Tori Huster retires, D.C. United permanently acquire Pirani, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Hello and happy Tuesday! Coming off the holiday weekend, I have just a few links to share, but I’m excited for a new year of D.C. soccer!
We’ll start off with some bittersweet news from Tori Huster, longtime Washington Spirit player and NWSLPA president:
Washington Spirit plan to host a celebration of Huster’s career sometime this year.
D.C. United finalizes permanent acquisition of Brazil’s Gabriel Pirani (Washington Post)
Steven Goff reports D.C. United will pay a $1.2 million transfer fee to Santos. Pirani has signed a two-season contract with options for 2026 and 2027.
Wayne Rooney sacked as Birmingham City boss after disastrous 15-match reign (The Mirror)
Nor a major surprise, but I do feel bad for the guy.
D.C. Defenders have begun selling 2024 season tickets, confirming they’ll be playing 5 games at Audi Field beginning on March 30. D.C. United and Washington Spirit will both have begun their seasons by then, so the pitch will definitely be seeing some wear-and-tear.
It seems as though DC will be going for an innovative coaching approach: no coaches! The players coach themselves/each other. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out and excited to see DC blaze this trail!
But seriously, when is DC getting a coach? Didn’t McKay say he wanted one BEFORE CHRISTMAS?
Hey–Washington Spirit seems to be following this approach as well!
Well, I’m a bit torn about Pirani. Young, technically good, seemed to adjust to MLS well, wants to be here, aggressive offensively, doesn’t seem at a physical disadvantage (not real short, or slow, handles physical play and pressing well)–all of that is good. OTOH, the man didn’t generate assists–which is kind of important for an A-mid. I worry that he may be the equivalent of saying “let’s put our most skilled player at A-mid–I’m sure they’ll do fine” ignoring the reality that being a great A-mid is more about vision and judgment. So we’ll see if this a Nigel Robertha kind of investment (he’s tall, he’s fast, he’s Dutch–he’ll certainly mature into a great forward, okay maybe not) or a Lucho Acosta decision (wow he’s got mad skills and he keeps getting better and better in his role). I’m hoping this is a player who grows in to that role–and who we have as a coach will be critical.
Sorry to hear about Rooney. I think if you turn the time machine back and allow do-overs, he screwed up by leaving DCU as a player mid-stream–because he saw an opportunity to be a player coach with Cocu (who he respected). But Derby was a bad situation (seen now by the firing of Cocu, the point penalties that doomed their season). And we hired him before he was truly ready as a coach. And then Birmingham hired him before he was ready. And now they’re both screwed. I think we can credit Rooney with recruiting both Klich and Benteke–who were superb DPs and should still have multiple years left as MLS starters if they’re used correctly (ie: Klich becomes more of a box-to-box midfielder–and I think the money spent on Pirani shows Mackey has decided that’s the path). But we should have been better last year than we were. And Rooney’s insistence on control probably meant we weren’t going to have a GM. And too many other personnel decisions weren’t good.
And a Happy New Year to you Annie, the rest of the DP Team, and all the Commentariat.
I’m bullish on Pirani. I think he’s more in the line of Acosta, although probably a couple steps behind him in terms of actual ability. The best thing Pirani does is link well. He was often a “pass before the pass” kind of player in his games with DC. I’d love him to be a chance generator, and he may grow into that, but right now we’re structured around feeding Benteke the ball, and that’s mostly happening from Jeahze, Herrera, and Rodriguez from the outside. Klich and Pirani and Ku-DiPietro can kind of mess around in the middle, pinging the ball back and forth.
Obviously, to spend over a million to acquire him, and give him a two year deal with two more option years, the team is pretty high on his potential. He had no assists, and his shooting was really pretty bad. But he’s got skill and I think he can be coached up — if we have a coach. We’ve also got at least one other DP slot to fill. I’ve been hoping for a playmaking right winger, but that would be one more person that could alleviate the need for Pirani to be the main chance creator.
Way behind Acosta in terms of ability…and even farther behind in having the confidence that a successful attacker has to have. I’ll keep my fingers crossed on this one, but there’s a long way to go and big leap needed. I don’t know if the team is high on his potential or the transfer is more about a lack of other options. Mackay didn’t seem wildly enthusiastic in his comments, but more candid that we have “seen glimpses of potential.”
As for Jeahze and Rodriguez, I wrote about this late last night in the other thread, but I’m not optimistic about their availability. I guess we won’t know anything until training starts and Goff gets us the skinny.
As I wrote last night, I think the team is ridiculously far behind in planning for next year, unless they’re planning on relying on people like Garay, Akinmboni, Tubbs, Sargis, Bartlett, Dobbelaere, Parrish, and Fletcher (and maybe Sanchez) — young guys, some still kids, with little or no first team experience in MLS….or anywhere else. And, until they get a coaching staff in place, there’s little chance of bringing in new players.
Be ready for more pain. I have one season left to be impressed.
Acosta is a Boca player, he is simply going to have more ability than average. I’m not sure you get to play either at Boca or River if you don’t have what it takes. But while it is definitely true that Acosta was a lot more showy than Pirani when he joined DCU, it is also true for both, that their technical ability only gets better if they have good teammates around. Last year, I saw several times where Pirani tried to make a good pass, only for his teammates to not understand what he was trying to do. Part of that is that he joined late and he only played 10 games and part of that is that we also need a bit of an upgrade in the middle of the field. Teammates he can pass with. He seemed to have a good understanding with Teddy, not surprisingly because Teddy is a lot more technical than some of his teammates. Now, hopefully, he can also develop decent chemistry with Rodriguez. Let’s also remember that while he will often showed flashes of brilliance, Acosta didn’t truly shine until one Wayne Rooney came into the picture. Wayne, as he explained, just knew where to go. So don’t expect Pirani to become Acosta/Gomito/Boskovic/DeRo, unless you give him a few pals who also know how to pass and find open lanes.
It’s pretty funny that Rooney quit/got fired from being the DC coach, got another job, then got fired from that one, and is now available to be a coach… all before DC filled his old job. I wonder if his house in Reston is still available?
At least Fred Brillant has to feel a little bit better about not being taken over to Birmingham too.
As a symptom of organizational dysfunction, or a glimpse into our future: DC United sent me a happy birthday email on Sunday which featured an image of Wayne Rooney as the centerpiece of the caption.
Incredible…..
(nice of them to send, however)
Tom Bogert reporting that DC is nearing a deal to sign Troy Lesense as the next head coach. Was kinda hoping for Callaghan, personally, but I don’t mind this happening. Could be better, could be much, much worse
I was also hoping for Callaghan, or someone that had some excitement behind them. Here’s what I commented on the Athletic article:
“I really don’t think this is a bad move by DC. I think Lesense is a fine manager and could be a good fit at United.
But…
This was clearly the least ambitious of the names mooted as a potential hire. The line about salary expectations from Torrent seems pretty illuminating here. It’s going to really go over badly with a lot of the fanbase. Hopefully he’ll work well with Mackay (and a lot of the criticisms above also apply to Mackay), and the results on the field will speak for themselves, but it’s… it’s just okay when we really need to be inspired.”
I guess at least it’s not Bruce.
While I agree with the general sentiment, I’m not sure that I’d classify him as the least ambitious. I don’t think he’s really any more or less ambitious than any of the other MLS exclusive coaches that were on the table. And the Red Bulls fans seemed upset they let him go at the end of the year, and while MLS is steadily trying to kill the Atlantic Cup, we can still get some excitement out of taking a guy the Red Bulls fans wanted from them.
I think of the names we knew about, Lesesne was probably in my top 3, along with Callaghan and Perez. I see him as a sort of low-risk-high-reward (or potential reward) kind of hire. Young guy, did well in USL and with what he was handed in NJ, as you noted could be a good fit. He could work out and be great. He might not. And if he doesn’t it wasn’t a huge investment and we can move on as needed.
His Red Bulls roster was pretty young, so he’s good with playing young players. Hard to say how well he develops them, because he wasn’t there that long. He also had one of the smallest payrolls in MLS. Makes one wonder if United isn’t trying to course correct a little bit after being in the top 5 or 6 of payrolls.
Not gonna lie. I was hoping it would be Torrent. Lesesne might be perfectly serviceable, but he’s not going to have any drawing power in the international players marketplace… and that probably fits nicely with what McKay wants to do with this club. That’s where I’m disappointed. Not in Lesesne per se, but in what it appears to signal about the club’s ambitions and approach.
I think that’s entirely reasonable. Mackay has touted his background as an agent as something that will allow him to utilize contacts to bring in players, so it will be up to him to make good on that promise. Nashville was never incredibly strong about bringing in international players (with the very notable exception of Hany Mukhtar), so we’ll see how that goes.
Also, apparently the last name is Lesesne, and Bogert was typo-ing all over the place. Feels like we should figure out the right way to spell it!
Is that the same guy who coached the Red Bulls? So did Bogert spell his name incorrectly? Because that would be Troy Lesesne. And from what I remember of the Red Bulls last season, I’m not very enthusiastic about it. Unless, the style he used with the Jersey team was dictated by his roster. I want to go back to our classic style of possession and not whatever the Red Bulls do.
Yes, it’s the Red Bulls guy. For what it’s worth, they seem pretty upset a) that he’s not back with them, and b) that he’s with DC. And he did beat United three times in one season.
As for his style, they emphasize that he likes pressing in the Athletic article, but it’s tough to say how much of that is dictated by the Red Bulls organization. I wouldn’t expect us to be getting Losada 2.0, and I don’t believe Nashville was overly known for their pressing. We’ll see what happens.
The Chest Rockwell take:
https://twitter.com/JasonDCsoccer/status/1742269387325784353
Which, ya know, regardless of how much pressing we end up doing, I’m happy to see 1) a plan and 2) increased speed and fitness across the roster.
I haven’t figured out how to insert a gif here, but *Michael Scott snip snap snip snap*. Sort of. Lesesne at least seemed to want his team to have some sort of structure. There’s been and will continue to be a lot of turnover as we revert back to being a more athletic team. It means we can’t go into the season with Santos as the LB (in other words, Jeahze is hopefully ready to play), because he instantly becomes the weakest link to exploit.
If Red Bulls are unhappy, I am happy.
I don’t know Lesesne as a coach well–can’t speak to his man management ability or his tactical preferences. I don’t think we can judge a lot from his half season with the NYRB–he inherited a team developed by a strong youth system that plays a particular approach. So his hands were somewhat tied.
But a couple of things I’ve formed tentative conclusions on. He’s young but he’s got a lot of experience around soccer in the US. He’s been an assistant for a bunch of programs. He didn’t get hired because of his track record as a head coach. He must have gotten hired because he interviewed well, and because he was seen as promising with lots of potential.
Apparently Troy Lesesne earned a red card (two yellows issued to New York’s bench) in the playoff game against Cincinnati, and so would be suspended for the season opener.
That’s really funny lol…I wonder who’s going to be on his staff. Will he be ok having someone from the previous staff (Brillant) on the bench with him?
He was raised to his position at the Red Bulls after Gerhard Struber was fired. I’m not sure if he made any hires to his coaching staff. I’m not sure if he’s ever put together a staff above the USL level before, so I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if Brillant sticks around. I wouldn’t be mad about it either.
I genuinely hope Fred sticks around for a long time. If he ends up becoming the next Chad Ashton where hes sort of the assistant that sticks around forever, or even the next Ben Olsen, I’d love to see it. He really seems like a genuinely good dude that really cares about the team and organization