Welcome to my 7th annual MLS Season Preview. This season I've broken the overall preview down into club specific previews, allowing you to catch up on clubs you enjoy, while skipping those you may not. While I suggest you read them all, to each their own. So here it goes, a preview for DC UNITED...
IN:
M Thomas McNamara (11/19/14 - Dispersal Draft)
M Andrew Driver (12/8/14 - trade from Houston)
M/D Markus Halsti (1/12/15 - free)
F Jairo Arrieta (1/14/15 - trade from Orlando City)
M Michael Farfan (2/10/15 - free)
M Miguel Aguilar (2/18/15 - SuperDraft)
GK Travis Worra (2/25/15 - free)
OUT:
GK Joe Willis (12/8/14 - traded to Houston)
D Samuel Inkoom (12/8/14 - traded to Houston)
D Nana Attakora (12/8/14 - option declined)
M Alex Caskey (12/8/14 - option declined)
D Jeff Parke (12/8/14 - option declined)
M Kyle Porter (12/8/14 - option declined)
D Conor Shanosky (12/8/14 - option declined)
M Lewis Neal (12/10/14 - Expansion Draft to Orlando City)
M Thomas McNamara (12/10/14 - Expansion Draft to NYCFC)
M Andrew Driver (12/31/14 - out of contract)
MANAGER: Ben Olsen
After a worst to first turnaround last season, DC could be back on the downward trend for 2015. DP Eddie Johnson is out indefinitely with a "heart problem", and top forward Fabian Espindola is out 6 matches due to suspension. In should step Arrieta into the front line, a quality addition, but Espindola or Johnson.
In the mid DC is still solid, with Rolfe, Kitchen, Halsti, Deleon, and Pontius making a decent 5, but inconsistency has been an issue for all of them during their MLS careers, except perhaps for the aged veteran Chris Rolfe. The play of wide men Deleon and Pontius could in part decide the fate of DC this season.
In the back, not much has changed for DC, with Bobby Boswell still anchoring the veteran defense in front of the fantastic young keeper Bill Hamid. Another year older, consistency will again be key.
One potential bright spot which could see DC remain near the top of the table is potential Rookie of the Year candidate, midfielder Miguel Aguilar. Another may be former Union mid Michael Farfan.
So much of DC looks to be a strong, solid, veteran team, but my trick elbow keeps screaming that last season was as much of a blip as 2013's horrible run was. I'm almost at a loss as to what DC we will see in 2015.
2014 Eastern Conference Finish: 1st
Predicted 2015 Eastern Conference Finish: 6th
Thanks for reading, and feel free to check out all of the team previews for 2015. Until next time, remember, MLS Matters.
I think Pontius could step in up top for Espindola, but thats a huge downgrade in quality. Might have trouble scoring to start the year, and are going to have to have the same quality contributions from Rolfe and Kitchen who were great last year.
ReplyDeleteKitchen is solid, but I'm just not feeling it this year for DC. And Rolfe is 600 years old, eventually the wheels have to come off, right? Pontius can play anywhere, but I don't have the faith in him at any position that I had 3 or 4 years ago.
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