United's newest acquisition, winger Lloyd Sam, made his anticipated debut for the Black-and-Red against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday night. The Ghanaian international started on the right of United's four-man midfield, playing all 90 minutes and combined well with his new teammates. "He’s just dangerous," head coach Ben Olsen said after the match about his new player. "He can hurt you with early service, he can get after you one-v-one and he’s willing to put in a selfless shift on the defensive side."
United's number 8 was a creative outlet and led the team in multiple offensive categories, including chances created with five (while no one else on the side had more than three). The wide-man also combined well with right back Sean Franklin, connecting 13 times (the most of any combination on the field), and was ninth in the Audi MLS Player Index. "Before we even played the game, in practice, I went to [Sean] and I said, ‘I know I’m going to enjoy playing alongside you,'" Sam said. "You can tell that he’s got a lot of football IQ about him...so I wasn’t surprised it looked like we played before."
He also took 8 corners on a night when United had 13 total. The Black-and-Red have only earned 77 corner kicks so far this year, third-worst in the league. But with Sam's decisiveness in the final third (he also led the team with five key passes), look for that number to rise rapidly. Sam also led the side in penalty area entries and, unsurprisingly, crosses from open play (18 and 6, respectively).
With the fifth-year MLS veteran only getting more acclimated to his new teammates, United fans can look for Sam's inclusion to improve United's offense. "It didn’t feel like my first game for D.C.," Sam said. "I felt like I fit in well on the right side and I enjoyed the game."
