DC United has announced Curt Onalfo as the team's new head coach, and I'm having a hard time getting excited about it.

Actually the emotion I'm feeling would be better described as "relief".

I don't know if the team is necessarily "settling" for Onalfo, but I'm relieved to have the coaching search done and behind us.  Exciting or not, Curt Onalfo is certainly well qualified, and should be a capable coach for our immediate future.

What worries me a little is that Kevin Payne is citing Onalfo's "fluency in Spanish" and "familiarity with our community" as two of his positive traits.  Sure, those things are nice, but neither was necessarily a box that needed to be checked during the decision process.  Curt Onalfo's resume might be impressive (he's been a player, a national team assistant, an MLS assistant, and an MLS head coach), but I'm still waiting for someone to point out something good about Onalfo that wouldn't be found on his resume.  Something intangible.  Like how he's a great motivator, or how he has innovative drills focused on developing certain abilities.  Anything!

Still, I've got my fingers crossed.  And I'm confident that Curt Onalfo will be able to return DC United to the playoffs where they belong.

We demand more than that though.  We demand cups.  Time will tell soon enough if Curt Onalfo will be the man to help deliver them.