FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Not long before D.C. United’s match against New England on Saturday night, the club’s new superstar appeared during another MLS game’s live broadcast, positioned in front of a photo of the U.S. Capitol. Wayne Rooney, the 32-year-old English soccer icon, said he thought the time was right for his move to MLS and that he wants to “try to help the team progress forward and move forward in the league.”
A few hours later and 375 miles northeast, D.C.’s team showed just how far back it is, dropping a 3-2 decision at New England. United has won just two of its first 13 games this season for 10 points, fewest in the 23-team league. Players and Coach Ben Olsen were visibly frustrated after the latest loss.
United knows it needs Rooney, who finalized a deal to join the team on Wednesday and will be introduced at a news conference on Monday in Washington. But there’s also the next question: Will Rooney be enough?
“He’s going to make us better, I’m certain, in a whole bunch of areas,” Olsen said. “But the issues are the issues, and we’re going to have to solve them.”
On Saturday, United twice tied the game, only to allow the Revolution to take the lead a few minutes later both times. Olsen said that’s been a trend this season, and he pointed out the problems won’t magically disappear when Rooney steps onto the field with United when it opens Audi Field on July 14.
Still, Olsen said the signing has already brought the team a midseason spark of excitement.
“The additions that we will bring in will help this club in a whole bunch of different ways — first and foremost, on the field.” Olsen said before Rooney’s signing became official. “That’s where we need help right now, to get us over the hump.”
This season has seemingly been split into two halves. There has been the road-heavy portion before the Audi Field opener, then a stretch of 15 home matches out of 20 to conclude the regular season. That will coincide with the with-Rooney and without-Rooney halves of the season.
In the Rooney-less part of United’s 2018 season, Darren Mattocks and Yamil Asad lead the team in goals, scoring seven each. Just four players have more than one goal, but Olsen said scoring chances haven’t been the issue. Still, Rooney, the all-time leading scorer for both Manchester United and the English national team, can contribute more to the attack.
“He’s going to bring that finishing touch and a little bit of that game-changing mentality that we need right now,” midfielder Ian Harkes said. “We have been creating goals this year and have been setting it up. To bring in a guy like that definitely can’t hurt you.”
This D.C. team is young, and maybe that’s why it has had trouble finding ways to win. Olsen called that skill a “learned behavior” and an area where Rooney’s experience will help. Five players in D.C.’s starting 11 on Saturday were 24 years old or younger.
“We’re just excited to have him come here,” captain Steve Birnbaum said. “He wants to win. That’s his main goal. I already met with him, and he said he wanted to win. That was the first thing he said. I’m excited to get him here, and hopefully we can get the wins he’s looking for.”
Between 1996 and 2004, D.C. United won four MLS Cups, which still stands as second most in league history. But United hasn’t made it back to the league final since. In 2017, it tied for last in the league, and D.C. is again sitting at the bottom this year.
While D.C. ranks No. 11 in the Eastern Conference and would need to break into the top six for playoff spot, it has played at least two fewer games than all the other teams in the conference. It also has that friendly concluding stretch.
“We’re not necessarily waiting for our backs to be up against the wall and have to win every game to make the playoffs because that’s not what you want,” Birnbaum said. “That’s absurd. We know we’ve left a lot of points out there, which hurts a little bit for us. Just getting home and making sure we rack up wins in front of our home fans will be big for us.”
The team is hopeful it can make a run toward the playoffs, and with Rooney and Audi Field soon entering the picture, some of the right pieces are stacking at the same time. But how much star power does it take to lift a team out of a deepening slump? D.C. United will soon find out.
