What Does Branko Boskovic Mean For The Rest Of D.C. United?
by Martin Shatzer on Jun 15, 2025 8:00 AM EDT
Email
PrintWhen we told you that D.C. United had signed new designated player Branko Boskovic yesterday, we left you with a question as to how this would affect the rest of United's starting lineup.
There's little doubt that Boskovic will be expected to step into the starting 11 immediately. You don't pay a guy a minimum of $335,000 in MLS to sit on the bench. Well, unless you're Toronto FC.
But we don't expect Boskovic to be Julian De Guzman. We expect him to Joel Lindpere. We expect him to be Freddie Ljungberg.
But how will he be used?
We're told that he can play either on the left or in the middle. And that he's an "honest two-way player" according to Kasper. That seems to hint that he could slide into the middle of the field, where Stephen King has been fairly productive since winning a starting job recently. United's style of play this season encourages their more offensive-minded central midfielder to contribute some defensively as well, which is a bit of a change from some of their formations of previous years.
But despite United currently experiencing a good run of form, they still haven't yet been able to establish a set starting forward combination.
We've seen Pontius and Moreno. We've seen Allsopp and Cristman. We've seen Quaranta and Emilio.
But there's one forward combination that we haven't seen yet. In fact, we haven't seen it once in the year and a half that the two players have been together in D.C. And it's a forward combination that didn't look possible until Boskovic came along.
Chris Pontius and Santino Quaranta.
Why not?
The United tradition is to have one creative withdrawn forward, and one target forward with a scoring touch. Why not try playing with two creative and hard working forwards who also know how to shoot?
Pontius and Quaranta's chemistry is not to be understated. One will frequently find the other at the end of a cross. Last year, they were at their best when working together. But it was always with one in the midfield and the other up top.
Here's something that gets me all steamed up:
| Perkins | ||||
| Graye | Jakovic | James | Wallace | |
| Simms | King | |||
| Najar | Boskovic | |||
| Quaranta | Pontius |
I think it could work. Are you with me?
Tweet
12 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
So basically, we have Boskovic replace Castillo. I’m in.
"My face is my mask."
by Jake Shapiro on Jun 15, 2025 8:57 AM EDT reply actions
Inverting the Pyramid
Great book; I strongly recommend it. It goes through the tactical history of the game, including innovations all over the world. It even makes the point that with the advent of the lone striker formations, it might not be too long before we see a no striker formation - just attacking players fluidly coming at the defense from God knows where.
With the likes of Tino and Party Boy on the front line, this starts to look potentially like one such formation. Either (or both) of them will generally be ahead of the midfield, sure, but they’re both just as comfortable withdrawing a bit, springing a late run or making one of their own. If we need an out-and-out striker, we have three of them on the roster at this point, but if the players in a 4-2-4-0 (for lack of a better description) can develop an understanding, it could really give MLS defenses fits.
Picture it, a CB trying to mark Pontius, who suddenly overlaps Boskovic toward the left corner flag, drawing the CB out of position; Pontius sends it cross-field to Tino at the opposite edge of the 18, he sends a square ball to Najar, who has shifted over to the center…. Potentially exciting stuff.
Then again, I’ve certainly been wrong before.
by The AMT on Jun 15, 2025 8:57 AM EDT reply actions
I can picture it, and I love it
The whole front six would be very fluid, as Boskovic and Najar each have the skills to play centrally, and Pontius and Quaranta would be totally comfortable covering the wings as well.
My only question is this though: Is Curt Onalfo the right coach to pioneer an innovative new formation that MLS teams have never before seen?
Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.
by Martin Shatzer on Jun 15, 2025 10:28 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Excellent Question
I suppose he’s got a month to figure it out and develop an understanding among the attackers before Boskovic is eligible to step out against Seattle on 7/15. I know he’s finally gotten buy-in from the players on his system, if he can see the next step, and muster the courage to take it as well as the wherewithal to get continued buy-in from the players, I don’t see why not him.
It’s not super-far removed from a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1, really. Just a step that hasn’t been taken on this continent quite yet. And everyone would still call it a 4-4-2, just a very fluid one, which might make the experimenting a little easier.
by The AMT on Jun 15, 2025 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions
I want to love it, but I can't.
Some good points, Shatzer. Pontius and Quaranta have both been looking A LOT better lately, and even though they are (in my opinion) a little late to the party, it’d be great to see these guys finally make an impact as a unit. After all, considering their fairly high-profile experience, and fan/coach expectations, they’ve garnered a lot more hype than I think they’ve deserved thus far. Maybe Boskovic’s added depth in midfield (we hope) will allow these guys more freedom up top to be charismatic and creative. I think it’s possible. It’s cool that Boskovic plays left or center mid, but I worry that his services would be much more useful in the center.
AMT: I think it’d be very intriguing to see if DCU could handle a no-striker formation or something similarly less defined. It would definitely give more fluidity and flexibility to adjust as a team on the fly. Perhaps something a la Marcello Lippi? But as cool as it sounds and effective as it may be for some top-shelf teams, I’m convinced our coaching staff has neither the creativity nor the skill to execute this kind of philosophy shift. This really does require a fundamental shift in coaching philosophy. That’s a pretty big upheaval for a team that only just recently, after a gazillion (uncountable number) iterations, found its legs. The wishy-washy, week-to-week changes this team endures make for a pretty double-edged sword. On one hand you might think: hell, this team changes playing styles/rosters so frequently…what harm could one more change bring? On the other you think: well darn, we were just starting to get some wins, and here we go switching it up again! I really can’t see this taking off here w/ this team and staff. We haven’t even seen what Boskovic brings to this team and league…
The kind of player/coach dynamic required for an indefinite/fluid formation requires a much tighter level of communication than I believe our squad is accustomed to. Not only that, but it necessitates an ability to stay organized in spite of heavy reliance on zonal marking strategies. Yes, our back line has improved quite a lot, but I dare say they’re "comfortable." The DCU back line has, for most of the season, shown a general malaise when it comes to zonal awareness. If it’s not malaise, it’s confusion caused by poor communication. If it’s not that, then it’s…well, let’s not go there.
None of this makes me think it’s high-time for DCU to get cute by waxing philosophical on abstract styles and unorthodox formations. Obviously DCU has been on the up-and-up lately – and we’re all thankful for that - but employing a new system at this juncture, one that puts more reliance on zonal marking and individual creativity, would be hari-kari for a team that has shown relatively little offensive prowess or consistency in zonal marking.
by break away on Jun 15, 2025 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Agreed
Now is the time for winning at any cost. United should focus on a formation that everyone is comfortable with, and let the team form into a unit. Get some wins, build some confidence, and then MAINTAIN THE ROSTER FOR NEXT SEASON.
With a team where players know each other and how to communicate with each other, novel formations and tactics can be worked on in the off season.
by BrunoReturns on Jun 15, 2025 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Different issue
I see that everyone is not sure whether Onalfo is the man to successfully implement something as complicated as a striker-free formation in MLS. While I agree that he’s not the man for that job, I think there’s something more important being left unsaid:
MLS players, in all likelihood, will not be able to play in that kind of formation.
You might be able to put together 2 or 3 players that can swap positions on the fly, but MLS is not a league full of tactically brilliant players. It’s hard to fit those kind of players into our salary caps, and even in stronger leagues such approaches are rare (the last team that did what’s being discussed with success was Roma a few years ago, playing Totti as the lone “forward” and with 4 ultra-attacking midfielders behind him). If it’s too risky for teams full of superstars to pull off, it’s definitely not going to work with the players we can afford. Even if we had the perfect coach for the job, we don’t have the personnel to try it.
by ChestRockwell on Jun 15, 2025 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Lower Talent All Around
True. But opposing teams are also of much lower talent. Teams in leagues full of superstars have to worry about superstars on the other team. Our opposition is also much less talented and the coaches are less tactically savvy.
I feel that MLS would be the perfect place to experiment with novel formations. It would undoubtedly set the team up for humiliation in international matches, but isn’t that true already?
That said, winning will always be what matters, so experimentation needs to be conservative.
by BrunoReturns on Jun 16, 2025 8:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Attacking is much more difficult than defending. The focus on these striker-less formations is in the midfield and front line, not in the back (where the back four reigns supreme). I think MLS teams will find it much easier to defend against an MLS team playing some kind of 460 than they will attacking out of that formation.
I think the MLS team that tries this kind of thing will be the MLS team who fires their coach first in a given season, because they’ll be at the bottom of the standings. Either they won’t have the intelligence (nor the ambidextrous attackers) going forward, or they’ll have spent so much of their cap room on attackers that their starting defenders will be guys unfit to play in MLS.
by ChestRockwell on Jun 16, 2025 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions
Honestly, I think Chest is probably right
One theme that comes out of Inverting the Pyramid is that it takes not only a coach to implement a new system, but almost always some kind of transformational player to make it work. It’s why the originators of what became Catenaccio in Italy scored a million goals, but copycats didn’t - you have to have all the right parts to make a system work.
Frequently the missing piece will be a D-Mid or a libero who has the ability to really step up into the attack, as well as organize/control/be the defense. Without that, the offensive freedom of the attackers is limited by the need for them to help out more on D.
All that said, if United can get the back four and d-mids sorted out (big if), I think the types of players who might force their way onto the field as the attacking part of any best XI could lean toward the more drop-off type of forwards, like I discussed before. Whether this could be successful, or whether we need Alsopp/Cristman/Emilio on the field to play that target role is another, entirely fair, question.
by The AMT on Jun 16, 2025 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Most teams in most leagues would struggle to execute these concepts; we’ve got to keep our sights on what’s reasonable. Short of supernatural planetary alignment, I think it’s unreasonable to expect 6 out of 11 players, no matter how "talented," to maintain the kind of communication required to play undefined and improvised formations in consort at game speed – it’s pushing the limits of what’s consistently possible. Defensive gaps will form, attacking roles will get overly confused, zonal awareness will go out the window, and we’ll all see that this style is rarely executable (even though it sounds neat on paper).
Bruno said: "I feel that MLS would be the perfect place to experiment with novel formations. It would undoubtedly set the team up for humiliation in international matches, but isn’t that true already?"
No, that’s not true. It’s verifiably false that MLS teams regularly endure humiliation at the international level (DCU alone has had two big international wins this year). I’m not saying the MLS stacks up to the EPL or La Liga…I’m just saying the MLS is not sub-standard. It’s a knock-down claim to say that because the MLS or DCU lacks talent across the board (which is false), they should throw caution to the wind and try unnecessarily risk formations (which is also false – professional sports teams are rarely inclined to make risky strategies standard operating procedure).
by break away on Jun 16, 2025 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions
(DCU alone has had two big international wins this year)
Not in a competitive environment.
by BrunoReturns on Jun 16, 2025 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
- Start posting on Black And Red United
- Black And Red United on Facebook
- Follow @blackandredU
- Subscribe to Black And Red United Stories
Related FanPosts on Black And Red United
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2011 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
