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dcunited.com: Hello everyone, this is Tony Limarzi on dcunited.com. Joining us now is D.C. United head coach Curt Onalfo. Curt thank you for joining us, opening day is less than a month away, now. How would you assess the Bradenton portion of the pre-season?
Onalfo: Well, first of all, thanks for having me. I hope you're doing well, hope everybody in D.C. is doing well.
dcunited.com: We're O.K., a little cold, but we're O.K.
Onalfo: Yeah. We've just concluded two and a half weeks of pre-season training here in Bradenton and I'm real pleased with the progress. We've put a lot of hard sessions in on the field both physically, technically, and tactically. There's always a mental aspect of it as well when you have a long camp, but when you're in a cold weather climate it's really important to get out and get an extended period of time because it gives you a bit of an advantage getting these extra days in. So, the attitudes of the players were great. I feel like we improved every day. And we just ended two and a half weeks with two solid performances where we had two wins. One game was a 1-0 victory that had a whole bunch of chances but not the sharpest of finishing and the other game a 5-2 victory for us. So, we end on a real positive note and know that we still have a lot of work to do as we head back to D.C.
dcunited.com: You mentioned those two games; the final day in Bradenton was a little crazy with two matches being played at the same time. How were you able to monitor both games and do you think you got a good sense of what you're players are doing now?
Onalfo: For me, we're four weeks into our pre-season and it's important to build a fitness base during that time and build guys up to 90 minutes and the plan today was to get as many players as possible 90 minutes. That's exactly what we accomplished. We have a big coaching staff and I kind of watched both games as they were going on and was pleased with the performance and with the progress we're making. Having said that, we know we have a lot to improve on. And that's all part of a new team, creating a new identity and everything else, but so far we're pleased with how we're moving forward.
dcunited.com: With so many new faces, on your staff, and also with the players on the roster at this time, what can you say about the team's chemistry at this point?
Onalfo: I would say it's a good chemistry. There's a hard-working attitude amongst the group. Any time you're away for an extended period of time guys get to know each other better and there's a nice balance of enjoying ourselves and having smiles on our face and making sure that we're working hard on the field.
dcunited.com: There were two major player signings for D.C. United, Christian Castillo and Danny Allsopp. Neither player has had the benefit of being fully fit throughout this Bradenton session, but what are some of the positives you've seen from those two guys?
Onalfo: First with Christian- Christian is a very very technical player. He's actually very good tactically also on both sides of the ball. He's somebody that is a very exciting left-sided player. Having said that, he's still gaining his fitness; he's probably three or four weeks away from being 90-minute game fit and that's all part of it. But he's incorporated nicely, he's trained about ten days with us down here, and he's gotten better each day. He's an exciting player and we expect a lot out of him this season. In regards to Danny Allsopp, Danny is a target forward. He's coming off four weeks of an off-season so his legs have been a little bit heavy which is to be expected to start. He's trained about two weeks and again, same thing his sharpness has gotten better with each day and he brings a hard working attitude and a positive energy to our locker room as well.
dcunited.com: When you were announced as D.C. United's head coach, and you touched on this too, you said that one goal was to make sure the team gets better every day, at this point through this session in Bradenton are you satisfied with that aspect of the team?
Onalfo: Yeah, and I would bring it one step further. I also said that I wanted to build a team that conceded less goals, because at the end of the day, if you give up less goals you're going to win more games. That's been a major point of emphasis with getting Troy Perkins in goal and then just playing with a consistent back four and really understanding how to move defensively and that's been real positive. Really, since the goal that we gave up against Columbus in the 7th minute in our first pre-season game to now, the kind of first group has not conceded a goal since. So, that stuff is really positive because the less goals you give up, like I said- it keeps you in more games. It's just now a matter of us getting a little more in sync in terms of our attack. We need to get more service in the box and just be sharper in front of the goal. Today, I thought was a good example of getting a lot of chances and just not having that sharpness which is typical four weeks in. Over the next two to three weeks we really have to find tune that and make sure that we continue to look better in the attacking third.
dcunited.com: Everyone is very much looking forward to March 27th, opening day as D.C. United travels to Kansas City, thank you so for your time Curt.
Onalfo: You're welcome. Take Care.
