WASHINGTON — Perhaps no one on D.C. United is better prepared to disrupt the New York Red Bulls' high-pressing system in their Heineken Rivalry Week tilt Sunday evening (7 pm ET | FS1 — Full TV & streaming info) than Russell Canouse.
It's only the same approach that shaped the holding midfielder's German footballing education.
Before Red Bull-owned clubs established the high press as their ethos in New York, Sao Paulo, Leipzig (Germany) and Salzburg (Austria), TSG Hoffenheim harnessed it during their famous ascension from several rungs below into the Bundesliga.
All the while, Canouse grew as a player within it, from when he first joined Hoffenheim's academy at age 15 to when he made his first-team debut five seasons later.
"I actually had a lot of former coaches that moved to Leipzig, because Hoffenheim was the first Red Bull Leipzig," Canouse tells MLSsoccer.com. "The managers that started Hoffenheim, the owners, they moved to Leipzig and then implemented the whole pressing system of Red Bull now all down the line. Even though I was never directly involved in it, I knew a lot of people that were there."
So how does D.C. solve it to extend a five-game unbeaten run and earn their first win at Red Bull Arena since the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals?
"I think the one thing we've talked about this whole week is matching their physicality," Canouse says. "We can basically play their game against them, right? We can counter. If we match their physicality, we can get points from them."
That's been Canouse's specialty since his return from a knee injury that kept him out of D.C.'s first 16 league matches.
It was after his 23-minute cameo in United's previous 1-0 home loss to the Red Bulls in July that coach Ben Olsen wondered aloud — only half joking — whether the No. 6 had out-tackled the rest of his team combined.
And while D.C.'s unbeaten run coincides with five consecutive starts from a fully fit star forward Wayne Rooney, it's worth noting Canouse has also worked back to be able to start all five matches in that stretch, even if fewer have noticed.
"He puts out fires, starts attacks, he’s athletically at the right speed and his bite is contagious," Olsen said of Canouse, who was called into US men's national team camp this past January. "And I think guys kind of feed off his physically."
Said Canouse: "I'm never worried about who gets the attention. Because obviously, to me what matters most is us winning games and us reaching our goal of the playoffs. So I'm glad we've been able to put some wins together. Now we're back relevant and we can actually do something with this season."
