D.C. United 2018 season review: Ulises Segura

D.C. United signed Ulises Segura in December 2017, but they had their eye on him since early in 2017. The attacking midfielder from Saprissa reportedly had interest from New York City FC as well as teams from abroad, as well as callups to the Costa Rican men’s national team, but he signed with United at the end of the day.

Segura was a swiss army knife attacker for D.C. United: he played on both flanks and centrally this year for United, providing Ben Olsen with an option no matter what was happening on the field. An injury took him out of action in May, June, and part of July, and he came back as a super sub after that. Injuries to the back line that forced Paul Arriola play as a fullback thrust Segura back into the starting lineup, with Olsen preferring Yamil Asad and Segura prowling the sides.

What is it about Segura that led Olsen to chose him over other players, such as Zoltan Stieber? Segura is one of the most physically strong players on the team, and combining that with his unrelenting motor is a player that will always have a role on a Ben Olsen team (see Nick DeLeon). Also, in contrast to the high-flying attack in United’s midfield and striker line, Segura’s role is more simple and possession oriented (except when he tries some long shots). The downside to his game was the sloppy play that sometimes came out in his game, but overall I think he had a solid year that started shaky but by the end turned out well.

So, now we call the question: