AEG only spent aggressively on LA and NY. They lost a TON of cash investing in those markets. Their losses in the San Jose years are minute by comparison but they used those minute losses to justify moving the team. They would have done the same thing with DC if they couldn’t find a buyer. They were not willing to invest in DC or spend money there.

If Moore was such a great GM, why has his name never resurfaced when other clubs are looking for a new person at that position? Where was he when Chivas, RSL, and Toronto all had disastrous seasons to start their existence?

I also see Lalas differently. I think he was too bumbling to be AEG’s hatchet man. Ultimately, I see the move to Houston as involving a lot more disinterest rather than a series of well-executed, cruel plans.

I think the San Jose situation and the DC situation were very, very different, and I don’t think AEG (or any successful large corporation) goes around with a single plan to deal with any problems. I’m not 100% certain that they’d show Payne more respect, but I find the idea more likely than them tossing aside someone they had trusted to run the club for them up to the purchase.

I intended this story to be focused on on-field developments - i.e. Would United be a better team with AEG as their owners.

But I can see from the comments that stadium talk is still the hottest issue concerning this team. Noted.

DC was the home of the original MLS victim of success, so I know the pattern well. At a certain point, your stars require too many raises to fit under the cap. Your promising younger players draw interest from abroad. Inevitably, holding the group together becomes impossible, and rather than managing a strong group you’re back to putting the pieces together.

If Houston forces those players to stay, they a) are more likely to be shadows of themselves because they’re unhappy (see several Revs players, as well as Kljestan after his Celtic move fell through last year) and b) leave for free at the first opportunity. That strategy has long-term consequences, too: Don’t think for a second that MLS players aren’t fully aware of how playing for someone like New England impacts their future. If you draw foreign interest, you will almost certainly lose a season or two of high earning potential and all the professional interest (prestige, bigger challenge, etc) that go with it because you’re playing for an MLS team that doesn’t realize their place in the world soccer food chain.

I see your point about AEG being more willing to make changes, but they had a very close relationship with Payne when they were the owner here. I think they would have fired Kasper sometime last year, and probably done a better job on the coaching search once Soehn departed, but I think Payne would have stayed on.

You’re right that we need a change higher up the chain than at coach, but I think Payne can be part of a successful president/GM/coach combination. I’m not saying he must stay, but I feel like our biggest weak spot is at GM. Talent scouting and acquisition are the big problems, and Payne isn’t the one jetting off to Argentina to watch scrimmages and training sessions. That’s Kasper’s deal, and that’s where things have gone wrong.

“Again, just my opinion. I know that type of change is hard for a team with a long history, but it was a full clean house that was needed for RSL”

RSL got lucky… they were a .500 club that got hot in the playoffs and got lucky that the best American soccer player in history missed his PK.

Cleaning house means nuking everything and starting over. Does DC need that? They already just fired their coach and brought in Olsen, a former DC hero with zero coaching experience. We’ve seen the former hero-as-coach fail in numerous examples… see Alan Shearer at Newcastle 2 seasons ago or Gianfranco Zola at West Ham last season. So if that’s what “cleaning house” means then I’m not sure it’s going to work well for DC. They have a couple solid pieces including Najar, nuking the program by firing everyone might destabilize the progress they could make by building a team around Najar.