United’s newest and youngest-ever Homegrown signing Chris Durkin marked his competitive debut with an impressive performance in the midfield during the U.S. Open Cup loss on June 15. The Under-17 U.S. National Team captain looked confident and poised in the midfield and gave off an aura of a much wiser and more experienced player. The 16-year-old slotted into the defensive midfield role alongside Jared Jeffrey and provided substantial defensive support for the center back partnership of Kofi Opare and Jalen Robinson.
"I've been with this club since I was 11 years old," Durkin said. "It's been a dream of mine to see my name on the back of that jersey."
Durkin proved himself as a pragmatic distributor of the ball and boasted a 100% passing completion statistic on his debut. The Glen Allen, Va., native served as a dynamic peg in the Black-and-Red midfield, becoming an integral component to D.C. United’s attacking build-up play throughout the game. He showcased his range of passing with multiple pinpoint balls sprayed across the field (with both feet, no less). Durkin’s effectiveness in midfield against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers was a testament of the player’s fluent positional understanding of where he needed to be in order to help dictate the run of play in the match.
"I tried to go into the game as confident as possible," he said. "My number one priority was to put in work for the team and I thought I put in a good shift."
With youngsters so often being intimidated by the physicality of the professional game, Durkin showed no signs of shying away from his defensive responsibilities. He asserted himself as a defensive pillar for United and his ability to win a tackle will surely win over Black-and-Red fans in the future, as well as his versatility (he has also spent time at center back and right back). With veteran United midfielders Ben Olsen and Davy Arnaud, who works with Durkin after training on touches and nuances at the midfield position, on the coaching staff, the defensive assertiveness and positional understanding of Durkin will only improve with age.
Watch Chris Durkin's Debut
Although Durkin won’t see any further U.S. Open Cup action this season, fans will be looking forward to seeing Durkin in future fixtures as he continues to develop and mature as a player. The match against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers gave a quick glimpse into the rationale that went into signing the 16-year-old and the talent and capabilities of the versatile National Team captain.
