When Ben Olsen was named head coach of DC United in late 2010, he became the youngest manager in MLS History. The decision to hand the keys of the team to a relative youngster was certainly one to reopen the age-old debate of the importance of experience and the MLS will pay close attention to the "Olsen experiment". Can a former player with an impressive résumé quickly hone the skills needed to become a brilliant tactician without the benefit of years of experience on the sidelines?
Olsen had a decorated playing history. He spent nearly his entire career with DC United, save for a short spell with English side Nottingham Forest. He was already well-respected by the time he entered the top league in North American football, having been named High School Player of the Year and Collegiate Player of the Year in two prior seasons. During the 1998 campaign, Olsen’s first with DC United, the midfielder earned a spot in the starting eleven almost at once and began carving a legacy for himself. His efforts earned him MLS Rookie of the Year honours, and he helped his team to the MLS Cup in just his second season with the squad.
But Olsen’s sparkling rise to the top was cut down by a series of ankle injuries and he was forced to watch his third season from the stands. After further complications, the then-United States international was loaned to Nottingham Forest for a short time, impressing at the City Ground before another injury stopped any thoughts of a move to England. In what was to be his last hurrah, Olsen returned to DC United, recovering his spectacular form in the 2007 season, which earned him a spot in the coveted MLS Best XI Team. The midfielder retired in 2009, his career shortened by his recurring ankle injuries.
Olsen was also a member of the United States national team, making 37 appearances and scoring six goals. He gained major tournament experience too, being selected for the 2006 World Cup squad, though only making one appearance in a 2-1 loss to Ghana, coming into in the game as a substitute.
Unwilling to completely part with the world of professional football, Olsen took the job of DC United assistant coach only three months after hanging up his boots. This wasn’t the DC United Olsen had seen at the start of his career at Washington based club however; that DC brushed all aside to dominate the MLS. Instead, he joined the coaching staff of a team in sharp decline. After appearing in the MLS Cup final in all four of the first seasons of the league, winning the trophy on three occasions, DC United hadn’t won the top prize since 2004 and hadn’t qualified for the playoffs in two years. The early going in 2010 suggested it was going to be more of the same. And with the team treading water at the bottom of the table with only three victories in 18 games, DC United’s executives fired head coach Curt Onlafo, naming Olsen as the interim-head coach for the reminder of the disastrous 2010 season.
But it was clear that the sinking ship couldn’t be set afloat by a simple coaching change. Under Olsen’s leadership, the team didn’t fare much better, winning only three of the club’s final 12 games to finish dead last in the MLS with a goal difference of minus 26.
Prior to the 2011 season, DC United President and CEO Kevin Payne was tasked with choosing a full-time head coach. Though Olsen had been initially ruled out as a candidate by virtue of his youth and inexperience, Payne announced that the club legend would indeed be the new head coach of DC United in November 2010. The announcement made the 33-year-old Olsen the youngest head coach in MLS history. Whether or not the DC United man can play the role will be seen when the 2011 MLS season opens in March.
"“Ultimately, we became convinced that Ben’s commitment, intelligence and understanding of what it means to be a part of DC United outweighed his limited coaching experience", said Payne. "We’re confident that he will do an outstanding job.”
The MLS club’s management certainly must have seen something to like from Olsen’s performance in the second half of the 2010 season, despite the team’s shortcomings. Perhaps more importantly, having a familiar and friendly face in charge, and one who was a fan favourite during his playing days, could do more to satisfy the DC United players, distraught from three consecutive seasons of failure, than an outsider ever could. But Olsen wasn’t given the role just to make friends; his success as a player suggests that he knows the game well enough to have a shot at making it in management.
However, history is against young bosses in the MLS. Of the 10 youngest full-time head coaches in MLS history, only three won more games than they lost in their first year. The most successful was Frank Yallop, leading the upstart San Jose Earthquakes to their first-ever MLS championship in 2001. Yallop’s success was especially impressive considering the Earthquakes missed the playoffs in their four previous seasons before winning the title. Jason Kreis, who took the unheralded Real Salt Lake to the 2009 MLS Cup at 36 years old, becoming the youngest coach in MLS history to pick up the trophy, is another name that should inspire Olsen.
Yet, whether Olsen can create magic as the new manager of DC United will have much to do with the tools put at his disposal. With some key acquisitions and a bit of luck, Olsen could replicate the early success that Yallop found in his improbable run to the championship. The short-term performance of his DC United squad suggests more of the same however, and the 33-year-old may be in for his share of struggles this upcoming season.
A substantial part of the coach’s role is communicating a vision to eleven players who can’t see inside their head. A great manager has in his arsenal a bevy of intangible talents, none of which can be clearly defined. Newcomer Olsen will quickly learn whether he can turn his plan for the team into success on the pitch in the hotbed of one of the MLS’s most successful clubs. If he can, it will strike another small nail in the coffin of the notion that experience is a must for a head coach in the MLS.
