It’s over…now what?
DC United saw their season come to a close after this weekend with their draw at Kansas City and FC Dallas winning at Seattle. The time has come to decide what the team needs to do next season. This is the second season in a row United has not made the playoffs with winning the Supporter’s Shield the 2 years prior. Here is my breakdown of what changes are needed: Coaching Tom Soehn needs to say goodbye to the club and take GM Dave Kaspar with him. This team needs a big change at the top and these two have not been bringing in the players that are needed and are holding on to players that all they are doing is taking up salary cap room. Players United has prided themselves on a quick, pressing offense. The problem with this? They haven’t done it. They don’t have the players to do it. United can hold on to their veterans and some of their youth, but there are a lot of players that see no playing time and are just taking up space. United needs to look in 2 places for players. Traditionally, they look at South America. This has not paid off. United needs to look first in the United States. There are many players in the United Soccer League (both first and second divisions) that have the ability to play in the MLS (i.e. Steve Cronin has worked!). The other place they need to look is Europe. If you are a player and you have talent, you are most likely playing in Europe. England, Germany, Italy, and Spain have plenty of players that are looking for a change and want a new challenge. I don’t think South America can compete with the players in Europe right now. And last but not least…HEART! There are a handfull of United players that you could pick out that play with the heart and passion of the Black and Red, namely Ben Olsen. If some of the players put it all out on the field like Olsen then I think this could be a very dangerous team. Right now, it seems like a lot of players just do not seem like they care. If DC United wants to change, the time to do it is NOW! If not they might as well take “Tradition” off the back of the shirt because the only tradition they are seeing is not winning championships. I can say that watching United play against Kansas City, it was some of the best football I’ve seen them play all season. You have to give credit to Julius James for scoring a goal with a pulled hamstring while Jaime Moreno distracted Hartman as he was trying to make a save. If United had played all season like they did Saturday, they would not have had to worry about making the playoffs. Columbus may not have had the Supporter’s Shield in my opinion. |
