Hardrock
Sports Betting
News, Blog and GuidesRooney’s exit must signal a new era for DC United, a team with little investment and a lack of stability.
Eduardo Burgos Rodríguezedu17burgosJoe Brennanj4brennanUpdate: Oct 10th, 2023 10:47 EDT
Geoff BurkeUSA TODAY Sports
Over the past few years, DC United have created an image of instability in MLS, with plenty of incomings and outgoings as they ride around in circles season after season. Wayne Rooney’s exit, which was confirmed after the side failed to make the 2023 playoffs, was the latest chapter in a long line of turbulence.
Rooney’s arrival in 2018 was an injection of character and personality for the team, who initially reacted well to the drive and ambition of the coach to achieve a place in the playoffs in MLS. However, Rooney leaving the club just 18 months after joining from Derby County has sunk the club from the capital to new depths.
🚨🔵 Birmingham City are closing in on the appointment of Wayne Rooney as new head coach.Final details being sorted then time to announce agreement with Rooney who has left DC United in MLS. pic.twitter.com/2Bg85qxnbX
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 10, 2023
Rooney tried to give the club a new lease of life
The ex-Manchester United player is gone, and the taste in the mouths of the fans is bittersweet, who believed that success was possible with him at the helm. For many who watched DC United, the manager left the project half-completed in a decision that makes him appear a traitor to some.
In July 2022, Rooney came back to Washington but with a very different outlook on things as team manager. However, the feelings around the franchise were different to before: everything felt like Rooney had accepted the role as a stop-gap to bigger and better things in the future, signing a contract until December that year. The idea of a lack of commitment was, however, quickly thrown out when it was realised that Rooney had left his family on the other side of the pond.
Full screen
Rooney played for Manchester United between 2004 and 2017.EDDIE KEOGHREUTERS
DC United are swimming in circles
Plenty of objectives have not been completed as Rooney boards a plane to Birmingham in England’s second division. Despite winning 13 more points than his predecessor, the fact that the team failed to qualify for the playoffs put the nail in the coffin for a manager who lost more games than he won.
