From the Insider: D.C. United's scrimmage against NCAA champion Maryland on Sunday has been finalized: Ludwig Field, 1 p.m., free admission.
The two teams of my namesake on the field at the same time? I will be there.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The preseason to date
With 3 preseason games behind us (the 4-1 loss to Vejle Boldklub, the 2-1 win over Columbus, and the 2-1 win over Puerto Rico) and 3 more to go, let's take a look at what we've learned.
Here's what I care about in the preseason:
1. Who played well
2. Who played where
Here's what I don't care about:
1. Who played when
2. The final score
So with that in mind, here's some observations from the preseason to date.
1. DC United has a wealth of good options at forward, and with the return of Christian Gomez, should be one of the top scoring teams in the league. New signing Ange N'Silu has played at least a half in all three matches, including scoring the only goal in the Vejle loss. With Moreno and Emilio set to start, and N'Silu, Doe, and Pontius coming off the bench, United has a good number of goal scorers.
2. With so many forwards on the roster, it seems likely that Chris Pontius and Thabiso Khumalo will see more time on the wings. Pontius played a half at right mid yesterday, and a full 90 at left mid in the opening match. Khumalo failed to see action yesterday, but played a half at right mid in each of the first two matches. Also, for those of us who used to enjoy seeing Quaranta playing the withdrawn forward role, that won't happen much in 2009 with Tino appearing set to be our starter on the right side of midfield.
3. The backup goalkeeper job is still up for grabs. Most of us thought that Milos Kocic was a lock to wrap up this position, and maybe even supplant Crayton as the starter at some point in the season. But DC is continuing to bring in more trialists to compete, including Nic Platter who played the full match between the pipes, giving up only a PK goal yesterday. Kocic has given up 4 goals this preseason, compared to only 2 by Thorpe, and 1 by Platter.
4. The starting defense is set. Straight from the mouth of Kevin Payne, "Namoff, Burch, McTavish and Janicki have all come into camp in great shape and seem intent on ensuring that no one takes their job!" With the probability that we won't be acquiring any new foreign talent until the summer, this will be our starting lineup, with only the backup positions up for grabs, with Dominic Mediate, Kyle Veris, Mamadou Danso, Anthony Peters, Mike Zaher, and Ryan Miller all competing for roster spots.
5. I'm starting to like our chances of competing this year. I expect Columbus and Chicago to once again be the best teams in the East, but even our mediocre backline is no worse than that of New York, Kansas City, and a Parkhurst-less New England. And our offsense is probably better.
Here's what I care about in the preseason:
1. Who played well
2. Who played where
Here's what I don't care about:
1. Who played when
2. The final score
So with that in mind, here's some observations from the preseason to date.
1. DC United has a wealth of good options at forward, and with the return of Christian Gomez, should be one of the top scoring teams in the league. New signing Ange N'Silu has played at least a half in all three matches, including scoring the only goal in the Vejle loss. With Moreno and Emilio set to start, and N'Silu, Doe, and Pontius coming off the bench, United has a good number of goal scorers.
2. With so many forwards on the roster, it seems likely that Chris Pontius and Thabiso Khumalo will see more time on the wings. Pontius played a half at right mid yesterday, and a full 90 at left mid in the opening match. Khumalo failed to see action yesterday, but played a half at right mid in each of the first two matches. Also, for those of us who used to enjoy seeing Quaranta playing the withdrawn forward role, that won't happen much in 2009 with Tino appearing set to be our starter on the right side of midfield.
3. The backup goalkeeper job is still up for grabs. Most of us thought that Milos Kocic was a lock to wrap up this position, and maybe even supplant Crayton as the starter at some point in the season. But DC is continuing to bring in more trialists to compete, including Nic Platter who played the full match between the pipes, giving up only a PK goal yesterday. Kocic has given up 4 goals this preseason, compared to only 2 by Thorpe, and 1 by Platter.
4. The starting defense is set. Straight from the mouth of Kevin Payne, "Namoff, Burch, McTavish and Janicki have all come into camp in great shape and seem intent on ensuring that no one takes their job!" With the probability that we won't be acquiring any new foreign talent until the summer, this will be our starting lineup, with only the backup positions up for grabs, with Dominic Mediate, Kyle Veris, Mamadou Danso, Anthony Peters, Mike Zaher, and Ryan Miller all competing for roster spots.
5. I'm starting to like our chances of competing this year. I expect Columbus and Chicago to once again be the best teams in the East, but even our mediocre backline is no worse than that of New York, Kansas City, and a Parkhurst-less New England. And our offsense is probably better.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Stupid speculation
I drive past RFK Stadium two nights a week between work and school. After driving past last night, I have some breaking news to report. Not only have the large banners featuring Peralta and Gallardo been removed, but the banner of Ben Olsen is also missing! Could this be the first sign that he is set to retire? Maybe he told the RFK Maintenance Crew but hasn't told the coaching staff yet? The banners of Simms, Fred, Moreno, and Emilio remain.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sacrificing the future?
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but with Ownership's threats against Dave Kasper and Tom Soehn if the team fails to perform in 2009, it appears that they may have gone and sacrificed the future in favor of one last chance to shine. The truth is, I reckon there is greater than a 50% chance that Christian Gomez, Jaime Moreno, and Ben Olsen will all retire following this season. And without these three future DC United Hall of Fame members, there will be even more pressure on the front office next year.
At least it seems like management is already starting to learn to appreciate the draft a bit more. The recent selections of Chris Pontius, Andrew Jacobson, Rodney Wallace, and Milos Kocic all have tremendous potential. But then why throw away a second round pick in the Gomez trade? With all the raving Kasper has done about Kocic, you would think he'd finally realize that these picks can actually have value.
With the moves this offseason, the front office has completely erased every foreign acquisition and rookie that played last year. But there are also some other consequences to this failed foreign. With the loss of Guerrero and the inability to procure Roger, I'm afraid that we're in the process of stunting the growth of Devon McTavish and Marc Burch. Both appear destined to be stuck in defense for the entirety of the 2009 season, even though each is probably better suited for the midfield. Ever since his scoring streak in March 2008, I've been hoping to see McTavish return to right midfield, but that looks to be impossible without any cover at center back.
I actually believe that our roster right now is stronger than it was in 2008. And we only missed the playoffs by 2 points in 2008. So this year should see a return to the playoffs, and we know as well as anyone that everyone in the playoffs has a chance of reaching the Cup. It's just hard to picture what our roster will look like a year from now.
At least it seems like management is already starting to learn to appreciate the draft a bit more. The recent selections of Chris Pontius, Andrew Jacobson, Rodney Wallace, and Milos Kocic all have tremendous potential. But then why throw away a second round pick in the Gomez trade? With all the raving Kasper has done about Kocic, you would think he'd finally realize that these picks can actually have value.
With the moves this offseason, the front office has completely erased every foreign acquisition and rookie that played last year. But there are also some other consequences to this failed foreign. With the loss of Guerrero and the inability to procure Roger, I'm afraid that we're in the process of stunting the growth of Devon McTavish and Marc Burch. Both appear destined to be stuck in defense for the entirety of the 2009 season, even though each is probably better suited for the midfield. Ever since his scoring streak in March 2008, I've been hoping to see McTavish return to right midfield, but that looks to be impossible without any cover at center back.
I actually believe that our roster right now is stronger than it was in 2008. And we only missed the playoffs by 2 points in 2008. So this year should see a return to the playoffs, and we know as well as anyone that everyone in the playoffs has a chance of reaching the Cup. It's just hard to picture what our roster will look like a year from now.
Analysis of the Gomez trade
It's so rare to have a trade that affects every single facet of the team: from goalkeeper to the attack to the draft. And you just get the feeling that this is one of those moments that we'll look back on and say whether it made or broke the season.
When Colorado and DC made a trade last offseason, you can't really say that either team won on that deal, because both missed the playoffs. Resetting back to 2007, and with all money and roster implications aside, the trades boil down to DC getting Chris Pontius and Mike Graczyk, and Colorado getting Ivan Guerrero and a 2009 2nd round draft pick. That in itself would not be a terrible trade when you consider Pontius's star potential. But when you look at how desperate the Rapids should be to get rid of Gomez, it sure looks like United gave up too much. But in the end, these back-and-forth trades may have played an instrumental role in keeping Emilio with the team.
Let's look now about how this affects the different parts of our team:
Goalkeeper: The most puzzling part of this whole situation is the involvement of Mike Graczyk. On the surface, it appears that he would be here to compete with James Thorpe for the third goalkeeper spot. But that's a position that so rarely sees any playing time, it shouldn't matter much to us, right? I have a bad feeling that there's more to this. The Graczyk vs. Thorpe competition becomes much more meaningful if the club knows something we don't. This makes me worry about that either Kocic or Crayton might not be in the team's plans through the entire 2009 season. Don't forget also that we've already cut our fourth-string goalkeeper Quavas Kirk!
Defense: Prior to this weekend, I was pretty content with our defensive situation for the first time in over a year. We actually had some depth! Our starting lineup could look like Namoff-Roger-Janicki-Burch one day, and Namoff-McTavish-Burch-Guerrero the next. But with the failure to sign Roger and the dealing of Guerrero, our only decent starting lineup is Namoff-McTavish-Janicki-Burch. And our only depth consists of two not-yet-ready-for-primetime left backs (Wallace, Zaher) and one utility guy (Mediate) who can play either centrally or on the right.
Midfield: I was just getting used to the idea of our potential starting lineup including a defensive midfielder (Simms) and a holding midfielder (Jacobson), which would allow our two wingers (Fred, Quaranta) to have a bit more freedom getting forward. But with a defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder (Gomez) instead, the wingers have more defensive responsibilities, which Fred and Quaranta aren't the best suited to handle. This would be ok if we could occassionally start some wingers that can play both sides of the ball, but we've gone and traded away Guerrero, and McTavish and Burch will be needed in defense full time.
Offense: Simply put, Gomez should score more goals than Gallardo, and is better for our team than Gallardo. Assuming Gomez is closer to his 2007 level than his 2008 level. His return should also put Emilio back in the chase for the Golden Boot. I would expect to see Moreno's production drop off a bit, but let's also not forget that it was this formation that earned Ben Olsen 7 goals and 7 assists in 2007.
Substitutes: Between Gomez, Moreno, and Olsen, United now has 3 potential starters who won't be able to play much more than 60 minutes a game. That really hampers our substitute situation. I've got much more to say about these three veterans and analysis of our offseason. Stay tuned for more later tonight or tomorrow.
When Colorado and DC made a trade last offseason, you can't really say that either team won on that deal, because both missed the playoffs. Resetting back to 2007, and with all money and roster implications aside, the trades boil down to DC getting Chris Pontius and Mike Graczyk, and Colorado getting Ivan Guerrero and a 2009 2nd round draft pick. That in itself would not be a terrible trade when you consider Pontius's star potential. But when you look at how desperate the Rapids should be to get rid of Gomez, it sure looks like United gave up too much. But in the end, these back-and-forth trades may have played an instrumental role in keeping Emilio with the team.
Let's look now about how this affects the different parts of our team:
Goalkeeper: The most puzzling part of this whole situation is the involvement of Mike Graczyk. On the surface, it appears that he would be here to compete with James Thorpe for the third goalkeeper spot. But that's a position that so rarely sees any playing time, it shouldn't matter much to us, right? I have a bad feeling that there's more to this. The Graczyk vs. Thorpe competition becomes much more meaningful if the club knows something we don't. This makes me worry about that either Kocic or Crayton might not be in the team's plans through the entire 2009 season. Don't forget also that we've already cut our fourth-string goalkeeper Quavas Kirk!
Defense: Prior to this weekend, I was pretty content with our defensive situation for the first time in over a year. We actually had some depth! Our starting lineup could look like Namoff-Roger-Janicki-Burch one day, and Namoff-McTavish-Burch-Guerrero the next. But with the failure to sign Roger and the dealing of Guerrero, our only decent starting lineup is Namoff-McTavish-Janicki-Burch. And our only depth consists of two not-yet-ready-for-primetime left backs (Wallace, Zaher) and one utility guy (Mediate) who can play either centrally or on the right.
Midfield: I was just getting used to the idea of our potential starting lineup including a defensive midfielder (Simms) and a holding midfielder (Jacobson), which would allow our two wingers (Fred, Quaranta) to have a bit more freedom getting forward. But with a defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder (Gomez) instead, the wingers have more defensive responsibilities, which Fred and Quaranta aren't the best suited to handle. This would be ok if we could occassionally start some wingers that can play both sides of the ball, but we've gone and traded away Guerrero, and McTavish and Burch will be needed in defense full time.
Offense: Simply put, Gomez should score more goals than Gallardo, and is better for our team than Gallardo. Assuming Gomez is closer to his 2007 level than his 2008 level. His return should also put Emilio back in the chase for the Golden Boot. I would expect to see Moreno's production drop off a bit, but let's also not forget that it was this formation that earned Ben Olsen 7 goals and 7 assists in 2007.
Substitutes: Between Gomez, Moreno, and Olsen, United now has 3 potential starters who won't be able to play much more than 60 minutes a game. That really hampers our substitute situation. I've got much more to say about these three veterans and analysis of our offseason. Stay tuned for more later tonight or tomorrow.
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