DC United president and CEO Kevin Payne has explained the club's decision to end head coach Curt Onalfo's tenure.
The 40-year old Brazilian-born American was dismissed from his post on Wednesday and Payne admitted that he had lost the players as the club had slumped to the bottom of their conference table.
"It looked that way at the end. That was one of the main reasons that we ended up making the decision," Payne told the Washington Post.
"The players just didn't seem to be responding. Honestly, I think that is more of a failing on the part of the players than on Curt's part, but at the end of the day, you have to do something to change."
Payne was also quizzed on the length of the contract the club originally signed Onalfo for but said his hands were tied to make a decision based on the best interests of DC United.
"It's such a tough job being a coach. It's appropriate for coaches to have a level of security. What I regret is that things have gone the way they have gone. I fully expected Curt to see out his three years. Curt is a good man and a good coach and didn't deserve this. But I am convinced that we had to do this," he added.