D.C. United finished 17-9-8 this season and ran away with the top seed in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. They boasted the best defense in the East and relied on savvy MLS veterans like
Chris Rolfe,
Davy Arnaud and
Fabian Espindola to lead an attack that created 52 goals, 30 more than they put on the board in 2013.
D.C. won just three MLS games last year before they retooled during the offseason, and then Olsen made the pieces fit. He melded veterans and a talented group of youngsters to spur a plus-43 point turnaround this year, the biggest point differential in league history.
Olsen was originally hired on an interim basis midway through the 2010 season before he was eventually given the job later that year. He led the club to the Eastern Conference Championship in 2012 and the US Open Cup title in 2013.