There is no doubt that this week is a milestone. A new stadium and the signing of the most famous player in club history. But just like everything else, in a few months we'll be used to Rooney and the new stadium and it won't be a daily topic of discussion. The question is, will we look back on this as a turning point that changed everything? Or will we look back on this as a transition from one type of disappointment to another? In MLS we've seen different clubs take different trajectories with their new stadiums. SKC - Undoubtedly the biggest success. So much so that they briefly dabbled in the big star signings (Claudio Lopez, Omar Bravo) but they quickly realized that it's not even necessary. The club bonded with the community, and the fans show up reliably. The club clearly puts an emphasis on success, and it shows on the field where they're a perennial playoff/US Open Cup contender. Red Bull - Mixed results. They tried the pandering with big name stars, but it never led to sustained fan interest. Empty seats are a weekly ritual at Red Bull Arena. Looks like the club has accepted its limitations in becoming popular off the field, and instead they've focused on being relevant on the field. One of the best academies in MLS, and a healthy business model just from developing young players and selling them at profit. San Jose - Pretty poor overall. This is the model I see resembling DC United the most. They fumbled fan relations from day one, and empty seats were commonplace even in their first year at new stadium. On the field their squad building strategy is always reactive instead of proactive. No long term vision. No identity. They throw money at a variety of international players, but struggle to get the basics right on a weekly basis. Houston - Similar to San Jose. Fumbled fan relations from day 1, and essentially destroyed supporter culture. Threw some money at Mexican players to pander to fanbase. Signed an X Premier League manager only because of name recognition. The team tanked. They made their first smart decision in years by signing Wilmer Cabrera, but years of damage had already been done by this point. Which model does DC resemble the most?
Great thread. I can see San Jose being the closest to today's United, but United started off strong at RFK and have been living on fading, reflected glory every since. In the glass half full/half empty argument I would say that the current ownership should get some credit for Audi Field (despite its limitations) and for bringing in some good players (Arriola; Steiber; Canouse; Mattocks; Ousted; Acosta) who are limited in what they can do in part by lackluster supporting players and lackluster coaching. And the days when the FO supported a fan group culture appears to be long gone, with results yet to be determined.
History tells us that current ownership is incapable of putting a winning product on the field so I believe things will be business as usual until the guy from LA takes over.
The players they brought in are great supporting players. Not great by themselves. But great to have when you bring in two or three other key players. But to get on point, the opening of Audi Field is more like Red Bull Arena. We're not like SKC where the stadium is on an empty field off the beltway, and its so easy to get to and park. AF is an inner city field WITHOUT a subway stop within 4 blocks. Its the best available. As far as the FO, we're different from San Jose and Houston. We have a history. They really don't. We could get that spirit and fan support back. But then the SGs shot themselves in each others tushes.
The real turning point will be Soon-Shiong taking over the club or not. The guy has made all the right moves with the LA Times. He recognizes it being greater than him and sees himself as a steward of the paper. If he takes that attitude to DCU I feel optimistic.
Turning point? The song will be "The Night the Last Excuse Died". Sadly the Band wont have Levon to sing it.
What are the details about how the FO has done poorly by the supporters groups? I'm not trying to be controversial, just want to understand what's going on.
They put up demands like: Clear Bags, No Smoking, no bad words in TIFO. The same thing every other club in MLS has: LAFC (everyone's sweet hearts), Atlanta, Orlando, etc. Some groups went along with it. Others didn't. But then they did seem to do the divide and conquer strategy for having "tame" supporter groups. All the clubs like them. They look good on TV. But they want them to be tame. If a club never really had any, thats easy to do: SKC, San Jose, Toronto, etc. But here it was different. A lot of bad blood now between the groups.
And things will change then because? Any lucid theory short of magic beans or a Sedona-like soccer vortex will serve to start a discussion. These things will get better as soon as----- arguments are getting tired.
I don't think that all MLS franchises are created equal when it comes to supporter relations. There are models across the league that seem to be working a lot better than our FO.
True. Seattle and Portland come to mind. We hate them, but only because we envy them. Yes, our FO has done many bad things about SGs, but then they don't care. They're selling out. Not quickly enough. That does't excuse some of our behavior though. I agree with Eastern Bear. The biggest turn in DC United will be the gradual buy-in and eventual sell-out of a new owner.
Other than the affiliation with Inter, was the only positive attached to him at the time. I am fairly sure that he came with some money laundering an corruption stories following him out of Indonesia. Does anyone have any good fan relations press from when he joined Will Chang’s ownership?
I will always be thankful to Thohir for building the house that will ensure this club has a future. I will always be thankful to Anschutz keeping organization from folding because they were too important to the history of MLS to fold. I hope whoever runs the show next repairs the wounds between the F.O. and the supporters groups while fielding a competitive, attractive team that all will want to see.
well ... saw some glimpses of hope. On TV the stadium experience looks like a mixed bag ... some pros and cons. But I think they exceeded the worst case scenarios I had in mind. Far from what it could have been though. The supporter section looked pretty weak compared to what RFK used to be at its best. A couple of visually annoying design flaws like the field level club seats. Didn't look like a genuine sellout. The pros were definitely the steepness. Really comes across on TV. And the NE corner didn't look as bad as I expected. If it's packed with people, it's actually not such a terrible design feature. And the crowd did show some life towards the end. As for on the field, like I expected, Rooney does give us a little boost. And for most of our players, they're not going to notice the imperfections of the stadium design and the supporter section. They have no frame of reference since they have no idea what this club used to be before 2010. For them this is a massive leap forward compared to what they experienced in that last season at RFK. Even the new signings will just be relieved to be done with the road trip. You could see some of our players feeding off the new vibe at Audi Field, Acosta, Asad and Arriola in particular. One point of caution is that defense. Brillant and Birnbaum is not an elite center back pairing. And even Ousted doesn't look as elite as he was about 3 seasons ago. He's certainly no Hamid. The fact that we're incapable of getting a shutout puts a lot of pressure on the attack. Some of the other top teams in the East will make us pay for that weakness in the back, especially towards the end of the season when the games become bigger.
I think RB is more of an urgent situation, but it the team definitely needs a fast, smart CB to replace either Birnbaum or, more likely, Brilliant. I loved the high defensive line last night, but we don't have the speed to catch up to a well passed ball over the top or to the wings.
WRT the supporters, I'd say we are Houston 2.0 Player-wise, it's hard to say. We need a new coach. Once we have that, we can start assessing players. My .02
I’ve tried with Fisher but that play where he fell down with the ball either in or right outside the box was maddening.
That's my worry as well ... The new stadium effect and Rooney effect will start wearing pretty thin by this time next year. Between now and then, this FO needs to get its head out of its ass and make sure they use this opportunity to retain some of the new fans that are giving the club a chance. DC area soccer fans are pretty savvy and they're going to realize pretty soon if they're being given a shit product.