After a physical and emotional loss to the Union a couple of weeks ago in the US Open Cup, DC United will be looking for a little payback on Saturday at PPL Park. The match will be the first league match for United since May 26 and a key restart for both clubs. For DC, they haven’t really played a lot of competitive minutes since the New England, so the biggest thing the team needs to do is get back into the winning groove they were in at the end of May. I feel they had a lot of momentum going into the short break, so getting that momentum back will be key to survive until the All-Star game.
The good thing about a long multi-week break is seeing the injured players recovering from their injuries. Chris Pontius, Emiliano Dudar, Robbie Russell, Nick DeLeon, and Danny Cruz have all been bitten with the injury bug lately, but most seem to be almost ready to go back out for the full 90 minutes. Cruz, with a hamstring injury, might need a little more time, but most the other players are rested up and ready to go. Coach Ben Olsen will need all hands on deck for the next few weeks with the Union this Saturday then the New York Red Bulls next Saturday.
For the Union, this match will also be a key point in their season but for different reasons. As most of everybody knows, Peter Nowak was “relieved of his duties” this week as the Union’s head coach, and John Hackworth has been named the interim coach. So how does Philadelphia respond? There are two different outcomes that can occur. Either one, the team will come out sluggish due to a new coach and new styles/routines. It doesn’t always happen though, which leads to the second outcome being the team coming out firing on all cylinders to prove themselves to the new coach and the rest of the league. The Union are a better team than their two win record, and the players will want to come out to prove it.
The key factor for DC is to come out sharp. They were not sharp against the Union a few weeks ago, which lead to the upset at the SoccerPlex, but I have a feeling United will come out and beat this team early. Thanks to Nowak seemingly trading away most of the team, United could use that to their advantage. United is definitely the better club on paper, but they will have to prove that on Saturday to keep their league winning streak going.
(image courtesy of DC United)
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