the latest one.