The big fear: That they will go behind a goal and abandon their new philosophy.
What has made D.C. United such an exciting squad to watch this season is a.) their goal-scoring mentality has changed and b.) they play for a full 90 minutes. Whereas in previous seasons it felt as if the club would give up a goal early and just run out the final minutes, there is some legitimate feeling that this club is in every match and can score at any times.
Part of the credit should go towards United management who have finally brought in some attacking pieces to match their strong defensive work. But also credit should go to Olsen who seems more comfortable playing an up tempo style.
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But the concern with this side is what happens if they go down a goal in a playoff match. In the regular season it has felt at times as if United was a bit more lax on defense than in recent seasons. Perhaps that is due to Steve Birnbaum missing time due to the United States Men’s National Team and Perry Kitchen being gone but they haven’t really had the same lockdown mentality as in previous seasons. It is not a given that they will shutout the Montreal Impact on Thursday night at fortress RFK.
Old habits die-hard and it will be interesting to see how Olsen and the club chooses to respond should they go down a goal. Will they continue with their open style of play? Or will they close up shop almost as a precautionary measure so as to avoid allowing additional goals?
D.C. United have all of the tools to make a deep run in this year’s MLS Cup playoffs. But they are going to have to trust the style that got them to this point and not fall back into their old ways.