Preseason Thoughts: DC United vs. Minnesota United
The Coachella Invitational impresses fans by streaming the game, but the actual teams...not so much
For a second glorious time this year, DC United fans have been treated to that rarest of sights: a stream of a DC United preseason game.
And for the second straight time, fans dedicated enough to watch were rewarded with a fairly uneventful 0-0 draw.
Who Played Where?
In my writeup of the previous game, I made a big deal about how René Weiler was being really different and playing his starters for most of the game. But in this match, we got exactly the sort of mixed lineup that is traditional in MLS preseason games. There were a few unquestionable starters, like Tai Baribo, mixed with plenty of unquestionable backups, like Garrison Tubbs.
Here’s how they lined up:
The formation was the same 4-2-2-2 that we saw in the previous game. Yes, there were three centerbacks, but Tubbs was definitely playing as a right back. Baribo, Brandon Servania, and Keisuke Kurokawa were playing in the positions that I assume they will start in against Philadelphia if they are healthy. Peglow was the second forward; I expect him to start but not in that position.
Last time, his absence led me to speculate Sean Nealis was hurt, but probably he was just being held to start this game. I think a lot of us had expected him to walk into the starting lineup (and maybe Lucas Bartlett did too since there was a rumor he wanted a trade), but unless he had a very minor injury a few days ago, the current evidence is that Nealis is currently second choice to Lucas Bartlett and Kye Rowles.
Hosei Kijima, Caden Clark, and first round pick Nikola Markovic played in the positions they subbed into in the first game, so no big surprise there. Richie Aman, another absence from last game, subbed on in the second half and as expected played on the right.
But there were two big surprises.
The first was Garrison Tubbs playing right back. Okay, maybe it’s not a big surprise since young centerbacks often deputize at right back when necessary. But it’s making the right back depth chart seem positively crowded: Aaron Herrera, Conner Antley, new signing Silvan Hefti, Tubbs, and then Markovic even played there later in this game. Hopefully we won’t see centerbacks playing there much in the regular season. I think this simply a situation where they wanted Tubbs and Markovic to get minutes and right back was open since Herrera is injured and Hefti isn’t integrated yet.
The really big surprise was Jared Stroud getting the start in central midfield. He’s played a lot of games with DC United at this point (62 appearances!) so I might be forgetting something but I don’t recall him playing there previously. For me the biggest roster question going into this game was whether they really were going to go into the season with only three central midfielders, one of whom (Kijima) has played in the left wing spot for two games now. When Kijima did switch positions at the start of the second half, it was swapping places with Peglow and playing as a forward.
Jared Stroud, and then later in this game Gavin Turner, playing in central midfield might be the answer. Stroud was surprisingly productive in 2024, racking up assists by crossing for Christian Benteke headed goals, but he’s always looked out of place playing winger in a league where most teams spend millions of dollars at that position. He’s also played at wingback and fullback, but to be honest, it’s been a long time since he’s put in a really good performance. Converting him into a central midfielder is…well, it’s thinking outside the box, sort of like Jackson Hopkins’ instant transformation into a forward after Weiler arrived. But that makes the depth chart look at least a little more reasonable: Peltola, Servania, Stroud, and Turner, plus Hopkins and Kijima when they aren’t playing farther forward.
But, uh, can Stroud actually play that position? Let’s get to the next section.
Who Played Well? Who Didn’t?
Last time I was more restrained but this time I’m just going to truck through everyone who played:
Alex Bono: He had even less to do than Sean Johnson and Jordan Farr in the Portland game, but he looked fine with what little he had to do. In my mind, he’s kind of grouped in the “below average goalkeeper” category with last season’s starter, Luis Barraza, but even in this game it was obvious his distribution is significantly better than Barraza’s, so that’s good at least!
Keisuke Kurokawa: Some people were more impressed with his performance against Portland than I was, so I was watching him closely. And you know, I think I can kind of see it. He has really quick feet and that’s both a real asset for a fullback and a huge contrast to David Schnegg, who had his moments but is a big and plodding player. Kurokawa is his opposite, small and quick. So that’s promising, but…man, he’s small. Teams in preseason probably don’t scout the opponent, but it seemed like later in the game Minnesota was launching long balls repeatedly toward Kurokawa on the correct theory that even some 5’10” backup winger could win the ball over him.
Nikola Markovic: I am reflexively skeptical to claims that any college player is day-one starting quality in MLS, but okay, I see what the college people meant. He’s huge, so that’s sure not an issue. Guys like Jacob Murrell have taught me being tall doesn’t mean a player is good in the air, but Markovic seemed okay. He had some good defensive moments, especially when playing at right back when he started slide tackling like he was Joseph Mora, but he also made a lot of mistakes: he misplayed some simple passes and he gave Minnesota some good chance by getting bypassed a few times after stepping up aggressively in transition. Still, it seemed like the sort of thing that a young player might be able to rapidly clean up, and the guy starting ahead of him on the left is…
Kye Rowles: He still looks unconvincing to me. Right now he won’t turn the ball over as much and so he’ll probably be starting at the beginning of the season, but I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Markovic in his spot by July.
Sean Nealis: It’s just one match, but I’m not impressed yet. No major mistakes, but I really wasn’t a fan of his late-career-Boswell thuggish fouls. So far I definitely prefer Lucas Bartlett.
Garrison Tubbs: At the very beginning of the game, he effortlessly dribbled someone deep in his own half and I wondered if he had some previously unseen dimensions to his game. Then in short order, he got beaten on a long ball, tried to send an aerial through ball to Baribo and kicked a field goal instead, and then gave up a really good chance through poor footwork on a pretty routine diagonal pass. Yeah, he’s not a fullback. No idea from this how he’d look at centerback at this point, but Weiler wasn’t interested enough to play him there so presumably he’s at the bottom of the depth chart.
Brandon Servania: We know what we’re getting from Servania, though since this. year’s theme is long balls into the channels I guess it’s worth saying he hit a good one in the first half. I think he also got at least four wide-open opportunities across these two games to shoot from the top of the box and didn’t put a single one on frame. That’s par for the course for a defensive midfielder, but it’s enough to make me want to throw defense to the wind and play Pirani in this spot (and really, some of those were set pieces where Pirani really should be positioned in that spot).
Jared Stroud: The feed was fuzzy but I’m pretty sure he hit the pass to Clark that resulted in one of DC’s best chances near the end of the first half. I was watching him closely and my verdict is he looks like a replacement-level box to box midfielder. That’s good from a depth perspective, but he’s certainly not the upgrade that we’ve all felt the team needs in that position.
Gavin Turner and Matti Peltola came on in central midfield during the second half. Peltola looked like a clear upgrade over Servania and Stroud while Turner seemed about the same, so given each player’s situation that’s pretty good. I worry a little about Turner’s size in actual regular season games, though.
Hosei Kijima: At the beginning of last season I was really impressed with his quickness. That hasn’t come through much this preseason, but maybe it’s harder to see on television than in person at Audi Field. His shining moment, which, okay, does show off his quickness, was when he cleanly intercepted a pass between defenders at midfield. Unfortunately, he then went 1v3 against the other defenders despite having help coming. He actually won a corner anyway, but it was a little disappointing from a guy who usually seems like a smart player.
Caden Clark: I wrote in my notes after twenty minutes that he was anonymous. Baribo seemed to be annoyed with his decision making. Later, he ran on to a good aerial through ball, but his first touch wasn’t quite what he needed to be in on the keeper and I thought it would come to nothing. Instead, he hit a genuinely creative pass to Baribo to set up a really dangerous shot. Given how limited DC’s offense was in these two games, that’s unfortunately very much worthy of note.
Richie Aman: As I said about Markovic, I never believe college players are ready to start, and…well, this time I definitely don’t think he’s ready to start, but his aggression made him stand out in his limited action, so I can see a world where he rapidly passes the likes of Kijima and even Clark on the depth chart (to say nothing of Hakim Karamoko, who was on the preseason roster but has been missing in action, so maybe he’s injured). Aman at least won a few free kicks in dangerous locations (I almost wrote “dangerous free kicks”, but there’s nothing dangerous about DC’s free kicks now that Klich and Benteke are gone).
Peglow: He started at forward and maybe the idea was he would be faster than the centerbacks? He tried, but he mostly got outmuscled by the centerbacks. Still, by the end of the half I thought he was looked like DC’s best player since he was able to cut through Minnesota’s scrubs at times. The final pass eluded him, though, as it has eluded most of DC’s players. In the second half, he played farther back and also looked capable defensively. I expect him to start against Philadelphia, assuming he’s healthy.
Jacob Murrell: Didn’t stand out. We know he can score good goals in the right circumstances, but he just doesn’t have anything else in his game. He won’t develop it sitting on the bench behind DP forwards, so I think he needs to be loaned out.
Tai Baribo: As advertised, he’s making good runs and also hustles on defense. As expected, no one is finding him on those runs except for the one time Clark managed to do it and that one he shot straight at the keeper. If the rest of the team figures things out, I still think he’ll be great.
Louis Munteanu: So far if I’m being honest he looks like a dud: slow and unable to create his own shot when he gets the ball. There’s none of the dynamism that radiates off Baribo. Still, he won a couple of free kicks and took at least three shots, and that was while seeing very little of the ball. All those shots were blocked or deflected, though. Trying to keep hope alive that he’s just adjusting.
Tactics Corner
Not much to say about this other than it’s very similar to the last game. For now they’re rigidly sticking to the 4-2-2-2 no matter who the personnel are and trying to play the ball up to fast players in the channels. Last game, it was Bartlett doing that, whereas in this game it was mostly the central midfielders, but the patterns are similar. I’m interested to see what happens when Herrera and Pirani are available, I think they’re both major talent upgrades from what we’ve been seeing and I think they can both do well with this kind of system.
I was already alarmed about chance creation, but now I’m alarmed about something new: set pieces. I hate to say it but I could see this team scoring even fewer goals than last year’s sputtering offense, what with Weiler’s more defensive style meaning there aren’t as many players getting into the attack and then the bottom dropping out of set piece offense.
Set piece offense was already lower in 2025 with Klich’s departure, but at least there were good targets in the box. Benteke is obviously a big loss, but Bartlett is also quite good and might not be starting. Peltola, Rowles, Hopkins, and Murrell are tall enough to theoretically be strong in the air, but they aren’t. Jury’s out on Markovic, Nealis, and Louis.
Even worse, though, than the target situation has been the players taking the set pieces. Lots of different players took them in this game, and while I didn’t take notes on all of them, Kurokawa definitely hit a corner over everyone and Turner tried a direct free kick that really wasn’t that close. I think maybe Clark hit one good free kick or corner to the far post? I don’t know, but it was getting to point where the corners ought to be taken short and the free kicks taken quickly no matter how close they are.
What’s Next
On Valentine’s Day, DC will play a closed door game against St. Louis City SC. Then they’ll travel back to DC to prepare for the season opener against Philadelphia Union on February 21. If you’ve been bored by the 0-0 scorelines, help is coming: no one scores goals in MLS like Philly does when playing DC United.
I’m hoping to have at least one more season preview post, this time a DCU 101 for new fans or others less familiar with DC United’s season who might want to get the basics without having to read thousands of words about Gabe Segal. And then a game preview for the Union match, so make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already to get those in your inbox.
Munteanu also lacks character. Hope he's improving.