Underachievement .282008.E2.80.932011.29 History of D.C. United

to fans , media alike, 2008 marked downfall franchise, end considered second golden age club in league play. justification behind involved united s inability defend supporters shield, awarded given mls club best regular season record, third-consecutive year. additionally, club failed qualify playoffs first time since 2002, finishing sixth in eastern conference , 10th in overall table. poorer record marked teams lowest positioning in league table in 5 years.

their performance league play reflected on continental stage well. finishing 2007 mls supporters shield winners, united qualified inaugural concacaf champions league, international club tournament featuring league, domestic , playoff champions concacaf nations, pertaining north , central america, caribbean. tournament replaced obsolete concacaf champions cup, , modeled after cousin tournament, uefa champions league. in champions league, united continued misfortunes, losing group stage matches @ home, , managing pick 1 draw @ costa rica s saprissa. united finished in bottom of group c, record of 0–1–5 (w-t-l).

despite poor performance in mls , concacaf competitions, united excelled in domestic cup competition, u.s. open cup. during 2008 open cup campaign, united won first open cup title in 12 years defeating charleston battery, 2–1. domestic cup title first since inaugural season. u.s. open cup, domestic cup tournament similar fa cup runs parallel regular seasons of tiers of professional , amateur soccer in united states. tournament open entry soccer club, professional or amateur, affiliated united states soccer federation. mls clubs, top 6 american mls clubs overall in regular season admitted entry third round proper, or round of 16, in tournament. finishing 1st overall in regular season, united booked third round entry in tournament proper. club opened open cup play wins against rochester rhinos of usl first division (second tier) , new england revolution of mls (first tier) in third round , quarterfinals respectively. in semifinals, united won in time defeat chicago fire. in championship, united defeated charleston battery of usl second division (third tier) win open cup second time in club history.

the 2009 season looked stronger campaign united, club held in playoff position majority of mls regular season play. outside of league, united made through mls qualification propers of u.s. open cup qualify main tournament proper. once in actual tournament, united reached u.s. open cup final second consecutive year, , fourth time in history. hosting seattle sounders fc, match site heavily criticized how u.s. soccer determined venue, kept private. match, ended in 2–1 victory seattle. seattle s fredy montero , roger levesque scoring teams 2 goals, while united s clyde simms scored late-consolation goal. on-pitch controversy swired around united goalkeeper, josh wicks intentionally stomped on montero s hand, after montero scored opening goal in 67th minute. 2 minutes later, wicks ejected match, causing united s christian gomez sub out replaced back-up keeper, miloš kocić. following match, u.s. soccer suspended wicks 5 open cup matches.

by winning 2008 u.s. open cup, united earned berth 2009–10 concacaf champions league. united fared better in second champions league journey, earning 3 wins, draw , 2 losses. however, despite winning record, united finished third in group, narrowly missing out on quarterfinals. until 2011–12 concacaf champions league, united had highest total number of points in group stage not qualify knockout round of champions league.

2010: wooden spoon recipients

following club s failure qualify mls cup playoffs 2 consecutive seasons, tom soehn resigned head coaching duties. soehn became director of soccer operations then-second tier club, vancouver whitecaps. d.c. united hired former kansas city wizards head coach, curt onalfo replace soehn. onalfo, had played united in 1990s, became first former united player hired head coach. retired ben olsen hired assistant coach onalfo while steve sampson, assistant soehn, remained on coaching staff.

onalfo s tenure brief , unsuccessful. 2010 season marked poorest league finish club since 2002, , worst regular season record in franchise history. team managed win 6 regular season matches out of possible 30, while losing 20 games , drawing four. united scored 22 goals, lowest team total in mls regular season history, , lowest offensive production since toronto fc in 2007. united s attendance fell 14,500 fans game. onalfo fired before end of season, on august 4, 2010, , team assigned coaching duties ben olsen on interim basis. interim manager, olsen led team 3–6–1 record during final 10 games of regular season.

despite team s poor regular season performance, club had strong run in 2010 u.s. open cup, reached semifinals before falling eventual runners-up, columbus crew.