Daily training report
Dallas: Day 2
It’s the home stretch of preseason, where fatigue fights a daily battle against the growing excitement around the season’s start. If there were tired bodies Wednesday at the team breakfast, they were shocked into action by the chill of the North Texas morning and Head Coach Ben Olsen making sure everyone was tuned in and ready to go. Two days before the final preseason tune up against FC Dallas, it’s less getting the instrument out of the case and more about fine tuning it for performance. Steve Birnbaum was the latest player back in full training, and newly inked rookie Miguel Aguilar showed off his one-on-one ability. The speedy midfielder was a terror going at defenders with quick moves, sharp cuts and solid finishing.
On the Field Highlights of the Day:
Davy Arnaud put on a master class in a one-on-one drill. The defender will be left nameless, but Arnaud dribbled at pace, beat his man to the inside, stopped on a dime, started again and left his man again in the dust before chipping the goalkeeper from six yards to the back post.
Off Field Highlights of the Day:
Davy Arnaud and Bobby Boswell each came to Washington in 2014 from different cities and at different stages of their careers, and each played a significant role in establishing a locker room tone that helped inspire the team’s success. The two MLS veterans have been roommates all of preseason and the jokes are flying as they sit down for a taped interview that’ll soon be available on dcunited.com. Be sure to tune in. No one is safe.
Q&A with Michael Farfan
DCU: Welcome to D.C. United. How does it feel to be back on the East Coast?
MF: It’s nice. I’m excited to start things with D.C. It’s been great getting to know all the guys on the team, and it’s a great organization to come to. I’m just excited to get going.
DCU: How’s this first week or so been for you?
MF: It’s been awesome getting to know everyone. Everyone has been really cool and made the transition easy for me.
DCU: Did you know anyone before you came here?
MF: I knew Pontius, Franklin and Silva. All the Cali boys.
DCU: For Black-and-Red fans who haven’t seen you how would you describe your style of play?
MF: I’m a very possession-oriented player, I like to keep the ball. I would say I’m calm on the ball and a technical player.
DCU: What are you looking forward to about the upcoming trip to Costa Rica?
MF: It’s exciting. To play in any international tournament is great but to be in the quarterfinals of CONCAF is awesome. Hopefully we can make it to the next round and win the whole thing.
