Armchair Analyst: Next step to success comes in transition for DC United

This is the 16th in a series of 20 short columns focused on the things I'm thinking about as we approach the 20th season of Major League Soccer. I'm going to dig into mostly non-obvious questions here – the tertiary stuff that can become bigger over time – rather than the giant storylines (e.g., How do the Red Bulls replace Henry? What if Ozzie's injury lingers? Is this THE year for TFC?).

You can find previous installments in my story archive HERE. For this latest entry, we're off to RFK...

Before I go criticizing anybody for anything in particular, I just want to point out D.C. United's record in the MLS SuperDraft.

From 2009 through 2014, United had six first-round picks. Five of those guys (Chris Pontius, Perry Kitchen, Nick DeLeon, Taylor Kemp, Steve Birnbaum) are starters in D.C. The sixth (Rodney Wallace) is a starter in Portland.

Three – Wallace, Kitchen and Birnbaum – have national team experience. A fourth – Pontius – was called into national team camp by two different coaches, but has yet to make his US debut because his hamstrings are made of papier mache. DeLeon, meanwhile, has turned down two separate call-ups from Trinidad & Tobago in order to keep his US options open.

That leaves Kemp, who probably doesn't have the physical attributes to be a full US international, but has a sweet left foot and a good brain. Put those together with a year of experience, and he became a significant part of last season's D.C. defense that tied with the Galaxy for fewest goals allowed (37) over the course of 2014.

United fans have gotten on Kemp a little bit, since he struggled last week in CCL play and since the Red Bulls spent 160 minutes going directly at him in last year's playoffs. It's kind of unfair, and it's definitely worth remembering that this is what left back looked like for D.C. before Kemp locked the job down on what should be a permanent basis:

Kemp is part of the solution, not part of the problem.

But it's also important for the powers that be in D.C. to understand that they've been scouted a little bit, and more teams are more eager to attack from out wide – unusual against a squad that plays a 4-4-2. We saw it down the stretch, and the following numbers tell part of the story:

United were/are a high-tempo team. Of the seven highest-tempo teams in the league, D.C. faced the most shots, required the most saves (we saw how ugly things got without Bill Hamid last week, right?) and had the second-most headed clearances.

That backs up what I've seen via the eye test: when United turn the ball over, teams go at them in transition from out wide. That's always been a weakness of veteran right back Sean Franklin, and it seems like Kemp has followed in his footsteps.

This is not a fatal flaw as long as Hamid is in God mode and the central defenders are locked in. When those two things are not happening, you get a Costa Rican blood bath.

Kemp improves D.C. as a team merely by existing, since a competent left back who can provide width on the overlap and help in possession should not go unappreciated (there are fans of about seven teams nodding sadly right now). But for all he brings to the table, it's important to understand that he takes a few things off of it as well, and as such, a few defensive tweaks are probably necessary for United to stay near the top of the standings.