What D.C. United sees in new coach Troy Lesesne
He needs to connect with returning players as they prepare to report to camp in Washington this weekend. He’s working with the front office on plans for a preseason trip to Saudi Arabia and formulating a style of play.
New to the area, Lesesne and his wife, Amanda — both former College of Charleston players — must find a home suitable for them and their two young daughters.
The South Carolina native is just 40, but after working in the coaching ranks for almost half his life, mostly at the NCAA level and lower pro tiers, Lesesne is embracing the cyclone of responsibility that comes with his first permanent gig in charge of an MLS team.
Two months removed from an interim spell with the New York Red Bulls, Lesesne last week agreed to a three-year contract to oversee a D.C. side that parted ways with Wayne Rooney in October.
“I felt like the body of work I displayed — not only in 2023 but really over the course of my coaching career — at least allowed me to get into those conversations finally” about becoming an MLS head coach, Lesesne said in an interview at Audi Field.
Lesesne put himself into those conversations by revitalizing the Red Bulls following Gerhard Struber’s sacking in May. A second-year assistant, Lesesne posted a 10-9-4 record in the interim role, including a 4-1-0 finish, to earn a playoff berth. The Red Bulls then defeated Charlotte before falling to top-seeded Cincinnati.
He defeated United three times — twice in the regular season and in the U.S. Open Cup, his debut in May.
After the season, however, the organization decided against retaining him.
“I never was under any kind of preconceived notion I would be kept on for an extended amount of time,” Lesesne said. “I was hopeful that if it went well there would be that conversation. With two months left, I felt like I knew the direction they would probably go in, and that was okay with me. I was grateful for the opportunity to showcase what I’m capable of.”
Lesesne said he interviewed for multiple jobs before agreeing to become the 10th coach in United’s 28-year history and the third since Ben Olsen’s 10-year reign ended in late 2020. The club has missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons and hasn’t won a postseason game since 2015.
“The soccer community really saw what Troy did with the Red Bulls last year under not the most straightforward of circumstances,” United General Manager Ally Mackay said. “When you’re rebuilding something, I saw someone in Troy that I want to work with, someone that will approach the job in the same manner as I do, which is trying to reestablish D.C. within the league.”
United interviewed several candidates with more head coaching experience, including Domènec Torrent, who has guided New York City FC, Brazil’s Flamengo and Turkey’s Galatasaray after a long tenure assisting Pep Guardiola at big clubs.
Aside from the temporary job with the Red Bulls, Lesesne’s only other work in a leading role was a three-year stint with second-division New Mexico United. Previously, he was an assistant for College of Charleston, third-tier Charleston Battery and third- and second-division Charlotte Independence.
Mackay said he was not dissuaded by Lesesne’s head coaching inexperience.
“Troy is someone I know for sure will make progress daily,” Mackay said. “He’s someone that works too hard and he’s too detailed to not make progress. Again, that’s a person I want to work with. That’s someone I believe in.”
Mackay and Lesesne are not expecting an immediate turnaround. The starting points are realigning the team philosophy and creating a winning environment, Lesesne said.
“Before we can get to talking about making the playoffs, there’s many steps that have to be put in place first,” he added. “When we play [the season opener] Feb. 24, there’s some different things I want to have in place and you can see clearly from the team, but it’s a long season. By no means on Feb. 24 is it a finished product.”
He will work with a roster that has yet to receive a major boost since finishing 10-14-10 last year. The only notable signing was Brazilian playmaker Gabriel Pirani, who was on loan for the last part of the 2023 season.
Lesesne said the roster “has more potential probably than it has tapped into.”
He said he will embrace the experience of Christian Benteke, Steven Birnbaum and Russell Canouse and the potential of young charges such as Ted Ku-DiPietro, Kristian Fletcher and Matai Akinmboni.
“They absolutely can handle playing at this level,” Lesesne said of the prospects.
How does he want his team to play?
“We’re going to be aggressive, and we’re going to be creative,” Lesesne said. “… It depends sometimes on what the best tactical decision is for the group, but aggressive — very aggressive.”
Lesesne said he sees similarities in what he did with the Red Bulls and what he will try to do with United.
“There was a lot of adversity in that scenario last year, to be able to take a team that was in last place to get them into the playoffs,” he said. “That’s also the experience now that I bring to D.C. in a situation that’s not too dissimilar. There’s a lot of parallels in terms of where this organization currently is and where we all want it to go and know it can go.”
