With Sporting KC returning to the road this weekend with a trip to the East Coast, I caught up with D.C. United TV Play-by-Play announcer Dave Johnson, to preview the match. The match will kick off at 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday with live coverage available on KMCI (38 the Spot), SKCTV, Sports Radio 810 WHB, and La Gran D 1340 AM.
JF: What are you looking forward to seeing from this match?
DJ: Saturday’s matchup is another exciting test for D.C. United. This is a D.C. United team that came into the season after just three wins (last year). Each match of this magnitude is kind of a measuring stick for how they have performed this season. About a month ago, there was a lot of anxiety before the FC Dallas match. How would D.C. United do against FC Dallas? FC Dallas was playing very well at the time, but D.C. responded with a 4-1 win. This has been a team that has been very good at responding. They lost their first two games of the year, and then they went on a five game unbeaten streak. When they lost on the road to Portland, they responded with another three game unbeaten streak. Obviously D.C. is coming off a loss to New England, so it’s a team that is looking to respond and wants to continue to make RFK Stadium a tough place to play once again. That was an integral part of their ability to get to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012.
There is a lot of anticipation to see a Sporting Kansas City side that has Dom Dwyer. He was a player who was loaned out to Orlando City a year ago and is now clearly showing his quality. This is a Kansas City team that is so good regardless of the fact they are missing key players. D.C. knows that it cannot let Kansas City dictate the game and start to knock it around like they did in the first half against New York (on Tuesday). Even though it’s a new look for Kansas City in terms of personnel, they know D.C. very well. From that standpoint, it sets up for an exciting match with a lot on the line. From the D.C. United perspective, it’s great to be back among the contenders.
JF: How do Sporting KC’s attacking players match up against an improved D.C. United backline?
DJ: D.C. is going to have to replicate what they did last time at home against Houston. Kansas City has so many players that can get involved in the attack, and that includes the outside backs with guys like Igor Juliao and Seth Sinovic. D.C. is going to have to maintain that discipline. When balls come (into the box), Jeff Parke and Bobby Boswell have done such a good job of sorting things out and not letting a cross that doesn’t seem particularly dangerous suddenly turn into a chance.
D.C. has defended (well) in critical moments of this season. They are going to have to do that at a premium on Saturday against a Kansas City team that is without question highly motivated and probably angry to be winless in four matches. It’s going to be a game of high focus, but this D.C. United defense has been very organized. Part of that starts with the pressure up high with guys like Davy Arnaud and Perry Kitchen getting involved. The outside midfielders also need to get involved in making sure Juliao and Sinovic don’t (advance) on the attack and start to unsettle D.C.
