Tag: D.C. United

Reflecting on past mistakes, Freddy Adu says he’ll retire ‘sometime soon’

“Sometimes, having all the talent in the world is not enough”

Freddy Adu has admitted his retirement is coming “sometime soon” as he reflected on some of his past mistakes during an interview with ex-teammate Charlie Davies.

Adu’s most recent professional minutes came in 2018 with USL side Las Vegas Lights, and though he signed with Swedish third-tier outfit Österlen FF in 2020, he would not play a minute for the club.

The onetime prodigy appeared on CBS Sports Golazo Network’s “Morning Footy” show on Friday, and spoke candidly with Davies about some of the poor decisions he made early in his career.

The 33-year-old said as a teenager, he was able to get into bars with his older friends, which went on to eventually impact his performance on the field.

“I was enjoying all that stuff. Rather than focusing on the little things like getting the rest you need, your diet, getting some stretching in, just taking care of your body, I didn’t do enough of that,” he said. “You can get away with it a little bit when you’re younger, but as you get older, those are bad habits.”

Adu was considered a future superstar when he signed with D.C. United at age 14. But nearly 20 years later, he admitted that talent alone wasn’t enough for him to ultimately reach his full potential.

“Sometimes, having all the talent in the world is not enough,” Adu said. “You have to work your butt off to maximize that talent. And guys that aren’t as talented as you, if they work their a—s off, they’re going to surpass you. And it happened in my case.”

Davies would later ask Adu about his playing future and whether he was ready to announce his retirement.

“Sometime soon,” Adu replied. “I’m technically, technically not retired yet.”

Watch the full Adu interview below

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Wayne Rooney has seen enough of Ravel Morrison at D.C. United

The former wonderkid is now looking for the 14th team of his career

Just as quickly as Wayne Rooney decided he needed Ravel Morrison at D.C. United, the coach has determined he, in fact, doesn’t need the midfielder after all.

Rooney signed Morrison midway through the 2022 season, with the Jamaica international signing a one-and-a-half-year deal. The 30-year-old was later revealed to be on a guaranteed salary of $917,844, making him the club’s fourth-highest earner last season.

Rooney and Morrison have a lengthy history together, first as teammates at Manchester United and then later when Rooney served as Morrison’s coach at Derby County.

But despite the pair’s ties and Morrison’s high salary, it appears the midfielder will once again be forced to seek out a new team.

In his post-game press conference after D.C. United’s season-opening win against Toronto FC, Rooney confirmed that Morrison wasn’t in his plans for 2023.

“As coach you have to make decisions,” Rooney said when asked why Morrison wasn’t in the squad. “I felt in the offseason with the players we were bringing in and just different things you need to look at in terms of obviously the the budget, the international slot, etcetera. I just felt it was more important to have different players in for different positions which I felt were more important to me in the upcoming season.”

For his part, Morrison appears to be unhappy with the club’s decision, posting on his Instagram: “Some people will sell you a dream and deliver a nightmare.”

Morrison will now be on the lookout for the 14th team of a nomadic career that began with huge promise at Old Trafford.

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand called Morrison “the best young kid I have ever seen in my life,” while Rooney himself said in a 2020 Sunday Tines column that Morrison was better than Paul Pogba “by a country mile” when the two players were coming up through United’s academy.

But Morrison’s work ethic and attitude have been questioned throughout his career, which was highlighed in a clip from the 2022 Netflix mini-series “Captains.”

In the clip, Jamaica captain Andre Blake describes Morrison as the team’s “one big problem,” saying his teammate “wreaks havoc” while decrying his selfishness during one moment of a game.

Morrison made 14 appearances in his half season with D.C. United, scoring two goals.

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Ku-DiPietro, D.C. United youngsters spark wild, extremely late win

MLS Madness™ saw D.C.’s kids turn a sure loss into a shock win

Toronto FC would have gotten away from Audi Field if not for D.C. United’s crew of meddling kids.

In 2022, United didn’t get into the MLS Madness™ category outside of games that went terribly wrong, so in some ways 2023 is already better. United was 2-1 down as the 90th minute arrived, and looked like they were going to end up with a frustrating loss to TFC.

However, two stunning late goals — both sparked by young substitutes from their academy system — saw them rise from the dead to claim a wild 3-2 win at Audi Field on Saturday.

United had started well, getting a spectacular goal from their most prominent offseason addition Mateusz Klich, only for the game to drift away from them after halftime.

United managed just 0.5 expected goals by the 79th minute, and had seen Toronto equalize through Federico Bernardeschi’s 66th minute penalty. Mark-Anthony Kaye’s acrobatic finish after Bernardeschi’s curling long-range free kick seemed to doom the Black-and-Red to a game that felt a bit like something from last season.

Instead, a trio of academy youngsters in Ted Ku-DiPietro, Kristian Fletcher, and Jackson Hopkins ended up playing a major role in a wild, last-gasp comeback.

“To go 2-1 down was tough to take. I’ve obviously made the couple of changes,” Wayne Rooney told reporters after the match. “[I] put the young lads in and said ‘go and shine,’ so I think it was great. I’m delighted for [Ku-DiPietro], he’s been excellent all preseason.”

First, though, the 21-year-old got an assist. Ku-DiPietro, Fletcher, and Mohanad Jeahze (another offseason pick-up to make an instant impact) patiently played in a triangle, waiting for TFC to leave them an opening. Jeahze’s clever pass sent Ku-DiPietro into space along the endline, and the young attacker crucially took a moment to size up his options.

When you’ve got a target like Christian Benteke to aim for, the choice isn’t all that complicated, but Ku-DiPietro did very well to serve the ball on a platter as the veteran striker won a battle to head home a 90th minute equalizer.

A frigid Audi Field erupted, and United sensed their chance to take all three points. Within two minutes of play resuming, Hopkins broke free on the right and drove a low cross behind a scrambling TFC back line, but a lunging Benteke saw the ball zip inches from his reach.

Eight minutes into stoppage time, with what was likely the final look either team was going to get, a marauding run from Andy Najar unsettled Toronto. Najar — himself a United academy product from back in the day — fed Fletcher. In just his third MLS appearance, the 17-year-old disguised his intentions before touching the ball on to Jeahze, who in turn pinged a square ball into the mixer for Ku-DiPietro to crash home his first MLS goal.

Cue the big celebration: a knee slide, a shush, and some encouragement to the crowd behind Audi Field’s south goal.

“I just saw Fletcher flick the ball on to [Jeahze] and I just thought, ‘I gotta get into the box, because we can actually win this game right now,’ especially with the crowd behind their backs and momentum from our second goal,” Ku-DiPietro told a scrum of reporters in the home locker room.

Ku-DiPietro added that his knee-slide celebration was “just super fun. Always wanted to do it since I was a kid,” which conveniently ignores just how young he is himself.

Despite his obvious youth, Ku-DiPietro may feel like an older player on a United side full of youngsters. Fletcher and Hopkins, a U.S. under-20, made their impact at one end. At the other, 16-year-old Matai Akinmboni started at center back, going 78 minutes before leaving with what Rooney said was a cramping muscle.

“I’m delighted for Matai to come through the 70-odd minutes he’s come through, and he’ll learn from the penalty [he conceded],” said Rooney of the youngest player in his squad.

Rooney’s matchday squad, which also included midfielder Chris Durkin (an academy product who returned to the club after some time in Belgium), center back Donovan Pines, and 19-year-old defender Jacob Greene, had a total of eight players who came up through the D.C. academy pipeline.

Is Rooney psychic?

On top of the win, Rooney emerged as a possible clairvoyant, telling reporters that he effectively predicted how the game would go to his players.

“I actually said to them before the game, ‘there’s a possibility you might be losing the game and someone will come off the bench and win the game.’ And that’s exactly what happened,” said Rooney with the faintest hint of a smile.

Seeing the future or not, Rooney did note that the win was critical for United in multiple ways. The team lost a potential starter in Martín Rodríguez days before the game to a torn ACL, while 2022 All-Star Taxi Fountas suffered a hamstring strain even closer to match day.

After coming off of a difficult season and enduring plenty of less-than-glowing predictions in the winter, a home loss would have been more bad news. Instead, Rooney and United broke a winless run that dates back to August.

“We had a tough week, obviously, losing Martín [Rodríguez] with a knee injury, and then Taxi as well,” said Rooney. “I knew I’d be able to get an hour out of Nigel[Robertha], and then have Ku with his energy to come on and try to give us some of his individual magic, which he can do. I think to start the season with three points against a good team — Toronto are a very good team — we’re all delighted.”

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The 10 MLS newcomers you need to know for 2023

These aren’t big names today, but they will be soon

MLS kicks off its 28th season on Saturday, and as befits a league that wants to be seen as growing, there’s a long list of fascinating new additions to the player pool.

There’s an element of the unknown with this year’s crop of newcomers. MLS’s winter additions don’t include any big-name European stars. Cristiano Ronaldo heard Sporting Kansas City out but still chose Al Nassr, while Inter Miami’s pursuit of Leo Messi remains a situation where Miami is interested, rather than the other way around. There’s not even a Gareth Bale equivalent at this point, though the summer window tends to be when those players arrive.

However, that’s not to say that MLS had a bad time in the transfer market. Teams are able to sign younger players from leagues that used to be fairly inaccessible. They may not have the global cache of a big name in their mid-30s, but we’re talking about the current Europa League assist leader, a top-tier European prospect under the age of 21, and strikers with very promising track records. Casuals may not know their names today, but they’re going to be a big deal in the coming months.

These are the 10 MLS newcomers to pay closest attention to:

Ben Olsen takes on another tough job as new Houston Dynamo head coach

It’s a tough gig, even for a man used to a challenge

After taking two months to consider their next head coach, the Houston Dynamo went with someone who knows a thing or two about tough jobs.

The Dynamo announced Tuesday that they had hired former D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen to take the reins at BBVA Stadium. Olsen last coached in 2020, after a decade in charge with United came to an end amid a dire season.

In 2021, Olsen was hired by the Washington Spirit as the club’s new president, but departed less than a year later after the struggle for ownership of the NWSL side ended with Michele Kang taking a majority stake.

“The club is proud to welcome Ben Olsen to Houston as the head coach of the Dynamo,” said Dynamo majority owner Ted Segal in a team press release. “Ben is one of the most accomplished coaches in MLS and brings championship experience, including winning eight different MLS titles as a player, to this position. His commitment to developing high-potential players and leading playoff contenders make him a great fit for the direction of our organization.”

“I am excited to join Houston Dynamo FC and contribute to the rich history of one of the great MLS clubs,” said Olsen. “I was drawn to ownership’s vision for the club, and I am confident in this new era for the Dynamo. We have a lot of work to do on the roster, game model, mentality and culture of the club, but I am energized and excited to get to work.”

Olsen steps into a seat that may be warm on day one. The Dynamo gave their last coach, Paulo Nagamura, just 244 days and 29 league games on the job before firing him. Houston struggled to a 8W-5D-16L record under Nagamura, and were not good enough in any phase of the game to contend for a playoff spot. Interim replacement Kenny Bundy posted a 2W-1D-2L record over the team’s final five games.

Tuesday’s announcement means that Olsen is the fourth person over the last 370 days to hold the title of head coach at the club, as Houston fired Tab Ramos on November 4, 2021.

Can Houston overachieve?

Olsen’s tenure with D.C. was a roller coaster, and the downhill portions of the ride ended up being particularly rough. While United had a reputation as generally struggling throughout Olsen’s tenure, the fact is that the club made the playoffs in six of his ten seasons in charge, while only having three truly bad seasons (2013, 2017, and 2020) peppered in.

That perception likely stems from just how abysmal those three years were. United’s 2013, in which they picked up just 16 points in 34 games, is by most metrics the single worst season any team has had in the Designated Player era. Strangely enough, though, that same side won the Open Cup that year in what is an almost too perfect summation of Olsen’s complicated time in charge with the Black-and-Red. 2017 and 2020 weren’t much better for United, with goals and entertainment both in desperately short supply.

However, that shouldn’t completely overshadow the fact that his characteristically scrappy teams were often able to punch above their weight. His 2012 team went to the Eastern Conference final, and he was named MLS Coach of the Year in 2014 after United finished atop the East.

Neither of those sides were anything special in terms of game-changing talent, instead succeeding through defensive organization, commitment, and a positive locker room culture. They were your prototypical “hard to play against” teams, a label that has eluded the Dynamo for some time now.

Houston can talk a big game about “making significant changes to field a more proactive, younger and competitive team,” as the club’s GM Pat Onstad said in the club’s official announcement of the hire, but right now? Their poor 2022 season reflected the quality of their roster relative to the rest of the league. It’s a long road ahead.

The Dynamo already have three DPs, so their ability to pay their way into success is severely curtailed in the short term. This is a team that will have to really squeeze every last drop of ability out of the players already under contract to climb the standings in 2023. That’s a Ben Olsen specialty.

The other side of this coin is that over the last few MLS seasons, the teams that overachieve have tended to have an impressively refined tactical blueprint. Olsen’s teams skewed towards mid-block or low-block tactics that, in attacking phases, eschewed structure in favor of being a platform for the team’s best players to improvise.

That’s an approach that can work if the attacking players are good enough (go ahead and look back on Bruce Arena’s 2021 New England Revolution for proof), but the Dynamo flat out do not have those players right now. Houston didn’t have a single player in the top 25 in the league this season in terms of combined expected goals and assists. Of their top three in that category, only Sebastián Ferreira is guaranteed to come back for 2023; the club won’t announce what they’re doing with Darwin Quintero and Fafà Picault until next week.

The bottom line is that for Olsen to succeed in that environment, he’ll have to harness the strong points of his time coaching United while also showing that he has evolved as a tactician on the attacking side of the game. Given Houston’s apparent lack of patience with coaches and the work that needs to be done to catch them up with the rest of MLS, it’s going to be a tall order.

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MLS fines D.C. United $25,000 for failure to comply with diversity hiring policy

The league found that United didn’t follow the policy when it hired Wayne Rooney this summer

Major League Soccer has issued D.C. United a $25,000 fine for failing to comply with its diversity hiring policy.

Under the league’s policy, finalists for teams’ head coaching vacancies must include “two or more candidates from underrepresented groups, whereby at least one candidate must be either Black or African American.”

According to MLS, when United hired Wayne Rooney as its head coach this summer, one of the two candidates from underrepresented groups could not be considered a finalist because the club “learned during the interview that the candidate was not available to pursue the open position.”

“Once the club came to understand that the candidate was not available for the position, the discussion could no longer reasonably be considered a ‘finalist pool’ interview,” a league statement said.

“Therefore, the club remained obligated to bring an additional candidate from an underrepresented group into the ‘finalist pool’ or request a waiver from MLS detailing the extenuating circumstances that would not allow them to have done so.”

After his midseason arrival, Rooney was unable to prevent United from finishing at the bottom of the league standings.

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Taxi Fountas racial slur investigation ends inconclusively

The league found the allegations “credible” but was unable to verify them

Major League Soccer has completed its investigation into D.C. United star Taxi Fountas allegedly using the N-word during a September game, and the results were inconclusive.

The league said that the allegation made by Inter Miami defender Aimé Mabika “was credible” but added that the “league investigation could not independently verify the allegation.”

Furthermore, the investigation “did not find credible Fountas’ claim, made during interviews conducted as part of this investigation, that he said nothing in that moment — discriminatory or otherwise.”

Fountas will not face any discipline and will be eligible to play for D.C. United in the 2023 season.

The investigation’s conclusion likely won’t satisfy many parties. Inter Miami vehemently claimed that Fountas used the N-word toward Mabika, while Fountas released a statement denying any wrongdoing.

The investigation’s failure to come to a more conclusive outcome was due to its inability to determine exactly what Fountas said.

“MLS was unable to confirm independently, through additional eyewitness accounts, video footage or audio recordings, what Fountas said in that moment,” a league statement said.

Fountas almost immediately became D.C. United’s best attacking player after his midseason arrival in 2022, scoring 12 goals in 21 games while being named a MLS All Star.

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Inter Miami accuses D.C. United’s Taxi Fountas of using racial slur

“I think it’s the worst word in the world,” said Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville

Inter Miami’s 3-2 road win over D.C. United may have been dramatic, but it was completely overshadowed by allegations of racism during the match.

Following the game, Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin and head coach Phil Neville both told reporters that, following a scuffle between their teammate Damion Lowe and United’s Taxiarchis Fountas, the D.C. forward aimed a racial slur at Lowe.

“Unfortunately, it makes a really nice moment for us kind of dark,” Yedlin told reporters after the match. “We continued the game and came out with a win, but the end of the day, like I said, it doesn’t even feel like like a win, just because of that incredibly dark moment.”

“It was a racist comment that’s unacceptable. A word was used that I think is unacceptable in society,” said Neville. “I think it’s the worst word in the world.”

According to Yedlin, Fountas used the slur while walking away from Lowe after a dispute, and within earshot of Miami’s Aimé Mabika. Both Lowe and Mabika are Black.

“Basically, Damion and their player got into a little bit of a scuffle. As Damion was walking away, their guy called him the N-word,” said Yedlin. “M.A. (Mabika) reacted, and M.A. is one of the nicest guys so, when you see him react in the way that he did, you know it’s probably something pretty serious. It’s something that hit him pretty hard. And as soon as I heard what he said, I got pretty emotional as well.”

Yedlin and Neville both said that Miami’s players were prepared to walk off and abandon the match if Fountas was allowed to carry on playing.

“[I] spoke with Phil a little bit, and we made the decision that we’re not going to continue until something was done with that player, and if nothing was done, then we weren’t going to continue,” explained Yedlin. “I think Phil spoke with the opposing coach, [and] they decided to take the player off.”

The incident happened in the 61st minute, and initially saw both Fountas and Lowe booked. A lengthy stoppage followed, with referee Ismail Elfath speaking to both Neville and United head coach Wayne Rooney on two separate occasions. Elfath also summoned the MLS match observer for a discussion, and Fountas was substituted by United almost immediately after play resumed. Rooney then pulled the Designated Player aside for a discussion as play continued.

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

“I would have given up the result to make a stand, and when it happened, it was a big moment,” said Neville. “[Rooney] asked me [what happened], I spoke to him, we spoke to the referee. Obviously there was players in our team that were very emotional, which you would be, and I never wanted to be one of those coaches that just ignored a real serious issue. And I’m proud of the players in the way that they they grouped together, and proud of the way that we grouped together and made a stand. And I’m proud of the way that D.C. handled the situation as well.”

When asked to explain what had gone on from his perspective, Rooney said: “There was a complaint, which I’m sure will get investigated. So, not really much more I can say.”

Neville said that he had spoken to an unnamed member of United’s ownership group, and that “they 100% agree that there’s no way in the world any form of racism should be happening.”

MLS confirmed to The Athletic that an investigation would be forthcoming:

Yedlin said that he will be paying close attention to how both MLS and D.C. United handle the incident.

“We’ll see what the MLS does about it. You know, my eyes will be on that a lot, to see what kind of action they take, because it’s now up to them to take action and make a stand, and show that this not only has no place in in the game, but no place in society,” said Yedlin.

“Obviously you’d like to see a … multiple game suspension. It’ll be interesting to see what D.C. United does as a club. Again, there’s just no place for it in society. It’s one of those things that it’s kind of it’s kind of hard to wrap your head around, that that sort of stuff is still said here in 2022.”

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MLS can’t let the Philadelphia Union keep playing D.C. United

Stop! Stop! They’re already dead

The Philadelphia Union must be prevented from playing D.C. United any more this year, just for common decency’s sake.

The Union already beat United 7-0 at Subaru Park back in July, a defeat so resounding that it seemed to hasten D.C.’s choice to hire Wayne Rooney and find some sort of path forward in a dismal season.

United got to play host Saturday night, and they suffered an only marginally less catastrophic 6-0 loss. The Union rode some luck to get to halftime up 2-0, but ripped United to shreds in the second half, and in truth could have scored more.

Philadelphia manager Jim Curtin was diplomatic after the match, opting not to rub it in after his team finished the season series with a 13-0 goal difference.

“(United) put a ton into the first 20 minutes of the game. A ton,” Curtin told reporters following the match. “Credit to them, they came out really, really fast, caught us off-guard quite a bit… A couple of plays or bounces here or there, and we’re picking the ball up out of the back of our own net.”

That was a stark contrast from United’s captain Victor Pálsson, who stood in for the suspended Steven Birnbaum at center back.

“Absolutely embarrassing… Individual mistakes, it all goes back to mistakes,” said Pálsson to reporters before taking responsibility for the Union’s first goal. “We just completely collapsed.”

Pálsson called the defeat “one of the worst days of my career” before summing up how United felt about the game. “It’s not acceptable. It was f—…ashamed. I’m ashamed to be captain today.”

The Union got a hat trick from Julián Carranza, and one each from Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gázdag, and Cory Burke. For Carranza, it’s his second hat trick against United in 2022, and Philadelphia has scored over 25% of its 51 goals this season against United.

Rooney was unsparing in his analysis.

“Second half was just not acceptable,” Rooney told reporters. “We lost every second ball, we had players not wanting to take the ball, giving the ball away cheaply. It was completely unrecognizable from a team I manage.”

Rooney said he “purposefully stayed quiet” on the sideline rather than berating his charges. “I wanted to see which players were gonna take responsibility and show some leadership, and the only one was Chris Durkin.”

Mercifully for United, their schedule no longer contains any more Union games.

Watch the Union dismantle United again

MLS Madness spreads nationwide as league breaks goalscoring record

MLS was, even by MLS standards, completely bonkers Saturday night

Summer in MLS can be a rough time. You’re too far away from the real pressure of making or missing the playoffs, it’s hot and humid everywhere, teams are figuring it out after transfer window moves. It can feel very much like everyone’s biding their time for September and October.

Not August 6. MLS Madness™ took hold in nearly every corner of the country, with goals galore, teams scoring and conceding in the deepest depths of stoppage time, big-name stars scoring bangers, and everyone basically went bananas. It was a perfect advertisement for the league: fun, flawed, weird, and inexplicable.

For one thing, MLS broke a league record for goals scored in one night. Across 13 games Saturday night, teams combined for 57 goals, an average of well over four per game. The old record of 46 was left in the dust.

As the league itself once said, This Stuff Kicks!

In chronological order, let’s go through one of the wildest nights in MLS history: