WASHINGTON – After failing to hold on to an early lead in Saturday’s defeat, D.C. United’s urgency to pick up points may even overshadow the occasion of a first Atlantic Cup fixture of 2018 against the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night (8 pm ET | TV & streaming info).
“We need to respond to this Atlanta loss,” coach Ben Olsen said Monday, reflecting on a 3-1 defeat to Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “You talk about character, and what you’re made of; This is a good chance to not only have a better performance than we did in Atlanta, but also continue making this new building of ours a very tough place for teams to come into and a place that we get three points in more times than not.”
Saturday’s loss drops D.C. to 1-8-4 on the road with only four away fixtures to play, leaving little margin for error in 14 remaining games at the new Audi Field if they’re to make a playoff push.
Perhaps because of that, Olsen said despite a short turnaround he won’t make a lot of changes to the lineup that lost in Atlanta. That may include a second MLS start for Wayne Rooney, who surprised some by going 66 minutes in his first on Saturday.
“We have three days in between games,” Olsen explained. “There’s times I think wholesale changes are necessary. But I don’t necessarily think this is going to be one of those. It was a short trip to Atlanta and we got back that night. We got some rest and managed some minutes. We’ll put together the best team available.”
Olsen could save more substantial squad changes for the following weekend match against a Colorado side that has won only two of its last 15 matches.
In the Red Bulls, United face one of three MLS clubs – along with Atlanta and New York City FC – to have earned a league-high two points per match entering Week 22. Wednesday’s challenge is of a considerably different nature than last Saturday’s, however.
“They’re very direct,” Olsen said of the Red Bulls. “They don’t bring the ball side to side as much as some of the teams we’ve been facing recently. But they do not have an identity crisis. They know who they are and they know what they need to do to be successful.”
That consistency has continued under new head coach Chris Armas. He has gone 2-1-0 since taking the reins from Jesse Marsch, who departed to join the staff at Bundesliga side RB Leipzig. As if there weren’t already enough familiarity between these two clubs, the personal battles and camaraderie between Armas and Olsen brings even more.
“I had some great battles with him in Chicago and LA,” Olsen said, reflecting on the pair’s playing career in MLS. “And if there was a national anthem and you saw Chris Armas with you, that was always a good thing. Because he was selfless and a great teammate, and a very, very effective player.”
