It's been 7 years since we won anything. We don't have a stadium. I'm hearing more excuses with each passing year. DK and KP are not putting players in uniform that are good enough as a whole to win consistently. As much as I love Bennie, I'm not sure he has what it takes, although I'd give him another year with more talent. Every team has injuries, so that just sounds like another excuse for m*asturbation. Are all of the above symptoms the product of an owner who is not really engaged and the ship is floundering? I'm not a change for changes sake fan. I'm tired of the losing. This is not DC United! Michael
We won the USOC in 08. Not supporting Kasper or anyone but just pointing that out. It hasn't been 7 years.
I don't hold those in very high esteem. Win the league, win a major continental club championships. To me, the rest are second place trophies.
What? If this was the Premier League or anywhere else the SS would BE the Championship AND USOC is all of the continental US. Your logic means we don't have 12 Trophies.
I'm not convinced it is the FO this year. If KP goes this year, it's because he got himself in the position where he needed to produce a miracle to keep his job. I think the FO performance has been "mixed" at worst this year. FO acquired a number of players that we were excited about - McCarty (okay, we may have premature there), DeRo, Davies. DC picked up Wolff, an under-rated veteran who has proven valuable. Kitchen, White, and Brettschneider have been pretty impressive as a rookie class, even if all of them have made rookie mistakes. I understand those who want to get rid of KP - three straight years without playoffs is bad. Hell, sometimes, I think you move people out just to get new ideas in and KP has been there for a number of years. But I have trouble criticizing the FO too heavily for this year. I think they took a number of risks in building a young team with a young coach. I think a number of those risks are paying off or showing promise. I also think that youth and inexperience got punished this season as well. I feel a little bit like I'm criticizing Payne for doing what was asked of him in terms of not mortgaging DC's future and creating a core around which to build future DC United teams. Then there is the stadium issue. There are serious impediments over which KP has no control. But DC United doesn't need a guy who gets impeded, they need someone to figure out a way around the economy and political apathy and whatever else. If that's not KP, then maybe KP needs to find a team that has a stadium and run the FO there because DC requires a different set of skills right now.
You didn't write "we haven't won a trophy that I personally think merits recognition" you wrote "anything." And frankly I could make a strong argument that the US Open Cup is just as meaningful a competition as the CCL, if anyone wants to argue the merits of playing Joe Public FC or second/youth Mexican sides. This is soccer there are several ways to win trophies each has their own difficulties, strengths, and weaknesses but none of them are joke trophies- except Super Liga-that was bullshit (and even that had some entertaining games when it started).
I too think the FO has had mixed at worst year. But just like I don't like calling for the "heads" a person or FO after one bad year I'm saying retain them after one mixed but mostly positive year. The problem is the three years of awful dealings that preceded it. For them to restore my confidence in them they had to have a very good if not great year in player acquisition. It wasn't a very good or great year on their part. This was their plan: make it to the playoffs and anything can happen. They've said it all year long and I heard Payne say it last year. Well, this is the MLS you can make significant changes in the offseason, enough, that you're not scrambling to make 10th out of 18 teams. It's not that impressive what they've done, because frankly Davies, Wolff, using rookies were all gambles-the only sure things they had were DeRo, Pontius, Hamid, and Najar (McCarty, if played in the right formation).
We can disagree on whether the open cup is a worthy trophy. You see value in it and I don't. And until we have a promotion/demotion, winning the SS won't mean anything to me. We're in a hybrid system and winning it all is still what it's about - my backwoods 'merican mentality Aside from the US cup, rarely have we won the big games we had to win. We are lacking in character and talent. At some point the man in charge has to evaluate himself - have I gotten the job done.
All that matters is getting a SSS. Having supported this squad since season #1 and as a kid watching the Diplomats .. I just don't give a damn about anything other than getting a stadium. Verizon Center Fedex Field Nationals Park nothing will change till you control your financial destiny. The sooner Will is able to lead the drive to get this done the better. Until then - we are all just hooping and hollering for no reason.
I've been there since day one and also followed the Dips. I agree that the SSS is vital, but if you intended that as an excuse for not winning, I don't buy it. I want accountability. DC's got a great fan base that is being slowly alienated.
The difficulty is beginning to be that we will have must-wins on doing both at the same time. Before now, it was let's win some games, but we have to get a stadium. This is because on balance, DC United is known for winning. If they fail to make the playoffs this year, it's going to become, okay, holy crap we need to start winning games and get a stadium. yesterday. This is because they exist in a town where campuses, administrations, and Congressional office buildings turn over in 4 years. Memories are short. The news cycle is fast and furious. Inability to win is going to start hindering the stadium effort, if it hasn't already. And some of us think the inability to get a stadium has hindered our ability to win. Rather than think about all this, you'd be better off to smash your head with a brick.
Really? Having your team have the best regular season in the league doesn't mean anything to you? That's just nuts. I remain convinced that the problems with the FO stem from ownership, not KP. I know that's not a popular sentiment around here but then I've never had the opportunity to drink with WC at a tailgate.
From Goff today. D.C. government contacts tell my Post colleagues that United officials, realizing the city has no money to help finance a sports venue, suggested to the mayor’s office that they would build a stadium themselves if they received a tax abatement. Other city sources say DCU President Kevin Payne recently met with council members about the general stadium prospects and the discussion "fell flat.” Oof. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ies/2011/10/03/gIQATmKsIL_blog.html#pagebreak Not very encouraging, is it? I've made no secret that I think it's long-past time that Payne is replaced. (Kasper, too.) And one of the reasons I think he should go is that he just isn't effective in dealing with the DC government. Now, this may not be his fault. Afterall, it's the DC gov'mint we're talking about, not exactly a model of efficiency and cooperation. It could very well be that the problem is them and not Payne. But maybe not. One thing is for certain: they ain't changin'. Oh, sure, there'll be different people in the meetings, but they're pretty interchangeable and have similar expectations, opinions and interests. So if DCU can't change THEM, then they should change their point person and that's Payne. For whatever reason, Payne just isn't able to resonate with the DC government. Maybe it's the message. Maybe it's how he presents the message. Maybe there's just something about him they don't like or trust. We all know he can be charming but he can also be arrogant. As the saying goes, he was born on third base and he acts like he hit a triple to get there. That can rub people the wrong way. Never mind the team being about to miss the playoffs for the fourth straight year (tying San Jose's non-expansion record for most consecutive seasons missing the post-season) and never mind the poor coaching hires and the disastrous player moves and constant rebuilding and dwindling attendance. Sure, all that is grounds enough for Payne to be fired. But let's ignore that for now. Payne's primary responsibility for most of the past 10 years has been to get a stadium built in the DC area and he's failed at it. Period. He should be replaced for that reason, alone. (The other stuff certainly doesn't help his case.) But at this point, if Will Chang REALLY wants the team to stay in DC and get a stadium here, he has NOTHING to lose by replacing Kevin Payne as the president of the team and point-person on the stadium front. Sure, a new person may do no better. But he might. And he damn sure can't do any worse. Make the move, Will. It's time.
If the team is truely willing to pay for their own stadium in exchange for only tax abatements there won't be any problems getting something done in Va or Md either.
You're nuts. I think MLS Cup and the Supporter's Shield as at least equal (and me using "I think" are at least as valid as you using "we haven't won anything"). While I know the general public wouldn't share my view, I actually see the SS as the more impressive accomplishment. With that said, Ben getting another year is a no-brainer. A club legend gets more than one season at the helm, and the team has improved under him even though we had all hoped to see more. On the other hand, you can make a good case for pink slips for DK & KP. There have been a few hits (the DeRo trade, Najar, Kitchen shows promise, etc., but there have been far more misses).
We can disagree without getting bitchy. Winning over an entire season is a good thing. But in our system, it's the playoffs that are money and I'd rather have a team that gels at the right time and takes the championship. No different than a European team deciding that Champions League is more important than winning the cup.
I know I'm not the first, but let me be the latest: winning the Supporters' Shield is "winning the league." It means you were the best team over the long, difficult regular season. Though perhaps not in your view, it's every bit as important as MLS Cup, just not as dramatically won.
Agree with this. This is the first season I can remember where we weren't wishing or actually selling half the new guys by mid-season because they were all flops. We asked for excitement and Davies and DeRo have been there. We asked for youth and starting with Najar, we have seen a tremendous surge of talented youth which should continue. I think beyond DeRo, our mid-season signings left a little to be desired. The major issue for management is the stadium and every meeting they have should begin with "Let's talk about THE situation" (no need to even give it a descriptive name at this point). The stadium is so important. You have to wonder how it affects our ability to recruit talent when they look at Seattle, New York, etc and then look at a 40,000 seater, ancient, seemingly empty stadium - no matter how hard we cheer. I want the management that'll put a stadium into the ground. I don't want a change of management that will lead to the team leaving. What we need is an additional Chief Stadium Office. Experience: Making things happen. Background: Politics/Finance. Best Friends: Include Buffet, Gates. I don't think we need whole-sale change. The management this year did enough to stay on. Benny showed he can not only reign in the youth, but get the most out of the experienced. He has a core, now we'll see how he adds to it without disrupting what we have. Let's not forget the doom and gloom at the beginning of the season and how we turned around.
I agree with most of what you said, except the bold part. Brandon McDonald and Austin daLuz were pretty good mid-season acquisitions. McDonald brought considerable stability in a very shaky back line. DaLuz brings depth and a left foot in midfield. I'm pretty sure that's what was needed at the time.