Chad Ashton will be back behind the D.C. United bench as interim coach Saturday night as they play host to the New England Revolution in Washington, D.C.
D.C. let coach Hernan Losada go Wednesday amidst a four-game losing streak in the league. Losada spent 41 games behind the bench in D.C. with a 17-19-5 record. United currently sits in 14th (last place) in the Eastern Conference.
Ashton, who was an assistant under Losada, has previous experience as interim coach for D.C. United (2-4-0, 6 points) after replacing former coach Ben Olsen for the final seven matches of the 2020 MLS season. D.C. went 3-3-1 during his stint.
“Chad, I think, has a great relationship with everybody and has developed that as an assistant coach,” defender Julian Gressel said. “I think he wants to continue that as a head coach. That’s what he’s expressed to us.”
Gressel was asked about if the joy of playing soccer had suffered under the dismissed coach.
“Maybe, yeah,” Gressel said. “I’ve talked about this, how life wasn’t easy at times and it was very demanding. Bringing that joy back and maybe loosening some of those restrictions will kind of get guys to really enjoy coming to training more and more.”
D.C. United lost to Austin FC 3-2 at Audi Field last Saturday after Ola Kamara gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before getting his second yellow card in first-half injury time. Austin scored three goals in the game’s final 10 minutes plus injury time.
New England (2-4-1, 7 points) snapped a four-game losing streak of its own with a 2-1 home victory over Charlotte FC. Adam Buksa and Matt Polster scored for the Revs.
Head coach Bruce Arena was happy to get the win but is determined to not let it go to his players’ heads.
“I’m happy it was tonight rather than a month down the road,” Arena said after the win. “You know, winning is important for teams … But I do know that there are a lot more games ahead, so you can’t be getting too high or too low at this point.”
The Revolution have struggled on the road this campaign, posting an 0-2-1 record so far, while D.C. United have gone just 1-3-0 at home.
Carles Gil could be key for New England. Gil has contributed to three of the Revs’ five away goals this season (two goals, one assist).
–Field Level Media
