D.C. United vs. New York Red Bulls lineup: Building a consistent group

D.C. United managed to get through a couple of games missing key players due to injury and international absences: Paul Arriola, Yamil Asad, Zoltan Stieber, Junior Moreno, Oniel Fisher, Darren Mattocks, Frederic Brillant, Vytas, and Bruno Miranda all missed time this week, and that is in addition to longer term injuries to David Ousted, Nick DeLeon, and Taylor Kemp. All of that first group of players should be back, save one possible notable exception, as the team takes on the New York Red Bulls yet again this season. But who will take the field to try and pull some badly needed points?

With Ben Olsen having settled into a 4-2-3-1, the main question comes at left midfield. Ulises Segura deputized well in the absence of Yamil Asad (injury) and Zoltan Stieber (international), but one of those latter two is likely to start tomorrow afternoon. Asad is currently listed as questionable on the injury report, so I think we’ll see him on the bench to begin this game. The rest of the attack is easy to predict, with Luciano Acosta and Paul Arriola all supporting Wayne Rooney.

The other main question is that of Russell Canouse’s partner, with Junior Moreno now back from international duty. I think that Chris Durkin has done well, but has played two games in four days, so Moreno will get a chance to show what we can do after playing for his country. The rest of the defense slides into place, with the back line of Oniel Fisher, Kofi Opare, Steven Birnbaum, and Joseph Mora all ahead of Bill Hamid, who is apparently fine after not practicing since the Minnesota United game.

This group seems fairly locked in for the rest of the season, but what do you want to see Ben Olsen do?