D.C. United: What can be expected of Federico Higuain?
D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen confirmed that Federico Higuain will play in the MLS is Back Tournament. But what can be expected of the 35-year-old?
In the offseason, D.C. United conducted an entire overhaul of the key players in the squad. Two of their three Designated Players — Wayne Rooney and Lucas Rodriguez — and a third crucial attacker, Luciano Acosta, all departed. Julian Gressel and Edison Flores arrived in return, while Ola Kamara will lead the line having been signed late last season.
Head coach Ben Olsen still has an excellent backline in-tact, a strong defensive midfield rotation which often leaves Russell Cannouse playing at right-back, and there is plenty of hope for the future of the team. It helps that they won one of their first two matches of the 2020 season and were unlucky to fall to the Colorado Rapids.
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D.C. United also added Federico Higuain to the mix. The 35-year-old midfielder arrived from the Columbus Crew as a player-coach. Given his age, and that he was coming off a ruptured ACL which forced him to miss the majority of the 2019 season, it was expected that he would play the coach role more than the player.
However, when General Manager Dave Kasper announced the signing, he spoke about Higuain’s playing qualities, not his coaching future. Speaking in a statement, Kaspar said:
"“Federico has consistently been one of the best attacking players in the league since 2012. He has been a consistent goalscorer and creator on the field and we are looking forward to incorporating his MLS experience to bolster our roster this season.”"
It seems, then, that despite his age, injury and the fact that Columbus were happy to move on, Higuain will play a role in D.C. And now with MLS set to return in early July, Olsen has indeed confirmed that Higuain will play. Per Pablo Maurer of The Athletic, Olsen said that Higuain is participating fully in training and will play a role in the MLS is Back Tournament next month.
But it is reasonable to ask just what Higuain can provide his team if and when he does play? Yes, he is an MLS legend and one of the Crew’s premier players of recent years, but at 35, coming off a notoriously difficult injury to recover from, just how ready is he to produce in competitive play?
Equally, however, it is also fair to question just how much D.C. need him to produce. Olsen already has a varied attacking unit with plenty of options to turn to. Having Higuain to turn to late in games is quite the substitute. Very few teams in MLS will have such creativity waiting on the bench to break down a stubborn defence and find that late goal.
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Higuain, then, may have been expected to spend more time coaching than playing at D.C. United. And in the long-term, he may yet provide more value in this instance. But for now, he will play, and he might just help Olsen and the team more than many believed.