D.C. United: 2020 Preview – Struggles post Rooney and Acosta?

With less than a month to go until the start of the 2020 MLS campaign, we are taking a look at how each team has evolved since last year, and their chances this term. This time, we look at D.C. United.

For the fifth time in the last six years, D.C. United qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs, doing so by finishing the regular season in fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. However, in their third successive trip to the postseason, the side from the capital was knocked out at the first stage of the playoff phase.

The four-time MLS Cup Champions have now gone 15 years since their last title, and five years since the last time they topped the Eastern Conference standings at the end of the regular season.

As always, they featured in the U.S. Open Cup. They continued their run of reaching the fifth round, which they have done every year since 2015. They got the better of the Philadelphia Union in the fourth round of the 2019 competition, before losing out to New York City FC in the last 16.

Here is how things are shaping up for D.C. United in 2020.

Best Performers

Unsurprisingly, England and Manchester United’s record goalscorer topped D.C. United’s list of best performers in 2019. Wayne Rooney averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.24/10 over the course of his final season in MLS, scoring 11 times to be the club’s top goalscorer.

Central defender Frederic Brillant and Argentinian attacking midfielder Lucas Rodriguez also secured an average rating of more than 7/10 across the 2019 campaign, while perhaps unsurprisingly, Bill Hamid was ranked as one of the best goalkeepers around the league.

The likes of Luciano Acosta, Steven Birnbaum, Russell Canouse and Junior Moreno were also consistent performers throughout the 2019 season, with USMNT star Paul Arriola also featuring in their best XI from last year.