With J Hutcherson -- DC United might genuinely believe that the hiring of Curt Onalfo as head coach changes everything and quickly. Maybe, but the ever-increasing reality is that it's going to take a lot more to return this club to the only thing that counts in Major League Soccer, winning MLS Cup.
That's almost laughable, considering how easy some teams have made that look over the last two seasons. Barely make the playoffs? Time for a title run. Weakest wild card team in the other Conference's bracket? Go ahead and lift that Cup Real Salt Lake.
Nobody should be saying that can't be done again. There are two trends working in favor of an MLS version of a super club. One is the increased player pool. The other is everyone included League management falling all over new arrivals Seattle. If there's an obvious destination for players who want - in Kasey Keller's terms - a team doing it "the right way," that should give a team like Seattle enough of an advantage.
Should the fickle affections of MLS management turn towards a new expansion success story, it's the same scenario. Ultimately, the result should be one or more teams that compete from year-to-year. The problem with that is simple. It might not be good enough.
Like so many professional sports circuits, MLS is suffering from the idea that everyone should be winning and right away. There are no rebuilding years in Major League Soccer. Any team can go on a run at the right time and cap a season with an MLS Cup. That's as true for a Salt Lake as it is for a San Jose.
How does that work? Simple. Look back over San Jose's 2009 and you can spot the difference between their dead last finish and one that would have gotten them into the playoff picture. A five-game losing streak from April 25th through May 27th, part of an eight-game run where San Jose didn't win. At only one other point in the season did the Earthquakes lose back-to-back games.
Our eventual League champions went seven games without a win, from May 2nd to June 6th with four losses and three ties. If you want to put the difference down to coaching, injuries, player selection, or whatever else you're running up against what we can call the DC problem.
The 2009 version of DC United should have been able to take enough points off the likes of San Jose, Real Salt Lake, Dallas, Toronto, Kansas City, Colorado, and their own legit Eastern Conference rivals to stay at or near the top of the table. Instead, they had their own five-game stretch of mediocrity. Only with DC, it was four draws and a loss. They also crashed out late, losing three of their last five games and drawing rather than winning on the final day of the season.
Figuring out the difference between that and something better than the up and down form Columbus showed in winning the Supporters' Shield is not an easy project. It just isn't. Credit MLS and their pull everybody down form of parity, but this isn't a League where any team should be tinkering.
It simply doesn't work that way. If you want an example of designated player moves not necessarily helping, there's Onalfo's old club Kansas City. A strong draft providing role players? Our MLS Cup runners-up the LA Galaxy. Projects that came together just enough to suggest a better team than their record? Chivas USA, who parted with their coach at the end of the season.
The real test for DC United is forgetting that trophy cabinet on the fourth floor at RFK. Onalfo is already talking about the 5th MLS Cup, but in many ways what they need is a return to the thinking of former coach Peter Nowak. He won in 2004 by thinking about his first MLS Cup as a coach, acting accordingly, and taking a title. No long-term plans for dominance, and a quick exit alongside two of his key players that season.
Like it or not, MLS is trending towards a short-run league. Maybe not to the extent of Mexico or South America, but enough to suggest that system building is no longer the smart move.
Comments, questions, solutions to problems that have yet to present themselves. Please, tell me all about it.
