Branco Boskovic, after finally starting to round into form, is out – almost certainly for the season – with a left ACL tear. That’s a minimum of six months out.

Though he was starting to earn his keep, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Montenegrin was on his way back to the Balkans next season. He just wasn’t producing enough to justify his salary.

But this still leaves the question of where the creativity will come from.

Fortunately, Coach Olsen is no longer pushing Dax McCarty forward into the playmaker role, which is a plus. And left midfielder Chris Pontius is really starting to show his stuff. His off the ball movement (what one does without the ball is as important as what one does with it; it’s when you don’t have the ball that you slip into dangerous positions to receive the ball and force opposing players to take their eye off the ball to keep an eye on you) is looking very good. On the opposite wing, teenager Andy Najar has reclaimed his spot on the right side of midfield from Quaranta (who is playing more centrally now).

There’s nothing wrong with a traditional 4-4-2, where most of the chance creation comes from the work of the players on the wings – as long as you have the players to pull it off. For now, it looks like DC United might.

Of course, their record is still mediocre, at best (3 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses), but if they’re finally finding their best offense shape and players, that’s a start.

Now if we could only fix the defense…