Coach figuring out how to utilize his roster best
The way D.C. United finished against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, salvaging a 1-1 tie late on a fortuitous Charlie Davies penalty kick, Ben Olsen should have been relieved or even thrilled that his team had snapped its two-game skid.
But still only ankle deep into his first full season as coach, Olsen looked more like a player who had just spent 90 minutes running up and down the field than a buttoned-up manager afterward, the exhaustion on his face showing just how much the match had taken out of him.
“I think we have enough talent that we can concern ourselves with how we play, and it has to be better,” Olsen said.
But Olsen’s greatest challenge has been getting the right players on the field because of injuries, suspensions, international call-ups and form. The Galaxy game showed that strict merit-based selections, while easy, aren’t always the best option.
On paper, starting rookie Blake Brettschneider over the recovering Davies on Saturday made sense considering Davies had practiced only two full days coming off a groin injury. But Brettschneider looked overwhelmed on the big stage, a place where Davies has thrived, especially before his accident.
Andy Najar, D.C. United’s top scorer last year, also came off the bench at right back, a place where he started his career but not the best venue to show off his attacking verve.
Olsen could use Najar next week to replace Santino Quaranta, whose streak of consecutive starts will end because of his ejection for two yellow cards. But United (1-2-1) might need the offensive creativity of either Fred or Branko Boskovic to help turn its possession advantage into actual offense, and it’s hard to argue for holding back Davies any longer.
“There’s no doubt in my mind he’s 90 minutes fit,” Olsen said of Davies, who has scored in every match he has played this season. “I know he’s chomping at the bit to get the start, but that’s great. I wouldn’t be happy either if I wasn’t starting.”
“I’ll go 95,” Davies said. “I’m ready. I want to play. I want to play every minute. That’s why I came to D.C. United, is to play and get all the time I can. …
“I think that I can really help this team if I get more minutes, so I just gotta keep working hard, and when the time is right, Coach Olsen will give me the green light.”
