WASHINGTON – While Saturday’s clash with the LA Galaxy brings one of the highest profile teams to town, it’s just like any other league matchup for D.C. United.
“As professionals, you want to approach every game the same,” midfielder Dax McCarty said. “No team, no opponent is any bigger than another opponent. We’re going to treat it just like any other game.”
With the Galaxy’s arrival, of course, comes a team packing two of the biggest names in MLS – Landon Donovan and David Beckham. The presence of big players like that can spur on the opposition, but also are two dangerous weapons on the field who will need to be dealt with defensively.
“They provide a little bit extra with the star power they have, and I think it brings out the best in a lot of teams,” midfielder Santino Quaranta said. “I think it’ll be a good challenge for us to see where we are as a team, coming off two league losses.”
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For a young team like DC, keeping things grounded and not being over-awed will be crucial. Rookies like Blake Brettschneider, Chris Korb or Perry Kitchen could be playing their first game against the Galaxy, and Quaranta said that it will be address to put any of those distractions out of the mind and approach it like any other game.
“It’ll be brought up that it’s just another game just like it’s any other one,” Quaranta said. “You have to settle into the game just like it’s any other one. If you come out to try to do something different than you’re used to, the outcome might be turn out a little different for you.”
Saturday’s game at RFK Stadium (7:30 pm, MatchDay Live) is DC’s first since the home opener, a triumphant 3-1 win against Columbus. Since then, United have endured two losses on the road.
They won just three times in 15 matches last season at RFK.
“Defending your home turf is absolutely vital in picking up points in MLS,” McCarty said. “You have to be good on your home field. I know the past couple of years haven’t been too kind for DC at RFK, but I think that’s all about having the right mentality. I think this year we’ve tried to change the mentality for it to be it’s not good enough to get a tie at home.”
