Defender happy to be back from injury
It was an abbreviated return that hardly felt like a return at all.
D.C. United defender Marc Burch played four games last year, but he probably shouldn’t have played any. After breaking the sesamoid bone in his right foot during the preseason, Burch underwent surgery and didn’t play until July, only to be gone again for the rest of the year by September.
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| D.C. United at New England Revolution |
| Where » Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass. |
| When » Saturday, 4:30 p.m. |
| TV » Comcast SportsNet |
“I didn’t feel like I played at all last year,” said Burch, who returned to the lineup in D.C. United’s season-opening 3-1 victory over Columbus on Saturday. “When I came back, my foot was still broken, so it didn’t really feel like I was back.”
Burch’s veteran presence at left back was a welcome one — he delivered the long ball that led to Charlie Davies’ second goal — but after essentially a year off, it was hardly guaranteed that the 26-year-old would be in the starting lineup, sharing that duty with Daniel Woolard.
“He kind of had to relearn how to play with his new foot,” United coach Ben Olsen said. “But about a month [into preseason], he looked like his old self, and then he started progressing from there. Woolard has done fine and was very steady in the preseason, I thought, but in the end, my gut said to go with Burch.”
In his sixth year in MLS out of Maryland and first as a married man after tying the knot during the offseason, Burch is settled yet focused on keeping his place.
“It would be nice to walk off the field at the end of the game and feel OK, but I’m not at 100 percent,” Burch said. “I’m close enough, and I feel like my game is getting back to where it should be. I have my speed and my balance and everything I need right now.”
Left back might be set, but Olsen could see two members of his starting back line change when United (1-0-0) plays New England (1-0-0) on Saturday afternoon in Foxborough, Mass. Right back Jed Zayner remains questionable with a left hamstring strain, which could open the door for rookie Chris Korb to make his debut. With rookie center back Perry Kitchen on duty with the U.S. under-20 national team, Rodrigo Brasesco appears likely to make his first start.
“That’s going to happen all year,” United center back Dejan Jakovic said. “So we have a bunch guys — I’m sure Rodrigo’s going to step into that hole and do a good job for us.”
