DC United ownership making changes team in hopes of reaching winning season
DC United ownership making changes as team struggles to reach winning season
D.C. United?s fanbase has been upset at the lack of wins in the last decade. They have staged boycotts and can be heard shouting ?sell the team? at games. Ownership hears them and has made moves, adding a new coach over the summer and today, firing their general manger. But will it be enough to turn things around? In a FOX 5 exclusive Julie Donaldson sat down with them to discuss.
WASHINGTON - D.C. United’s fan base has been upset at the lack of wins in the last decade. They have staged boycotts and have been heard shouting "sell the team" at games.
The team’s ownership sat down for an exclusive interview with FOX 5 on Tuesday, saying they hear the fans and are making moves to improve.
What they're doing:
They added a new coach over the summer and on Tuesday, parted ways with their general manager, Ally Mackay.
They plan to announce his replacement next week and believe he will work well with their new head coach, René Weiler— their seventh since 2022. He is the most experienced head coach the franchise has had with 24 years under his belt.
Already, the team has shown improvements but will it be enough to get fans back on board?
While this season is a loss—the third-worst team in the league—the ownership is building for the future, again.
"I think one of the things that speaks very well of René is that he’s won on three different continents prior to here different cultures in different leagues around the world whether it’s Belgium, Germany, Egypt, Japan, Switzerland, so we’ve seen that track record where he’s been able to get the most out of the players to motivate them to inspire them and we’re seeing that in our first matches under his leadership," said Jason Levien, D.C. United co-Chairman and CEO.
Dig deeper:
FOX 5 asked about the decision to let Mackay go.
"We have to hold people accountable and we haven't, unfortunately it’s a results for business, and as a result, we have to bring in people who can achieve results and we haven’t had results we’ve wanted to achieve," co-chairman Stephen Kaplan said.
One of the issues in the past is the lack of presence from owenrship but they say they plan to be more visible and more vocal with season ticket holders and in the public.
And when asked why fans should believe them, Levien and Kaplan said they’re starting to see it with Weiler as head coach and they’ve made these moves now to get ahead of the transfer window in January.
They are listening to their fans on what they want and hope to deliver that going forward.