SPRINGFIELD, Va. ā With the offseason exits of Wayne Rooney and Luciano Acosta, the version of D.C. United that takes the pitch in 2020 wonāt have the same individual playmaking ability as that of 2019.
They plan on compensating for those losses with arguably the most tactically flexible and interchangeable front six of manager Ben Olsenās decade-long tenure.
Center forward Ola Kamaraās role is obvious. But as for the rest? Record-signing Edison Flores can play as a No. 10 or wide left. Julian Gressel typically plays wide right, but can also play as a wingback or a box-to-box midfielder. Mostly a right flank player for the US national team, Paul Arriola has inhabited pretty much every midfield position in his D.C. tenure and also played right back out of necessity. Yamil Asad is nearly capable of being Arriolaās mirror image on the left.
Olsen has also used Felipe, Ulises Segura, Junior Moreno and Russell Canouse in multiple roles.
āThatās an exciting thing for a coach to be able to manipulate them and also the discovery over the next month of how we tick and whatās the best option to move forward to get results,ā Olsen said Tuesday. āBut the principles are the same. Itās selfless guys. Itās guys that are good in transition and highly focused and have high IQs.ā
Olsen didnāt say it expressly, but the personnel points to United leaning more heavily into a high-pressing brand that was harder to execute with both Rooney and Acosta on the pitch.
And with the additions of Asad, Flores and Gressel, and a proven MLS goalscorer in Kamara available from the start of the season, Olsen believes thereās enough collective quality to make up for LuchoRooās moments of individual brilliance.
Off the field, the roster that surrounded that duo has grown enough collectively to snuff out concerns of a leadership vacuum.
āOur ability to create the right culture doesnāt concern me,ā Olsen said. āWe have a lot of guys that have been through all different aspects of this game and Iāll be relying per usual on them because ultimately, yeah itās me creating culture, but itās really the leadership council, the older crew that sometimes matters in the dressing room.
āI think we have a good core group. Weāll pick a captain at some point. But really itās collective, from some of the guys that have been around the block.ā
Defender Steve Birnbaum, who captained D.C. prior to Rooneyās arrival, believes sharing the dressing room with the former England and Manchester United star provided lessons about leadership he and others in the clubās older guard can emulate.
āItās one of those things where he expects to win in everything, and that was pretty cool to see,ā Birnbaum said. āEven when we won a game and maybe it wasnāt in the best fashion, he thought we couldāve done better, he kind of got into us after a game. There hadnāt been that before.ā
Birnbaum also classified 2019 as ādisappointing,ā given how they finished 2018 as MLSās hottest team. Olsen disagreed to a point, noting how the club fought their way out of a midseason slide to become one of the leagueās best defensive teams.
The season ended in a 5-1 extratime playoff loss at Toronto FC, but only after Lucas Rodriguez leveled deep into second-half stoppage time.
āI was proud of last season,ā Olsen said. āI thought it was a really difficult season and I think we managed it really well. And getting into the playoffs, the second half of the season being a really tough team to play against and putting ourselves in position in Toronto to win that game.ā