The first roster reset of 2009

With the sudden flurry of activities reported by Goff from the RFK grounds, after a long and uneventful offseason to this point, this seems like as good a time as any to reset the roster. This was my bit before it was Fullback's! Changes from last month are in bold:

Senior roster (20 slots): 1 Emilio, 2 Moreno, 3 Doe, 4 Pontius, 5 Fred, 6 Quaranta, 7 Khumalo, 8 Guerrero, 9 Simms, 10 Vide, 11 Olsen, 12 Jacobson, 13 Burch, 14 McTavish, 15 Janicki, 16 Roger, 17 Crayton, 18 Wells Namoff. 2 slots remaining.

Developmental roster (4 slots): 1 Wallace (GA), 2 either Kocic or Thorpe. 2 slots remaining.

International players (assumed 8 slots): 1 Emilio, 2 Doe, 3 Fred, 4 Guerrero, 5 Roger, 6 Crayton. 2 slots remaining.

The big changes that just became official this week are the arrivals of the Brazilian center back Roger and Andrew Jacobson, and the departure of Gallardo. Other changes include the extension of our loan for Francis Doe, a fairly decent indication that Olsen will be back, and the addition of our two first round draft picks who are already under contract with MLS.

Still in the mix for Developmental spots: Brandon Barklage, Mike Zaher, Ryan Miller.
Still in the mix for Senior spots: Dom Mediate, Kyle Veris.

Is Gomez an upgrade over Gallardo?

It was just 12 months ago that I penned an entry asking the question: Is Gallardo an upgrade over Gomez? And our conclusion at the time was that although Gallardo wouldn't have the same numbers as Gomez did, he would ultimately benefit the team more. We figured that Gallardo probably wouldn't be able to guide United to its third sonsecuritve Supporters' Shield, but that he was brought here to make the team more competitive in international tournaments.

Well as it turns out, none of that was true. But now a year later, it's Christian Gomez that might be returning home and Marcello Gallardo that might be departing.

It's far too easy to build an argument that the 2007 Gomez was better than the 2008 Gallardo. But unfortunately those are not the players we get to choose between. We are actually choosing between the 2009 Gomez and 2009 Gallardo.

In reality though, this needs to be framed as two separate questions:
1. Are we better off with or without Gallardo?
2. If Gallardo were to leave, are we better off with or without Gomez?

Marcelo Gallardo clearly has a strong desire to return to Argentina, so I see no point in keeping him here to be unhappy. I just don't think we'll see the hard work out of him that will drive our team to victory.

I see the complete opposite out of Gomez. This is a guy with something to prove: to Colorado, to DC, to the fans. Gomez has a passion for this club that isn't easily replicated. And even though his fitness is a concern, and he shouldn't be asked to play 90 minutes or even start every match, he will still bring the attacking instincts we loved here for three years.

The question of whether or not to trade for Gomez also comes down to this: What other options do we have? Neither Fred nor Quaranta should be expected to be our starting center midfilder. We'll have a huge hole in our offense if we cut Gallardo loose without replacing him with another skilled CAM, and Gomez may be the only available option.

The departure of Gallardo should signal an admission by the front office that the previous offseason was a complete failure, because Gallardo will be the 5th of our 5 foreign acquisitions to be dismissed.

And the re-signing of Gomez should signal a return to normalcy. And maybe a return of the consistency we enjoyed in 2006 and 2007 that was so sorely lacking in 2008.

Reporting for duty

After a long boring winter solace with no new news of player acquisitions, we finally come upon the start of Training Camp 2009. We've got some fresh new faces, and some surprising absences. As Goff and BTB are reporting, the only new addition besides our draft picks is Kyle Veris, a 6'-3" defender who rode the bench in the Norwegian first division in 2008, last seen playing for that defensive juggernaut LA in 2007. Of our 5 draft picks, only defender Rodney Wallace, forward Chris Pontius, goalkeeper Milos Kocic, and midfielder Brandon Barklage are in camp, with defender Lyle Adams pursuing opportunities in Europe (hey - we knew it had to happen to at least one of these guys!).

But it's the conspicuously absent names of Ryan Cordeiro, Craig Thompson, Quavas Kirk, and Pat Carroll that has me upset the most.

I knew there would be some point during the season where we all complained about how terrible the MLS roster changes are, I just didn't think it would come this soon.

By cutting the developmental roster by 50% from 8 players to just 4, MLS is seriously limiting each team's ability to perform over the course of a full season. We all whined numerous times during 2008 about a lack of roster depth. And the league's reaction is to... trim rosters?

Here's a point for ya... Had the developmental roster only held 4 slots in previous years, Devon McTavish would not have been on the team. Same can probably be said for Marc Burch.

But United's reaction to the altered roster size is inexcusable. Why not at least invite Cordeiro, Thompson, Kirk, and Carroll to participate in the camp? This group of players contributed 769 minutes over the course on 28 appearances last season. Avid readers of this blog know that I fell in love with Ryan Cordeiro since the first day I saw him, which was when he scored the winning goal in extra time of the first Reserve division match last year. In his few appearances with the first team, he showed a lot of potential and I thought he was poised to be a bit more of a regular contributor this year. And what Craig Thompson lacked in size he made up for in effort.

Why not reward these guys for their efforts and at least give them a chance to qualify for the roster in 2009? Why not give Cordeiro a chance to push Pontius? Or Thompson to go head to head against Barklage? These kinds of competitions almost always result in both players playing better.

With the disappearance of Cordeiro, that means that not one of our draft picks from either of the past TWO seasons has remained on the roster for an entire year. Sarcastic claps to the Payne/Kasper/Soehn regime for that one. And the only rookie holdover from last season appears to be Mike Zaher. Nothing against either of them, but what did Zaher and Ryan Miller do so well to earn them camp invitations ahead of Carroll and Cordeiro?

I'm crossing my fingers that a few of these gents will be brought in later in camp, otherwise we bid them the best of luck finding new clubs. But with the way this offseason has gone, is anybody actually excited about the new season???

New Years Resolutions for 2009

Open Cup victory aside, 2008 was not a very memorable year for DC United. Surely there's something that the front office and coaching staff can learn from their mistakes during that forgettable year. So in stealing a page from Fullback's playbook, here's a little holiday themed post. The following are my recommendations for new year's resolutions for 2009:

1. Don't let good players get away. Last offseason saw the departure of three consistent starters from our roster, all of whom went on to better things after leaving DC. Troy Perkins, Bobby Boswell, and Brian Carroll were all impact players for their new teams in 2008. And let's not forget our former MVP Christian Gomez! The DC front office has already made strides to correct this issue by re-signing Clyde Simms, and extending the contracts of McTavish, Burch, and Quaranta. But they still need to finalize a deal with Bryan Namoff, and the club should also make a strong attempt to bring Francis Doe back next year as well.

2. Stay out of South America. The biggest story last offseason was our acquisition of five new players from South America. Well only one remains under contract today. Even though the continent has delivered us some great players in the past, the front office should learn that you can't just take a soccer player from abroad and drop him into your lineup and hope for the best. That's not to say that DC shouldn't acquire ANYONE from a foreign league this offseason. We just need to make sure he fits into our system. There was a willy-nilly feel to our foreign approach last season, and that needs to be corrected through additional scouting and interviewing.

3. Use your DPs wisely. Marcelo Gallardo and Luciano Emilio are both set to return as Designated Players in 2009. Each has the talent to be among the top players in MLS, but that didn't show in 2008. It will be Tom Soehn's task to find a way to bring the best out of both of them. Maybe that's by changing the formation, maybe that's by upgrading or shifting around the supporting cast. If Soehn can't find a way to translate our upper echelon talent into upper echelon results, he might be looking for another job in 2010.

4. Utilize the draft. As my previous post revealed, only 24% of United's roster was drafted by the team, as opposed to 45% of players in Houston and 44% of players in New England. In MLS, as in many other professional sports leagues, a key to victory can be to draft quality talent, raise them in your system, and retain them. As we've seen, that method has worked out very well for the Dynamo and Revolution, but United has instead opted to build through international acquisitions. It's fine that we pride ourselves in discovering players from foreign nations and bringing them to the league, but that doesn't mean that we can't also get more out of our draft picks. With two selections in the first round, and with an apparently strong draft class, including a trio of Genaration Adidas Terps, DC should absolutely be able to draft a couple guys who can contribute in 2009 and for years to come.

5. Bury the 3-5-2. Sure, this formation has worked occasionally for some MLS teams. But unfortunately no one who plays defense for DC will be confused for Michael Parkhurst anytime soon. The 3-5-2 isn't an altogether horrible formation, but without speedy defenders who can stay organized and won't get beaten easily, and without a group of wingers who can contribute on both sides of the ball, we just don't have the personnel to make it work. Early in the 2008 season, DC attempted a 3-5-2 formation far too often, and I don't want to see it in 2009.

6. Roster stability is the key. As most of the above points have shown us, it's tough to win when you're constantly bringing in new players without an eye for the system, failing to retain proven players, and not building around the guys who you've already got in place. In 2009, I'd like to see DC United return all of their starters, add at least two college players who we can count on for occassional minutes, and maybe one or two foreign acquisitions with a specific target role in mind.

Here's to a happy 2009! May it be full of wins, shields, and cups!