As much lineup rotation as D.C. United has already been through this season, it’s important to note that it wasn’t exactly the plan when things got underway six weeks ago. But thanks to injuries, suspensions, international duty, sickness and form, D.C. head coach Ben Olsen has utilized six different starting 11s in all six regular season matches. If Branko Boskovic or Andy Najar find themselves back in the lineup on tomorrow at Houston, it’ll will likely be seven for seven.
Is this a trend that United wants to continue all season? So far, Olsen is okay with it.
He was asked earlier this week specifically about Najar, who hasn’t started since the second game of the season. It adds up fast.
“On my side, it’s a good point, and it happens quick,” Olsen said. “That’s in a lot of ways, is my message to guys: If you’re out, and someone comes in, it’s their job to keep the job. You have to manage personalities and deal with it and deal with the questions and all this stuff, but I think in the end it’s healthy.”
But when I asked D.C.’s defenders about their quest for chemistry for a story in Friday’s print edition, what came up consistently was a desire for continuity.
“Hopefully we’ll get a lineup that we’ll maintain for most of the season so we can get a lot more comfortable,” said Dejan Jakovic, who has had to handle three different partners in central defense already this season: Rodrigo Brasesco, Perry Kitchen and Ethan White.
“It’s difficult for everybody to get on the same page, but it’s coming,” United assistant coach Chad Ashton said. “I think it’s not just the back four. It’s all over the field. Guys are starting to understand each other’s tendencies, how they want to play, what to look for, those kind of unwritten things, quarterback/wide receiver, you can see it without having to say anything to each other, both with the ball and without the ball, which guys are a little bit more aggressively defensively and when I need to cover, things like that. We’re still making a few mistakes, and it’s costing us at times, but it’s a maturation process.”
Many of United’s lineup changes along the back line have been dictated by circumstances, of course. But Olsen has also rotated wide midfielders and forwards in part as a nod to who is playing best week in, week out, rather than focusing on what might be a long term solution. The tradeoff may be that it takes longer for D.C. United to find itself as a team.
“Of course, Andy’s going to contribute this year, and help us,” Olsen said. “Of course Santino [Quaranta is] going to get back in the mix at some point, and do his job, and then Fred’s going to come back. It’s this thing where we’re not always going to have the starting 11 that’s week in, week out. Hopefully we can plug in, and I think it keeps guys motivated, keeps them on their toes. But it can go the other way, and maybe there’s not a rhythm as much as you’d like week in, week out, but I think overall, it’s fairly healthy so far.”
