The 2018 MLS season didn’t look well for D.C. United. They had two wins in the first 14 games and were stuck at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Then the team secured a move for former Manchester United superstar Wayne Rooney, and their luck changed.
Since Rooney came to Washington, D.C. United started playing like a different team, managing 10 wins and collecting 33 points. The latest win against FC Dallas even moved them to a playoff spot with just three games left in the regular season.
According to Rooney, the reason why they managed to win Dallas in a close game is that the whole team is “thriving” on the pressure to get into playoffs.
“I think that’s where you want to be in soccer — to have these pressure moments,” – the 32-year-old striker told the reporters. “No one wants to be in the middle or the bottom of the league and just playing for the fun of it. You want pressure moments and to feel that pressure, it’s important what we’re doing. We’ve got that pressure and we’re thriving on it and we’re picking up results and wins.“
D.C. United is currently sixth in Eastern Conference with one point ahead of Montreal Impact on the seventh spot. The good news for United is that they also have one game less than Impact, which gives them more room for errors.
Rooney doesn’t want his team to satisfy themselves with making the playoffs as the last seeded team. He is already thinking about catching fifth-seeded Columbus Crew.
“We’ll have the game against New York City on Sunday,” – he added. “As I’ve said before, every game is a pressure game and if we can win Wednesday we know we’re three points away — regardless of what Montreal do — from making that last spot. And you never know, we could even catch Columbus, so we keep pushing and see where we finish.“
Since joining D.C. United in June 2018, Wayne Rooney played 16 games in Major League Soccer and managed to score nine goals while adding seven assists.
