United boss on the team's progress, summer transfers, and his love for the Black-and-Red
Spend 15 minutes discussing D.C. United with Ben Olsen, and you can learn quite a lot about the Black-and-Red. United's Head Coach has been preparing his team diligently for Saturday's rematch with 2010 MLS Cup Champion Colorado following a harrowing 4-1 defeat at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in early April. Despite that loss, United (3-4-2, 11 points) has begun to forge a collective identity, and Olsen states that the team is right where he expected it to be heading into the 2011 season.
Olsen discusses United's progress on the pitch, summer transfer speculation, and how he has navigated the transition from the locker room to the coaches' bench. Ultimately it is clear that Olsen's love for D.C. United is as strong as it was during his accomplished playing career, and he won't rest until the Black-and-Red have re-established the club's proud winning tradition.
Give us a quick progress report on your team. How has the club evolved since preseason training camp?
I think we're about where I thought we'd be at this point [in the season]. If you told me at the beginning that we'd have the record we have at this point with the effort we've displayed so far, I would have been happy. We've taken some strong steps and we've had games where we've had to learn hard lessons, but we've also produced good moments at times and produced good results. I think that is to be expected in a young group, the important thing is to get better throughout the season and I think we're in great shape to achieve our goal - making the [MLS Cup] Playoffs.
Have you been pleased with the effort and tenacity that you have seen from the group?
I think our effort can be better - I think at times it's been good enough, but at other times we've let it slip. Those times where we have let our emotional level slip, we've had our worst games, our worst results. That's the lesson here - in this League, if you don't have that constant intensity and focus you will be punished. If you do have it, you can make Playoffs and put yourself in a position to hold trophies. We're a good enough soccer team, we have enough good players, that if we bring commitment we can do good things, not only in the next couple of years, but throughout this season as well.
Reflecting back on the 2010 offseason, there were a flurry of player acquisitions. Many of those new players have made a significant impact on this year's team. How is the group coming together?
I'm very pleased with our progress coming together. We all knew this was going to be a process. When you bring that many new guys in, it takes time for them to gel on the field. I've been happy with their willingness to get better and to hold each other accountable, and at times I've been happy with the way we've played and entertained on the field. There's a lot of room to grow with this group, but we're about where I'd thought we'd be. The important thing now is to learn from the lessons that were taught early in the season, and to keep getting better. If we continue to grow, we will make the Playoffs - that is our goal.
The on-field relationship between Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff seems to paying dividends. What are your thoughts on their partnership?
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There are important relationships all over the field. There are midfield relationships, defensive pairings, etc. Your strike partnerships are always very important. Josh [Wolff] and Charlie [Davies] have gotten better the more they've played with each other, and that's a good sign. I expect them to get even more fine-tuned as they get more minutes together, and hopefully that will come out of the process. I think they compliment each other well - with Wolffy, he helps us on the field and he helps us off the field with a young group. Charlie is Charlie, he's a special player that thrives on the big stage.
You mention the other relationships between players across the field, what are your thoughts on United's central midfield combinations? Recently Stephen King showed well against Seattle and FC Dallas, while Clyde Simms has featured for much of the season alongside Dax McCarty.
I think we're beginning to nail down a pretty consistent starting 11, but I feel very confident in the depth of this group. Even though we might get to a point where we have a consistent lineup, I'm able to use different guys because I have trust in those players. I think [Stephen] King is a little bit more comfortable going forward than Clyde [Simms], but Clyde gives us maybe a little bit more experience in defense. That's the beautiful thing about the game, guys like King, Fred, Santino [Quaranta], Joe [Ngwenya], and [Chris] Korb - they all give us something different and have all positively contributed to the season so far.
With Branko Boskovic out for the indefinite future, do you feel the need to replace his playmaking ability in the summer transfer window?
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We're always looking to get better. I'm sure there will be some kind of addition to our group during the summer. We hope it's a very good player, we hope it's someone that can get us to the next level. We'll definitely miss [Branko] Boskovic. He's one of the best passers on the field, and he's a threat on free kicks. He's a very good player and he was just about coming into his best form when he got injured. It's a very unfortunate situation, but you move on, this is a business and people get hurt. Fortunately we're pretty deep in midfield, maybe not everyone has the quality and vision that [Boskovic] had on the field to make others better around him, but we've got some good capabilities.
You have one of the youngest teams in MLS, but despite that fact you have been receiving strong contributions from rookies and Homegrown players. What are your thoughts on United's young core?
I've been pleased with the progress of our [young] guys, but I want more. The reality is they're playing, those guys are on the field for a reason and we expect them to do well. I don't look at them as teenagers, I view them as players that help this team that need to get better just like everyone else. We're a young team, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable to have ups and downs. Week-in and week-out, we need to continually bring the focus. It's not just on gameday, but it's throughout the week. Our young players have been very good throughout their approach about being professionals. Guys like Ethan [White], Conor [Shanosky], Perry [Kitchen], Andy [
Najar] - it's a good group that is coming together. Even the older guys on this team are 24 and 25, and I'm still very excited about the next couple of years and helping this group become what I think can be a very special team.
How are you finding your own progress as a Head Coach? What has stuck out to you most during your transition from the locker room to the coaches' office?
I find this job to be very rewarding, I feel that it's challenging, and I feel very fortunate to be in this spot. I want to do well because this club means a lot to me. There's a lot of added pressure that I put on myself because of what this club means to me, not only in this job, but on top of that I love this organization. I love what this club is about, it's been very good to me, and I wanted to return the favor by rewarding the fans, the players, and everyone else here. I want them to feel success and to raise trophies like I did during my time in a D.C. United uniform.
What are your thoughts on the Colorado match this weekend? Obviously the team had a difficult contest at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on April 3, what will your approach be for the return leg?
Our approach is similar to any other game we go into. We've done our research, we break them down and make sure that our team knows what they're about and what we need to do to get a result. [Colorado] is very experienced; they're the champs. They've had some injuries, but that just means you bring in guys that are hungry to get spots. Their guys up front are a handful and will be full of energy, and their back eight is very experienced. Add [Matt] Pickens in there, and they have experience in goal as well. They are a difficult team and they know each other very well, but we're at home and we want to get three points. We felt like we lost two [points] on the weekend against Dallas, and this game is very important.
With the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup roster deadline looming (May 21), what are you expecting in terms of personnel departures during the month of June for that tournament?
We knew going into the season we might miss some guys for Gold Cup - that's why we wanted to build depth into this group. Obviously we're going to miss some guys - how many, we don't know yet. I think it's a good sign that our players will be called-up, you want your players being recognized for international service because that means your players are doing pretty well and have a lot of pride in this. The bad part is that you lose some players, but I have faith in the guys that will step up to do the job.
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