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Match Preview: NYCFC vs DCU

Team News

No new team news, so I’m expecting the same team as last weeks victory over Atlanta United. It’ll be interesting to see how much further along Jara and Rodriguez have come on and whether their chemistry with the team is any better. Jara will need to be a bit more solid at the back and Rodriguez needs to make sure he will be finishing better too.

Key Stats

H2H wise, it’s very even. In the 9 matches played between each other, there has been 4 victories each and 1 draw. An average of 3.44 goals per game too. So this tie will throw up some goals that’s for sure. There has not been a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 win yet. DCU won the 1st ever match between the two sides 2-1 but it certainly has been punch for punch. DCU however are currently unbeaten in the last 3 ties between the two.

Key Players

As always the key players for DC are Rooney, Acosta and Arriola. After last weeks performance, Arriola’s stock has gone through the roof and if NYCFC are to get anything from the game, they will be keeping an eye on him. Hamid will be aiming to keep successive shutouts and will be shouting at his defence if they step out of line.

For NYCFC a key player for them will be the pitch. I’m amazed that they don’t have a soccer specific stadium and the fact that it’s a baseball ground, it always seems bizarre when watching games there. On the pitch they’ll be looking to Mitrita to make an impact. The €8mil signing is the 3rd DP of NYCFC. It is difficult to predict the lineup for NYCFC as they have such an array of players who can play in different positions.

Lineup Prediction

DCU predicted lineup

Scoreline Prediction

NYCFC 0-3 DCU

I think it’s going to be a big win for DCU as they look to continue the high intensity pressing style, and with NYCFC being a fairly new look team, they will not have enough to get past the defence of DCU. Arriola will continue his great form and I reckon Rooney will get his goal tally off the mark.

Where to watch

You can catch the game live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm GMT

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In The News – March 8th 2019

Welcome to the 1st edition of In The News. In these posts we will be looking back on DC United news from the past week, and this could be literally anything from transfers, to injuries, well anything newsworthy. We will round up the best of the best.

Acosta Contract


‘Our priority is to get him under contract’: D.C. United wants Luciano Acosta to stick around

Washington Post had some news from Dave Kasper in the progress of getting Luciano Acosta’s contract sorted.


In a meeting Tuesday with editors and reporters from The Washington Post, Kasper said: “Certainly our priority is to get him under contract. If we are not able to, we will address it at that time, but that is our goal. We want to win a title this year. We want to keep him here all year. There may be a temptation in the summer window to sell him, but we want to win.”

Acosta’s contract is into its final year, and with PSG hunting for him back in January, he is free to talk to foreign clubs when the 6mth period comes up. Now this is something of a talking point. Do D.C let him go on a free? Or do we want to make him into a legend of a club? From a fans point of view, you would want him to stay, who wouldn’t? He is magical on the field and the partnership he has with Rooney is something else. Drop a comment below with your thoughts?

Transfers

In other transfer news, three of DC United’s players will join Loudon United for their 1st match. Full back Akeem Ward, Centre Back Donovan Pines and Attacker Antonio Bustamante. No news whether this extends beyond just the one match, it would be strange if it didn’t. What I am liking about this partnership with Loudon is now DC United have a proper 2nd team for those players who wouldn’t normally be a part of the starting squad to go out and get some game time. I am certainly looking forward to seeing the fruits of this partnership.

NYCFC Match

DC United Head Coach Ben Olsen giving his thoughts on the next match

As I said after the game, we have to this with a grain of salt

Just this line alone shows how down to Earth he is. He was pleased with how the team played, and how we managed to get a shutout, a goal from a set-piece too. But he is also aware of how different NYCFC are compared to Atlanta. It’s a new look team and a different style of play to play against.

Atlanta Match

Here are some of the headlines and links from last weekends match

Paul Arriola, Luciano Acosta lead D.C. United past Atlanta United – ESPN

MLS round-up: Wayne Rooney’s DC United beat champions Atlanta in first game of season – Sky Sports

D.C. United in control, triumphs over Atlanta United 2-0 – Black & Red United

Match Review: DCU vs ATL – DC United Kingdom

That’s all for this week. Stay tuned here for further news which will come out a bit more regularly. Let us know any of your thoughts below and if there is anything you want to see. Also you can donate to help the cause and you can have your name in “lights” over on the donation page.

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Match Preview: DCU vs ATL

Welcome to the opener for DC United’s 2019 season. Here we look ahead to Sunday’s fixture and some key facts & figures between these two sides previously. But 1st, here is Ben Olsen speaking to the press before the match.

https://www.dcunited.com/iframe-video?brightcove_id=6008100058001&brightcove_player_id=default&brightcove_account_id=5534894065001

He talks about how the club is further ahead than this time last season as we have a “nucleus” of players. But he is also wary of how adding a couple of players can disturb that. He does point out the key partnerships all over the pitch, from the LuchoRoo pairing, to Canouse & Moreno, to Steve & Fred. What this shows is that DC are set for a great team chemistry, this is the backbone of the team. If DC are to be successful, we need to be free of injuries, but if/when there are, we need the likes of Durkin, Ward, Amarikwa and everyone else to be able to foster the partnerships required on the pitch.

Head to Head
  • Played 6 matches
  • DC United won 4 to Atlanta’s 2 victories with 0 draws
  • Average of 3.33 goals a game
  • DC have scored 11 goals to Atlanta’s 9
  • Most recent victory to DC was September 2nd 2018 (3-1)
  • Michael Parkhurst has scored two own goals in this fixture

Key Players

For DC United, this is a big season for both Luciano Acosta and Wayne Rooney. For this side to be successful these guys need to remain fit and be consistent. Rooney leads from the front, and since his introduction to MLS, he has brought the team on leaps and bounds. It’s not just his play that has turned the team around, but his confidence, belief and knowledge that he has been able to pass on to his teammates that has brought everyone to the next level. The partnership that instantly formed with Acosta was better than anyone could have ever expected. The man between the sticks is going to be someone who will be key in this fixture. Bill Hamid who will be looking to perform as well as he can to try and earn himself a deserved call up to the USMNT. He’ll be looking to keeping anything from Martinez out of the net and commanding that back four to keep the ATL attack at bay.

For Atlanta, they’ll once again be looking to Josef Martinez. The gum-shield wearing forward will no doubt be trying to replicate his record-breaking season again. He has scored against DC before and it’ll be up to Birnbaum & Brillant to keep him in their back pockets. Gressel will no doubt be looking to influence the match from the midfield, but will the loss of Almiron to EPL side Newcastle Utd be hard felt? They’ll also be looking to Brad Guzan in goal for shut-outs throughout the season, but against the LuchoRoo, he didn’t have a good time when he was last at Audi Field.

My lineup prediction

The lineup speaks for itself really, Jara coming in at right back and Rodriguez replacing Asad who has gone back to Velez. Everyone else, the core “nucleus” of the side is still intact. That scare from Acosta possibly going to PSG didn’t materialise so we still have him sitting in behind Rooney being that playmaker. I expect Mora to continue working hard down the left side of the pitch. And Rooney spearheading that attack up top.

My score prediction – DC United 3-1 Atlanta United

I think Rooney will be heavily involved, but I also think Martinez is too good to keep quiet for a full 90 minutes. I do hope I’m proved wrong in that fact though.

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You can help me out!

If you don’t know already, I run this site on my own. The costs come out of my own back pocket, and you may have recently seen when you’ve browsed the site that there are adverts from time to time. I know this won’t on it’s own cover the cost of it, so if you wish to help a DCU bro out, you can now donate to me. You can find the donation links at the top or on the side of the site. Donations are £5 or $6.63(USD)ish at time of writing. If you can’t donate, then all I ask is you keep reading the site, have a chat to me in the comments or over on Twitter, and let’s hope this season brings some success to DC United!

Vamos United!

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It’s the final countdown

So we are into the final week before the season starts, the excitement is building, the fantasy teams are working there way in, and the TV schedules have been released. It’s all gearing up to what could be a great season of soccer. Also, jerseys have been announced. On that, it seems to be a sea of white for the away jerseys. Well, apart from Seattle Sounders, who seemed to have stolen Inter Miami’s colours. I joke, I’m sure there was no influence in that.

What can we expect for this weekend? That’s the beauty of MLS, we just don’t know. It could be the same as last season, Atlanta dominating (I hope not as they’re playing DC this weekend), or we could have a total switch around, look what happened with Toronto in 2018 after winning the Title in 2017, even with Giovinco they still didn’t make the Playoffs. Who will be the surprise team this season? Will D.C keep their upturn of form from last season into this season? (I hope so) Will NYRB still have a solid defence?

Let me know your thoughts for this weekend in the comments. I will be looking to do a podcast by the weekend letting you know my thoughts of each fixture this weekend, go through my fantasy team and anything else I can think of. If there is anything you want me to talk about, drop a comment below, or send me a message by using the Contact link above.

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MLS Fantasy Soccer League

As in every sport, there is always the Fantasy League, and MLS is no different. I’ve picked my team, and I’ve created a league, you can join me by clicking on this link. It’s always interesting to see who picks who and who will be the key players. For those who are unfamiliar with MLS, it’s also a good way of finding out which players played well last season and who plays where.

For me I think the key players in my team are going to be Acosta & Rooney. If they can rekindle the partnership that was developed last season, I can see many points being scored here.

Who are your key players in your team? Do you even know who they are? Drop a comment below with your team and if you have joined let me know too. I’ll see you in the league =)

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Live Coverage

Sky Sports have announced the first months worth of soccer coverage. Out of the 10 matches available, DC United are involved in 3 of them, joint highest out of all the teams. This will be due to Wayne Rooney and the attraction of seeing him play.

The 1st match of the season on Sky is Orlando City SC vs NYCFC, a repeat of their inaugural match. Will that be as exciting as that match, we’ll find out on March 2nd. DC’s 1st match is shown the day after against Atlanta Utd. Live at 11pm GMT, you know I’ll be watching. It will certainly be a great game to watch and no doubt many goals involved.

Other games shown live for DC are the game against NYCFC on the 10th March 7pm GMT and then 3 weeks later away to Orlando City SC on the 31st March at 11:30pm GMT.

How do you see the 1st month going for DC United? Will you be watching live alongside me? Let me know in the comments below.

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The Journey Begins

Hello and welcome for landing here. If you’re wondering what this page is all about, well let me introduce myself first.

My name is James, I’m a Brit and I’m a DC United fan. I’m also a Middlesbrough fan too. I caught the MLS bug many years ago now, a little bit when the legendary Jaime Moreno was playing, but more so when Freddy Adu first came about. Thank you to the management game Football Manager, this gave me a great insight into how MLS works, from things like the salary cap, to the SuperDraft, to the MLS Playoffs. And now, MLS is even on Sky Sports in the UK, so I get to see my team play live on TV. But nothing beats being there.

The Tailgate

That picture is me in the middle, my wife and then Joe on the left. This was my 1st taste of MLS in real life. An absolutely great experience and one that left me with memories that will last a lifetime. I joined up with the Screaming Eagles and their tailgate event. I got in touch with them through Instagram and they welcomed us both with open arms. They showed us around, brought us to the stadium and were incredibly friendly. Friends for life I say. The bug has been gnawing away at me though and I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while. Now I’ve gone ahead and done it. So I hope you join me on this journey, become not just DC United fans, but MLS fans in general too. I cannot wait to be back there in April and I’ll be keeping this updated throughout the season and years to come. So without much else to say, I’ll leave you with one thing.

VAMOS United!!!!

Outside Audi Field
Inside the stadium
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