D.C. United come into the 2019 MLS season with heightened expectations, given their run at the end of 2018. Most of the old crew is back, with Wayne Rooney and Luciano Acosta leading the line for the Black-and-Red. At this point last year, there were mixed feelings about United’s chances to get back into the playoffs, with a daunting road-heavy schedule before the opening of Audi Field in the summer. Rooney had yet to join, but once he did, there was no stopping United’s momentum — until they crashed out of the playoffs at home.
United were one of the best teams in the league after Rooney’s July debut, and the team finished the regular season without a defeat in their last 10 games. As late as August, D.C. were mired in last place in the Eastern Conference, but they eventually finished the season fourth, earning the right to host the playoff game against the Columbus Crew.
There’s a different format to the playoffs this year, which start in early October as opposed to late October. In each conference, there will now be seven of the 12 teams making the postseason. In years past, two legs would determine the winners of the conference semifinals and finals. Now the playoffs have a single game knockout format, with the higher seed hosting each game.
In both conferences, the first seed gets a bye and the other six teams face off for a spot in the conference semifinals.On Tuesday, Wayne Rooney pointed out the importance of finishing first in the conference, adding a bit more weight to the regular season in years past.
Our question today is this: Where do we think United will finish in the Eastern Conference in 2019?
Steven Streff, FloFC D.C. United Beat Writer: The expectation this year is that United should be back in the playoffs, no matter what. There’s a balanced schedule, which means no emotionally draining road trips, which crippled the team early last year. Rooney seems to be in fine form in the preseason, and there’s no indication yet that he can’t continue to succeed in 2019. And Acosta has seemed to answer any questions about his play after the failed move to PSG, being one of United’s best performers during the preseason friendlies.
That said, there are a couple of worries for the Black-and-Red going into the season. As of now, there’s no striker to backup Rooney. That should change before the start of the season, but any reserve isn’t going to have the same game-changing ability as England’s all-time leading scorer. United also didn’t go and get a bonafide, experienced center back, which they said all preseason they wanted to do.
Still, this team should be good enough to finish as one of the top seven teams in the conference, and there are questions surrounding every team in the East, not just D.C. Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls enter the season as the favorites, and I’m not sure if United is good enough to eclipse either of those over the course of 34 games.
I think United will end up exactly where they did in 2018 — in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. No late-season run will be needed to get there, but a solid campaign for the Black-and-Red will have them right back hosting a playoff game in October 2019. Then they’ll have to clear that hurdle, which they have failed at the last two times they have made the playoffs.
Wesley Davidson, FloFC Contributor: Much is made of the travel required of MLS teams and rightly so. I also greatly appreciate Wayne Rooney’s attitude in saying that the thousands of miles logged can “never be an excuse” for poor displays, but 2019 presents an entirely new challenge with an even spread of home and away matches over the course of a grueling season.
D.C. United will need to harness that same gritty attitude to overcome a couple of the unanswered roster questions that Steven touched on. While the lack of a backup striker and defensive reinforcements could certainly impact results down the stretch, the possible departure of Luciano Acosta over the summer is the biggest factor for me when predicting where D.C. will finish on the table. Lucas Rodríguez looks to need a bit more time to settle in a new environment and minor knocks haven’t helped his cause, but I think he will ultimately be one of the best newcomers in the league. Despite what Titi may offer, Acosta’s offensive production simply can’t be replaced.
Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls will once again be the class of the Eastern Conference. As long as this squad can remain healthy and Acosta stays in the District through October, I like D.C to finish third in the conference, just ahead of the Columbus Crew.
Hunter Sharpless, FloFC Managing Editor: Atlanta and New York may be the preseason favorites once again, but from where I’m sitting the race for the Eastern Conference is pretty doggone wide open.
The former champs have parted ways with both star player Miguel Almiron and skipper Gerardo Martino, and they looked like anything but the bee’s knees in their first official game of the season in the Concacaf Champions League. New York Red Bulls, meanwhile, lost key piece Tyler Adams to Germany, and despite earning the Supporters’ Shield last year, this side can’t be feeling too good about their playoff exit vs Atlanta.
Both squads will still be very, very good, of course, and if D.C. United were able to notch a top-two spot in the conference that’d be an enormous feat. I’ll side with Captain Streff on this one and say that United slot into the same slot they did last year in fourth place. As Wesley points out, the mountain looks more imposing to climb if Luciano Acosta leaves the team at some point this summer, and, conversely, if Titi Rodriguez turns into the player United hope he can be — along with Lucho staying put — that’s when things could get very interesting at the top.