Recently D.C. United appointed Ben Olsen as there Manager. Last year Curt Onalfo was in charge and he lead United to the worst franchise record. Ben Olsen did take over as Interim Manager in August to try and turn the season around but their hole was already too deep. If you didn’t know Ben Olsen was a superstar for D.C. from 1998 to 2009.
With Olsen now making off season decisions he is faced with difficult calls. It seems to me that he has it under control as he has signed former FC Dallas Midfielder Dax McCarty, which he was acquired during the Portland expansion teams draft day. Dax McCarty distributes the ball well and can cover a lot of ground. That is what lacked so much for United last year. The forwards never received good balls to make a play on. United had big strong forwards like Adam Cristman and Danny Allsopp.
Today, D.C. United signed Joseph Ngwenya with the first pick of the Re-Entry Draft. Ngwenya played for Houston Dynamos and is a strong forward for D.C. Ben Olsen mentioned this about the signing, "Joe is a guy that I always thought posed big problems for defenses in our league. He is an athletic guy that knows how to play the game, and I really do believe that his best days are ahead of him." This is two great signing for Olsen as he has filled the spot of forward and midfielder.
A couple of familiar names were on the list that didn’t get picked up to my surprise. Here are some, Frankie Hejduk, Jeff Cunningham, Juan Pablo Angel and Jimmy Conrad.
D.C. United used to rock at RFK Stadium in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Ben Olsen remembers that and is trying to get that back. Players have mentioned that they are confident playing for Olsen and they expect things to change next year.
D.C United still faces challenges to become a play-off team but it seems Olsen is striving for excellence and acting like a veteran manager.
By: Brian Kelly
Twitter: TheSetPiece
With Olsen now making off season decisions he is faced with difficult calls. It seems to me that he has it under control as he has signed former FC Dallas Midfielder Dax McCarty, which he was acquired during the Portland expansion teams draft day. Dax McCarty distributes the ball well and can cover a lot of ground. That is what lacked so much for United last year. The forwards never received good balls to make a play on. United had big strong forwards like Adam Cristman and Danny Allsopp.
Today, D.C. United signed Joseph Ngwenya with the first pick of the Re-Entry Draft. Ngwenya played for Houston Dynamos and is a strong forward for D.C. Ben Olsen mentioned this about the signing, "Joe is a guy that I always thought posed big problems for defenses in our league. He is an athletic guy that knows how to play the game, and I really do believe that his best days are ahead of him." This is two great signing for Olsen as he has filled the spot of forward and midfielder.
A couple of familiar names were on the list that didn’t get picked up to my surprise. Here are some, Frankie Hejduk, Jeff Cunningham, Juan Pablo Angel and Jimmy Conrad.
D.C. United used to rock at RFK Stadium in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Ben Olsen remembers that and is trying to get that back. Players have mentioned that they are confident playing for Olsen and they expect things to change next year.
D.C United still faces challenges to become a play-off team but it seems Olsen is striving for excellence and acting like a veteran manager.
By: Brian Kelly
Twitter: TheSetPiece