MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – Bill Hamid says last season was “like being in heaven” as D.C. United roared to the Eastern Conference regular season title in the greatest one-year turnaround in MLS annals.
The 2014 Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Hamid credited an enhanced approach, key acquisitions and Ben Olsen’s maturation as manager for D.C.’s unprecedented reversal, which saw the club finish the regular season 17-9-8 just one year after posting the lowest win total in MLS history with a 3-24-7 campaign.
“[I attribute the turnaround to] the organization, the professionalism, the tactics, the approach from the players on a daily basis,” Hamid told reporters at MLS’s Media Day on Tuesday in Southern California. “You could tell guys came into the locker room and were focused on training, [that they] did the things they needed to do in the gym, watched the film -- we watched film religiously in 2014. And that helped.
“Those details, those small details that we took care of that we didn't necessarily take care of the previous year are the things that led to the success we had in 2014.”
United won the East by four points in the regular season, but lost to the rival New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference semifinals. While the year ended with no trophies, it was leaps and bounds more enjoyable for Hamid than the “absolute hell” D.C. endured in 2013.
“It was terrible,” he said. “We won the [U.S.] Open Cup. That's an amazing positive. But to finish in dead last place, to break records that you know no athletes ever wants to break, it was tough. So 2014 for me and for the club was an amazing year. It was a successful year regardless of no silverware, but it honestly was a very, very successful year.”
Hamid said his growth, especially in his ability to read the game, played an enormous role in D.C.'s defensive turnaround, as did the acquisitions of veteran center back Bobby Boswell and right back Sean Franklin and the strong performances of youngsters Steve Birnbaum and Taylor Kemp.
“I think just seeing what's about to happen and trying to put out that fire as soon as possible [was an advance in my game],” he said. “Helping my teammates as well. Trying to speak to them before the trouble comes instead of, 'Oh, the trouble's come, now tell them what they did wrong.' You're going to have to beat the play to the bunch, basically, as a goalkeeper [and] move your guys around to make sure they can put out that fire.”
Olsen's maturation also played a significant role, with the 37-year-old head coach rounding into form in his fourth full year in charge of the club.
“His growth has been amazing to see,” Hamid said, “because he's taken the job and he's learned so much, just the little things: of timing, of how we're supposed to play, how we're going to move the ball around, how we're going to play against certain teams.
“Figure out who you're playing against, figure out what they're strong in, weak in, bring it to us as players in the film, we then comprehend it, we now go onto the training pitch, he now puts things together in 11-v-11 games against our second team, and we figure out how we're going to play against this [opponent]. It was perfect.”
Hamid is hoping for more success in 2015, but he first must overcome a shoulder injury that kept him out of the U.S. national team's January camp. He's seen several doctors and is rehabbing, but after missing half a year while recovering from a 2010 surgery for a torn labrum, he doesn't want to go under the knife again.
“Rehab's going well,” he said. “Trying to keep it strong as possible, because for me, it's all about staying away from surgery. Surgery would keep me out way too long, and that's something that I can't afford, and I don't want to deal with right now. The club agrees. ... I think we're going in the right step right now, and once preseason starts I'll get going.”
