Article by Matt Lichtenstadter
When all is said and done, Wayne Rooney’s DC United tenure will amount to 18 fascinating months. His move to MLS was a shock, his impact was perhaps even more shocking, and his departure topped both in shock. Just one year ago, Wayne Rooney was outplaying expectations, narratives and the collective weight of dragging a dormant franchise into the spotlight. But as soon as it seemed like he could carry them even further, his tenure is cut short. DC are a better club for having him even for the briefest of stints, but what do they do with the spark that one of England’s greatest ever players created?
For the best part of a decade, DC United was irrelevant in their city, and in their league. They played in a dilapidated, decaying and decrepit husk of stadium whose most famous resident was a raccoon, and the players didn’t do much to elevate the club beyond an afterthought outside of the resident rodent. Rooney’s arrival, combined with the long awaited opening of Audi Field, gave DC United a spark they hadn’t had since their earliest days when they were the club that dictated the league and gave it its first few stars. Those moments, especially his play against Orlando City where he denied an open net goal for Will Johnson, only to then hit a cross that Lucho Acosta put in for a winning goal, will be etched in the lore of that club and the league. He still may have more moments to come as DC tries to make the postseason, but it feels he could have done more.
The weight of knowing his family was homesick seemed to weigh on Rooney and DC’s shoulders all year. As of this writing, they’ve won two games in nearly three months, and they’ve been on the verge of free-fall. Perhaps knowing the end is coming brings him and his team some needed freedom. They’ve been playing as if a giant weight sat on their collective shoulders, and with the scramble in the East for playoff spots getting wilder, it might just be the tonic they need.
Rooney’s move, coupled with some additions like Ola Kamara, Felipe and perhaps even more, should be enough to stabilize DC’s ship for now. But Rooney’s spark can only turn to a long flame if management does something with it, and they won’t be able to rely on the Englishman’s magic for that.
When Rooney departs, so too likely will Lucho Acosta, his running mate and fellow star. Loans for Bill Hamid, Leonardo Jara and Lucas Rodriguez will expire, and Paul Arriola could also be on the move. Dave Kasper’s current additions will help give DC a rudder in the water for the present, but what about the future? Without Rooney, they have a blank slate. The club could start to rely more on its academy, which despite being pay-for-play, still does produce talent, such as Chris Durkin and 16 year old Griffin Yow. They clearly have money to spend, hence the links with Mesut Ozil and Mario Balotelli. With their cap sheet and wage bill clean, they’ll have plenty of decisions to make, but quite a bit of runway to make them with. Rooney’s success also gives them a leg up when trying to convince other names to trade in their spots for the District, which may be his biggest legacy for the club.
As for the league, they haven’t needed names like Wayne Rooney to push them over the top, though it has certainly helped. His presence brought DC United to more eyes and minds than ever, and it brought a moribund club cache and presence in a league where that continues to be valuable currency. Rooney has done all that and more off and in many ways on the field, and he could write his legacy further with a playoff run, though DC United may not have the horses to pull such a feat off. But a Rooney without the weight of family concerns on his shoulders could be one that drives this club back to where they were this time last year.
Rooney’s biggest legacy in MLS rests not with the league itself, as the league no longer needs that on a large scale, but with the club he helped resurrect. What DC United must do is build on that spark he brought, and build it forward. They have fierce competition from clubs all around them trying to steal their oxygen and rob them of their momentum, including some that don’t even exist yet. Their management, Ben Olsen and ownership must use this push to cement DC United as a destination and a club that can dictate terms in this league. They have the stadium, they have the money and they seem to have the ideas. Now, they need to put it all together.
If Rooney’s legacy in MLS kicking a big club into gear at long last, then whether he wins a trophy or not, he has done more than he was ever asked, or expected, to do.
