DC United continues to alternate solid performances with terrible ones as Coach Wayne Rooney tries to turn their season around. Coming off a very creditable 1-0 loss to a star studded LAFC the fans had a right to expect another good effort. The effort appeared to be there on Saturday, but the result was sorely lacking.
The mystery can somewhat be explained by the introduction of several new players and the absence of United’s captain and defensive organizer, Steven Birnbaum. Both Ravel Morrison and Martin Rodriguez have shown solid talent but aren’t yet fully in sync with their teammates. The extra thought required slows down overall play and detracts from the rapid tempo that the coach seeks in attack.
Rooney was aware of the problem, “I addressed it at half time. If we play at a good tempo we get players in the right positions and we cause a team problems. If we don’t and we’re slow and players take too many touches the speed of the ball isn’t quick enough. It becomes a bit more difficult. That’s obviously something I’m trying to change.”
Unfortunately for United, Philadelphia’s Jim Curtin saw the same thing and had his players, all familiar with each other’s tendencies, play a quicker tempo against a trailing DC roster. Rooney’s players were placed sufficiently off balance that they continued to play slowly. He noted the obvious, “We need to do that for the full ninety minutes.”
He described the flow of the game, “In the first 25 minutes we caused Philadelphia a lot of problems both in the way we used the ball and in the way we pressed and then maybe a lack of confidence once they got their goals in. And then players make mistakes and then hide from that.” He admitted that, “Players have to take responsibility as well as myself.”
Birnbaum’s replacement, Victor Palsson echoed his coach’s view of the lack of tempo as it applied to defense when he noted his own hesitation when he thought Chris Durkin’s move to cover the Union’s Mikael Uhre would suffice to prevent the striker from scoring the first goal of the game. He stated several times that he took responsibility, and he was seen apologizing to the fans after the game.
His humble and sincere attitude when placed in the unaccustomed role of central defender speaks well of his leadership and bodes well for the team. Despite the continuing losses the players seem fully committed to Rooney’s plan which leads to some optimism as they grow more familiar with each other.
That familiarity is the key to confidence which leads to quicker anticipation of one’s teammates’ position and the resulting uptempo play which Rooney seeks. If he is correct, we can expect a more consistent level of play and growth toward a better record by season’s end.
The current team still plays as if it is early season. In a sense, it is not fully “game fit”. The skills and stamina are there and will be bolstered by the addition of Christian Benteke. Perhaps a .500 record for the remainder of the season would be a reasonable goal.
