Mid-Season Review part 2: Departures

Continuing on in our mid-season review of DC United's roster decisions in the offseason, we move on to the departures. For this entry, our definition of "departure" will be any player who was on the club roster last season, but who is no longer under contract with the team, for reasons other than a trade with another MLS club.

1. Before the start of this season, I figured that it would be the replacement of Gomez with Gallardo as the decision that shaped United's immediate future As it turns out, the decision to sell Troy Perkins to a Norwegian club might actually have been more significant. I guess it's just part of DC United tradition not to keep any goalkeepers for more than a year or two. We've never had a constant back there like Reis and Onstad have been for their clubs (note: the two most successful teams the past 3 years). Simpson, Presthus, and Garlick were all here for too short a time. And of course it made sense at the time to let go of Rimando when Perkins had beaten him out for the starting job, but wouldn't we all love to have Nicky back right now? It's hard to put a number on the amount of wins it has cost us to lose Perkins. Because I can't think of any game specifically that we have lost due only to a poor performance by Zach Wells. But Troy was occasionally a game-changer when it came to making point-blank saves, and the defense as a whole was more composed and more organized with him in net. Perkins was vocal: not afraid to yell at Boswell for making a mistake. That's a trait I've never seen out of Wells. With so much change (and now so many injuries) to the back line this year, it would have made a huge difference to have a constant at the keeper position to keep it all together.

2. It was really unfortunate both to United and to Josh Gros when we learned that he would not be able to play this year. Even if he was never the most technically talented individual, his work rate was known and appreciated across the league. Josh could play both left wing and left midfield, and even though I'm not exactly sure where or if he would fit into our regular starting XI this year in competition with Burch, Quaranta, and McTavish, his consistent play would certainly have come in handy during this stretch of injuries. United would instantly be better were Gros to return to action, if only as an example of hard work. Some of our players would be well served to learn from Gros's dedication.

3. I struggled with whether to put this guy ahead of Gros or not, but lost in the expansion draft to Columbus through way of San Jose was Brian Carroll. I wrote way back when that Carroll was a "true United player", in the Joe Gibbs sense of the term "true Redskin". Like Gros, he had a good work ethic, and although he lost his starting job to Simms last year, BC certainly would have been getting plenty of playing time over the past month if was still with DC.

4. I would guess that Jay Nolly and his parents were probably the only people who were disappointed to hear that he got cut from the team when it happened. Nolly was not a very popular guy among United supporters. But he has been performing quite well for Vancouver this season, and would probably have provided more competition with Wells for the starting keeper job than Carvallo and Thorpe have. Nolly was only taking up a Developmental roster spot, so it wouldn't have taken much to keep him around. I never imagined 6 months ago that I would be talking about Jay Nolly as a significant loss.

5. Some occasional contributors to the first team who are no longer with DCU: Justin Moose, Stephen DeRoux, Nick Addlery, and Guy-Roland Kpene. Despite my constant inclinations to poke fun at Moose, I won't try to pretend that he or DeRoux have really been missed this year. They were useful utility men, but have been replaced fairly well by rookies like Thompson and Cordeiro. There was a brief time early in the year when Emilio was struggling that I kind of wished we'd had the aggressive Addlery around as a back up striker, but that role has now been filled admirably by a much younger Francis Doe. And as for Kpene's role as a semi-creative forward who doesn't know how to score? That was filled by Niell.

6. I've never spoken too highly of Bryan Arguez, but after being a first round pick last year, you would hope that he would have seen a bit of action with the first team this year. United's decision to sell him abroad for some good hard cash probably allowed them the allocation money to bring in los Gonzalos and the other new hires. I'd seen Arguez play in Reserve matches, and although tall, he always seemed clumsy and uninvested. Maybe he stepped it up when trying out for Hertha Berlin, otherwise I don't know what they saw in him. Regardless, central defensive midfield is not necessarily a position of need for us, so Arguez's departure still isn't very high on my list.

7. And finally a group of players who were on the roster last year but saw no time with the first team (and rightfully so): Jamil Walker, Mira Mupier, Jerson Monteiro, Brad North, and Shawn Crowe. You've got to feel bad for Walker, whose main attribute was speed, but never recovered enough from a leg injury to regain that speed. His years spent in a United uniform are not unappreciated, and we wish him luck with his career in the USL. Mupier and Monteiro were both forwards who had spent time previously with other MLS clubs, but both are now out of the league. North and Crowe just couldn't cut it.

Reserve Jeopardy

Answer: Friday April 18 at 10:00 am and Friday October 17 at 10:00 am

Question: What are the dates and times of two DC United Reserve Division matches?

That's true, but not quite the answer we were looking for.

Question: What are two days that I will be telling my boss that I have a "meeting" with some "customers" down at the "jobsite".

Correct!

Except that the "meeting" will be watching some exciting soccer up close and personal for free. And the "customers" will be some talented DC United players like Rod Dyachenko, Franco Niell, Jose Carvallo, etc. And the "jobsite" will be the auxiliary field outside RFK.

Anyone else trying to go? I'll be the guy sporting my new 3-stripe United hat, armed with a digital camera, writing furiously in my handy dandy notebook. If you've never been to a Reserve match, you should definitely check it out. Totally different experience from watching the match at RFK. You're so close that you can hear all the players talking to each other. And they can hear you. I remember at one game last year after Nick Addlery had shot a ball well over the goal (surprise, surprise), one dude in the bleachers said something like "Good try Nick. Let's try to keep it down next time." And Nick kind of waived in acknowledgment.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that it's FREE?

Franco Niell

The front office has had a pretty busy week down in Argentina. Goff reports, and it appears to be confirmed by Pasion Paternal, that Argentine forward Franco Niell will be joining DC United on a one-year loan for $60,000, with an option to buy for $900,000, pending a medical exam on January 24th.

$60,000 to loan this guy sounds like a great deal. There are doubts about his size and his recent statistics. But this guy should be in front of Kpene and Addlery on the depth chart just based on his nationality alone!

Whether Moreno is back this year or not, I'm excited about this deal. If Jaime is playing for one more year, then Niell should provide quality relief, as Jaime will certainly not be playing many 90 minute games. If Moreno is outie, then Niell could potentially be a starter next to Emilio, although then I hope that we still pursue one additional forward. That or Kevin Payne needs to invent a way to somehow combine each of the positive attributes of Rod and Guy and Nick into a single player.

Roster analysis

First of all, here's a link to what the Fullback wants for Christmas. That's required reading for all DCU fans this offseason.

Secondly, with all the recent roster moves, and with the rule changes for 2008, I think it's time that we reset and take a look at where we currently stand.

The rule changes seem to be pretty minor in relation to DCU, and probably most other teams in the league. The biggest changes are that there is no longer any distinction between "Senior Internationals" and "Youth Internationals", and that teams can now trade international slots in player deals.

I don't see this change having any effect on DC United. At season's end, we've only got 3 international players (Emilio, Fred, Gomez), and they all fall under the "Senior" classification anyway. The only way it could affect us is that DC now has the opportunity to trade away a couple of their extra international slots if they want, and if there is a market for them (doubtful).

What has not changed is the basic breakdown of 18 senior roster players and 10 developmental roster players. Straight from the MLS Roster Composition page: "Developmental players can be either domestic or international and must be 24 years of age (goalkeepers may be 25) or younger during the calendar year of competition." But a team can also elect to promote a player 24 or younger to the Senior roster, as DC United did for Devon McTavish and Marc Burch this year.

Of course all of this could change at any moment, but acting under the assumption that Moreno will return, that Gomez and Vanney will work out a deal, and that Gros will retire, we currently have:

• (3) players with "Developmental" status (Arguez, J. Carroll, Monteiro)
  
• (19) players with "Senior" status

Uh oh.

And that's before United makes any other acquisitions.

So what does that mean for United? It means that we're already one player over the limit on the Senior roster, and it means that we will have to cut one player for every new player over age 24 that is signed in the offseason. This is because we've got 4 players (DeRoux, Dyachenko, Kpene, Moose) turning 25 in 2008, and Nolly is turning 26.

As promising as some of them may be, this could mean a world of trouble for guys like Moose, Addlery, Kpene, Walker, and DeRoux.

Now if only the MLS would change the rules again so we could maybe trade 2 international spots for another senior roster spot or something crazy like that.

Oh well

As soon as it was announced that MLS Cup 2007 would be played in RFK Stadium, we knew our mission for the year.  That mission failed last night.

But what a game!  If the Gomez hand ball goal had counted to force overtime and potential penalty kicks, this match probably would have gone down as the greatest game in MLS history.

ESPN didn't show it, but I'd like to see a replay of the Olsen to Gomez to Addlery attempt that Nick whiffed on.  My thought is that if Emilio was at full strength, he would have played the full 90.  Emilio buries that one in the back of the net.  Addlery whiffs.

Oh well.

I just named two "what ifs" and I could probably name a dozen more.

Maybe DC United should plan to finish in 4th place instead of 1st next year so we don't have to play at home in the playoffs anymore.

Now we just get to sit back and wait for the fallout.