D.C. United takes on Orlando City SC this Sunday, kicking off a long homestand and hopefully starting a long hot streak into the playoffs. But D.C. United has two new players on the team in Bill Hamid and Vytas, as well as a bunch of players who are looking to prove that they deserve to remain on the field and players right behind them looking to make their mark.
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Hamid and Vytas are the new signings, but I don’t think either of them start this weekend, given that they have only been with the team for two practices (mid-week, though...). However, I do think that one player who didn’t start against the Montreal Impact will make their return to the field against Orlando.
In the midfield, Paul Arriola will make his return to central midfield, and that will shift Russell Canouse to the lone defense midfielder; instead of the 4-2-3-1 the team played with Canouse and Junior Moreno side-by-side, they will go back to the 4-1-4-1 that they played for a lot of the beginning of the year. Arriola will be joined in the midfield by his regular collaborators: Yamil Asad, Luciano Acosta, and Zoltan Stieber. Wayne Rooney will start up top, of course.
On the back line, we will see what we’ve seen the past two games: Kofi Opare and Steven Birnbaum in the middle, and Joseph Mora and Oniel Fisher out wide. Vytas will be challenging Mora for the start in the next game, but I think two practices is just a little too few for Ben Olsen to throw him in there, especially since he hasn’t played much so far this year.
What do you want to see Ben Olsen do on Sunday?