With Ben Olsen recently returning from a scouting trip to Europe, United’s offseason international evaluations are in full swing. Over the past week, Assistant Coaches Chad Ashton and Pat Onstad were checking out players in Africa and South America, respectively.
Now the Black-and-Red will have a technical staff representative in Asia, as General Manager Dave Kasper meets up with D.C. United Executive Chairman Will Chang. We caught up with Kasper prior to his departure for Tokyo, asking him about the nature of his visit to the Land of the Rising Sun.
Thanks for joining us, Dave. How did the scouting trip to Japan come about?
[The trip came about] through Major League Soccer. We received the invitation to attend a J. League combine for pre-entry players, which will take two weeks in Japan. There will be 70 players or so who are out of contract playing in the combine.
Who else will be representing D.C. United on this trip?
I will be going there to meet Will Chang. Will is part owner of a third division Japanese club named FC Machida Zelvia, and the team is pretty close to getting promoted to J. League Division Two. Will has been associated with them for the past two to three years. I was in China three or four years ago, but this is my first time in Japan.
There have been comparisons between the Japanese League and MLS. What are your thoughts on the level of play in Japan and how your trip might benefit D.C. United?
They play at a high level; it’s a good league. Players are both athletic and technical, and they have a very good work ethic. It will be interesting to evaluate and talk to players.
With Ben Olsen going to Europe, Chad Ashton to Ghana, and Pat Onstad to South America, are you expecting any more scouting trips?
We are thinking about one more trip, but we will be pretty much done [with traveling] after that. There are a number of players on our list right now that will be getting an invitation to preseason.
