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. Click to continue reading...

I couldn't resist these items collected in the last week or so. All strange. All true.

For instance, you'll be relieved to know South Africa's tourism authorities are looking out for the fans when they indicated earlier this week they wanted to legalize prostitution during the 2010 World Cup.

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After being evaluated today in Germany, it has been decided that both Marcelo Gallardo and Gonzalo Peralta will need surgery for sports hernias. Gallardo will have bilateral sports hernia surgery, which will require him to go under the knife both tomorrow and Saturday, while Peralta only needs work done on the left side which will be completed tomorrow.

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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. Click to continue reading...

On this the first actual week of DC United's 2008 campaign for international domination, we take a look at the probable starting lineup for the opening Champions' Cup match Wednesday against Harbour View.

Of the 11 starting roster slots, I think 10 are pretty much locked up, and the last 1 is only available due to the injury of our hero. Click to continue reading...

Gasp! And here we were thinking that MLS only made rule changes in order to benefit the Galaxy!

Maybe this was announced earlier and I missed it, but a change to the MLS roster rules has come up today only because of Goff's latest post announcing the signing of Justin Moose to a Developmental contract, and the news that Kpene and Dyachenko are still eligible for Developmental contracts. Click to continue reading...

That's how it looks like this is developing. And after only one day of officially training with the team, I think it may be the newcomer with the inside track. It should be noted that Quaranta at age 23 is technically eligible for a Developmental roster slot for one more year. But judging from the fact that he already has offers from other clubs, I find it unlikely that he will accept a Developmental contract here with the salary that that would carry. Click to continue reading...

Is Alexi Lalas even a fan of the Galaxy? A trade like this makes me wonder if he really has much interest in winning.

Ok let me back it up. I guess if you're looking at the Greg Vanney / Quavas Kirk trade purely in terms of on-the-field talent, it's actually pretty even. Vanney started most of the year for DC, and should start and provide a bit of veteran leadership in defense for the Galaxy, a group that gave up the second most goals in the league last year. Click to continue reading...

No, it's not some new stupid reality game show. It's the first installment in a new occasional series of posts highlighting some of the position battles that will undoubtedly take place throughout this season of change for DC United.

If you were with us this morning, you saw my analysis of the senior roster as it currently stands, with the final slot likely to be a competition between Justin Moose and Jamil Walker. Click to continue reading...

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. Click to continue reading...

How come this year we had two draft picks from the Big East (Cordeiro-UConn, Stratford-WVU) and two from the Pac-10 (Jacobson-Cal, Owens-UCLA), but not a single player from the ACC? So Maryland and Virginia aren't good enough for DCU anymore? I see how it is.

I know I probably just sound bitter, given my blog's namesake, but how do you pick Ryan Cordeiro when Stephen King of Maryland is available? Click to continue reading...

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

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

The rule changes seem to be pretty minor in relation to DCU, and probably most other teams in the league.

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