WASHINGTON ā Last week, at the end of an ill-tempered training session under the scorching August sun, D.C. United goalkeeper Troy Perkins was asked about his teamās search for quality and consistency amid their persistent struggles.
Noting the stability which has benefited other clubs around the league, the veteran goalkeeper offered up a more philosophical perspective on Unitedās woeful status quo.
āWeāll find our rhythm,ā he said. āIt may not be this season, but you have to remember that MLS is funny like this. Teams do this. Because of the massive turnover over the years, it hasnāt been a consistent team like Houston, Columbus.
āRemember back in ā07, LA was just not a good team. They brought all these new guys in, but now they keep them together, and look what happens. So weāve got to keep our eyes and heads up and weāll get through this.ā
That sort of realism doesn't often sit well with Unitedās expectant fans, and it's a departure from the ambitious goal-setting that had become habit for a front office long accustomed to competing for trophies on an annual basis.
But it may represent the best approach to the remainder of a bitterly disappointing 2010 season that is already being used as a proving ground for next year.
Possessing four MLS Cups and myriad other titles, United remain the most successful side in MLS and have always calibrated their outlook accordingly.
āTraditionā is a watchword that features in and around almost everything associated with the club, even the teamās kits and practice jerseys. Two weeks ago, team president Kevin Payne again invoked the notion in explaining the decision to fire head coach Curt Onalfo after barely seven months in charge.
āThis is D.C. United," Payne said. "Weāre the most honored team in the history of the game in this country and this kind of performance is not good enough. Itās not what we expect.ā
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But the league has drastically evolved since its early, DC-dominated years, and Unitedās hunger for continued, constant success has gone unfulfilled for several years. A week after Onalfoās dismissal, the Black-and-Red seemed to acknowledge the need to chart a new course with the announcement that club legend Jaime Moreno would not return after this season, a move Payne characterized as cutting āthe last real link to the past.ā
This week, United made another move for the future by signing youth academy standout Conor Shanosky to the senior squad, the third such player to be promoted within the past year. The academyās continuing success in grooming new talent represents a welcome bit of good news for DC, though as captain Carey Talley noted, failure can become just as habit-forming as success, making the mentoring role of senior players that much more important.
āWhen you have results on the field presently, not only in the past, that helps to convey the message,ā he said. āThe tradition part that comes with the losing is what happened with Curt and what could possibly happen with a lot of players at this team. So [weāre] trying to get the younger guys, who maybe arenāt used to being in these spots, to realize the severity and what that really means to this club.ā
Other North American clubs have reason to envy Unitedās history and sense of shared values as they build their own identities. But those same traits can make rebuilding periods particularly miserable for fans and players ā and theyāve certainly been of limited value in arresting the current teamās poor run of form.
āI think you have to be careful in how much of that stuff you throw down guysā throats, absolutely," interim head coach Ben Olsen said. āThis team has had a lot of success early in the years, and weāve had spots after that where weāve raised a lot of trophies. So there are expectations here that are different than other places.
āDoes that add pressure on the guys? Weāre all pros. These guys are pros, this is what they do day in, day out. This is what we coaches do all the time. If we canāt handle that, maybe weāre all in the wrong business.ā