Generic media/team DC United coverage thread (this stuff doesn't deserve it's own thread)

I couldn't agree with your last paragraph more.

 

Fair enough. If you dislike his opinion (or the presentation rubbed you the wrong way) I kinda understand.

His statements make more sense in context...Salazar briefly served as a sideline reporter for DCU. I'm not sure if he's a DC native but he grew up in the area and has been a longtime fan of the team. Since leaving DCU he's made a name for himself on ESPN and ESPNDeportes for his coverage of LigaMX, MLS, and ElTri (Mexican National team). He also hosts a podcast with the guy sitting to his left...fellow latino-american, and former MLS/LigaMX/USMNT striker, Herculez Gomez.

In his reporting, Salazar frequently explores how soccer culture in America intersects and overlaps with the interests of minority groups (especially latino fans).

Next important factor is the time frame. His rant was made in May...at the time of his comments, DCU was knee deep in a controversial SG deal that felt like the culmination of a decade-long (misguided) effort to whitewash the history of the club.

Also, consider our transfer history in the DP era. While the rest of the league used our blueprint to mimic and surpass our early success (on the pitch and in the stands)...DC allowed themselves to become complacent.

A significant number of fans have felt like the club wants to move on without them. Against this backdrop, Salazar says:

It's obvious he has no vendetta against Rooney himself. His issue is with the club. You have a chance to galvanize support behind the team entering a new stadium and tip your cap to the numerous latino fans and other immigrants who kept the team afloat for years. The first multimillion dollar DP after years of penny pinching, should either be a perfect fit on the field or such a big name that he'll sell tickets anyway. Salazar argues that Rooney is not that guy for DC.

When Gomez insists that downtrodden DCU fans will be hyped about Rooney anyway, Salazar continues:

Seems pretty clear what he's getting at, right?

I'm a minority and definitely see validity in what Seb says here but I also understand for a lot of white folks his closing comments might sound exclusionary or dismissive of their impact (never mind the latino fans who are excited by Rooney's signing).

 

I'm someone who had complex feelings about Wayne's signing. I hated the idea because I felt the club should've been aiming for the fences to get everything at the rumored price (young, marketable, effective) and really only thought he might tick one of those boxes (effective).

From his first presser my optimism grew but I still felt he was the wrong choice. Having seen him play and lead as a true captain I'm really happy DC made the decision.

But for what he's been bought for (winning AND putting butts in seats) he hasn't had the effect many non DMV folks thought he would. Seb perfectly explains the reason.

 

He struck me ONLY as being a loudmouthed ass his ancestry never even entered the equation (I usually cut other ethnics some slack cause I'm a member of a group that's flea sized compared to your Latin elephant) so his ethnicity had no impact on my characterization good or bad. It was based entirely on the snippet presented. I can see your point, to a point but in this case you done me wrong.

 

I disagree. Walking to/from parking and around the stadium, there are 10X more Rooney jerseys/shirts than anyone else. When they are announcing the line-up, pretty much the entire team is ignored, Acosta gets a hearty applause, and there's a damn near roar for Rooney. Anytime Rooney is remotely near the ball you can here the energy pick up in the stands, especially the corners and south end.

There are a TON of people who are at these games and/or more interested in DC United simply because Rooney is on the team. He is putting butts in the seats. A lot.

The stadium may not be full, but it would be a LOT worse without Rooney.

 

Completely agree. My wife had never been to a football match, hates watching it on TV. But she LOVED her first ever live match- and she only wanted to come because DCU had a new stadium and because they signed Rooney (she recognized his name). Now she is excited to attend matches and watch- she enjoys it more than live baseball.

And in regards to the previous comments by Salazar- that is shocking frankly, and small minded. When it comes to watching quality football players, I'm colorblind. Glad to see it looks like most fans appear to be colorblind as well. Hey Salazar- looking at the current DCU roster- we have 6 Latino players already, 4 who are in the top11. How many more are needed to meet your 'quota'? Just ludicrous.

 

I can agree with a lot of what that guy Salazar said, but he can be a complete ass on Twitter. When you do that, the greatest message gets washed away with the garbage.

 

Great post and I'm glad you shared your perspective.

But this misses my (and his) point. There are enough fans in the area who care about the sport to fill the stadium multiple times over. Rooney is not the guy to bring them out.

Whether that is right or fair is debatable but it's factual. We romanticize the glory days often but from a business perspective I can't see a simpler solution to the problem.

Rooney helps us win and makes us more watchable (so chalk this up as a rare victory for the FO) but for marketing to the average fan I see in Virginia? The guys with Barça and Real logos on the back of the truck? I'm not sure he ever brings the appeal on his own based on name recognition to sway them into buying tickets to see DCU.

I really don't see this as a huge problem (and neither does DCU). But I think it's important to provide context and support for Salazar's viewpoint because he is NOT alone in his thinking and his points are solid.

 

Give him a little time in terms of butts in the seats. I was a skeptic. I was not particularly for his signing, nor did I think it was a horrible idea.
On the field he's exceeded my expectations by a lot.
In terms of the attitude of the team, he's been a huge hit from everything I've heard.
At the box office... give it some time.

 

So Salazar is also a racist? I guess I was too nice when I said he was stupid, though the two are certainly not mutually exclusive. The team has learned that they can't buy the support of an ethnic group by signing a player of that ethnicity. The whole argument is bullshit. Can you imagine (5 years from now) white people saying "Why should I be excited about DC United signing Messi? They should sign a white guy to keep all of us white guys who have been buying tickets over the years happy."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/20/wayne-rooney-dc-united-mls-soccer

 

The headline is misleading. He is scoring, but he's also assisting quite a bit. He's also helping United possess and most importantly he's being a leader. The actual article is far more representative and accurate than the headline suggests.

 

I'm at a loss to find any sort of bias or inaccuracy in the headline. Has it been changed?

What did you find misleading about it?

 

"Wayne Rooney thrust into unfamiliar role in MLS: an out-and-out goalscorer"
He hasn't been thrust into that role...
He has goals and assists and has made lots of other important plays for this team. The article describes his role well... and it's not an out-and-out goalscorer. He's not scoring that many goals, nor is he being asked to by the team. Acosta, for example, has more goals that he has since he arrived.

 

They guy who writes the story is never the guy who writes the headline.
The guy who writes the story is ideally the guy who wants to provide information and informed opinions.
The guy who writes the headline is trying to grab your attention with just a few words.

 

I know all that. I wasn't blaming the story author. I was blaming the headline writer. Maybe it'll get him more clicks than an accurate headline would have, but my bet is in that the people who are gonna read about Rooney are gonna ready about Rooney.

 

Well, that's pretty interesting. I don't see anything wrong with the way that it's worded for a few reasons:

• He's almost never been deployed as a lone 9 (out-and-out goalscorer) before DCU
• Ben Olsen is on record saying he's expected to score
• The headline did not pass judgement on his ability to produce, or say he's only expected to score

Whether he's the top scorer since his arrival is irrelevant...he is being used as our lone striker and asked by the coach to play up top.

The headline wasn't about his impact on the team, his fitness, how he's lead them since assuming the captaincy...it's pretty matter of fact.

British readers knew him as multi-faceted MF or false-9 and the headline merely draws attention to the different assignment he's been tasked with in MLS. They didn't say he has actually changed very much as a player or lived up to the billing as our 1st choice striker.

 

What would an "accurate headline" for this piece look like to you? Very curious.

 

"He's almost never been deployed as a lone 9 (out-and-out goalscorer) before DCU"
Including now in my opinion. I think he's positionally being deployed that way in the formation, but I'm not sure his play is all that different from his past at ManU.

Expectation to score is something that I'd expect all forwards to have, except maybe Pajoy. I don't think the scoring expectations on Rooney are any higher than they were at ManU. Maybe I'm missing something with him though. My impression is that he was always expected to score goals and often played as a forward (although I know Everton used him very differently and pretty poorly for much of last year). I also see him tracking back a LOT for DC United. More than I'd expect most "lone forwards" as you call them or "out and out goalscorers" like the article called them do. As far as I can tell, he's doing exactly what Ben/the team wants. It seems like you're implying that what he's being asked to do is different than what he's actually doing and I don't see any evidence of that. I see him scoring goals, providing assists, keeping possession including tracking deep into the midfield to do it, taking free kicks and when necessary doing some really important defending.

Maybe it's his first time playing as a lone forward? But I'm not sure his overall play is that different than when he's been playing in a two-forward system although it's pretty different from his recent months at Everton. Due to the runs that other players are making off of his possession, he still has a lot of chances to score and facilitate scoring for others. Some of his best passes have come from deeper in the midfield. He almost connected on one to Arriola last night and he made his legendary pass to Acosta. Maybe it boils down to my interpretation of "out and out goalscorer". That makes me think of Roy Lassiter, to use an old DCU example or Chicharito or someone like that. To me, what Rooney is being asked to do (and he's delivering) is so much more than that.
So, if I were to write the headline, it'd probably be more about formation than goal scoring expectations. This line is directly from the piece itself. It seems like a perfectly reasonable headline: "Not for years has Rooney been played in the way he has of late, as an out and out centre-forward."

 

How is this different than the one they chose?

 

He's from MOCO. He actually went to Walter Johnson (of Zelalem/Ebobisse/Dewee fame) with my cousin about 7 years before I did, so I knew him a bit when he was younger. He's a good guy.

 

It relates to formation and not how he's actually playing.
It doesn't call him an "out-and-out goalscorer" implying that's the main thing he's being asked to do. To me, there is more to playing centre forward than goal scoring. There certainly is for Rooney on this team.

 

I think Rooney would be even more effective if he played behind a genuine striker, (but not Mattocks, who is too inconsistent for my tastes). The difficulty is, this would require us to sit a midfielder, and midfield is where we are well stocked. Moreover, out midfielders can score, so it's not as if we are toothless without a true #9.

 

The original headline makes no commentary on how he's actually playing or whether he should be deployed as a striker...and I don't see how it could be read that way. Why do they have to explain that he is expected to do more than score? By leaving that detail out of a headline, which must be succinct, are they misleading the readers?

At Manchester he usually lined up next to the "out-and-out goalscorer" (Van Nilsterooy, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez, Chicharito, Van Persie and Zlatan)

Wayne himself said upon arrival...

Source

Ben said repeatedly...

Source 1 Source 2

The headline makes the following 3 assertions:

1. Rooney has been "thrust" into, or given, a role (He has)
2. The role is "unfamiliar" (It is)
3. He's expected to serve as an "out-and-out goalscorer" (He and Ben said so)

This doesn't literally mean he's only being asked to score and that Ben is planning to coach the penchant for assists and other traits out of him. It simply acknowledges that, for a guy who has had success lurking in the shadows of another attacker (whether on the wing, central mid, or as a false 9), he has now been asked to be a truer 9.

The one guy expected to bear the brunt of our goalscoring duties.