New D.C. United Chief Soccer Officer & GM Ally Mackay, in accepting a four-year contract offer two weeks ago, has "embarked on another long journey: rehabbing an organization that has fallen from MLS aristocracy to afterthought," according to Steven Goff of the WASHINGTON POST. His responsibilities include "hiring a head coach, installing a winning culture, identifying and acquiring players, integrating the youth academy with the first team and setting the course" after four years without a playoff berth, eight without a playoff victory and 19 since winning its fourth MLS Cup title in the league’s first nine seasons. Mackay, who previously served as Nashville SC Assistant GM, said, “It’s part of the allure. The easy thing for me would have been staying in Nashville. You want to try in any aspect to push yourself.” Goff noted at 37, Mackay is one of MLS’s "youngest decision-makers," and will, "in essence, take the reins from Dave Kasper, who was reassigned to senior consultant after overseeing the player personnel department with a variety of titles for more than 20 years." United CEO Jason Levien said Kasper is “going to be in the room when we’re making decisions, but it’s going to be Ally’s show." Levien: “It’s an injection of new energy, of new ideas. We have got to capitalize on it. It’s great to feel that way. It’s another thing to get the kind of results we want to get.” He added that he was "drawn to Mackay because of his work in helping build expansion Nashville from the ground up" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/28).
