D.C. United season review: Russell Canouse

Of all of D.C. United’s midseason acquisitions, Russell Canouse was the one with the most mystery surrounding it. Paul Arriola was the big splash, Zoltan Stieber had the pedigree of a player who could reliably produce in Major League Soccer, Deshorn Brown was the MLS veteran, and Bruno Miranda was the flyer on a promising young talent.

But Canouse came in having played one game in the Bundesliga for Hoffenheim and 20 games in the 2.Bundesliga for VfL Bochum. He was also a veteran of the US U-23 National Team, and was brought in to fill one of the biggest needs on the team: defensive midfield. There had been rumors about United pursuing bigger names for this position, but Canouse is the player they ended up with.

And out of all the players who came in during this season, Canouse was the one I was most surprised by. When he got onto the field, he immediately became that presence in defensive midfield that the team had been missing since Perry Kitchen left for Europe. His ability to break up play and close down passing lanes is excellent but it is his passing that has me even more excited.

He can play the long ball:

Or the sweet little touchin traffic:

I, for one, am excited to see what Canouse can do with a full preseason with the team, and am excited that his presence means that United can spend big bucks on other parts of the field.

I know this will be an obvious one, but the question has to be called: