In the midst of trying to keep pace with the Washington Wizards and Georgetown hoops, I did make it to D.C. United’s unveiling of new head coach Curt Onalfo yesterday and wrote this piece for today’s print edition.
Before I get to a few leftovers from the new coach, we should probably take a look a United president Kevin Payne’s opening statement. I decided to go a different way with the story yesterday, but it’s pretty remarkable that he didn’t make a single mention of playoffs or championships. If anything demonstrates the state of the club, this is it:
KP: “When we began this process, our first and most important consideration was finding a coach who shared the philosophy of play that has become emblematic of D.C. United, that’s a philosophy we refer to as attacking soccer, meaning we attack when we have the ball, and we attack when don’t have the ball. We want to play an aggressive game. There are many coaches in this country and elsewhere in the game who are very capable coaches, who don’t subscribe to that approach. We were not going to talk to those coaches. We felt from the beginning that we didn’t want to try to put a square peg into a round hole. We wanted to find someone who shared our values on the field. I think in Curt Onalfo we have found a very good fit for D.C. United.”
Since that’s all cleared up, on to Onalfo:
On being one of a number of interviewees for the job: “My thoughts all along is I felt like I was the man for the job, and that’s how I walked in my interview two months ago, and I’m a very steadfast guy, and it all worked out. I’m extremely excited about the opportunity. DC United is dear to my heart. We have a lot of work to do.”
On his positive outlook: “I want to re-excite this fan base. I feel like I have a unique ability to do it both in English and in Spanish. DC United is a very exciting brand. I want to bring even more excitement. You’ll see that with the charisma that I have on a daily basis. I love what I do, I feel privileged to do what I do. I preach that to the players all the time. It’s a privilege making a living kicking a soccer ball. I take it very seriously but I deal with it with a smile on my face.”
On the comparison to what he faced when he took over in Kansas City: “It’s an identical situation. I took over a team that hadn’t made the playoffs and immediately brought them to the playoffs. There’s a lot to be said from practical experience. It’s a tough league to succeed in, and I’ve had success. I got let go by Kansas City. I’m not letting them define my success. I walk away with my head high.”
On his reputation as a good scout, a forward thinker, and his tendency to tinker: “You have to have an open mind and be learning all the time. You have to be constantly evolving. I’m guy I like to use heart rate monitors, in terms of tracking the exertion rates of players and being really scientific and smart about how we manage them physically so can get more out of them. We have a year round periodization program that we implement that has had tremendous success… You have to constantly be getting better tactically. I know what my strengths are. I know I’m very good at managing players and letting them know where they stand. I’m direct with them. So all those things help me. At the same time, I do take risks.”
On being bilingual: “It’s been something that’s really helped me progress in the coaching ranks, a big reason why I was orgininally hired here as an assistant coach. I had all the qualities, but that gives you more value. That was a deciding factor went I went to the US national team with Bruce Arena so from a career standpoint, it’s helped me tremendously. From a practical standpoint, in modern soccer, you have to make sure your players understand exactly what you want. The more you coach, the more realize it’s actually easier to confuse players than it is to make them understand so being able to communicate with players in either language is crucial.”
On his biggest lesson from the Wizards: “First and foremost, that it’s a very difficult job, and any sort of challenges that are put in front of me, I face head-on. I’ve been through adversity as a person, and I’m good at dealing with those things. I would say the biggest thing that I learned is it can be taken away from you in a split second. So there won’t be a day that I’m not giving every single bit of my energy.”
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