Greetings, members of the Black & Red United Community! My name is Mitchell Northam (or Mitch, whichever you prefer) and I'll be keeping you all informed about D.C. United alumni with a monthly report entitled United Abroad. Whether players have moved on from MLS to go overseas, or whether MLS has moved on from them, I'll have the scoop on what they are up to outside of MLS.
In theTimbers'first year in Major League Soccer, 2011 saw a number of teams use their natural picks in the allocation order. Before the start of the season Vancouver, Portland, and D.C. all used their picks while Philadelphia, New England, and Seattle made picks while the season was in mid swing.
Reports & reaction from the Union's dominating win over Toronto. A candid Adu on what he needs to
do. Nowak tells Polish press if the national team needs him, "I'm available." Ocean City clinches
PDL playoff spot, another thumping win for Reading, while Harrisburg fights back for a 4 point
weekend. More news.
In the past few weeks we've two impressive stories of professional soccer players battling off
field problems. The first was David Testo who made public the fact that he is gay. That is
challenging in and of itself, but it takes that much more courage to come out when you're a
professional athlete. As impressive as that story was, I was struck by another.
Photo of Taylor Twellman at Union's 2011 home opener by Earl Gardner.
Philadelphia Union
Deportivo Saprissa president Juan Carlos Rojas has confirmed in an interview with a Costa Rican
radio station that the Union has been in contact with the club about Josue Martinez, saying "I
would not go into much detail but there has been interest from Philadelphia [in Martinez].
Leave it to MLS to miss a slam dunk. As part of their daily unveiling of award winners leading up
to the MLS Cup (an idea that I like that they do), the league announced the winners of the Comeback
...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
Happy Friday to you. Several thoughts have been floating through my head as we move into the
weekend. The first is the magic number ten that several coaches have placed on getting to the
playoffs. Ten points and we're in seems to be the vibe. I think I was most encouraged by the recent
comments of Jason Kreis regarding Real Salt Lake's chances.
A week after naming Paxton Ballard as their first committment for the 2013 season, the Reál Boston Rams announced the addition of Wheaton College midfielder Luke Finkelstein to its roster.
Playing as a #5 since his days in the Peabody Youth Soccer program, Finkelstein was one of the first New England Revolution U-16 players from back in 2008 and now joins the Rams' ranks as a "quality player (with).
BC striker Charlie Rugg (right) battles New England Revolution defender Darrius Barnes in a February exhibition match at Gillette Stadium. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)
Charlie Rugg's 2012 didn't get off to the start the pacey Boston College Eagles striker had hoped for. At the tail end of an impressive preseason, Rugg suffered a knee injury that would keep him out of the starting lineup for the first four games of the season.
When D.C. United announced yesterday the surprise acquisition of Guatemalan forward Carlos Ruiz, the discussion here quickly turned to a comparison with Charlie Davies.
The comparison is a bit contrived, given that they each arrived in D.C. in very different circumstances - Davies as an immediate fan favorite, returning as a hero to the place that almost took his life and giving us the opportunity to watch him rise from the ashes, and Ruiz as one of the most hated players in MLS history.
In Brazil, fans of his team Bahia called him Gladiador because of his physical style and his "thumbs down" goal celebration. In D.C. United's locker room, though, they're just calling him Rafa. Whatever you call Rafael Teixeira de Souza, he's the 20-year-old striker who's been brought to town as a Designated Player with designs on replacing Lionard Pajoy at the front of the D.
In 2009, Chris Pontius was nominated for Rookie of the Year; in 2010, Andy Najar followed suit and won the award too. In 2011, Perry Kitchen, Charlie Davies, and Dwayne De Rosario were nominated for Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Most Valuable Player, with DeRo winning. This year, Chris Pontius, Nick DeLeon, and Ben Olsen were nominated for Comeback Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year, with the results of those races yet to be determined.
DC United will look to catapult themselves into the Eastern Conference lead as well as keep their
four match home winning streak going with the full three points over long time arch enemy, the New
England Revolution when they visit RFK tomorrow night. A win would also cement United at the top
of the Eastern Conference [.
DC United, unbeaten in three matches look to vault past The New England Revolution into 5th place
in the Eastern Conference standings if DC coach Ben Olsen wins his duel with NE's Jay Heaps as the
youngest two coaches to face ...
By Connor Walsh The 2012 Major League Soccer is nearly upon us. Indeed tonight, three MLS sides
take to the pitch in the CONCACAF Champions League, all with a chance to do what Real Salt Lake
nearly did a year ago: deliver MLS its first continental championship. Back in league play, the
2011 fairytale ending [.
Team: D.C. United Coach: Ben Olsen Last Season: 9-13-12, 7th Eastern Conference, 13th Overall
Hashtag: #DCU There is a sense of anticipation around the DC United fan base this season, a sense
of anticipation that fans have not had for a few years. ...
While I'm relatively certain that most dedicated followers of MLS will know what United are
getting with the likes of Maicon Santos and Danny Cruz, there's still an element of mystery
surrounding the acquisitions from the mid-tier Euro-leagues. Most of us see precious little from
Swiss or Austrian clubs outside of perhaps the odd Europa League highlight.
There was only one thing DC United fans knew for sure going into the 2011 season, and that was this
season couldn't be any worse than the previous one. After setting the standard for futility, the
team not only climbed ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
By Puck With the MLS playoffs underway, our domestic league will be getting a lot of attention over
the next few weeks. Will a squad with a designated player finally lift the MLS Cup? Can a
disappointing season from the New York Red Bulls, made only palatable by a late, solid run of form,
be [...
The difference between MLS and most other major American sports leagues is that two teams with
losing records can play a low scoring game in the rain and have it be one of the most exciting
games of the year. ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
By Andrew Villegas Yeoman Dwayne De Rosario has one goal every 173 minutes this year. Sebastien Le
Toux has one every 270. Rising Star Brek Shea? One every 241 minutes. And Charlie Davies, that
death-defying, on-loan, one-time USMNT'er? He's scored one goal every 137 minutes, better than them
all. Yet, there Davies is every week, [.
On September 24th D.C. United had an impressive showing against a somewhat second team squad of
Real Salt Lake but the result was exactly what United needed - 3 points.
The Black and Red seemed poised to make a strong playoff push down the stretch of the 2011 MLS
season however the ensuing road trip saw United lose to Eastern Conference and I-95 rivals
Philadelphia Union and Columbus Crew just three days later failing to collect a single point.
Needing every point the team can muster from hear on out we are hopeful that goalkeeper Bill Hamid
will be in net for tonights match agians Chivas USA.
We elected to have Charlie Davies as the lone striker and put the always danderous playmaker,
Dwayne De Rosario directly behind Davies in the hope that the two can find some much needed
offensive spark working together.
DC United hasn't been to the playoffs since 2007, and Charlie Davies (pictured) was brought in to
rectify that and certainly helped the cause with a hat trick against Chivas last week. But, if he
and United harbor any hopes of actually breaking ...
Apparently Office Joe is some sort of soothsayer as he predicted D.C. United would win (although he
had the score wrong) and he somehow new that United forward Charlie Davies would return to his
early season goal scoring form, predicting Davies would have a "break out game".
The hat-trick from Davies and the much needed 3 points where obvious positives from Saturday night
in L.
Charlie Davies broke out of his own personal goal scoring drought in a big with way with all three
goals tonight in D.C. United's 3-0 win over Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center in Carson,
California. With the win ...
By Andrew Villegas Take a second to look at the up-to-the-moment playoff standings for MLS. What
strikes you? If you're anything like most people, it's that the New York Red Bulls – is it wrong
that I automatically think to add "machine" to the end of NYRB whenever I refer to them? – find
themselves teetering precariously [.
Last night, La Maquina Roja looked well on their way to their third win of the season
after dominating DC United at home for about 70 minutes. Sebastian Grazzini had given the home side
the lead early in the second half and United's attack looked spent.
Those who know my writing know that I have an affinity for DC United and have followed the team,
with varying levels of intensity, since its inception. So it should surprise no one that I have
been closely following the Black-and-Red this season, not just because of rooting interest but
because this has shaped up to be an intriguing season for a number of reasons.
All of us at PSP hope you had a Happy Christmas and are recovering well from the excitements
of the day. Here's a brief news roundup to look at in between naps and one of the Boxing Day games
from England on Fox Soccer Channel.
Philadelphia Union
The Goalkeeper projects various Union starting XI's depending on different scenarios (attacking
formation, defensive formation, departures for the Olympics), starting with the basic assumption
that most (if not all) of the recent signings will automatically start, and looks at what this
could mean to players who were on the 2011 roster.
Here's the skinny on new signing Josue Martinez from Kenneth Hernandez, soccer writer for Costa
Rican daily Al Dia:
"Martínez is a player for the future. He's still young and he has a lot to give. But he's just
21 and he needs to establish himself as a forward who responds with goals.
November 2, 1997. That's the last (and only) time the United States has played a competitive match at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and avoided defeat. Despite the fact that every part of the game in this country has improved in the ensuing decade and a half, it remains our best result in what is far and away the toughest venue in a region full of them.
And Stu Holden came through unscathed. For a fan base who has witnessed "delivers to the promised land" get cut down over the years Charlie Davies, John O'Brien Holden back on the pitch and with time to build his fitness, experience and resume in advance of World Cup 2014 is terrific.
What's that singular one-moment which says the most about US Soccer, progress, regression, promise?
In 2009, TSG picked "The Counterattack Heard Round the World" which was the height of the US team's "Confederation Cup" moment. It was a play of beauty. That play just narrowly edged the Charlie Davies Salute at RFK.
Charlie Davies earned his first start for Randers in their win at Vejle while both Michael Parkhurst and Conor O'Brien saw their Danish Cup runs come to a crashing halt.
Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland warmed up for the Champions League with an easy win, while neither Clarence Goodson nor Charlie Davies got on the field in Randers' win over Brondby.
In this week's power rankings roundup, the Union fall two spots to fifth at MLS Soccer.com. At
ESPN, they move up one spot to fifth. They drop one spot to fourth at the Seattle Times. At
Goal.com, the Union fall two spots to eighth.
Sheanon Williams, profiled on the Union website, was named to Goal.
