NY started the season winning games without impressing, only to go off the boil for a little while. However, they’ve been unbeaten in their last 4 MLS games (winning 3); if not for their recent, embarrassing elimination from the US Open Cup at the hands of the Harrisburg City Islanders, this would be a full-fledged revival.

The key to their recent good form has been an adjustment within Hans Backe’s 442 system. While the 442 as a general structure has been a constant, Backe stumbled onto a more effective way to implement it. In their June 2nd match against Houston, normal right winger Dane Richards came out injured in the 15th minute and was replaced by rookie Tony Tchani, nominally a dynamic defensive midfielder. Rather than juggle his other players around, Backe asked Tchani to pinch in centrall and pulled his other wide man, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, in as well.

The ensuing narrow 442, with Seth Stammler playing deep behind Tchani, Joel Lindpere, and Ubiparipovic, has proven very difficult for teams to cope with. NY has overwhelmed opposing central midfields by simply crowding them out. This, in turn, disrupts possession for their foe while simultaneously granting NY many more turnovers in their favor (meaning more and easier possession for the Red Bulls). It has also played to the strengths of Ubiparipovic, who is having a quietly excellent season (as corroborated by thisredengine from Once A Metro).

Elsewhere, look for Juan Pablo Angel to be paired with either Salou Ibrahim or Richards (depending on their fitness and whether Backe sees us more vulnerable to speed or power…if Julius James is fit to start, I’d say we can cope with either one). In the back, known wanker Mike Petke has lost his spot to Carlos Mendes. Mendes is not exactly Franz Beckenbauer, but he’s in good form at the moment and has deserved to stay in the NYRB lineup.

Here’s what United needs to do to win (and make no mistake: 8 points out of the last playoff spot as I type this, we need to get something out of today’s game):

1. Pontius and Najar both have to have excellent games.
Going forward, Pontius and Najar face the weak spots in the NY back four. Chris Albright has lost a spot from his best years, and Danleigh Borman is a conversion project at left back. If we can get at them, we’ll create chances. On the other hand, both of our wide players will have to contribute a lot defensively. Given NY’s narrow midfield (packed with natural central midfielders), there’s a distinct possibility that they’ll simply mob Stephen King and Clyde Simms for 90 minutes, which will leave us on the back foot throughout. Pontius and Najar have done well pinching in (Party Boy’s 2 goals against Seattle, for example, came when he had pulled into the middle for extended periods), and they’ll have to do this to great effect today.

2. Deal with Angel by staying focused and being physical.
Obviously easier said than done, Dejan Jakovic will likely have the task of shutting Angel down. Angel is your classic “shut him down for 89 minutes, and he scores in the 90th” type of player. Jakovic can’t afford to give Angel even one chance (especially in the air) in the box. The good news for Jakovic is that Angel has occasionally faded out of games where he’s been banged up and isn’t getting a ton of protection from the ref. If Jakovic can keep his physical challenges in the gray areas between “clean” and “foul,” he could throw Angel off and force NY to find their goals from elsewhere.

3. Prepare for the change of pace that will come when Mac Kandji enters.
Kandji has been out for awhile, but is apparently fit enough to be a potential sub for the last half hour or so today. Whether he plays off Angel or as a left winger, Kandji offers speed and dribbling trickery. He’s still a highly inconsistent player, but Kandji is the kind of wild card that can break defenses. The trick will be to never allow him the chance to face his man in a 1v1 situation. If we can keep Kandji either facing away from goal or dealing with 2 or more markers in tight spaces, we should be able to close him down.

4. Be thoughtful when attacking centrally.
Mendes and Tim Ream are good defenders, but neither has shown themselves to have a particularly high soccer IQ. If we can force them to have to think their way out of problems, we could find some joy. Quick passing combinations, position swapping, and generally intelligent movement could pull them apart. Santino Quaranta’s play in this regard will probably be crucial.

However, there’s another side to this to consider. If we can’t outfox these two, both have the passing chops to quickly turn a giveaway into a Red Bull attack. With that narrow midfield, they won’t have to play the ball over long distances to find the best outlet. Attacking their center backs may be a good way to find chances, but it could quickly turn into a deadly counter against us (especially if Richards starts up top). We do need to try to pull their defense apart in the center, but we also have to be very careful to take up safe positions in case a pass goes astray. Pressuring high up the field will help reduce the space for such counters, but it also leaves us vulnerable to the easy ball over the top for Richards.

5. Play a full 90 minutes.
Seems obvious, but we struggle with this in almost every game. We absolutely cannot afford to start like we did at San Jose, or this game will be over before halftime. We also can’t get a 1 goal lead and then shut off for the last half hour, because NY is playing with enough confidence to get up off the canvas right now. If we get NY in trouble, we must make them pay. If we’re in the lead, we have to manage the game and never give them a foothold. Our focus has to be high at kickoff, and it has to be just as high in stoppage time. This will likely be a tight game where one mistake gives one side a win and the other a loss. That mistake can’t be made by us.

Bouna Coundoul is arguably the biggest weak spot in the entire NY starting team. DC needs to follow the example of players throughout the World Cup and crash the net with conviction after any cross or hard shot from distance. Thomas Muller just scored his 5th goal of the tournament in today’s 3rd place game by doing exactly that.

Coundoul is a dynamite shotstopper, but his positioning and ability to hold shots and crosses are both highly suspect. With the number of powerful shooters we start (Pontius, Quaranta, Simms, and Najar), we should be looking for rebounds every time someone cracks one from outside the box.

Furthermore, Coundoul has a habit of dropping or flapping at crosses, which is increased by traffic in front of him. Our crosses should be pursued with vigor even if they appear to be easy grabs, because Coundoul is prone to dropping things needlessly after minor collisions with attackers (or even his own defenders). A tap-in gifted to us by a crap goalkeeper is just as valuable as a golazo.

Finally, Coundoul is also poor with his feet (at one point, Backe ordered a defender to take goal kicks because Coundoul was putting his out of bounds too often, which is absurd for a professional keeper). If NY plays a backpass, or if a United pass goes too long and draws Coundoul out to hit a clearance, he needs to be put under high pressure. He could easily flub a clearance and give us an empty net to aim at.

At the last minute, I called it off in an effort to try and save some money. So come on, DC! Show me what an idiot I was! A win today would be huge, in an effort to carry on our better form and serve as momentum going into the game against Seattle. I’m looking forward to the arrival of Boskovic (and Hernandez too) so much, so getting three points in the game before they even lace up will be a massive boost. Fingers crossed and VAMOS UNITED!

Via @DCUnited:

Perkins ©
Graye-James-Jakovic-McTavish
Pontius-Simms-King-Najar
Allsopp-Quaranta

Interesting they’re starting Allsopp.

Perkins ©; Graye-James-Jakovic-McTavish; Pontius-Simms-King-Najar; Allsopp-Quaranta (Cristman, Moreno, Khumalo, Morsink, Talley, Rice, Hamid)

442, right to left:

Perkins; McTavish, Jakovic, James, Graye; Najar, Simms, King, Pontius; Quaranta, Allsopp

Bench: Hamid, Rice, Talley, Morsink, Khumalo, Moreno, Cristman

Glad to see James in. I hope Allsopp is ready to run his socks off, because we need that tonight.

Well then. Who’s the starting lineup?

ATDHE.net feed not working yet. Someone let me know if you find a good stream!

Let’s do this!

Great to see Julius James back starting. Gives us our best chance of keeping NY in check. I hadn’t heard anything about Pena being injured, but he’s not even on the bench tonight.

And as Chest predicted, a good shot stop by Coundoul who then gave up a rebound.

Why are our best headers of the ball (James, Namoff) defenders?

Do you remember back when we scored on corners?

I’d like to see a quicker action from Pontius, and Allsopp got caught offsides, but the buildup was quite nice.

Watching the NY feed of the game, their commentators saying “Thierry Henry would be the best player ever to play in MLS”
Agree or disagree?

You don’t see Angel miss shots like that very often.

Walk it off son, you’ve been playing good so far.

Hey, an Andy Najar sighting!

That was a goal otherwise.

It looked like he just jumped straight up, before Coundoul jumped.

So…Jaime on at halftime, yes?

The teams look fairly even, with United having a slight edge. Hopefully we don’t stop playing strong at the 70th minute.

Good: James, King
Bad: Allsopp, Najar, Pontius

Thoughts?

If Jaime comes in then I expect we’ll see better from Najar and Pontius due to greater creativity in the offensive third. Loving James tonight.

It looks like Jaime Moreno is coming into the match for Danny Allsopp.

NY commentator talking about “Tottenham Hotspurs.” Plural. Ugh.

JJ has been a bamf.

That we seem to be the only fan base that doesn’t do the “You suck, asshole!” chant on goal kicks.

I wish World Cup games were officiated like this referee is. Flows much better.

Very nice. To a wide open Pontius… who waits a bit to tee it up and earns a corner that comes to nothing.

NY fans booing every time there’s a non-call against them, but cheer when there’s a non-call in their favor, naturally.

Gutsy sub, though Quaranta’s game has been an anamoly to his year so far, IMHO.

What’s the deal, Party Boy?

Bouna Coundoul, meet Adam Cristman.

I’d like to see some shots on goal, plz.

Boyzzz? Really?

What a rarity. Nice effort by the boys though to not cave in the second half. Reeeeeeeeeeally wanted three points though.

Sigh. We were the better team, should’ve finished our chances.

Very entertaining 0-0 game. Good flow.

Can’t wait to get back to RFK. It seems like an eternity since I fired up the grill in Lot 8.

And Perkins, too! King and Simms did a great job neutralizing NYRB’s midfielders that Chest warned us about. In terms of offense, July 15th can’t get here fast enough.