By: Jonathan Yuhas
DC United begin their 2021 MLS campaign against New York City FC. This season appears to be a long trek for United, but is laced with some optimism. In the last five matchups between DC and New York City, NYCFC has prevailed in every game. The last meeting between these two was an MLS fixture that ended with a 4-1 score in favor of New York City.
Things to know before match day:
DC United will be without three of their projected starters. This list includes Steven Birnbaum, Felipe Martins, and star forward Paul Arriola. Arriola returned from his loan to Swansea after a quadriceps injury that will have him out for 4-6 weeks. United’s tremendous midfield depth will help offset the loss of Martins and Arriola, but the back line may suffer without Birnbaum.
United will continue with the question mark they had in 2020, trying to figure out their identity moving forward. Early this season, United will have a common word in their vocabulary: “Youth.” Moses Nyman, Kevin Parades, and Griffin Yow made up a potent trio of youngsters that received a lot of crucial development time in 2020. DC also added 19-year-old Venezuelan forward Jovanny Bolivar to the mix.
Players are not the only element of United’s youth. Making his debut as manager, Hernán Losada seeks to make his mark. In his first interview as United’s manager, Losada made his strategy pretty clear: He seeks to have United go forward often when he said, “I would like to start playing as vertical as possible.”
“Based on the games I saw, you can see that the moment DC United recovers the ball, most of the time they look to play later or backward. And I do believe that the moment that you play vertical, especially after the transition, when you recover the ball, you can exploit the disorganization of the opposition.”
This vertical playing strategy will be severely tested against a strong opponent like NYCFC. He may be tempted to implement a more defensive approach to get a draw on opening weekend.
On that note, New York City FC made some very strong additions this offseason, making an already great team even better. NYCFC added United States men’s national team youth player Chris Glouster, who was very impressive in the Bundesliga 2 with Hannover 96 and with PSV 2 in the Eredivisie.
They went on to add even further US Men’s national team talent in Alfredo Morales, who had recently been making starts for the Yanks and was a consistent substitute for Fortuna Düsseldorf, making 27 appearances in the 2020 season. These additions give DC United a tall task on match day.
What to expect:
Overall, this match day DC United fans should expect change. Losada will be implementing his new tactics and an ideal lineup with some youngsters who will be looking to take a step up in 2021.
My prediction is that DC United will not play for results, but rather Losada will use this first match day to find an identity. United is expected to go forward a lot, even if they might not have the players necessary to do so effectively (considering the loss of Arriola).
United may be caught too high up on occasion, with New York’s efficiency up top and in the counterattacking game. Still, even with the loss of Arriola and Birnbaum, United fans have a lot to draw optimism from, especially, the debut of Losada and the opportunities United’s youth will have during this time of injury.
(Cover Photo Credit: Last Word On Sports)
The Wildcard 