Award 3: The Convey

By definition the Convey award goes to the team's Rookie of the Year. But there's a couple of different ways you could interpret that. Do you give the award to the young player who has made the biggest contribution so far this season? Or do you give it to the guy who has the best chance of being a star in the MLS? Or maybe those both describe the same player? The award's namesake Bobby Convey played for United from 2000-2004, starting 18 matches for the club his rookie year.

The man from the mines Craig Thompson has made the most appearances for the team this season, and his work rate and willingness to contribute on both offense and defense has been impressive. He's a decent fill-in player, but it's questionable whether he has enough upside to be a starter in the MLS.

Not only has Ryan Cordeiro been lighting up the Reserve division (for whatever that matters), he's also the only rookie with much to brag about on his league stats. Cord has earned one assist (on Emilio's gamewinning goal against Chicago in June), and almost notched a goal while we were in the process of running up the score on the Rapids last month. In order to get more playing time though, Cordeiro has got to learn to play better defense. Straight up.

Another big contributor this year has been Pat Carroll, with 3 league starts and 4 appearances. He's provided adequate depth in league play and in Superliga when we were hurting for bodies in the back. Time will only tell whether he will end up being a lifetime fringe starter like his brother Brian or his constantly injured soon-to-be-cut brother Jeff.

And finally, the last remaining rookie on the team is Mike Zaher. He's made two starts for the club and played pretty well during those limited chances. Could have a future in this league, if he can work hard enough to overcome his size disadvantage. His look makes me wonder whether he will seek a trade to return to LA this offseason.

poll by twiigs.com

(the 2008 Benny awards)

The first two weeks have surprised me so far in that one player in each poll is still currently receiving over 50% of the vote. This week though, I won't be so surprised...

Reserve review

I considered making the hour drive to RFK on Sunday morning to see the DC Reserves in action, but decided to play an impromptu game of tennis for the first time in 8 years against by brother-in-law. The good news: I still got it. The bad news: The Reserves lost.

But just in reading the summary of the match, there are several juicy tidbits that could have an impact on the first team:

1. Rod Dyachenko didn't even start. In a Reserve match that already had the team short-handed due to injuries, you would expect the team's supposed #2 CAM to be in the starting lineup, right? Nope, he entered in the 70th minute. Starting in his place was a guest player named Kenny Anaba. To Rod's credit, he did earn the team's second goal. But unless he has some injury that's yet to be disclosed publicly, this is a REAL BAD sign for Rod. He may have played his last match in a United uniform.

2. Two players returned from injuries in this match. Dan Stratford played about 30 minutes. And then there was the shocking appearance of Jeff Carroll for 15 minutes! It's possible that United will have a lot of players getting healthy for the stretch run into the playoffs.


3. If the lineup was posted correctly in the team's write-up of the match, then Gonzalo Martinez started this game as the central defensive midfielder. Very interesting.

4. The center back combination of Dane Murphy and Brandon Owens doesn't appear to be very effective.

Cleaning the sheets

How's that for a confidence booster? With only 7 of our normal starting 11 in the lineup, and only 6 guys starting who started against KC in the season opener, United somehow came together to produce a big win and their first shutout of the year. With a first look at the starting lineups and the revelation that Ryan Pore was starting at forward, I kind of had a feeling that this could finally be THE ONE, and the team did not disappoint.


1. With apologies to Wellsy, the #1 performer in this match goes to Tom Soehn, who took a roster made of straw and spun it into gold. The straight 4-man midfield worked out surprisingly well, allowing the team to control possession for the majority of the match, and shifting the solid Namoff into central defense was the right decision here.

2. Zach Wells really earned the shutout in this match. He made two fantastic saves (one immediately after halftime, and one around the 66th minute) that easily could have been scores for KC, and if they had been scores, we all would have been sitting around saying that neither goal was Zach's fault. He put in a game changing performance last night, and to get his first clean sheet without los Gonzalos in the lineup might have made it feel even better.

3. Screw Budonovuddlen, I think the best forward-forward combination in the league right now is Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno. Moreno had a goal and an assist, adding to my plea that he be considered an MVP candidate. Is it just me, or has Emilio scored a lot of goals with his left foot this year?

4. Bryan Namoff really stepped up as the leader of the defense in this match. Made some great blocks and remained very involved in the attack, despite playing centrally. Hopefully no one in the USMNT camp watched this match, because if they did, Namoff might deserve some consideration.

5. Two very strong debuts from the two former Quakers Ivan Guerrero and Joe Vide. BDR makes a good point about how Guerrero's work rate (and I would add Vide's as well) helps free up Fred more, to allow Fred to be Fred. One assist in one game for DC is not too shabby for Guerrero. And although Vide can at times be a bit Dyachenkish in his challenges, he plays the enforcer role quite well. Maybe it's just the scruffy beard, but at times he almost reminded me of another UVA product.


1. Kudos to the rest of the defense Marc Burch, Devon McTavish, and Pat Carroll for helping the team earn its first shutout. Burch's biggest contribution came on the offensive end though with a perfectly placed free kick for Moreno's goal. But I agree with Fullback that the defense did make me a bit nervous a couple of times that we would lose the shutout because of a stupid mistake.

2. Hopefully everyone agrees that Fred just played his best game in many weeks. And he did it while playing on the wing, NOT in the middle. On the wing, where he belongs!


NONE

So DC turned in a great game, and one that they really needed against a team who we were tied with for points before the match. DC is now solidly in third place in the East, with one game in hand over Chicago and two over Columbus. But that comes with a very tough stretch of matches ahead. Following a winnable game against the improving Red Bulls, United then faces NE at home, Chicago on the road, and NE on the road. It's the Open Cup semi-final match next Tuesday though that we should all consider the first MUST-WIN game of the year. Really a shame that it won't be seen on tv anywhere - I'll be in Ocean City that week :(

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.

Mid-Season Review part 1: Acquisitions

Given the focus that this blog has given to United's roster this year, I thought it would be appropriate to base our Mid-Season Review specifically on the roster moves that the team has made. In part 1, we will look at United's acquisitions, meaning the players that the team added since the end of last season that they didn't have to give up anything for. Then we'll move on to look at players who departed since last year and United didn't receive anything in return for. Then in part 3 we'll look at the trades that the team has made. Then we'll end the review with a summary.

Here are the team's acquisitions since the end of the 2007 season, in order from most important to least:

1. I could dedicate an entire post to the trials and tribulations of Marcelo Gallardo, but that's already been done. Specifically here though, we should be discussing what Gallardo adds to United that they didn't have last year. In that regard, he is a playmaker with creativity that has not been seen here since the retirement of El Diablo. But there are doubts about whether or not that creativity is really what the team needed to add. Because with Christian Gomez last year, the team may not have been as creative, but they were certainly more successful. Before the season started, I was insistent that Gallardo was brought to DC because he gave us a better chance in international competitions than Gomez. So how's that going for us? Perhaps it's difficult to truly grade Gallardo's impact since he's been injured for two out of the three tournaments we've played in this year, but if he can guide us to an MLS Cup, or better yet a Champions League title in the months to come, all will be forgiven.

2. United completely rehauled the defense in the offseason with the acquisition of Los Gonzalos. So far, it has been Gonzalo Martinez who has appeared to be the most consistent new addition to the squad this year. He has quickly become one of the best left backs in the MLS, and despite calls for him to play centrally as he did at the start of the year, the left is where he is likely to stay. Gonzalo Peralta had some good games and some bad before going down to injury, and in that regard the early comparisons to Facundo Erpen seem appropriate. He won't have to fight very hard to regain his starting job in central defense from Burch when he returns to the field. But with the new look to United's backline, even though they SHOULD be better than the backline we had last year, why can we still not earn a clean sheet? The team had 8 last year.

3. Maybe the biggest surprise this year has come from the return of Santino Quaranta. With Olsen out, Quaranta has been a revelation (or am I going too far with that word?) on the right wing. He added some attacking flare opposite Fred that was an important part of the team's winning streak prior to his most recent injury before Open Cup. But has his 23-year-old body suffered too many injuries in his career for United to count on him long term? A return to health of Peralta and Mediate might push McTavish ahead of Tino on the depth chart at right wing.

4. Francis Doe has emerged of late as a talented attacking option next to Emilio. I had my doubts about him early on, but with two goals in the Superliga, Doe seems to have learned how to adjust to his new team quite nicely. And with Gallardo injured, Doe's continued production at forward will allow the team to move Moreno into the CAM role without losing too much.

5. Three rookies in Ryan Cordeiro, Dan Stratford, and Pat Carroll have been able to earn quality minutes with the first team this season. I wasn't the only one who criticized the team for drafting Cordeiro over other proven midfielders like Stephen King, but he instantly grabbed my eye in the reserve division, and looked pretty good against Houston in the Superliga finale. Stratford was the first rookie to earn first team minutes, and despite being pulled before half time in that game, the coaching staff certainly sees him as having a lot of potential. Strats picked a poor time to get injured though, because without Gallardo, I think a healthy Stratford will move above Dyachenko on the depth chart very shortly. The youngest Carroll has looked pretty good in Open Cup and Superliga appearances lately, but will likely lose playing time once Peralta, Mediate, and his brother Jeff return from injuries.

6. Three more rookies in Dane Murphy, Jeremy Barlow, and James Thorpe have yet to earn any first team apperances. Murphy has been on the 18-man gameday roster a couple of times, and I think he even got some action in the Rochester match. He's tall and a bit versatile. He seems to play mostly a central midfielder, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Soehn try to convert him into a defender. I saw Barlow score a goal in the opening Reserve Division match this year, but it doesn't seem like the club rates him too highly. He's got a good work rate, but will have to fight to keep his roster spot this offseason. I haven't seen Thorpe play yet, but at least he gave us the depth needed to be able to cut Carvallo from the roster.

7. I have my doubts about the acquisition of Joe Vide. I mean he was cut by San Jose of all places! I don't mind giving Vide a shot, since he was good enough to earn quite a few starts for the Red Bulls last year (yeah, but so could some of the women on my wife's team). But I feel like it might have been too much to give Vide a precious senior roster spot.

8. Let's not waste too much time by talking about these guys who aren't on the team anymore: Franco Niell, Jose Carvallo, and Jeff Curtin. Niell was not horrible in a United uniform, that is the few times that he was standing up (how could you tell?). But his salary was just too much for the team to keep around. I still feel like Frank O'Neal's biggest claim to fame should be this picture. Or this one. Carvallo stunk, we'll just leave it at that. It was unfortunate to lose Curtin due to injury, because he certainly could have been getting some minutes ahead of Burch in central defense if was still with the team.

So with all of those acquisitions, DC United should be a better team than last year. Right? Not so fast. Check back in the next few days for a look at all the players that United has lost.

Still not discouraged

To finish in last place in the tournament that we all had charted as our lowest priority this year isn't exactly a tragedy. It's a little bit disheartening, but not discouraging. Because I think the team played quite well, considering our current injury status and packed schedule. And I also think we showed more and maybe deserved better than the 3-1 loss last night and zero overall points in Superliga.


1. Alright so I'm starting to warm on Francis Doe. Two goals in two matches will do that. I think it took him a bit of time since arriving, but he's now settling in quite well with his new team. And he is quickly earning his spot in the regular starting rotation.


1. This was the game where you all finally got to see a bit of the attacking flare that I've loved about Ryan Cordeiro since I first saw him in the first Reserve match this year. Sadly though, that was overshadowed by his poor marking of Rico Clark on the first Houston goal.

2. He's still got a lot of room for improvement, and needs to be more aggressive, but this was probably the best I've seen out of Quavas Kirk. He missed a goal by about six inches.

3. And another rookie Pat Carroll looked pretty damn good and confident.

4. I like some of the things that Tom Soehn did in this match. It was good to see Cordeiro, Carroll, and Zaher. I was also hoping to see Thorpe and Murphy, but maybe next time. But is it possible that the team has been relying too heavily on some of the non-big-name starters lately like Burch, McTavish, Simms, and Namoff? These are guys who play the full 90 of virtually every outing, and between the Open Cup and Superliga, they've been stringing together a lot of minutes lately.


1. For letting up 8 goals in 3 matches, a bit of general criticism goes out to Zach Wells, Marc Burch, and Devon McTavish. Wells is admittedly improving, and it was mostly the marking to blame for the two set piece goals, but shouldn't a good keeper make one of those saves? It was McTavish's loose defending that allowed ol' Bobby Lightning to score. And where was Burch on either of the two set piece goals? Shouldn't our biggest defender have been marking Boswell?

2. This match also saw Luciano Emilio's hot streak come to a close. He is typically the guy on corner kicks who heads out balls that are struck too low, but failed to clear the first goal, and evidentally left that role absent on the second.

So I'm not taking this match and this tournament as the end of the world, like others would have you believe. The team fought hard, but they know they have to do better. It also gave them a couple of things to work on at practice. We'll see how different Tuesday's match turns out to be.

What I really liked though was the attacking effort of the last 20 minutes or so. Did you notice that all 6 of United's front players at that point are not our normal starters? If this was a Reserve match, you would likely have seen those 6 guys starting. And they dominated possession. That gives me just a little bit of hope for the future. I think that this current crop of reserves is our best in years. But that's a small consolation. Now if only our current starters could be our best in years too...

2 games away

Wow. Nothing like a little controversy to help egg on what has become the biggest rivalry in MLS. What I do like though is that several DC fans have invaded the Fire's big-media blog, but no intelligible Fire fans have dared to opine on a similar post in the Insider.

I'm not going to write too much about the game itself because I once again did not witness it like some bloggers, and other radiophiles have already had their say.


1. The legend of Jaime Moreno appears to grow stronger at every turn. The dude enters the game in the 60th minute and is subbed out before the final whistle, yet is still named the Man of the Match by all accounts. And he didn't even score!

2. He's gotten very little love from me before now, but let's give a shoutout to Francis Doe for a clinical finish and other bits of hard work.


1. Marc Burch is really trying to make a name for himself. First he goes and scores two free kick goals, then he gets ejected for retaliating against the most hated player in MLS. Which of course elicits positive "Burch!" chants from the United fans, and racist claims against him on the Tribune's blog.


1. After a good debut against Rochester, Pat Carroll comes up lame and is at fault for Chicago's goal in this one.

We have been asking all year who would be the cold-hearted assassin to step into Ben Olsen's unoccupied role of professional retalator. I proposed a couple of months ago that Burch could be a prime candidate, and that's looking like the truth. Burchie's fan appeal is growing steadily in DC, and maybe regressing elsewhere, but he has quickly gone from a nondescript journeyman player to a guy that all teams are learning to watch out for. Hard to say whether or not thats a good thing, because Burch's crossing ability was far more dangerous last year before teams knew which foot he preferred, but if he can keep taking free kicks while being a physical presence on defense, Burch has seemed to earn his way into the starting lineup. The coaching staff is going to have some difficult decisions to make if they are ever to have Burch, Fred, Olsen, and Quaranta all healthy at the same time.

It's unfortunate that Marc Burch will have to sit out the semi-final. Of course the red card was deserved for his actions, but the fact is that Burch never would have had to push Blanco had the asshole not tried to injure one of our players. As for ol' no-neck himself, his team lost, so his red card doesn't matter so much. And I think most of us are very doubtful about MLS taking any action against one its biggest stars for a match outside their jurisdiction. What I would really like to see is for the Chicago Fire organization to settle this matter in house and bench Blanco for a game. He is supposed to be the leader of the team, and should act as a role model for their many young talented players, and I certainly hope that the team does not condone his actions by letting them go unpunished. Surely a classy organization like the Fire will handle this situation properly and not just try to sweep it under the rug. Right?

With this victory, DC earns another home match against the Revolution in the semifinals, but this time thankfully the match is at RFK. If only Crystal Palace Baltimore could have converted two more PKs to be the third USL club to advance to the semi's. But the Charleston Battery versus Seattle Sounders matchup does guarantee that one USL club will be participating in the Final. How great is that? Name another sport where a minor league team has a legitimate chance to beat major league teams, thus earning their way into a tournament against the best teams in the world.

USOC Player ratings

Since I didn't witness the match myself, the following player ratings are based on excerpts taken from comments written about the game on the Soccer Insider:


1. "For me, Marc Burch was by far the player of the match, and not just because of the 2 goals. Through much of the game, he was among the most active player on the field. In the second half, filling in for Martinez at left back, he kept frustrating the Rhinos' attack, making some impressive tackles and reversing the flow of the game." (ho). "Of course, Burch has to get man-of-the-match for his brilliant grass-cutters. I think he might have even quick-kicked the goalie on the second one." (Fisch Fry)

2. "Pat Carroll was quite good at right back (and offered strong throw-in ability) and then did well in the middle in the second half." (Goff). "Pat Carroll and the new guy Thompson were very good. In Pat, it is nice to see a fullback who can use both feet." (bubbles)


1. "Rod Dyachenko had some nice moments, but disappeared at times in the middle of the park." (Goff) "Rod D did have one scintillating play, where he kicked the ball off the head of a Rhino turned and blasted a shot on net from at lesat 35 yard. Every once in a while he flashes something that makes you sit up and say 'Oh ho! That must be what they see in practices that they like so much.' " (Fisch Fry)

2. "My favorite player of the match was Ryan Cordeiro. He had a few poor touches, but he was the most consistently menacing player for United. With a different offensive philosophy that always looks to go over a defense, Cordeiro would have gotten some breakaways to go with his strong runs on the flank. He also delivered some nice passes." (Fisch Fry) "Cordeiro I thought had a great game - if someone in midfield was a better passer, he could have been very dangerous. He made dozens of great runs, but was only passed the ball twice. " (Lonnie)

3. "I was also impressed with Craig Thompson. I was worried Thompson's size might be a problem, but he handled everything that came his way, and made some good distribution passes from the back." (Dsmac) "Thompson: first touch was nervous. Seemed to calm down after that. Nothing spectacular, nothing horrid." (Old Colt)


1. "I thought Quavas Kirk was awful. Besides the lack of technical ideas, he was severely lacking in fitness. After minute 70 he was done. Cordeiro had to cover alot of space behind him." (Lonnie) "I agree that Kirk's technical ability was lacking. He was put through on a well-timed run and a beautiful ball from [Stratford], but couldn't control it for what should have been a goal." (I-270 Exit 1)

Open for business

With United's Open Cup debut scheduled for tomorrow evening at the Maryland SoccerPlex, the coaching staff has some really interesting roster decisions to make. Last year, United took a Harrisburg Islanders squad way too lightly, and supposedly have learned their lesson. Even though the Rochester Rhinos are currently struggling in USL, DC should take this opportunity to earn a Champions League birth seriously. Although I can't say I'm too fearful of the Rhinos' lineup. Their "star" player/coach Steve Guppy is suspended due to a red card, and I double checked to make sure that the Ze Roberto listed on the team isn't the same Brazilian national we've all heard of and didn't just transfer to the team from Bayern Munich.

So with Rochester's lack of form in mind, along with the idea of taking the Cup serious for once, I thought we'd take a look at United's roster options. This is not a tournament that United should roll out a full Reserve squad, but then again THEY CAN'T. In Reserve division matches, the team has the luxury of utilizing "guest players" not currently on the roster, but for official matches like this one, the team can only use players currently under contract. With only 9 players from the Developmental roster available, DC will clearly need to mix in at least 9 of the Senior roster regulars. Goff has confirmed that Moreno and Quaranta will not be available, but Olsen and Mediate probably will, and so will newly signed Craig Thompson. (No, I can't believe I just linked BS.)

Here are the up-to-date options then for tomorrow night: Barlow, Burch, Fred, P. Carroll, Carvallo, Cordeiro, Doe, Dyachenko, Emilio, Gallardo, Kirk, Martinez, McTavish, Mediate, Murphy, Namoff, Olsen, Peralta, Simms, Stratford, Thompson, Thorpe, Wells, Zaher. Soehn's choices could say a lot about where he feels some of these players are at. Does he choose to start the highly paid Quavas Kirk in this match, or keep using him only in the safety of the Reserve division? Do we dare give another start to the recently demoted Jose Carvallo? Is it worth risking further injury to Ben Olsen just to get him some field time? Are rookies Jeremy Barlow, Pat Carroll, Dane Murphy, or Mike Zaher worthy of their first appearances with the first team?

Here's my proposed starting lineup with a mixture of the regular starting XI with a healthy portion of developing talent:

---------------Wells--------------
Namoff-McTavish-Mediate-Burch
Kirk-Dyachenko-Stratford-Cordeiro
--------Emilio------Doe------------

Subs: Pat Carroll for Namoff. Zaher for Burch (or Murphy for McTavish). Barlow for Emilio.
Bench players not used: Carvallo, Murphy, Simms, Thompson

The worst thing about this match though is that for some inexplicable reason, it will apparently not be shown on USLlive.com like the Wizards/RailHawks, Dynamo/Battery, and Chivas/Sounders matches. Really unfortunate. Which is making me ponder the long drive up to Germantown. Anyone else going?

Santino Quaranta

Last week was by far the slowest week in the DC United blogosphere since probably March 2007. All we've had to talk about was one closed scrimmage: a 1-0 loss to Chivas, with only a very brief match report, and appearances by Dane Murphy and Spencer Allen. Who? Got me.

And the only other newsworthy item from last week was the foot injury to Jeff Carroll, which could keep him out 3-6 months. This is unfortunate news because I was expecting JC to start making some appearances with the first team this year, but that probably just moves Dan Owens up one slot on the depth chart, and hopefully JC will be back late in the year to provide some relief when other key guys might be tiring.

But this week is off to a mini-bang, with the strong scent of a lot of hair product, with the news that Santino Quaranta has come crawling back to the black and red. Who didn't see this coming?

Quick story: My wife and I were in the spectator seats behind the La Norte section for the game against the Red Bulls last year that saw Moreno break the record. After the game, we moved up because some of the players were coming around and she wanted to get her picture taken with them. Fred and Simms both went into the locker room just before getting to us. Then Santino Quaranta comes out in his nice jeans with his hair up like he was on his way out to a club, and started signing autographs. Once I recognized him, we left immediately. He wasn't even in uniform for that game, yet of course he still wanted attention like he's an actual player.

With that said though, I don't have a problem with United giving Quaranta a trial. Just like Gardner, Quaranta needs to be viewed as a guy who has at one time been a starter in MLS, but has been out of the league due to poor performances of late. Despite only being age 23, I wouldn't count on Quaranta accepting a deal to be on the Developmental roster. But if he can beat out Gardner, Moose, and Walker for that final roster spot, then it's because he played well enough to deserve it. And I for one will welcome him back and cheer him on, just like any other player on the field.

Time for another roster analysis

I came up with most of this while standing in line outside in 20 degree weather for two hours to see Barack Obama speak in College Park yesterday (well worth it).

Major League Soccer is probably unlike any other league in the world that I can think of in its limitation of foreign players and players over the age of 25. The ACLU could have a field day with the MLS rules committee if they wanted to. Because of these rules, it's pretty much required that we review the current roster every other month or so.

18 players on the Senior roster:
First, the senior players from last year who are more or less guaranteed a spot on the senior roster again: 1 Emilio, 2 Moreno, 3 Kpene, 4 Olsen, 5 Fred, 6 Simms, 7 Dyachenko, 8 Mediate, 9 Burch, 10 Namoff, 11 McTavish. (Although McTavish and Burch are both still young enough to be eligible for the Developmental roster - born in 1984 - they were promoted to the Senior roster last year and will likely remain there.)

Next, we have our offseason acquisitions: 12 Wells, 13 Gallardo, 14 Martinez, 15 Peralta, 16 Niell.

That leaves 2 spots left. 17 will likely go to Jose Carvallo. He's only 21 years old so he's eligible for a Developmental contract, but would he leave his Peru club team to make less than $30,000 a year? Unlikely. So he's probably occupying another Senior roster slot. That leaves only spot 18 left, and the competition probably comes down to Justin Moose and Jamil Walker. We'll see how this plays out.

10 players on the Developmental roster:
Assuming Carvallo is on the Senior roster, we've got exactly 10 players remaining who are eligible (born in 1984 or later): 1 Jerson Monteiro, 2 Jeff Carroll, 3 Ryan Cordeiro, 4 Tony Schmitz, 5 Dan Owens, 6 Dan Stratford, 7 James Thorpe, 8 Pat Carroll, 9 Ardalan Attar, 10 Grady Renfrow.

8 International players:
Again we have some controversy, and it involves the same player. We've got: 1 Emilio, 2 Fred, 3 Gallardo, 4 Martinez, 5 Peralta, 6 Niell. If rookie Dan Stratford makes the team, he becomes 7. And finally, there have been unconfirmed rumors that Jose Carvallo has a green card, and therefore would not take up an international slot. But if not, he would be 8. That would put Stratford on very shaky ground, because if the team struggles early in the season, and maybe even if they don't, then they are likely to pursue additional foreign talent before the international transfer window closes in July, and in order to sign anyone else, United will need to cut somebody first. Stratford appears to be the low man on the totem poll, so he'll have to impress.

All of that leaves us in pretty decent shape. We've addressed a lot of needs for depth, but have very little room to add new players if the need arrises. The only area where we're potentially light is, as usual, defense. What happens if say Namoff gets injured, and then one of los Gonzalos (© CL) sits out with a red card? Who do you start? Obviously McTavish should be able to fill in anywhere on the back line, but after that we're down to either Owens or one of the Carrolls. Someone's going to have to step up.

Andrew Jacobson

Recent developments are going to force me to write about the United SuperDraft selections (Supers?) in their actual order rather than reverse order. Wait... If Fullback claimed Suppies, can I claim Supers?

But anyway, this guy really isn't worth writing a full blog post about, and he's certainly not worth researching. Yeah you got that Andy, you're not even worth 5 minutes of my time.

In case you didn't hear, Andrew Jacobson, who was United's first selection in the SuperDraft (second round), will be joining FC Lorient of the French Ligue II. Jacobson could have possibly provided depth behind Clyde Simms as a defensive midfielder. Or then again, he could have provided about as much depth as Arguez provided last year. We'll never know.

So what does this mean?

In general for MLS... It means that a promising young player is choosing to play overseas, probably because the $17,000 salary that he'd earn on the Developmental roster won't get him into very many apartments in the DC area, and he doesn't want to have to wait tables on the side in order to survive. At least not when he can earn a decent living wage, but probably not a whole lot more playing time, with a second division European club. It's almost more of a wonder why more players DON'T go overseas right away if they can get an opportunity with a second or even third division club with more money and more contract flexibility.

In general for DC United... It means very little in my opinion. The SuperDraft is so hit and miss that this really doesn't bug me at all. Our second round draft pick last year was Brad North, and he's already out (although I did see him hanging around the practice field in street clothes on Monday). Lately, we've had about as much luck with our Suppies (McTavish, Kpene) as we have with our Supers (Moose, Dyachenko). And we've arguably had more luck than any other team in MLS at identifying foreign talent that fits our needs. So this doesn't bother me much.

Specifically for DC United... This is great news for the Carroll family. Jeff Carroll now inherits the role of second string defensive midfielder from his brother. And younger brother Pat Carroll now has a greater chance of making the team in a Developmental role.

Peace out, Bryan Arguez

If I had a choice of one player that would leave DC United in the offseason and I wouldn't be upset at all, it would be Jay Nolly. If I had a choice of two players that would leave DC United in the offseason and I wouldn't be upset at all, it would be Jay Nolly and Bryan Arguez.

Reports are that Arguez will be transferring away from MLS to Hertha Berlin of the Bundesliga, for a sum of around US$350,000, of which DC gets I think around $250K, with the rest going to the league.

The speculations is... What did Hertha see in Arguez that DC did not? Who knows, but whatever it is, I certainly didn't see it either. I only see Arguez play in one Reserve division match, but he didn't impress me at all. He played in central midfield, but had very little impact, and was overshadowed in my opinion by guys like Jeff Carroll and Rod Dyachenko. In fact, I think it says a lot that Arguez was not once named to the gameday roster for the first team. Even when starters like Olsen and Fred were out with minor injuries, it was other guys like Mediate, DeRoux, and Moose that would step in. Never Arguez.

But Bryan Arguez is imposing in size, listed as 6'-2". And he's only just turned 19 this week. So maybe Hertha sees in him the next Oguchi Onyewu.

$350K might not be a lot of money to Hertha, but it is to us. Let's just skip one step and save a little time by transferring that sum of money from Hertha directly into the checking account of one Senor Christian Gomez.

We wish Bryan Arguez the best of luck overseas. Maybe Hertha can help develop him into a contributing playing for the U20 team.

Peace out, BC

San Jose's official selections are out, so how did we Insiders do on the draft predictions? Not too bad. Of the players with which we had a confident consensus, we were correct on Grabavoy, Carroll, Guerrero, and Vide, but wrong on Casey, Burciaga, Dorman, and Thompson. Cochrane, Riley, and Goodson weren't really surprises, and will make up a pretty quality back line for the Quakes. But we definitely missed the boat on Jason Hernandez and Gavin Glinton. And it was kind of weird for them to take an inexperienced player like Pozniak, but leave all those great keepers like Hartman (and his 30 starts last year) on the table.

But anyway, back to Carroll. This could turn out to be a pretty big loss for DC, more than I think a lot of people realize. Depth is crucial in this league, and BC was a great sub when we needed someone to come on in relief of one of the forwards when we're ahead. Carroll was a starter here for three and a half years, and will certainly be missed.

Joe Gibbs always talks about being a "true Redskin", well I think Brian Carroll was a "true United player". He wasn't necessarily well known on the national scene before coming here, but he made his name through his constant work ethic, like a lot of other guys on the team. They say Ben Olsen is the heart and soul of this team, but I think guys like Carroll and Gros are right behind him. BC, we wish you the best of luck, and hope to see you back here in the future.

A few people have been asking what this means for Brian's brother Jeff. JC should be welcomed back if he wants to be here. Although he didn't see any action with the first team this year, again, depth is important. And it would only take one or two injuries to some key players before Jeff Carroll would be playing wide back for us. JC was the captain of the Reserves and got an assist on the team's lone goal in the one Reserve match that I went to this year.

Waiting by the phone

If I get a call later tonight and am asked to be the new General Manager of the San Jose Earthquakes, here is the list of players I will select (assuming I can negotiate myself a reasonable starting salary...)

GK: Kevin Hartman
DEF: Alex Zotinca, Ryan Cochrane, Brandon Prideaux
MID: Kyle Martino, Ned Grabavoy, Brian Carroll, Andy Dorman, Ivan Guerrero
F: Abe Thompson

I'm taking Hartman because even though he's up there, he's still got a lot less gray hairs than Onstad, although I'm hesitant because of his GAA in Kansas City. My three defenders are starters with their current clubs, and with Prideaux I'm getting someone who has been his team's captain, and will be my team's captain.

The midfield was the hardest. But with Martino, Guerrero, and Dorman, you're getting three versatile guys who have all played in several different spots. Carroll is coming off a down year, but could still start for most clubs in the league, and Grabavoy has the skills to lead the attack. Of course Andy Dorman is a concern to leave MLS completely, but I think he's worth the risk. I know I've been saying all along that San Jose would be crazy not to take Rod Dyachenko, but I think with Grabavoy available, Dyachenko becomes a bit redundant, and Carroll is easily the best defensive midfielder available.

Not too many good forwards on there, but at least with Thompson I'm getting a UMD alum! Notice I didn't take anyone from the Red Bulls. Hmm...

OK, now here's a list compiled from all the comments on the Insider, adding in my own, of who are the popular choices to be selected. This list is far from scientific because I think there's a lot of commenters on there that selected more (or sometimes less) than 10 players, and most of us gave very little regard to salary concerns. So read into it what you will.

Chivas: Burpo (1), Cunliffe (4), Nunez (3), Perez (1), Zotinca (2)
Chicago: Curtin (3), Guerrero (6), Gutierrez (4), Thorrington (1)
Colorado: Cancela (1), Casey (7), Hernandez (1), Petke (3), Prideaux (2)
Columbus: Grabavoy (13), Guenebaum (1), Herron (1), Thomas (1)
Dallas: Gbandi (1), Goodson (2), Oduro (3), Pitchkolan (1), Rhine (1), Thompson (6)
DC: Carroll (8), Dyachenko (3), Kpene (2)
Houston: Ashe (2), Cochrane (5), Onstad (3), Waibel (1), Wells (3)
KC: Burciaga (7), Colombano (1), Hartman (4)
LA: Gray (3), Hamse (1), Martino (6), Mathis (1), Tudela (3), Xavier (1)
NE: Dorman (7), John (4), Riley (4)
NY: Doe (2), Goldthwaite (1), Magee (2), Vide (6), Wolyniec (1)
Salt Lake: Brown (2), Kipre (1), Watson (2), Williams (1)
Toronto: Boyens (1), Lombardo (3), Pozniak (1)

The List

Officially available at noon tomorrow, leaked first on the Insider, here is the list of protected players for Wednesday's expansion draft:

Perkins, Boswell, Namoff, McTavish, Burch, Fred, Simms, Gomez, Olsen, Moreno, Emilio

Hard to say there's really any surprises there. That's essentially our starting lineup for game 1 next year, barring no huge changes. This is really a fantastic sign that Gomez and Moreno will each be back next year, or at least that the front office expect them both to be back right now.

But missing from the list are Greg Vanney, Brian Carroll, and Rod Dyachenko. Two guys with a lot of experience that would absolutely start for the Earthquakes right away, and either one of them could even potentially be your captain if you wanted. And one guy who has a lot of upside, and had maybe the best game of his career in the playoffs against Chicago.

I definitely hope not to lose Dyachenko. If San Jose was smart, then they would have been scouting all the Reserve division players this year, and if so, then they would know that Rod is the leader of our offense in Reserve games. Although he's probably not quite ready to start regularly for us next year, he will be a huge asset coming off the bench as Moreno, Gomez, and Olsen won't be able to play the full 90 much longer.

BC has been a true team player for a lot of years here in DC, and it would be a shame to lose him. Unfortunately, with the possible addition of Veron, he becomes a little bit more expendable. And Vanney played consistently well for us this year, but in the end I agree that it's probably smartest to protect him over Boswell.

But with all that said... San Jose Management, if you read this, I REALLY hope that you DON'T take Guy-Roland Kpene. PLEASE! He's a brilliant player, certainly not just all flashy with little finishing ability. He'll probably have 15 goals next year. LEAVE KPENE ALONE!

Using Protection

The San Jose expansion draft is going down on next Wednesday 11/21. Does this seem too soon to anyone else? Someone from the Revs or Dynamo won't even be done celebrating their championship yet when he's forced to move out to the west coast.

Anyway, I'm not going to go through the entire DC United team and who's going to be protected, because you can already get that here or here. As point out on the Insider, it seems like there are 8 players who are guarenteed to be protected: Emilio, Fred, Olsen, Simms, Namoff, Burch, McTavish, and Perkins. So that leaves 3 more slots and a lot of great players.

There's more than one way to look at this. Because not only do you have to consider which players you want back at DCU, but I think you also need to consider which players the Quakes are likely to find the most attractive.

So with that in mind, I think we need to protect Christian Gomez. There's a decent chance that he will be leaving the MLS next year, but if I was the Quakes, I would be willing to take that risk and select Gomez if he is available.

It's the exact opposite for Moreno though. Moreno is less worth the risk, because I think he would sooner retire than move his entire family to San Jose. Moreno knows that we want him back in DC, but I don't want to risk pissing off Gomez by not protecting him.

The next guy we protect is Rod Dyachenko. After his two assist performance in the second leg of the Chicago series, Rod has got to be in high demand. If we don't protect Dyachenko, then he is gone. No doubt about it.

And lastly, we need to protect one of our center backs, but I'm so torn as to which one. Greg Vanney is older, with a higher salary, but San Jose would be smart to take him if he's available because he'd be an instant starter and a leader, and you could maybe even give him the captain's armband. Bobby Boswell is younger with a lower salary, and still a lot of experience, but with the desire to go overseas. So its going to force Kevin Payne and Tom Soehn to make a big decision right now which player they want around next year. And I guess it really depends (just like everything else this offseason) on the future of Moreno and Gomez. If they are sticking around, then you keep Vanney to try to win now. If they are gone, then we sort of need to start rebuilding, and then we need to keep the younger Boswell.

Either way, I'm also leaving Brian Carroll exposed, so he could be taken. But I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that San Jose takes a gamble and selects Guy Kpene.