WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week was anything but business as usual for D.C. United.
It started with news captain Wayne Rooney is leaving at the end of the season to join Derby County as a player-coach in January. Then, on deadline day for Major League Soccer’s secondary transfer window, United brought in three players: Felipe Martins from the Vancouver Whitecaps; Emmanuel Boateng from the LA Galaxy; and Ola Kamara from Chinese Super League team Shenzhen.
With the dust finally settling, United looks to bounce back from a dismal 5-1 defeat to the Philadelphia Union last Sunday.
“It feels like a lifetime ago, which is OK,” coach Ben Olsen told Pro Soccer USA. “The more distance you can have, the better. We have to take that with a grain of salt.”
The next test won’t be easy for United as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the LA Galaxy come to town Sunday evening with Rooney sidelined due to a respiratory illness.
#DCU news: Wayne Rooney a late scratch today. He been ill for the last few days and will miss today’s encounter Zlatan & the #LAGalaxy. I’d suspect Amarikwa will fill in.
— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) August 11, 2019
“We want to redeem ourselves and respond from last weekend,” Olsen said. “There were a lot of moving parts this week, but we think they are prepared. They’re a very good team and they have an extremely dangerous No. 9 who is a monster in the box.”
The Galaxy visits after a 3-0 loss to Atlanta United. Ibrahimovic did not play in the game due to yellow card accumulation suspension.
LA continues the hunt for its first playoff berth with Ibrahimovic back on its roster this week against D.C. The Galaxy currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference, while United is fifth in the East and looking for a little bit of magic during the final nine games of the season.
“After the game on Sunday, there was definitely frustration,” midfielder Paul Arriola said. “If we want to make the playoffs, and we don’t want to go into playoffs in that dipping form that is so crucial at the playoff mark, we have to start winning games.”
Rooney’s final chapter
About two weeks ago, Rooney told team officials he wanted to go home. The request meant United general manager Dave Kasper needed to create a situation beneficial for both sides.
“We wanted to create a win-win situation where we could have Rooney finish the season with us and go home in the new year,” Kasper said. “The most important thing was to be compassionate with him. He had every intention of coming here and staying here for quite a while, but things have changed and we understand that. It is time to get focused on finishing out the year.”
Since his arrival last summer, Rooney has been a workhorse, pulling United out of last place in 2018 and into playoff position. In his 43 appearances for United, 40 of which were starts, Rooney scored 23 goals and recorded 14 assists.
“He’ll show by his actions how engaged he is in this process for the rest of the year,” Olsen said. “The real way for him to show that is not necessarily with words. It is how you train and how committed you are on game day.”
The final stretch of the season for fifth-place United is an opportunity for Rooney to close his MLS chapter on a high note. It is also a chance for players like Arriola to step up in the face of adversity.
“Now you get the news that he is leaving and it’s a bit sad in a way because of the type of guy that he is and the quality of play that he has,” Arriola said. “At the same time, we have our own problems to worry about as a team right now. The focus for us is completely LA Galaxy and how are we going to get the three points.”
The new guys
Losing Rooney was just one of many blows to United’s roster. Chris Durkin came off injured in the game against the Union. He and fellow defensive midfielder Russell Canouse will miss at least the next month of games.
United had 48 hours to find depth within the league. They added winger Boateng from the LA Galaxy and two-way midfielder Felipe from the Whitecaps. Both players will likely play a big role against the Galaxy.
“We were in discussions with LA prior to the window opening,” Kasper said about Boateng. “He has some qualities that we don’t have, which is pace.”
Meanwhile, Felipe was a last-minute fill following the injuries to Durkin and Canouse.
“I was able to make a deal with Vancouver where we are taking him at salary,” Kasper said. “Even when we get healthy, he offers something us a little different with his ability to get forward.”
United also added Kamara, but the former LA Galaxy No. 9 is unavailable this weekend due to pending visa work.
“With the Wayne news, the timing of Ola wanting to come back to the league was really good,” Kasper said. “With Ola, it was a matter of making our team better now and we are going to have a succession plan for Wayne for January moving forward.”
Match Information
When: Sunday, Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Audi Field — Washington, D.C.
Broadcast: Fox Sports 1