One Big Question:Is Ola Kamara good enough to lead the line for a contender in 2020?
Ola's MLS career has almost been unfair in its way. He arrived and had to sit behind Kei Kamara for half a year, but then got into the lineup and was one of the most consistent center forwards in the league. A year after that – in 2017 – he kept it going, pouring home 18 goals.
Then he was traded to the Galaxy for Gyasi Zardes, and... fair enough. Except a month after Ola got there, the Galaxy went out and got Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which meant Ola was shunted to the wing, and the dude's definitely not a winger. Then he was sold to China, then he came back from China to last year's dysfunctional D.C. side, and it all feels like it could/should've gone different, right?
This is an old reel, but it shows you what he does:
Right place, right time, one touch... goal. A lot like Josef Martinez or Chris Wondolowski.
But Ola's 30 now and while D.C. look like they'll be making some big, attack-generating moves this winter (they made their first with the arrival of Edison Flores on Tuesday), there are no guarantees that those moves will get done or that Ola will get the kind of service he needs. And even if he does, is Ola just a nice No. 9 who can get you 15-18 goals, or is he a lead-the-line monster who can conjure up 20 or more and propel this team toward the top of the standings in the regular season and perhaps beyond?
Because if you look at the last few MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield champs, it really does look like the bar has been raised in terms of what's demanded from your primary goal-scorer.
Ola's the one who's going to be wearing that tag in D.C. this year.
