Despite an opening-minute strike from Dwayne De Rosario, D.C.United head coach Ben Olsen sensed his side wasn’t seeing enough of the ballthrough the opening quarter-hour of Saturday’s match against Toronto.
The visitors’ 4-3-3 formation was allowing them to surround DeRosario and Perry Kitchen while cutting off service to – and from – the fulcrumof D.C.’s attack. In addition, TFChad found some space on United’s left flank, where Branko Boskovic was startingas an outside midfielder for the first time this season.
Rather than rely on his team to survive the tacticaldisadvantage until halftime, Olsen made a dramatic in-game change. Josh Wolff dropped from forward to leftmidfield as Boskovic pushed into the middle to aide Kitchen. Though the shiftwas made on the fly, Olsen was hardly flying by the seat of his pants.
“We talked about it [on Friday],” Wolff said of thecontingency plan that saw D.C. move to a loose 4-5-1 formationmid-match. “Depending on what itlooked like out wide and if they were getting at us, we might have to shift.”
Both the early in-game transition, and the fact that it wasplanned for ahead of time, are tangible evidence of Olsen’s sharp learningcurve as a coach. Unfortunately,further proof of his managerial growth was only a few minutes frommaterializing. When Danny Cruzpulled up lame on a long sprint into Toronto’s half, spectators were likelyshocked to see defender Dejan Jakovic brought on as a replacement for theinjured right midfielder. But Jakovicentered at his preferred spot in central defense, which allowed Daniel Woolardto return to his usual left back position. Chris Korb, who had been on the left, moved to right backand Andy Najar pushed up into the spot left open by Cruz. At the center of it all was D.C.’s sharplydressed young coach, who – like a conductor to his orchestra - gesticulated themoves from his sideline perch.
“Good players,” Olsen answered matter-of-factly when askedhow he’d managed all the first-half shuffling against Toronto. “We’ve got some good players that aresitting on the bench and good players on the field. Good players let me make adjustments.”
While Olsen was choosing to give his charges all the credit,D.C.’s players wouldn’t deny their coach his due.
“His wheels start turning as soon as one game is over forthe next week,” added Wolff, who doubles as an assistant on Olsen’s staff. “It’s good to see him with moves thatare coming from his mind before the game even takes place.”
