It’s been a long time since D.C. United was this busy in the offseason without going overseas.
Bucking the trend of United’s recent and often unsuccessful work stocking its roster from abroad, rookie head coach Ben Olsen has so far crafted his team and coaching staff with pieces from around MLS.
On Tuesday, Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad retired to become Olsen’s goalkeeping assistant coach. Onstad, 42, becomes the lead mentor for Bill Hamid, who is the presumed starter in net next season following last week’s trade that sent 2006 MLS goalkeeper of the year Troy Perkins to expansion Portland in exchange for Steve Cronin and allocation money.
Besides the implicit commitment to Hamid via the Perkins deal, United also has inked 2010 MLS rookie of the year Andy Najar to a new, long-term contract that should be a substantial pay raise from the $39,000 base salary he earned last year to something closer to MLS’s two previous rookies of the year, Omar Gonzalez ($80,000) in 2009 and Sean Franklin ($73,535) in 2008.
Combined with the addition of former U.S. striker Josh Wolff via the re-entry draft, a move that Olsen made the final call on, and the trade for gritty midfielder Dax McCarty, who was called into the U.S. national team training camp in January, and Olsen’s stamp in his first offseason has already been unmistakable.
But the place Olsen still needs to make the most difference will be in results. D.C. learned Monday it will open 2011 at home vs. Columbus on March 19.
