Coming Together the United Way

Coming Together the United Way

Mike Martin

March 07, 2008

Marcelo Gallardo (center) with United owners Will Chang (right) and Victor McFarlane
Photo: Tony Quinn

Like the famed “Oriole Way” that used to work before that team was taken over by a megalomaniac, I think DC United has a “United Way” of finding just the right players who combine pure skill with an obvious desire to “play for the shirt” as they say in the soccer world.

Washington, D.C. A couple pieces of news today has led to my thinking about how no matter how dark the situation, United manages to rise above it year after year. Even at the very worst of times, there still was a class to this organization that is undeniable, and I believe that class starts with a philosophy about who will be allowed to represent the club on the field.

However, first the news that started all this. United finally put forth a significant effort and won a meaningful, albeit makeshift, scrimmage 2-1 against ChivasUSA in a match that pitted the teams with the two best records in the league last year. More significantly, Luciano Emilio, assisted by designated player Marcelo Gallardo, scored the first goal, and another winter signing in backup forward Franco Niell scored the winner. Plus, the reserve team won 2-1 against Chivas’ reserves later that evening in the showcase match with newcomer Quavas Kirk scoring United’s first goal, and Brazilian trialist Cezar scoring the winner in that one.

Then the news broke that the prodigal son Santino Quaranta had signed a deal that would assure his opportunity to rise from the ashes back with his old club. By all accounts, he signed a lower wage senior contract loaded with incentives that will see whether his phenomenal talent will ever reach its potential with DC United.

So, United staggered through an anemic pre-season, yet with Harbour View hovering into view, and the pressure ratcheted up, both the senior and junior teams delivered emphatic wins buoyed by decisive goals from players new to the squad, and considering Olsen’s lingering injury, Santino and Kirk arriving on the scene are nothing short of a godsend. Now, obviously these guys are talented, but how is it possible that DC United finds and cashes in on almost every new player brought in?

Considering the draconian salary cap and rigid roster rules in MLS, it can be hideously difficult to find the right kind of player for the right money at just the right time when the team needs to replace departing talent. However, at DC United, the team has elevated that arcane science into almost an art form which is the envy of the league.

Obviously, some teams in MLS have no imagination and simply go out and acquire talent alone, exclusive of the possible impact of that player’s personality in the locker room. Which explains why guys like Carlos Ruiz, Ante Razov, and Jeff Cunningham, etc still have jobs in MLS. But that is not the way DC United operates, and I think that has been a huge reason for the team’s unprecedented success over the course of its existence.

Now, assuming Gallardo’s assist today along with Niell, Kirk’s, and maybe even Cezar’s goals play out into significant success in MLS, how does DC do it? Again and again over the years the front office identifies a player and that player delivers. How is that possible, when you consider the likes of NY, NE, Colorado, Dallas, and other MLS teams have never seen that happen at all at least in terms of delivering an MLS Cup.

And it’s been that way right from the very beginning. United was the first team with the stones to excise an allocated player off the books in order to bring in one with a more suitable personality. Old “Chicho” Suarez came here in ’96 with a ton of talent, but precious little conviction towards the team or coach, so he was shown the door which allowed for Jaime Moreno to be added to the roster and that led to the first of many MLS Cups.

And there were big time players brought in nearly every year since. Wegerle, Sonora, Conteh, McKinley, Stewart, Stoitchkov, Kovalenko, Gomez, all of them put the team first despite their sometimes checkered careers, and they were successful some of them even despite the horrors of the dark years. Even the players that failed, Cruz, Reyes, Ivanov, etc. didn’t fail because they were a locker room cancer, they simply didn’t work out and moved on. Simply put, United did their homework and they always managed to find the right guy for the right price at the right time.

Mark Simpson laid out the simple explanation for how the team does it before this current team left for Texas. “Not only do you look for good soccer players, but you look for good personalities that can fit within your locker room. Our locker room is pretty sacred. For us to look at guys, it’s important for them to mesh with everybody. And I think they’ve done that. It’s not just a clique here or there. All the guys fit in together. They look out for each other, and that translates out on the field as well.”

Back in the day, United was legendary for the way the players hung together off the field as well as on it. The backyard barbeques at player’s houses, the team viewings of satellite soccer games, the incredible comfort each player had with every other player up and down the roster. They were all in it together and it showed.

When asked about this team beginning to get that same feel as those tight teams of the past, Mark Simpson was clear that the organization is the key to making those relationships happen.

“Absolutely, we want to keep that tradition going. There’s no difference. We just have different guys. There’s no difference in how we treat players coming in. Everybody is welcome with open arms. I think that the quality that this club has from the past, and there is no reason to change it. It gives those new guys coming in the best chance to show their personalities and I think that’s what’s most important.”

And that open arms extends to even young trial players like Dane Murphy out of Virginia, who is a long shot to make the team, but that’s simply because of numbers, not due to his being dismissed as irrelevant by older players.

Murphy pointed this out by saying, “There were some rumors [among other college guys] that when you come in [to MLS] as a rookie you don’t get treated very well. But the guys here have actually treated me very well. Especially the older guys have been giving me tips, a lot of pointers about how to play, how to present yourself in the locker room, off the field, with the coaches.” Clearly, he’s been given every benefit of the doubt even though he’s a lowly undrafted rookie.

Throughout the years, players have always been added with just as much an eye on their character as their skills. Even when United added volatile characters like Aunger, McKinley, Kovalenko, Stoitchkov, or more recently, Eskandarian, or Quaranta etc. those guys still put the team first before any personal desires, with rare exceptions. And when a player failed to live up to the expectations, they were dealt away almost immediately.

Which brings up the other point. United is not immune to giving second chances when the upside to their decisions can be so advantageous. Obviously, with the signing of Santino Quaranta today, that’s evident.

Tino is as talented as it comes in American soccer, yet his tumultuous first try with United ended badly with endless injuries, immaturity, and ultimately a mutually exhausted crawl towards the exit. However, he’s back this year, by all accounts has finally matured and is ready to fulfill his potential.

United has shown such magnanimity before. Raul Diaz Arce and Rocket Roy Lassiter both got second chances with the team even after bitter comments when they were dealt away due to MLS’ inflexible rules of the moment. Jaime Moreno himself is another classic example, dealt away after ping pong became more important than the team back in 2002. But, he was welcomed back for another chance and he’s repaid the team with two MVP caliber seasons and another MLS Cup, as well as a newly found leadership element that is becoming evident this year.

Dane Murphy flat out said that Moreno was one of his heroes growing up, but that it was “a tremendous feeling when I came here and Jaime Moreno was one of the first guys to come over and shake my hand. I couldn’t believe it.” Santino has long looked to Jaime as his role model in MLS, and if Tino takes advantage of his second chance like Jaime did, then the sky’s the limit for that young talent.

Bottom line is that DC United inspires such rabid support both inside the team and among their fans because they simply go about things the right way. Now, with the newest influx of talent which appears to be coming together nicely if recent results are any indication, it seems that United has successfully reloaded again. Just another example of the United Way. Top to bottom, the team sets a standard that is exemplary and they expect it to be met. It’s not hard to get swept up in the euphoria of such an organization.

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