Team has 3-0-4 record when midfielder starts
He isn’t flashy. He’s not the quickest, tallest, fastest or most physically imposing player. And, well, let’s just not even get into the name thing.
As underrated as he’s ever been, Stephen King the midfielder, not the author, has become a talisman.
D.C. United (9-8-10) hasn’t lost any of the fourth-year midfielder’s regular-season starts this year (3-0-4). In fact, when King goes a full 90 minutes, D.C. has won three out of four times (3-0-1), including last weekend’s 4-1 demolition of Real Salt Lake, ending the 2009 MLS Cup winner’s five-game winning streak.
“I’ve just tried to keep a positive attitude from the beginning of the year,” said King, who started 16 times during United’s injury-ravaged, historically bad 2010 campaign. “Stay healthy, stay fit, make sure that when my number is called, I’m not going to let the team down and do whatever I can to help the team win.”
The 25-year-old, a Hermann Trophy semifinalist as a senior at Maryland, came to Washington after playing for two different teams in his first two MLS seasons. Following eight starts and two goals as a rookie with Chicago in 2008, he was nabbed in the offseason expansion draft by Seattle, who he helped lead to a U.S. Open Cup title in 2009 despite figuring infrequently in MLS action.
His arrival in Washington, in a trade for a second-round draft pick, continued that career trajectory. On a team with five different players vying for one defensive midfield role — held firmly by Clyde Simms — King has mostly settled for the hope of being called upon as a substitute. Even so, he was rewarded with a new contract earlier this month.
And when Dwayne De Rosario moved last weekend from his central playmaking role to withdrawn forward against Salt Lake, where he’d have to cover less ground three days after United’s previous match, the door opened for King to slot in alongside and slightly in front of Simms.
The 5-foot-8, 163-pounder, who also gave up his No. 7 jersey to De Rosario, had one of his sharpest performances as a pro. He was a step ahead on 50-50 balls and surprisingly sharp and accurate with his passing to unbalance the Salt Lake defense.
“I think Kinger throws a lot of guys off because they think he’s more of a defensive guy,” Simms said. “But he’s so smart, the little runs he makes, he knows how to find space, turn out of trouble and switch the field. He’s a very cerebral, very good player.”
United coach Ben Olsen said: “He had probably the best game I’ve seen him play.”
With D.C. struggling to get production from a standard two-forward formation, King’s two-way abilities give Olsen the chance to utilize De Rosario up top while preserving defense as a priority. Given his win-loss record, the odds should be in King’s favor to deliver another best seller.
“Every time he comes in the game, and I joke with him,” Simms said. “He’s pretty big time.”
