Kasper says no decision yet on Soehn

D.C. United general manager Dave Kasper says he’s not going anywhere after United missed the playoffs for the second straight season, but no decision has been made yet on the future of head coach Tom Soehn or of nearly all of the D.C. roster.

“We’re going to decompress and take our time with it,” said Kasper. United has its award banquet on Tuesday and current player contracts run out December 1.

Asked about his own job security and whether it had been discussed with United president Kevin Payne, Kasper replied: “I talk to Kevin frequently, and he’s assured me that I’m in the club’s plans moving forward.”

Despite earning a win over Columbus and a draw at Kansas City in its final two regular season matches, United (9-8-13) was eliminated from postseason contention in a three-way tie with Real Salt Lake (11-12-7) and Colorado (10-10-10) for the eighth and final spot in the MLS playoffs. It left Kasper wondering where the one extra point could’ve been gained.

“You know, at midseason we were in first place in the conference and doing well,” said Kasper. “I think we hit that really tough stretch again this year of playing not only in the Open Cup final, but now you add the CONCACAF play-in, which was also difficult. We picked up some injuries along the way again, and just like last year, we didn’t come out of that stretch in a positive way. In the end, we still had chances here at home, where we dropped points. I think right after the Open Cup final, I think we lost a little confidence in ourselves and picked it up at the very end. But unfortunately, it was too late.”

As for Soehn, Kasper pointed to the fact that United has played an extraordinarily demanding schedule [91 official matches, by my count] in the past two seasons.

“I think he’s had a lot to manage in the last two years, each season playing up to 14-15 games more than any other team,” said Kasper. “Obviously, the teams in the CONCACAF and SuperLiga play more games, but he’s definitely in the last two years, had more games than any coach. That’s a challenge… Overall, if you look at Tommy in all competitions, he was 17-11-16 this year. He’s won in his three years here. He’s won trophies. You look around the league, there are some coaches in the playoffs this year, and they haven’t won any trophies. There’s a lot to consider.”

Kasper considers this past season an improvement from 2008, in which United lost nine of its final 12 games in all competitions.

“I think we injected some good, young talent into the team this year who got a lot of experience and performed very well so that process has started,” said Kasper, who said multiple scouting trips abroad are planned. “That will continue next year, adding some young players into the mix. That’s definitely a positive.”

According to Kasper, the only current players locked into contracts next season are Clyde Simms and Bryan Namoff, who signed new deals last offseason, and Rodney Wallace, who is a Generation Adidas player. The team holds options on just about everyone else (keep in mind, a new collective bargaining agreement also needs to happen this winter). I’ll be working on a projected list of players to protect in the upcoming expansion draft this week. For example, United holds the option on Luciano Emilio, whose current Designated Player contract is one of those that expires.

What does the team plan to do about the older guys, such as Jaime Moreno, Christian Gomez and even Ben Olsen?

Kasper: “It’s a fair question, and it’s one that we’ll think long and hard about in the next month or so.”