Still no left back, but the slight defensive midfield depth issue has been addressed with the signing of Brazilian journeyman Marcelo Saragosa. Given that Kitchen will surely miss time for Olympic qualifiers (and the big show in London if we qualify) and isn't exactly a sure thing as he steps into his first year in the role for which he's being groomed, depth was a concern.

Could this Kiwi have clipped United's Canuck quotient?

Between trips to sunnier climes, United did a little trialist-pruning, releasing journeyman veterans Zayner and Svard along with the Suppie pickup Charles Rodriguez (conveniently just after the last Roster Reset...sigh). Kasper promises more trialists for the Arizona jaunt, but what I really want to see are (a) game time for Salihi against the MLS opposition on offer there and (b) a left back, any left back.

Does this man have your goals?

So are they done?

United ticked one of the two big "need" boxes by acquiring Albanian international striker Hamdi Salihi as a designated player (wait, I thought Uncle Will wasn't going to splash the cash?). Given his impressive rate of return wherever he's played, he certainly seems to fit the poacher's bill, though he also has decent size.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

After D.C. United and the Chicago Fire had their fair share of defensive struggles throughout the 2011 MLS campaign, the two teams both had a notable silver lining to take away from their friendly Sunday: no goals allowed.

The boxes are being ticked, slowly but surely. With the addition of central defender Emiliano Dudar, the depth acquisition project seems all but complete. Still, the two biggest needs, left back and finisher the ones we've been pointing to all offseason, remain frustratingly unfilled. Stefan Jerome, recently arrived on trial, would be a nice project up top (can't believe he's only 19 my memories of him as a U 17 seem distant), but isn't the finished product.

Not a striker.

The fight is on for roster spots as half of last Reset's trialists are gone and new faces arrive for the Florida camp. I'm still not seeing the potential for significant improvement in the weakest areas (finisher, left back), but at least we're no longer stuck in stasis-land and the depth issues look like being addressed.

Missile Swap: Out with the Clydewinder, in with the Cruz?

Don't look now, but the glacial pace of United's roster assembly is starting to pick up. Hot on the heels of the Maicon Santos acquisition comes the signing of former Dynamo right mid Danny Cruz1, leaving the current roster + trialists looking like this.

Praying for goals.

Movement at last! Maicon Santos makes it 15 for Salary Budget players, and United drops a 14-trialist bomb as pre-season camp gets underway. Of course, the majority of the trialists are guys with limited to no MLS experience, but such was always going to be the major source to roster depth1.

Nick DeLeon, courtesy dcunited.com

Hey, look, finally an addition to the roster! United picked up versatile attacker (is he a winger, a forward, an attacking midfielder?...Hmm, I'm sensing a pattern here) Nick DeLeon1 in the SuperDraft. I don't watch much collegiate ball, so I'm not going to pass any judgement on the pick.

Based on the current roster list on United's web site and the little scraps of information we have to go on, I thought I'd begin the Roster Reset in advance of the SuperDraft and the absolute rafts of new signings the United brain trust are just waiting to announce (hello, sarcasm, you insufferable trollop).

In the first part of this series, we ran the rule over the current United roster. In this second part, we'll compile a list of wants by position, setting us up for the grand finale, where we put those wants in order...

Would you trust this man with your roster?

GOALKEEPER

Needs: Hamid and Willis are solid in the first two spots on the depth chart, so there shouldn't be much work to do here.

The list for the Re-Entry Draft is out. Any interesting targets for United?

Ante Jazic: To old (36 before 2012 season starts) and too expensive ($115k salary), but plays a position of need. This would be an extreme reach, even at a reduced salary in Stage 2.

Bobby Boswell: Way too expensive ($210k salary) and we're probably set with McDonald and Jakovic in the middle of defense, but .

I can understand protecting Charlie Davies if you've got a rumor of trade interest that you think might enable you to significantly improve the team1. I can even plunge past the mystifying decision to protect a well-past-it Simms if a pay-cut or trade are on the horizon.

But Korb and Woolard?

Goff's version of the protected list is out, so I thought I'd stir from my hibernation1 to do some comparisons. (Revisit my list in four parts by hitting the links highlighted in the sidebar.)

• On both lists: Willis, Jakovic, De Rosario, Kitchen, McDonald, Pontius, Quaranta, Wolff
• Goff also protects: Korb, Woolard, King
• I also protect: Boskovic, Brettschneider, da Luz

We're in alignment on a number of points beyond the obvious (De Rosario, Kitchen, Pontius).

In the first three parts of this series, I worked my way through the thick weeds of the roster, pruning and purging. On the far side, I arrived with the roster sorted into the following categories...

• PROTECT: De Rosario, Jakovic, Kitchen, Pontius
• EXPOSE: Barklage, Burch, Cronin, Davies, Korb, McTavish, Morsink, Ngwenya, Woolard, Zayner
• BUBBLE: Boskovic, Brettschneider, da Luz, King, McDonald, Quaranta, Simms, Willis, Wolff
• N/A: Hamid, Najar, Shanosky, White

Four of the twenty-seven players on the roster don't need to be sheltered from the rapacious grasp of L'Impact de Montreal by virtue of their being home grown talents.

Let's begin the expansion draft dance, shall we?

Some rules of the road:

• The rules allow teams to protect eleven players.
• United must protect one of their international players (Jakovic or Boskovic).
• I'm going to make the assumption that Kitchen will be graduated from GenAd and thus will need to be protected.

I was at RFK Stadium last night. I was at RFK Stadium last year when the Fire won on the backs of two goals after the 80th minute. I certainly did not expect to see a repeat two-late-goal performance after Dwayne De Rosario converted his 89th minute penalty kick. A fairly blah game turned into a story for the ages when Sebastian Grazzini scored a scorcher of a goal and Diego Chaves finished D.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Another opportunity for D.C. United to make up ground in the playoff race. Another loss.

Thee days after dropping a decision to the Philadelphia Union, D.C. United lost again, falling 2-1 to the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium on Saturday.

The decisive goal came in the second half on a beautiful diving header from Eddie Gaven, who made his return for the Crew after being injured for nearly two months.

After watching Darlington Nagbe and the Portland Timbers show how high the quality of play in the MLS can be, some of the other matches this weekend served as reminders of how lousy the play sometimes is.

The weekend featured more than its fair share of uninspired play, cynical dives in the penalty area, off-target shots that should have been no-doubters, and one keeper who decided to throw up his hands instead of attempt a save.

One of the best things about a highlight package after a 3-nil win is that the rare down moments don't exist. The beauty of the Seattle Sounders attack is featured. The passing, off-ball movement and penchant to threaten the keeper in Saturday's game was the team working at near perfection. Mauro Rosales and Fredy Montero were able to pick apart the DC United defense.

By JASON MITCHELL

SEATTLE, WA - Seattle answered any questions about whether last week's disappointing loss to Real Salt Lake would be more than a hiccup with a resounding 3-0 win over D.C. United Saturday.

In a clash of the old guard and the new rife with both playoff and Supporters' Shield implications, Seattle (14-6-9) unleashed their characteristic attacking, aesthetically-pleasing soccer in keeping the pressure on league-leading Los Angeles Galaxy.

Guess what? United are a middle of the road club. They slot in somewhere between the also-rans like Chivas and the league elites like Seattle. Hard to find these last couple of results shocking when you put things in that perspective, is it? Nor was it surprising to see United struggle offensively in their first game without their second most influential attacking player1.

Couldn't find a reliable stream in the bunker at an undisclosed location last night, so no reaction piece to United's 1-0 loss away to KC. Watching the condensed match wasn't much help save that Willis looks a reliable #2, we backpass too much, we carry no threat without De Rosario, and any match where we're looking to Ngwenya to save us is an automatic loss.

Listen.

I sat down at the keyboard last night and stared at the screen. Nothing. I just couldn't get jazzed to write a reaction piece. Some of that was because I could copy and paste many of my prior talking points. Some was because the match was pretty dull.

But the main reason was because the result was so infuriatingly predictable.

Photo by Daveblog

In the land of draws, the Chicago Fire are kings.

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.

Kelsey Haist, Nixa Eagles (2011)/Missouri Southern Lions

Southern soccer signs three for 2011

Joplin, Mo. Missouri Southern soccer coach Alese Woolard has announced the signing of two high school athletes and a Division I transfer to her 2011 signing class.

Joining the Lions from the high school level are Katelyn Roberson (Lee's Summit N.

Midweek swaps saw two new faces appear in Ben Olsen's starting eleven. Unfortunately, the DJ was playing the same sorry tune when it came to the match itself. Good moments going forward, patchy periods of possession, and, of course, the inevitable defensive comedy routines. You'd think we'd have worn out that record by now.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

BOYDS, Md. -- As far as season debuts go, Bill Hamid's had it all.

In his first competitive appearance of the season, D.C. United's 20-year-old Homegrown goalkeeper had a few shaky moments.

Philadelphia Union at D.C. United - Gamethread - U.S. Open Cup Qualification Play-In Round

Union starting XI: Mondragon, Harvey, Valdes, Califf, Harvey, Nakazawa, Carroll, M. Farfan, Daniel, Le Toux, Ruiz
Union bench: Holder, McInerney, Pfeffer, Richter, Agorsor, Torres, Mwanga
D.

Boy, that felt awfully familiar, didn't it? Makeshift starting lineup due to injuries/suspensions. Decent amount of fight and a few nice combinations in the middle third. Missed marks and poor one-v-one defending. Lack of a cutting edge. Undone on the counter. It could almost be 2010 all over again.
That said, biblical weather at altitude without half of the normal starters.

Boy, that felt awfully familiar, didn't it? Makeshift starting lineup due to injuries/suspensions. Decent amount of fight and a few nice combinations in the middle third. Missed marks and poor one-v-one defending. Lack of a cutting edge. Undone on the counter. It could almost be 2010 all over again.
That said, biblical weather at altitude without half of the normal starters.

It has been reported that Ben Olsen did not want to discuss the officiating in this match. I too would like to take the high road, almost. It is without question that the game was littered with incorrect or questionable calls. Still, United should have done better. This is a tough loss for a team coming from the momentum of an emotional opening week win.

Better. Possibly.
We all remember the YouTube greatness of one Cristian Castillo, don't we? Assuming Brasesco pans out (though that's a mighty big assumption considering our recent forays south of the border), we've at least got some reasonable depth at the back if we include the recent addition of Daniel Woolard and the signing of Ethan White to a homegrown contract.

D.C. United announced today that the club has re-signed midfielder Kurt Morsink and acquired defender Daniel Woolard.

Choo-cho! The mediocrity train rolls on.