The thought of playing three matches in eight days at this late juncture of the MLS season should not appeal to any coach, especially when the venues for the first two are separated by a few thousand miles.
D.C. United Coach Ben Olsen, however, sees opportunity in the cluster of games to test three newcomers and use a variety of players in an effort to identify his premier lineup heading into the final stretch.
“The challenge is, what’s our best team and how do we go about the rest of the season with the new players?” he said ahead of Saturday’s visit to Vancouver.