D.C. United ended its season on Saturday in the same fashion it has for most of the past decade: with a losing record and well outside the MLS playoff picture.
The team’s 1-0 loss to New York City FC closed United’s season with a 7-15-12 record, second-worst in the Eastern Conference. The team’s 33 points were also the second lowest among all MLS teams, with Kansas City and Montreal both being tied at 26. United’s last win was a 2-1 win against the Red Bulls on Oct. 14 — it ended the year on a six-game losing streak.
After Saturday’s defeat, coach René Weiler pointed to a lack of depth as one of the team’s main issues.
“The team proved to be on a good level when everybody is ready to play, but we don’t have this massive squad,” he said. “As you saw today, our opponent — they changed, during the game, and the players that came in, there was a lot of quality. It’s not that I don’t believe in the quality of my squad, but it has to be deeper. More players on a very good level, because it’s tough to compete equally with opponents. And that is something we have to try to make better in the future.”
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But the club struggles extend far beyond this season. United hasn’t posted a winning season since 2019 — the second and final year with England legend Wayne Rooney on the roster. D.C. last won a playoff game in 2015, when it advanced to the conference semifinals, and won the most recent of its four MLS titles in 2004.
Weiler showed a small improvement in his second season leading the team, improving its win total by two and point total by seven after a rough 2025.
The team has not had a traditional general manager since Ally Mackay departed the club a year ago. Erkut Sogut, a former player agent, has been the club’s managing director of soccer operations since Mackay left. The current ownership group, led by Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, bought the club in 2012.
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