D.C. United: Three hopes, one fear

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Oct 16, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen walks down the sidelines during the second half against the New York City FC at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. D.C. United defeated New York City FC 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

D.C. United can now score goals. Can they claim their fifth MLS Cup?

Everyone likes goals. Although there is nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned 0-0 affair soccer is at its best when teams are find goal-scoring chances and balls are going in the back of the net. Not everyone is successful at finding their scoring touch but when teams do find it can be magic.

At or around July of this year D.C. United found their scoring stroke. Thanks to the additions of Patrick Mullins and Lloyd Sam and Luciano Acosta finding his rhythm United lit up the Major League Soccer scoring charts in the second half this season. Since July 16th United has scored 36 goals in 16 matches, the most among any side in the league.

For a side that has mostly been known for having a conservative style and meager goal totals in the box score it was a marked shift for the club that paid off. Thanks to their enhanced goal-scoring abilities United moved up the Eastern Conference rankings and earned the number four seed.

The question is now is will this change in form translate into a deep run into the playoffs? The hope is that with more of an emphasis on scoring will help United overcome previous scoring outages in the playoffs. But the fear is that old habits die-hard and that another poor run of form in the playoffs is inevitable.

So with that in mind let’s look at the three hopes and one fear of D.C. United entering into the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs!

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