I remember standing on the practice pitch in Clearwater, Florida, just six weeks ago. The sun was shining. The grass was green as Bryce Harper’s cleats yesterday; the blades shimmered a little bit in the light since the training staff had run the sprinklers. One by one the players started stretching and getting warm — Russell Canouse, Luciano Acosta, Steven Birnbaum — until, as a group, they started some drills.

Then there was Titi. All alone with a trainer. 

I’d seen the same thing at the St. James a few days earlier, and that was all the reporting that had done on D.C. United’s most heralded signing over the transfer window: Lucas Rodriguez was recovering from some sort of injury.

But on March 3, of course, at Audi Field against the former champs Atlanta United, there he was in the starting lineup. 

Through three games we’ve learned this about Titi: Head coach Ben Olsen believes in this kid — he turns 22 next month — he’s a markedly different winger than his counterpart Paul Arriola, and he may have an enormous role to play on this team sooner rather than later. 

Despite options, Olsen goes with the untested Titi

When the starting XI was announced before the Atlanta United game with Rodriguez occupying the starting position at the left wing, I was surprised. Some others weren’t surprised — he was apparently now healthy, so why shouldn’t he start? 

Maybe I’m just scarred as a Juventus fan from the conservatism of Max Allegri — whose reliance on “experience” and “proven” players comes, many times, at the expense of cultivating younger talent — but if I were to put myself in Ben Olsen’s shoes that early March day I could think of several reasons why I would’ve left Titi on the bench:

1. Giving Titi actual game-time after his recent physical woes could be risky. (Qualifying remark here: I trust the D.C. United training staff 100 percent to have made the call, but even without knowing the full extent of what was wrong one can say that it was at least enough to keep Rodriguez out of most of the preseason.) 

2. Throwing a 21-year-old kid into the starting lineup against Atlanta United for his first MLS start would be trial by fire, which can go one of two ways.

3. Despite the departure of Yamil Asad, you’ve got plenty of options with either Zoltan Stieber or Ulises Segura to occupy that flank. 

Yet Benny chose Titi. And despite the fact that his first game was sort of a wash in terms of impact — sure, he technically registered an assist, but it was essentially just a dump-off to Lucho, who performed some sort of weird dark magic on the shot and zipped it past Brad Guzan — Titi has started three straight games. Olsen’s faith, in turn, has been rewarded. 

Against Real Salt Lake, circumstances notwithstanding, he not only deposited the golazo below, but he drew more fouls than anyone else on United (five) despite only having the ninth-most touches, and his three dribbles were more than anyone else in black, too. 

Can't. Stop. Watching. ? pic.twitter.com/RuiNRhu4Lb

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 17, 2019

Titi was direct, and he made RSL suffer. 

Two wingers who compliment each other well

On the right side of Olsen’s 4-2-3-1 is Arriola, who plays with chalk on his boots, who scraps, who presses and wins tackles and interceptions. He’s a hound. He’s logged time at right back and is used to tracking the ball end to end — just see his latest U.S. men’s national team performance against Chile. 

Of course, the obvious difference is that Titi is a right-footed winger playing on the left side of the field, so his natural inclination is going to be to cut inside. Even so, he prefers to line himself up differently, gathering the ball a bit earlier than No. 7 and giving himself room to roam in the midfield, rather than striking straight up the flank.

Arriola's passing vs RSL: 

Titi's passing vs RSL:

Arriola's heat map vs RSL:

Titi's heat map vs RSL:

Against Real Salt Lake, Arriola not only hugged the sideline significantly more, but he penetrated the box to a greater degree. Rodriguez, on the other hand, spread himself wide on the pitch and made noise from outside the box. 

The burden could grow heavier soon

I don’t have a crystal ball, and I don’t have any insider information, but there’s certainly a chance Lucho leaves D.C. United at some point in the next 12 months. Maybe it’s this summer. Maybe it’s after the season ends. Maybe he does in fact a new contract but still gets sold. There’s no way of knowing. 

But if — if! — No. 10 does go to Europe, then No. 11 is probably going to be the guy filling in his compatriot’s shoes. It’s certainly early days, but Titi has improved in each of his three games, even though he hasn’t played the full 90 in any single one of them. Benny has showed immense trust in the youngster, and he’s rewarded his coach. Each game that passes he shows a bit more creativity, a bit more flair. By no means is he the same player as Acosta, but he brings his own set of talents to the side.

Whatever happens or doesn’t happen with Acosta, Rodriguez is coming into his own with each MLS minute. And that’s a very good thing for D.C. United, and a very bad thing for everyone else.