The 2011 D.C. United season was D.C. United's 17th year of existence, their 16th season in Major League Soccer, and their 16th consecutive season in the top-flight of American soccer. D.C. United tried to salvage a poor showing last season where they finished at the bottom of the MLS standings. The season covers the period of November 1, 2010, through October 31, 2011.
Ahead of the preseason, then interim-head coach Ben Olsen assumed head coaching duties, under a three-year contract for an undisclosed price. Olsen became the first head coach in franchise history to both play for and coach the squad. Upon retiring as a player on November 24, 2009, Olsen became an assistant coach under head coach Curt Onalfo. On August 7, 2010, Olsen was named interim head coach after Onalfo was fired. Olsen finished the 2010 season with a 3–8–1 record. Several major offseason acquisitions were made, in both the offense and defense. Notable signings included Charlie Davies on loan, Perry Kitchen, Dax McCarty and Josh Wolff. In the summer, a major trade was made when United traded McCarty to their Atlantic Cup rivals, New York Red Bulls, for Dwayne De Rosario. During the MLS regular season, United regularly hovered in the middle of the league's overall table, frequently swapping positions barely in or outside of a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Ultimately, their playoff run ended in the 33rd week of the campaign, culminating a six-match winless streak, that included five consecutive losses.
Outside of MLS, the team failed to qualify for the third round proper of the U.S. Open Cup for the first time since 2002. In the qualification propers, United lost 3–2 to New England Revolution in the MLS qualification semifinals. Before the MLS regular season campaign, United participated in the preseason Carolina Challenge Cup tournament, where the club defended their 2010 title by recording a 2–0–1 record in the pre-season competition.
Background
The 2010 season marked the worst regular season record in United's history, as the club finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and overall league standings. As a result, United failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs for a league record-tying third year.
Midway through the season, head coach Curt Onalfo was fired and replaced by assistant coach, Ben Olsen. As interim head coach Olsen led the club to a 3–8–1 record, which advanced them to a season total of 22 points over 30 games.
The team concluded the regular season on October 23, 2010, with a 3–2 loss at home against Toronto FC. Club veteran, Jaime Moreno, earned his 133rd regular season goal during the final match of his professional career. Moreno departed professional soccer as the MLS career scoring leader.
Preseason
November 2010 On November 24, D.C. United acquired Dax McCarty and an allocation fee of roughly $35,000 from the Portland Timbers for Rodney Wallace and the lower of United's two fourth round 2011 MLS SuperDraft selections. Three days after playing for the entire MLS Cup 2010 McCarty was acquired by the Portland Timbers with the first overall pick of the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft. At 4:13 pm EST D.C. United announced it had signed McCarty from the Portland Timbers.
After much speculation for a new coach, United announced Ben Olsen became head coach on November 29, 2010. His three-year contract as an assistant coach was replaced with a new three-year guaranteed contract that also includes options for additional seasons. At the time of the announcement Olsen had only selected one assistant coach, Chad Ashton, who had been serving as technical director during the previous season. Mark Simpson, the goalkeeping coach, decided not to return to the club. Kris Kelderman, who had another year under his contract as an assistant coach, was named the head coach of the UW–Green Bay Phoenix men's soccer team in May 2010.
December On December 2, D.C. United announced it would not exercise options on the contracts of defenders Barry Rice and Juan Manuel Peña, as well as midfielder Carlos Varela and Brandon Barklage.
On December 21, D.C. United announced MLS veteran goalkeeper Pat Onstad would join D.C. United as goalkeeping coach. Onstad retired after a 24-year professional career, including 136 regular season matches with the Houston Dynamo. It was also announced that Olsen would not hire a third assistant coach to replace Kris Kelderman.
On December 8, D.C. United acquired former Houston Dynamo forward Joseph Ngwenya during the first stage of the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft. On December 15, D.C. United acquired Josh Wolff from the Kansas City Wizards during the second stage of the draft. Ngwenya was guaranteed $156,000 for the 2011 season, which was an increase from his base salary in 2010 of $72,000. Wolff was guaranteed $160,000 for 2011, which was $60,004 less than his 2010 base salary.
Between the two stages of the MLS Re-Entry Draft, D.C. United signed D.C. United Academy player Ethan White. White previously played for the Maryland Terrapins before signing a homegrown player contract with D.C. United on December 14, 2010. He became the fourth academy signee within the last year for United.
January The start of 2011 was highlighted by United's first selection in the SuperDraft, where they had the third overall pick in the first round. For the third pick, United drafted University of Akron standout Perry Kitchen, who was a key cog for the Akron Zips' championship-run in the College Cup the previous month. Club management expressed immense excitement in signing Kitchen, with head coach Ben Olsen and manager David Kasper sharing that if they had the first overall pick, they would have signed Kitchen.
Along with Kitchen, United signed Kitchen's teammate, Chris Korb in the second round, and in the final round, selecting Joe Willis, who last played for University of Denver in collegiate soccer, while playing for the Premier Development League's Real Colorado Foxes.
United also made one selection in the Supplemental Draft, choosing forward Blake Brettschneider in the second round. The Black-and-Red had previously traded its first-round pick and another first-round supplemental pick acquired in a SuperDraft day trade to Los Angeles Galaxy. United chose to pass on its third round Supplemental Draft selection.
On January 30, at the Washington Auto Show, United unveiled their brand-new third kits for the 2011 season. The third kit, marked the first time in club history that the team will don a third kit during any year campaign. The new third kit is predominately red; red jersey, shorts and socks, with accents of black on the jersey.
Concluding the Supplemental Draft, United shortly thereafter began their preseason training, which started with mandatory team physicals for the upcoming MLS season, as well as fitness training. Following players' medical clearances and preliminary training, United went south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 to begin their preseason training camp.
February
During the first week of February, rumors began to circulate that D.C. United was in "serious talks" with FC Sochaux-Montbéliard to acquire U.S. national team forward Charlie Davies on loan from the French Ligue 1 side. Originally declining to comment about a possible loan, Davies' agent, Lyle Yorks, told reporters that Davies was seeking a loan, in order to have more ample playing time while recovering from a series of injuries he suffered in an automobile accident in October 2009. On February 2, D.C. United posted a press release that stated Davies would be training with United during their Fort Lauderdale training camp, for a week starting on February 3. Subsequently, club public relations released a press statement declaring that Davies would join United on loan if they saw him match fit.
On February 16, two weeks following the arrival of Charlie Davies in camp, the club made local and national headlines when they announced that they successfully acquired Davies on a 12-month loan deal from Sochaux. Club management expressed how impressive Davies was in camp. D.C. United have the option of buying out Davies from Sochaux at the end of the season should they decide to do so. United were able to obtain Davies due to their position in the leagues allocation order.
The very next day following Davies official announcement, the club waived long-time defender, Julius James. In the press statement, D.C. cited that the waiving freed another international roster spot on the team's squad. That same day, United also acquired allocation money from L.A. Galaxy when trading the international roster spot vacated with James' departure. James did not make any appearances with the club during preseason training.
During their Florida preseason training, United went undefeated in all matches, winning each match. and Florida International University's men's soccer team. Following training in Florida, United continued their preseason tour by traveling to Southern California, where they played against the PDL's Ventura County Fusion, as well as a match against UC Santa Barbara's men's team. To conclude their California preseason training, United took on fellow MLS club, C.D. Chivas USA in a friendly on February 25. During their time in California, United posted victories against Ventura County as well as UC Santa Barbara, before drawing against Chivas USA.
Concluding the Chivas USA match, the club traveled back east to Charleston, South Carolina to participate in the Carolina Challenge Cup.
March The first half of March opened with D.C. United participating in their final preseason tune-up, the 2011 Carolina Challenge Cup, played in Charleston, South Carolina. United, the defending champions, were paired up against the host Charleston Battery in the opening match of the tournament on March 5. In the game, United emerged victorious 2–1, and moved into first place in the tournament table.
Three days later, United played their second MLS opponent of the preseason. This time, they played fellow conference foes, Chicago Fire, for the second match of the Challenge Cup. Played on March 9, the match proved to be another successful game for newly acquired Brettschneider, as he tallied on the scoresheet in the 10th minute of play. Things would continue in United's way in the 37th minute, when Chicago midfielder Diego Cháves was ejected from the game in the 37th minute, allowing United to have a one-man advantage for a significant portion of the match. Consequently, the Fire would fail to create many goalscoring opportunities, being outshot 16–5 by United. Brettschneider's tenth-minute tally was the lone goal of the match, thus giving United a 2–0–0 record in the tournament table, and placing them in a key position to win the entire cup.
Needing a draw at minimum, United were in a keen position to win their second-consecutive Challenge Cup. The club closed out their cup run with their third and final match against last-place Toronto FC; who had fallen to both Chicago and Charleston earlier in the week. The match started out heavily in favor of United, who scored off a Charlie Davies goal in the ninth minute. The 1–0 lead over the Reds was short-lived, as TFC quickly leveled off of a penalty kick scored by TFC captain, Dwayne De Rosario, leveling the match at one-all. Immediately minutes later, the Reds struck again, taking a 2–1 lead. The lead was Toronto's first in the entire tournament and, ironically, United's first time trailing in a match in the entire tournament.