Will Hamdi Salihi produce?

Can Dwayne “DeRo” DeRosario reproduce last year’s form?

Can Branko Boskovic justify his salary?

Will the veteran additions shore up the defense?

Hamdi Salihi is the team’s new Designated Player (DP). He looks like a good get on paper. He was an excellent strike for Rapid Wien (Vienna) in the Austrian league. Austrian soccer is not spectacular, but it’s close in the style to the Bundesliga, so a good mix of the physical and the technical. Certainly, he’s coming out of a stronger league than, say, the Scandinavian leagues where so many American expats play. By most accounts, he’s a poacher in the style of a Pippo Inzaghi, which is to say lacking any outstanding physical attributes, but with an instinctive knowledge of where to position himself to score. Certainly, with DeRosario playing just behind him, feeding him through balls, one could see this working out. But… MLS is a very physical league and he’s neither particularly fast nor particularly strong. Also, playing as he does, he’s not going to do much besides score. What I mean is that he won’t drop deep to help the midfield, nor will he use his pace and strength to stretch play and defenders out of position. He needs to score 15+ goals this season to justify his place on the roster.

Dwayne DeRosario was sensational last year. This year, paired with a classy striker, one can hope that the goal scoring burden will be lifted from his shoulders. But, he’s 34 years old. He was injury free for us last year, but can he still play at that level week in and week out for 75-90 minutes? And what if his partnership with Salihi doesn’t gel? Last year, he played off of either Charlie Davies or Josh Wolff most games – players who run a lot more, using movement and speed to find openings. Of course, neither impressed with the scoring exploits, but still, something worked for DeRo to score sixteen goals.

For two seasons, Boskovic has been warming the bench. Either he was injured or just not getting minutes. He’s a Designated Player and if he’s not able play or the coach doesn’t trust him to play, he needs to be let go and salary cap space opened for someone else to take his place. He’s a technical, guileful player, suited for either playmaking roles on the wing or centrally. And he’s got a beautiful left foot that, in theory, should provide some lovely assists for a tricky poacher like Salihi. But’s he been collecting a paycheck for a almost two years without playing. Produce or go home.

The DC United defense was talented, but also young. We had players like Ethan White and Perry Kitchen – the latter being a likely future U.S. International – but some leadership was lacking, particularly with a young goalkeeper like Bill Hamid behind them. Adding Brandon McDonald midseason helped, but he’s mostly a solid journeyman. Robbie Russell was added in the offseason to play full back and he’s a veteran who knows the ropes and can provide some leadership, but the real big addition was 29 year old Argentine, Emiliano Dudar. He’s the centerback who’s supposed to add grit and experience and help the young players reach the next level (and possibly allow Kitchen to shift over to full back). If he doesn’t, all the talent upfront won’t get us to the playoffs.