Mid-Season Review part 3: Trades

In the third installment of our MSR series, we discuss the trades that United has made since the end of last season. Besides the Gomez move, there were two other fairly significant trades for the team, and I think I actually come out opposed to the popular opinion on both of them. Maybe this can generate an argument or two in the comments?

1. When Christian Gomez first departed from DC, I suggested that his stats might actually improve with him in Colorado, just because he wouldn't have a predator like Emilio and an expert free kick taker like Moreno. But with 3 goals and 6 assists right now, it doesn't look like Gomez will get to his standard 10 and 10 that he averaged in DC, but then again, neither will Gallardo. We received Colorado's Designated Player slot in the trade for Gomez, and it's difficult to gauge how much that DP slot really has helped us. Because that slot just served to increase Emilio's salary. Maybe it was the increased salary that caused Emilio to step up his game from earlier in the year, or maybe he was just moving out of his slump anyway.

2. My sense is that most DC United fans would take back the trade of Bobby Boswell for Zach Wells if they could. I disagree. But you have to consider several things first. One is that Boswell wanted out of DC after he was benched by Soehn for the majority of the regular season. Secondly, Troy Perkins was already on his way out. Third, an attempted trade for Joe Cannon had already fallen through. And most importantly, if DC had not made this trade, our starting goalkeeper this year might have been *gasp* Jose Carvallo! As I said when it happened, this trade is not necessarily a loss for DC, but it sure was a win for Houston! They gave up a backup keeper and they got a former defender of the year, who this year has stepped up his level of play to be much more consistent. As for Wells, he's certainly improved since his first game in a United uniform. I think he can now be considered a legitimate starting keeper in MLS, but not exactly above average. My complaint is that the team didn't try harder to procure a veteran once Perkins was gone. With 2 new players starting in defense, it would have been nice to have a consistent keeper with the experience to lead a backline. Pat Onstad and Kevin Hartman were both left exposed by their teams in the expansion draft, and would have both been much more solid than Wells has been.

3. My sense is that most DC United fans are still in favor of the trade of Greg Vanney for Quavas Kirk. I disagree. Just like the Wells/Boswell trade, for me this all comes back to consistency, experience, and leadership in the defense. Vanney's play has certainly deteriorated, as we've seen in LA this year, but I for one would still enjoy having him as a backup to los Gonzalos and McTavish. He would have seen more playing time this year than Kirk has. If Perkins was still around, then I wouldn't mind this trade as much, but Vanney departing means just too much change to the defense for one season. Quavas Kirk is on the total opposite side of his career. Still young and "unrefined", but with a lot of potential that hasn't yet been realized in the DC United uniform. Here's my main question: How long does the Generation Adidas tag apply to Kirk? It's fine having him on the bench this year because as a GA player, he doesn't count against the salary cap, and only takes up a developmental roster spot. But if that tag expires next year, do you really think he'll stay on the team? I don't see him taking a $17,700 developmental roster spot, so the only options will be to put him on the senior roster, or cut him. He just doesn't play enough to deserve a senior spot. So now if you look at this trade as having Vanney for only the 2008 season or Kirk for only the 2008 season, which would you prefer?

4. Two more less significant trades saw United acquire Craig Thompson and Mike Zaher from Houston and Toronto respectively. Both players give us some depth in positions that we really need it right now. In a normal season without as many injuries as we've had lately, neither of these guys would be getting much time with the first team. But with Quaranta and Mediate injured, and McTavish permanently stuck in defense, Thompson has proven to be a useful utility man on the right flank. Already with one assist in Superliga action, the Miner has been fairly productive, but like some of our other midfielders, he needs to learn how to not lose the ball. Zaher plays mostly as a left back, and I guess there's a possibility he could start tonight in place of the suspended Martinez. Zaher's fast and hard-working with a lot of potential from what I've seen, and he could in the future be a regular option for DC, but unless he can earn some more playing time, it might be tough for him to keep his job next year.

I'm going to a party tonight, so I probably won't get to write a review of the KC match until tomorrow, and I'll also add part 4 of the MSR sometime in the next few days to summarize where the team now stands in position to make a playoff run.

Round 1 to Gomez

In the first match between the two players who will be linked in the minds of DC fans for the rest of their MLS careers, Christian Gomez dominated United and Gallardo with two assists. Even Facundo Erpen scored a revenge goal, in a match where he had shockingly zero bicycle kicks.


1. Bryan Namoff - Had a couple goal saving tackles, and looked totally badass with the bandage over his head in the second half.


1. Francis Doe - His first touch of the game, he got the ball around midfield, carried it all the way up the left sideline with three Colorado players on him, and won a corner kick. He then immediately went into the locker room and was never seen again. At least as far as I could tell.

1. Let's just make this simple and list the entire midfield. Marcelo Gallardo, Clyde Simms, Rod Dyachenko, Santino Quaranta, and Marc Burch - Gallardo was ineffective, not even challenging the keeper on corner kick or free kick attempts. Simms seems out of place in the 3-5-2. I like him better in the bruiser role in the 4-4-2. Not sure he knows what to do with himself with Dyachenko next to him. Speaking of the Russian, I don't think he had as poor a game as a lot of the overreacters on the Insider are claiming, because he did win two free kicks in good spots, but he also gave the ball away a lot. Quaranta kept up the hustle, but did nothing on offense. Burch played alright, but his crosses were always off the mark.

So despite playing with one more midfielder than the opposition, we were still dominated in the middle third. That right there is a really bad sign. But a worse sign is that Soehn continues to roll out the 3-5-2 regardless of the situation. Coaches always talk about how its important to be able to play successfully in more than one formation. I believe we have the team to be able to do that. So why not take advantage of our personnel and tailor the formation to the situation. Playing at home against a team that is weak offensively: that's a good time for the 3-5-2. But playing on the road against a team with a proven (and vengeful) MVP leading the attack, in a game where we would probably have been happy with a nil-nil draw: not a good time for the 3-5-2.

Also, with Chivas's 0-0 draw against Houston yesterday, DC United is now officially THE ONLY team in the league without a clean sheet. And with Blanco, Rolfe, and Chicago coming to town in just four days, it's hard to be confident. But now I've also done a bit more research and stumbled across another jaw-dropping stat. DC United is also THE ONLY team in MLS with no away goals.

It's not really hard to see where the team should go from here. The injuries to Olsen, McTavish, Fred, and Mediate are certainly cutting down on our options. But still, I feel like we're all just sitting here, waiting for the chemistry to develop on its own. Well we've been waiting for almost two months now. How much longer is it going to be? For me, I'd like to go back to the proven strategy that worked so well last year. It's simple, really. It's Burch and Namoff as the wing backs, with two regular starting center backs, but with an occassional rotation of McTavish into that position. It's Clyde Simms as the lone defensive midfielder, behind our #10, with Fred on one wing and Olsen on the other when he's healthy, and any number of other talented options when he's not (Quaranta, McTavish, Mediate, Kirk). And of course, it's the Godfather of Goals and the Golden Boot winner up top. We're out of the crowded portion of our schedule, so I think that with a single solitary starting lineup, with only minor changes when necessary, we will see the chemistry develop much quicker than we have with the frequent changes that we've seen over the past two months.

It will be hard to overcome the negative though in a short week of practice before a game against a quality Chicago opponent. So for now, I pose the following question to the public... Which stat is more troubling... That DC United has ZERO clean sheets, or that DC Untied has ZERO away goals?

Salaries

The MLS Players Union just released the annual salary figures for the league. For easy reference, below are the guaranteed salaries for each DC United player currently under contract as of 3/31/08:

DC Barlow Jeremy D $ 12,900.00
DC Burch Marc D $ 33,000.00
DC Carreiro da Silva Fred M-F $ 242,000.00
DC Carroll Jeff D $ 12,900.00
DC Carroll Pat D $ 12,900.00
DC Carvallo Jose GK $ 49,250.00
DC Cordeiro Ryan M $ 12,900.00
DC Dyachenko Rod M $ 33,000.00
DC Emilio Luciano F $ 313,125.00
DC Gallardo Marcelo M $ 1,874,006.00
DC Kirk Quavas F $ 136,500.00
DC Martinez Gonzalo D $ 244,750.00
DC McTavish Devon M $ 33,000.00
DC Mediate Domenic M-F $ 33,000.00
DC Moose Justin M $ 17,700.00
DC Moreno Jaime F $ 275,000.00
DC Namoff Bryan D $ 98,750.00
DC Niell Franco F $ 152,500.00
DC Olsen Ben M $ 215,000.00
DC Peralta Gonzalo D $ 199,000.00
DC Quaranta Santino M $ 35,000.00
DC Simms Clyde M $ 59,000.00
DC Stratford Dan M $ 17,700.00
DC Thorpe James GK $ 12,900.00
DC Wells Zachary GK $ 52,920.00

Some comments... I think it's far too easy to look at this list and say that McTavish is underpaid at $33K and Niell is overpaid at $152K. Realistically, there's a lot more to it. Franco Niell was probably earning around the same amount or less while playing in Argentina last year. So it costs more to bring him to the team than it does McTavish, who joined the league straight out of college.

Plus, (they'll probably hate me for saying this but...) you also have to consider the age/experience of Devon McTavish and Marc Burch, and the fact that DC United *could* have left them on the Developmental roster last year if they wanted to. But no, out of good faith, respect, and appreciation, United rightly gave promotions to these players who were making significant contributions. So what I'm getting it is... it *could* be worse...

It's also way too easy to say that Marcelo Gallardo ($1.874M) isn't worth four times as much as Christian Gomez ($430K). We've been through this and if you've ever read my blog before, then you know what my answer is going to be. Gomez couldn't get us anywhere in international tournaments, or in MLS Cup Playoffs the past two years. Gallardo was brought here to make the team more competitive internationally. So if DC United were to somehow manage to win the Champions Cup (seems unlikely at this point), then yes, Gallardo would be worth all that money and maybe more.

The Developmental salaries are kind of hard to follow too. All the rookies seem to be earning the minimum $12.9K, except for Dan Stratford at $17.7. I'm fine with that because it seems clear that he will be earning more playing time than the other rookies this year. But what jumped out at me was Justin Moose earning $17.7 while Jeff Carroll is still at $12.9. The answer here is easy too. Like Stratford, Moose started out earning $17.7 as a rookie last year, so United just decided not to give him a pay cut to come back.

Lastly, why did Gallardo insist on an extra $6 in his contract? $1,874,000 wasn't enough? I'm not sure if $6 will even buy you a beer at RFK anymore.

Is Gallardo an upgrade over Gomez?

That's the question that is likely to define the success of DC United over the next two or more years.

With the Gomez to Colorado trade all but official, it looks like we'll now have a pretty good measuring stick that we wouldn't have had if Gomez went to the Middle East or back to Argentina. We'll be able compare Gomez and Gallardo's numbers side by side with them playing in the same league. And I have a feeling that Gallardo will not win that comparison.

But the more I think about it, keeping in mind our most frequent slogan ("I trust the front office. I trust the front office"), there's a different way to look at this. My new thought is… Gallardo wasn't brought here to get better numbers than Gomez. Gomez averaged almost exactly 10 goals and 10 assists in each of the past three years, and without guys like Moreno and Emilio around, I'd be willing to bet that his goal production might actually INCREASE in 2008. It would be nice if I'm wrong, but I doubt Gallardo will average 10 goals and 10 assists in league play over the next two years.

So if not for more productive numbers, why did the almighty all-knowing front office bring Sr. Gallardo to DC? Over the past three years, United had some pretty nice accomplishments with Gomez as our #10 - namely, a couple of Supporter's Shields. But they failed to reach the MLS Cup finals all three years. They couldn't advance past the semi-finals in the Concacaf Champions' Cup, or in the Superliga. And they fizzled out in the round of 16 in the Copa Sudamericana. DC United has been largely a failure internationally over the past three years. So with those three international competitions in mind, plus the new Champions' League starting in 2008, and with the exciting possibility that US Clubs could eventually be allowed to participate in Libertadores at some point in the future… The front office, and in them we trust, decided that the best way to proceed would be to bring in a man with the highest level of international experience. And that man would be Marcelo Gallardo.

So Gallardo might not be the prolific playmaker and scorer that Gomez has been for us. I'll refine some predictions as we get closer to the season, but I might even be as bold as to say that United will probably not win the Shield this year. But Marcelo Gallardo gives us a distinct advantage over every other team in MLS when it comes down to international competitions.

And that's why he's here.

Adios Gomito, Bienvenidos Gallardo

You all know that I've been one of Gomez's strongest advocates since starting this blog. I would still to this day pick Gomez over Veron if I had a choice, because Gomez fits our style of play so well, and the team would have had to be restructured in my opinion to work with Veron.

But now it's a different internationally reknowned Argentinian in the conversation, and I'm not sure if I still feel the same way.

Regardless, I hate to see Christian Gomez leave. I was not one of his biggest fans in 2005, as I thought a lot of people were too quick to look to him to be the second coming of Etcheverry. But as it turns out, Christian may have been the best player in the league over the past three seasons, and was certainly our team's MVP each of the last two years, despite Lucigol's scoring title. I've been strongly advocating the return of Gomez because he is a known quantity in leading our attack. He's pretty much a shoe-in for 10 goals and 10 assists each year.

And then enters Marcelo Gallardo. The #10 jersey won't be unoccupied for long with Gallardo supposedly arriving in DC today to finalize a deal. Gallardo is a playmaker like Gomez, not just a holding midfielder like Veron would have been. He can finish as well as Gomez, if not better. Gallardo lit up the Argentinian first division when he returned to River Plate from 2003-2006, with 25 goals in just 77 matches.

But Christian Gomez had something when he played here that no one else in the league had, save for maybe De Rosario. He had the ability to put the team on his back and just WILL them to win. He'll even knock the ball in the goal with his freakin' hand if that might give United a chance to win. I guess what I'm trying to say is... The dude's got heart. And he plays his ass off. Hopefully Gallardo will too.

Dan Stratford

United's second pick in the Supplemental Draft went to a British player from WVU (a Britaineer??) named Dan Stratford.

Big question for DC United fans is… Does he have a green card? Because all of a sudden we're getting pretty low on foreign player slots. From the little I've read on Stratford so far, I'm thinking he does not.

Let's review the roster real quick… Out of 8 possible foreign slots, we've got Emilio, Fred, and Gomez (or Gallardo). And newcomers Martinez, Niell, and Peralta. Carvallo supposedly has a green card, and I tend to believe it because I think DC probably would not have brought him in if he did not. Just like I think they wouldn't draft Stratford if they didn't have a foreign slot remaining. So we should be good on that, just without much room to maneuver on the foreign market during the course of the season.

Stratford was a standout at WVU, playing alongside a young Devon McTavish for a couple of years. He ended his career with the most assists and most games played in school history. A quote from head coach Marlon LeBlanc: "United saw him play and saw Dan score the game-winning goal against then-No. 6 Maryland in overtime in College Park, Md. I think that turned some heads."

I won't hold it against him.

Sounds to me like Danny Stratford could give Rod Dyachenko a bit of competition for the starting CAM role on the Reserves. And with an aging Gomez (or Gallardo), whoever is that second string CAM could be getting some important minutes in some important games. Or even better… I wonder if he can also play on the wing???

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.

Gonzalo Peralta

Apparently, DC United is close to a deal with Argentine defender Gonzalo Peralta.

Who is Gonzalo Peralta?

I have no idea.

A couple things I've learned… He's 27 years old. He's a starting central defender, and the captain, for Argentine Second Division club Almirante Brown. Brown is currently 4th in the table, and one of the best defensive teams in the league. They've only given up 16 goals in 19 games (league average is 22 goals).

It's easy to make comparisons do our most recent Argentinian central defender Facundo Erpen. Peralta doesn't appear to be as young or as accomplished as Erpen. But we need central defenders. And we've got the cap space and we've got the foreign player slots to make this move. So I'm all for it.

In fact… If Moreno and Gomez are not returning, we've got more than enough cap space. We should be able to get away with signing 3 or 4 Peraltas and still be fine.

Hopefully this signing will take place very soon. It will be nice to see United have one positive move finally this offseason. We're due.

The only way I can fall asleep at night anymore is, instead of counting sheep, I just keep repeating to myself: "I trust the front office. I trust the front office. I trust the front office.........."

Offseason Trends

It's crazy to think that the MLS season ended less than a month ago.

We've seen so many changes since then it's ridiculous. Carroll, Boswell, and Perkins are all gone. We'll probably be adding Gomez's name to that list by the end of the month. And now the one huge story that we were expecting this offseason has fallen through. Veron will NOT be coming to DC.

I think the next week could be interesting too. I believe Gomez's contract is up December 31st. I don't know how much negotiations really take place during the week between Christmas and New Years, so I'm thinking a deal needs to either happen this week, or it's over. Recent history would say that they might work a little harder to get the deal done now. The team seemed to be very reactionary when they found out Perkins was leaving. First it was going to be Joe Cannon, then it turned out to be Zach Wells. My point is, the team was very quick to react. I wonder if they will be quick to react to the Veron deal falling through and make a quick move on Gomez.

But I'm seeing a trend develop lately that is a bit scary. The trend is that all of DC United's big deals lately have been falling through. The team has been unable to close on some potentially huge moves. First Poplar Point, and now Veron. I'm not here to blame anyone or say that this is indicative of anything else in the past or the future. I'm just sayin...

We really need some good news to turn all this crap around.

The Donovan Rule

I've written before that I don't like the idea of Juan Sebastian Veron as a replacement for Christian Gomez. Because Gomez is a proven commodity as the best player on this team. Maybe Veron will be even better, but in my opinion, probably not.

Well all reports are indicating that Veron is close to signing with DC (for something around $15 million?) and that negotiations with Gomez are not going well. We've all seen this coming a long time, but it's scary to think that at this point its probably greater than a 50% chance that this will come true.

Gomez wants more money, and is considering playing in Saudi Arabia or some crap to get it. Well I think we can all respect the desire to earn more money, but why can't DC pay him more? If Veron is worth $15M, we don't think Gomez is worth $1M if that’s what would keep him here?

But then the problem becomes the salary cap, and the Designated Player rule. And that's where my problem with the whole situation lies. The DP rule was originally written to say that each team would be allowed one DP, but that all players currently earning over $400K would be grandfathered in for the 2007 season. Now that has been extended to 2008? What that means specifically is that the LA Galaxy are allowed to fit both David Beckham's and Landon Donovan's salaries under the cap, essentially having two designated players. But a team like United is only allowed to have one DP, because Gomez wasn't earning more than $400K before 2007. So now they're not allowed to pay him more than that.

The DP rule is nicknamed the Beckham rule. Can we nickname the 2008 extension the Donovan rule?

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.

Veron rumors

The rumors about Juan Sebastian Veron are up to a fever pitch again. Soccer Insider reported yesterday that Veron's agent was in town. Of course this could be just a coincidence, but the timing is pretty convenient following United's playoff loss.

Not sure how I feel about this.

Veron is a great player, who could change the complexion of the entire team. But is that necessarily a good thing? DC United was the best team in the league over the course of the year. And I think you could argue that even right now, they are probably the second or third best team in the league.

The Designated Player slot has worked to varying degrees of success for MLS teams. So will Veron be more like a Blanco, and inspire his team to play almost beyond their own capabilities? Or will Veron be more like a Reyna or Denilson?

The way I see it, there are two possibilities here…

1) Veron signs with United and joins a midfield already occupied by Christian Gomez, Ben Olsen, Clyde Simms, Fred, and Josh Gros. Where does Veron fit here? Do we switch our formation to a 3-5-2? That can't be smart, because defense has arguably been our weakness the last two years. I guess you could use a 4-4-2 and move Gomez up to the withdrawn forward role (pending Moreno's departure?), but that's not where he's been his most productive.

2) Veron signs with United and Christian Gomez takes that as a hint that he should leave. I think this would be a mistake for us. Because if the front office makes a move on Veron, and then fails to bring back Gomez, then we would be operating under the assumption that Veron is a better player than Gomez. That's a real risky assumption, and I don't think its true. Emilio is a great finisher, and Moreno is our leader, but Gomez has been our best player the last two years. No doubt.

So I'm not sure that I feel good about either of these possibilities. Are there any good international central defenders out there interested in being our DP?

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.

Round 2... FIGHT!

So after several days of dealing with flooding in my basement, I'm finally ready to write about United again. (Why in Maryland do we have something like 59 days straight with no rain, and then it rains nonstop for three days? My sump pump and I are not happy about that.) Actually it was a pretty rough weekend altogether between United, the Redskins, and the basement.

But moving onto happier things, let's discuss how badly we are going to beat the Fire tonight. The entire A-squad should be healthy enough to start tonight, and with the atmosphere at RFK, I fully expect United to grab the series tying goal within the first 15 minutes. And the Fire will be forced to attack.

Trust me, Chicago does NOT want this match to go down to penalty kicks, because we have better shooters, and Troy Perkins is a beast and will dominate.

But they MIGHT want this match to be decided in the final 15 minutes of regular time, or in overtime. I think Chicago's counterattacking style lends itself to that sort of situation, because if United makes one mistake late in the game then the whole season could be over.

But I don't think this game will even get that far. I'm predicting the first goal to come early in the match when the teams are still feeling each other out. Probably coming from the wing: either Fred or Olsen. Then United will add two more goals in the second half, one to Luciano Emilio (who will be subbed out shortly afterward). And then… here's a shot in the dark… the third goal goes to either Marc Burch or Bobby Boswell at the back post to put away a Christian Gomez free kick. Chicago might strike on a late goal, but it won't matter, as United wins the match 3-1.