Kyle Gustafson / www.photokyle.comD.C. United is a proud club with the kind of support that most American soccer entities would kill for. But the last two seasons have been trying, even for United’s sizable base of ardent fans. Two incredibly mediocre league campaigns that ended without playoffs. A stadium debacle that doesn’t seem to have any positive resolution in sight. The crushing defeat to Seattle in 2009’s U.S. Open Cup Final after a massive “We Win Trophies” campaign. Coaching drama. Failure to perform in international tournaments. A starting eleven stuck between the gears of the past and promising, but inexperienced youngsters.
But despite all of it, there’s hope on the horizon. There will be a season this year. And tonight, United gets to kick off the 2010 campaign against the team — Kansas City — that knocked them out of last year’s playoffs with a stoppage-time penalty.
D.C. got some revenge for that loss already, though, plucking the Wizards’ former manager to replace Tom Soehn. With Curt Onalfo at the controls, United seem to be getting back on track for the kind of year that they had in both 2006 and 2007 when they won consecutive Supporters’ Shields. Since he took over in December, Onalfo has cleaned up the roster, gotten the support of the team’s leaders, installed a much-needed emphasis on defensive play, shifted to a 4-4-2 formation and has been a positive, progressive force throughout the ranks. And it’s paid off, as United’s preseason has gone as well as possible: they became the first one of the few MLS teams to win in Mexico after defeating Santos Laguna, and winning the 2010 Carolina Challenge Cup.
A New Found Positional Depth
U.S. international keeper Troy Perkins tops the list of United’s big offseason moves. Perkins returns for his second stint in D.C. after spending two years in Norway with Oslo club Valerenga. With Perkins on board, United shifts from being a club that played four men in goal last year to boasting one of the best at the position in the entire league.
