Following their 1-0 win at San Juan Jabloteh on Sept 15th, the guys have been resting up,
practicing, and hopefully getting some tactical and finishing work in before their next game on
Thursday, against Marathon. I've been doing much of the same, save for the practicing or working on
my finishing.
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MLS Rumors 28 July @ 10:19 PM EST
From the Colorado Rapids Front Office, the team announced two roster moves today, as the team has
signed Scottish midfielder
Jamie Smith. Per club and league policy, terms of the
deal were not disclosed. In another roster move, Colorado waived midfielder
Terry
Cooke.
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WVHooligan 29 June @ 02:06 PM EST
Around the league the last couple days we've seen a number of roster moves. Below is a current
list of what's gone on over the last few days. I'll have the in-season player movement page updated
with this information shortly.
Mostly these are moves where clubs are releasing or waiving players to make room on their roster
for the upcoming transfer window this summer.
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May seem a bit far-fetched and have no basis in truth but there is a rumor going around that former
Real Madrid and Liverpool striker,
Fernando Morientes, may be making his way to
Colorado. A fomer European Footballer of the Year, no less. I don't know about that but I do know
that there will be another striker on his way to DSG Park in the not too distant future and it does
appear that he will be from outside the MLS.
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Not sure I want to go there. Where all those rods are going, I dunno.
How about some links:
- The Bundesliga was the highest attended league. [The Offside]
- The Kaka move was blasted by the Barca boss. Surprise. [ESPN]
- The top 10 t-shirt messages. Post goal-scoring, of course.
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MLS Rumors 12 September @ 11:48 AM EST
Steve Goff at the Soccer Insider Blog is reporting that DC United have signed the 24 year old
defender as a developmental player. He becomes the latest in a series of recent signings and roster
moves thought to bolster United's depth ahead of the CONCACAF Champions League group stage next
week.
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The DCenters 05 August @ 09:00 AM EST
In the course of being engrossed by the game to game mentality and analysis, it is easy for me
to lose perspective of an entire season. At times like this, it is useful to look back on previous
posts to remind myself of what I was thinking earlier, and to reapply that perspective to where we
are now.
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LET'S ENUMERATE THE SUCK: The news of Perralta and Gallardo needing to go out for hernia surgery
does suck, as that injury seems to plague this team somehow. The news that Carvallo has been
released moderately sucks, in that it indicates our lack of depth not just in defense but in the
keeper position as well.
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Word in both the Examiner and WaPo suggest the Niell will be on his way out soon, at the latest by
July 1st when player contracts are guaranteed. At $150k a year, he has not produced as expected,
and may be having trouble adjusting to the league and new playing demands. Unless he goes on a
scoring streak of titanic proportions, I think the club will find it hard to rationalize keeping
him.
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So it is done, and Santino Quaranta returns to United. I stand by my previous comments, but let
me make this clear. I will not root against, or not support Tino. I support the shirt, and if Tino
is in that shirt then I shall support him. Yet there will be some detachment, a sense of judgement
at all times.
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Yes, I am trying to fit in as many business trips as I can before the resumption of the season,
which has put me out of the writing business for a bit. Now, I do not flatter myself as the
greatest soccer polemicist of our time, but I do find it interesting that as soon as this site goes
momentarily silent, United brings Santino Quaranta into camp.
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The DCenters 12 February @ 09:30 AM EST
RANDOM POLITICAL RANT: Yes, it is cold this morning, but I still managed to drag myself to my
local polling place and vote. Now, frankly, I'm not sure that one individual vote matters, but I'm
pretty sure that politicians care about the types of people who vote. Old people vote, so
politicians care about them.
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The DCenters 11 February @ 10:41 AM EST
I'm working on putting together an something I hope you might find interesting, but let's spend
at least one post dedicated to the most important player that D.C. United had from 2004 to 2007:
Christian Gomez. He is arguably the reason we won the MLS Cup in 2004. He was critical to the 2006
and 2007 Supporter's Shield runs.
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The DCenters 05 February @ 11:34 AM EST
...see, because I waited 'til Tuesday for this post responding to reader comments. I know! You
were expecting some cheesy Super Tuesday joke, not an Aimee Mann 1980s anti domestic violence sub
reference. I shall leave the Super Tuesday type posts to those more fit to make them.
I like to highlight disagreements with me, or at least perceived disagreements with me, in this
post, simply because I enjoy the lack of group-think.
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The DCenters 01 February @ 11:00 AM EST
Or, why I don't give a damn about Nationalism when thinking about United's starting XI.
Emphasize your strengths, minimize your weaknesses. It is one of the most fundamental rules of
achieving success in any endeavor, and it is true of soccer as well. It is true in terms of how an
individual plays his game, how a team adopts tactics for another team, how a manager plans for a
season, and how a front office establishes a long-term plan.
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The DCenters 29 January @ 08:55 PM EST
Marcelo Gallardo makes DC history today just for being the team's first Designated Player. There's
still an MLS season to play and determine if he'll go down as a Denilson or Reyna DP, or turn out
to have it like Blanco or Angel.
What do we know about him?
He's 5'6"", and thus nicknamed "El Muñeco" - "The Doll".
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The DCenters 29 January @ 10:03 AM EST
It was a decently warm game when D.C. United opened the home season in 2006 against the New York
Red Bulls. Despite the previous years ignominious defeat to Chicago, the mood was somewhat
optimistic. Several prognosticators picked United to finish first in the East for the upcoming
year. With Christian Gomez serving a red card suspension, and Nick Rimando injured from preseason,
the line-up was perhaps not the entire first string.
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The DCenters 28 January @ 10:27 AM EST
Lest I become a complete cheerleader for all things Kasper and Payne, let me suggest that the
idea of Gallardo becoming a Designated Player selection, as hinted in this morning's writings from
the Goffather, strikes me as a bit troubling.
... it is uncertain whether Gallardo will participate right away or wait until camp
moves to Bradenton, Fla.
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The DCenters 25 January @ 03:19 PM EST
Look, I could write a supplemental draft write-up. Or wait for Kinney or Oscar or Bob to do it.
And they still may, I don't know. We're pretty independent here. But frankly, if just for the
distance they work for the joke, I'm just gonna refer you to The Fullback Files' post on the
matter, and commend to your attention the following:
Round 2 - Dan Stratford (midfielder, West Virginia, Fulham academy).
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The DCenters 25 January @ 10:26 AM EST
I am not without pettiness. Part of me reads the story of the falling-out between Christian
Gomez and D.C. United, and I want to be incensed at Christian for not showing enough loyalty to
come back at the terms United offered. The terms offered were decent -- $300K to $350K per year in
cap space.
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The DCenters 24 January @ 09:26 AM EST
HELLO:...And the parade continues. United has now added Gonzalo Martinez from Millonarios, and
Dave Kasper provides us the resume:
Martìnez began his professional career in the Colombian First Division with Deportes
Tolima in 1996 before moving to Italian Serie A side Udinese in 2001.
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The DCenters 23 January @ 09:27 AM EST
With the formal announcement that United now has Franco Niell (Post, Times) on loan for the 2008
campaign, United has a decent sense of what they look like up-top and in front of the nets.
Midfield and Defense are now the concerns, and training starts in less than a week. As Haydon says
in the Times:
United is expected to make other key signings this week — possibly bringing in
Peruvian goalie Jose Carvallo and Colombian defender Gonzalo Martinez — to replace goalie Troy
Perkins and defender Bobby Boswell, both of whom recently left the team.
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The DCenters 20 January @ 08:48 PM EST
I'm hearing that Arguez's transfer is gummed up in MLS Headquarters because their attention through
this week was on the draft in Baltimore. Hertha wants him ASAP and expect him to be challenging for
first team minutes immediately. Did DCU let him languish on the field, or was he really motivated
to impress and jump overseas?
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The DCenters 18 January @ 04:13 PM EST
Andrew Jacobson
With the 24th pick in the 2008 Superdraft, DC United picked Andrew Jacobson from California. Buzz
had him ranked 8th out of the midfielders. Most mock drafts had him going much earlier. This is a
guy that fell into United's lap. It looks like he will slot in behind Simms, which basically
ensures that Arguez really is going to Berlin.
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The DCenters 18 January @ 09:58 AM EST
I can't really must much enthusiasm for the MLS Superdraft this year. Maybe it is the lack of a
first round draft pick, our analysis which has indicated (though not conclusively proven) that DC
is not particularly performing well in the draft the last few years. Although, here we may be
confusing causes and effects.
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The DCenters 17 January @ 09:27 AM EST
Before I get into the main point of this post, I recommend that you check out Kinney's draft
thoughts below, as well as the comments from Nick. Good Stuff. Also, a quick note that I am having
technical problems at the moment, so my posting may be decreased until we fix it... Okay.
There are several interesting forces at work, but first, two key paragraphs from Soccer America
that mirror my thoughts:
One can sympathize with Twellman, to a point, especially in the light of New England's
obstructionist history regarding players going overseas.
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The DCenters 14 January @ 09:54 AM EST
So, here's what we know of. United is looking at an Argentinean forward with Franco Niell, a
potential Peruvian keeper with Jose Carvallo (with a green card, which short circuits one planned
rant), and a Columbian defender with Gonzalo Martinez. If all three deals go forward (and let's
assume that they will, since we all know the caveats that come with anticipating international
transfers) then we'll have a new center back to replace Bobby Boswell, a speedy forward to
supplement the attack up top, and a keeper to pair with Mr.
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The DCenters 09 January @ 09:53 AM EST
In general, I'm trying to wait on player announcements until there is something formal said by
the club. That's why we kept Troy Perkins out of the Goodbye list for so long. And, sadly, my
knowledge of the Argentine first division is not extensive, so other than the links to Clarin that
have been posted in the comments (and my thanks for those) and today's story in the Post, there's
not much insight I can add other than saying "how do you pronounce his name properly?
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The DCenters 08 January @ 11:08 AM EST
It's hard for me to get excited about any transfer news. Part of this is because after the Veron
drama, anything is anti-climactic. Part of it is also a sense that the vaunted Argentine connection
just may not be all-that. Yes, we have gotten several excellent players from South America, but
from Argentina only Christian Gomez remains.
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The DCenters 03 January @ 10:19 AM EST
JOSH GROS, AU REVOIR: We start with the news of a qualified good-bye to Josh Gros, who is taking
a year off and will then re-evaluate his health. We're going to put Josh in the good-bye column on
the right, and note that we may say "hello" to him next year. I honestly have no basis to
speculate, but we're all agreed that Josh's health must come first, and I would rather he retire
permanently than come back in 2009 and put himself at risk for a more permanent injury.
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The DCenters 02 January @ 09:57 AM EST
Obviously, everyone took the Christmas break off around here, but now we're back, and we're
about three months from the start of United competitive soccer action. First things first, a
belated farewell to Troy Perkins. When Nick Rimando injured his ankle, I wasn't sure what we'd get
with Perkins.
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The DCenters 17 December @ 09:17 AM EST
I'd like to take this moment to wrap up the entire Veron story. The DCenters was pretty neutral
on the signing of Juan Sebastian Veron, and to the extent that we're disappointed he's not signing
it's because it was clear that this was the guy the Front Office wanted. We never believed, and I'm
sure you never believed, that Veron was the magic bullet to take us to the next level.
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The DCenters 14 December @ 01:44 PM EST
SI.COM is now retracting their earlier comments:
On the day Juan Sebastian Veron was to tell his teammates of his plans to leave
Estudiantes de la Plata and play for D.C. United he realized he couldn't do it...Veron had agreed
in principal to a multiyear contract with D.C. United that would have paid him close to $4 million
annually.
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The DCenters 14 December @ 09:27 AM EST
...and then the female part of the chorus would sing "La Brujita" as a coutnerpoint...
...and if we could get him to do that, would it still be overrated kitsch? (Yes.)
Regardless, the first major US media report that Veron has been signed is out from Sports
Illustrated:
Juan Sebastian Veron and D.
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The DCenters 13 December @ 01:35 PM EST
One of the recurring tropes heard during the transfer season is "Trust in Payne." And while
there have certainly been great acquisitions in our history masterminded by the Front Office,
exactly how good is United when it comes to making trades? As a game to test the theory, let's put
together a starting line-up of players that United have either traded to another MLS team or
outright released but then played for an MLS team, and see how good a team we can create.
Click to continue reading...