In a game filled with aggressive play in a crowded midfield DC United Coach Wayne Rooney unveiled a system strongly reminiscent of the DC United of 1996. That team focused on pressure on the opponent, possession when the ball is yours, and rapid attack once an opening appeared.
From the very start of the game, it was evident that Rooney meant to crowd the midfield with a restraint line pulled almost to the mid-line and goalie Tyler Miller playing well off his line as a keeper/sweeper. Inevitably, there were breakaways to which Miller most often responded well. However, they were not as frequent as Toronto may have hoped as Victor Palsson controlled the offside line from the center.
He explained the process, “That’s something we’ve been doing in the preseason, something we’ve been working on, working on our shape, working on our block. We want to stay high. As one of the experienced ones back there I feel it’s my responsibility to keep the line compact, and the team as well.”
Part of that philosophy appears to be playing the goalie as a sweeper/keeper. Tyler Miller, new to the team this year, was often found well off his line and was used as part of the possession game in transition side to side and in building from the back. During the first half, Toronto, seeing vulnerability to the high line, responded with some passes over the top with little success as Palsson’s control yielded several offside calls.
Palsson explained the control technique, “I think it’s always important that the two center backs sustain the one line and the two fullbacks are one step in front so we can have a clear vision on that line.” Asked if that allowed them to observe the basic line from the side and if deeper positioning allowed more time for the center backs to cover if the wide backs were beaten, he agreed.
In his final postseason press conference, Rooney had stated that the players must return physically fit to allow a full preseason of developing team cohesion. The speed of play in this opener indicated that he had some success.
Describing the process, Palsson noted, “We had a six-week preseason together – – – We’re working very well.” “Today, first half was good, second half not so good. I thought the young guys came in fearless. They were very very good. I’m very happy with that. They changed the game. Then you see the mentality of the team; they didn’t give up.” Referring to last season, he averred, “We could have thought ‘Here we go again’, but we kept the mentality strong, we kept it up, we believed, and we got the win.”
After a first half controlled by DC, Toronto took better control in the second half by maintaining the same good width as the first half but switching runs more side to side to force United’s counterparts to cover the movement thereby offering more chances for defensive errors. The movement also created kinetic energy which could be translated into breaking the offside trap as lateral speed was turned into vertical runs into space. The result was several dangerous breakaways.
The preceding gives some insight into the higher expectations for this season. Performances by several players highlighted the reason. Most obvious were contributions by the youngsters, primary among them Matai Akinmboni who has only recently turned 16 years old. He provided 78 minutes of mostly solid play broken only by giving up a penalty on one of the breakaways achieved by Toronto. Coach Rooney was pleased by his performance and said that he knows youngsters will learn from their inevitable errors and should not let that keep them down.
Second year player Ted Ku-Dipietro, just turned 21, came on late for Nigel Robertha in attack to provide the assist to Christian Benteke’s tying goal only to finish off the winner with a nice header in the 98th minute.
On the veteran side, Benteke showed his experience in stepping back to create space to finish Ku-Dipietro’s cross and his ability as a hold up man to keep the ball in Torontos’ end much of the first half. The other designated player on the field, Mateusz Klich teamed with him in controlling midfield while scoring a blistering goal which beat a surprised Sean Johnson. The vision and variety that he adds will create more threats for opponents to worry about.
Over the next several games, we should see how well Rooney’s changes take effect. DC United travels to Columbus on Saturday to test their new cohesion and returns to Audi Field on 11 March at 7:30pm ET to face Orlando.
