I guess this post has two questions...

1. So are we going to have another Black and Red United MLS Fantasy League this year? I know last year it fizzled down to a handful of people by the end, but I love every minute of it.

2. Last year we used ESPN as the host, and they sucked on several occasions. It seemed like it was being run out of some loser's basement a couple times. Has anyone tried another MLS Fantasy league through another site that was reliable?

Charlie Davies has been generating a lot of talk around the water cooler in the last 24 hours or so. Yesterday, he was featured on MLS' ExtraTime Radio podcast (synopsis by Steven Goff here, in case you can't listen) in which he described his ups and downs while with D.C. United. Although he said that his experience was "wonderful," Charlie expressed dissatisfaction with his playing time and his perceived lack of communication from the coaching staff and front office. Charlie went on to say that "Benny is hard-headed when he makes a decision, and that’s that. I definitely voiced my opinion in his office and let him know I wasn’t happy."

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Steven Goff reported and DC United has since confirmed the signing of 30-year old MF Marcelo Saragosa. Saragosa has previously played in Brazil, 116 career matches here in MLS for LA, Dallas, and Chivas before spending the last two seasons in the Azerbaijan First Division.

According to GM Dave Kasper, "We are pleased to have concluded a deal to bring Marcelo to DC. He is well-acquainted with our League and brings additional depth to a midfield we feel is already one of the best in the League."

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http://gay4soccer.com/allies/

Shall we in the Black and Red United community join Josh Wolff and Clyde Simms in becoming allies of gay4soccer? Brotherly Game has signed up, can't let them beat us to the punch on the field or off it... ;) Especially since DCU was the first team to do an "It gets Better" video. Let's be there to support MLS players who come out and show in yet another way that soccer is the sport of the future. (and my goal is to help make it a more more equal and just future in terms of marriage equality, but at minimum a player should feel comfortable being out) Another idea after the jump...

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The lull in D.C. United’s activity this offseason has been unbearably painful.

Offseasons are usually difficult to endure. The deafening silence has not been quite this bad for about 12 months, and this author feels the pain can only be compared to that which was felt on January 18, 2010 when United signed Danny Allsopp. But this offseason has been worse for several reasons. At the end of 2011, the club chose to release (or otherwise not keep) 12 players on a team that just missed the playoffs. They could have let just three or four go (especially Joseph Ngwenya who they should have released twice because once just is not enough). At this point in the offseason though, the MLS Combine and the draft are the only things discussed in the news, on podcasts or anywhere else. Hope over some sort of announcement about anything related to stadium news (even renegotiation of the RFK use agreement) is starting to look like a lost cause.

United’s 2011 season was not a complete loss; the team needed depth, and this shortcoming came back to haunt the club in the last two months of the season. However, this is certainly a respectable conclusion for a team that finished dead last in 2010. Dwayne De Rosario arrived to show his class, Chris Pontius continued to improve his game and became a legitimate offensive threat and Ben Olsen showed he can coach. So it was a real surprise to see United put 12 players out to pasture when the season ended. Most of these players really were not doing enough to earn a salary anyway. In some cases (Ngwenya for instance), the players were doing so poorly that United would have probably been better off if they had chosen to play a man down. Adding only Robbie Russell (a very good player) has caused much consternation - due primarily to the enormous cliffhanger that supporters are dangling from.

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After four years of being out of the playoffs, it's fair to say the D.C. United front office has struggled with fielding a team that can compete with the league's best. Last month, I posted a piece detailing the franchise's weak record with international signings during that four-year stretch of poor form, identifying that as a major factor in the team's rapid fall from the MLS heights. Right now, Untied seems to be watching from the sidelines as the top MLS teams are adding strong players from Europe and Latin America. Today, FC Dallas added one of the best strikers in CONCACAF, Blas Perez, along with a young, talented Colombian defender who has captained his country's U23 team. Dallas joins the LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Philadelphia Union in adding what seem like good foreign players. Also, the New York Red Bulls added to their stable today, with an experienced Scandinavian defender. Even the San Jose Earthquakes seems to have beaten United to its first international target, Victor Bernardez, based on discovery claim priority because of the Earthquakes' weaker record last year.

Right now, I fear that D.C. is falling even farther behind the other teams in constructing a winning roster for 2012, If, as I believe, international roster slots reset for the new season, then United has six international roster slots to fill (or trade for domestic talent). The team's competitiveness this season will depend on how good a job the front office does with this task -- with the level of talent they bring into the team to fill those international slots.

Over the long run, though, there is another even more important mechanism which MLS teams will need to exploit if they want to stay at the top of the league competition -- and it is that piece of the puzzle that I want to write about now: the Academy system.

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Allsopp, Boskovic, Brasesco, Castillo, Carvallo, Gallardo, Habarugira, Hernandez, Martinez, N'Galula, Niell, N'Silu, Pena, Peralta, Varela.

Hardly a Hall of Fame, but this is my stab at providing a comprehensive list of foreign signings by the D.C. United front office since they last tasted any measure of success in MLS. Four years without a playoff spot, and you can point to the names on this list as the main reason why.

Is there a pattern we can find here? Absolutely. One overarching pattern that can be seen by breaking these players out into 2 categories.

First -- Gallardo, Allsopp, Pena, Martinez and Varela fall into one category -- players who carved out decent careers for themselves as international journeymen at various levels of club play. None of them were high achievers, though. They represent efforts by the front office to find established players they hoped might produce better in MLS than they had recently in more competitive leagues. Also, these players seemed pretty fragile. Perhaps, this was due in part to their ages, but maybe the team didn't really do the homework on their physical condition. Either that, or the team was too willing to gamble because these players came much cheaper than better and healthier players. Also, none of these players had much interest in sticking around. Were they ever excited about coming to MLS, or did their experience with D.C. United chill any enthusiasm they might have had?

Second -- Brasesco, Castillo, Carvallo, Habarugira, Hernandez, N'Galula, Niell, N'Silu, and, Peralta represent a very different group of players, but all have something in common. These are guys who were not even playing at the top level of leagues in the country where DC United found them. Either they were with second-division teams, or they were riding the bench. In a few cases. they were from second-division clubs and still not getting regular playing time.

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Futball matches are enriched by the chanting of fans. Unfortunately, virtually every chant is unintelligible to me when I'm watching the match on TV. One chant, though, is instantly recognizable. It's "U-S-A, U-S-A," and it is my favorite.

I love to hear it blasting out of the stands for Team USA. But I love it even more when it blasts out of the stands of an English stadium. Sometimes it's heard to celebrate the heroics of somebody like Clint Dempsey, Stu Holden or Tim Howard. But my absolute favorite time -- a guaranteed grin-producer -- is when it's directed at West Ham keeper Robert Green.

He opened England's 2010 World Cup finals play in the net against Team USA. His unpardonable flub of Dempsey's somewhat soft, mid-range shot gave USA a 1-1 tie that was at least a major factor of England's early crash from the tournament and USA's advance to the knockout rounds.

England fans rooting against West Ham won't let Green forget his howler. I've heard "U-S-A" chanted at him in every away Hammer match I've seen since his goof. I've also heard it in West Ham's Upton Park, but the match announcers haven't said whether it was coming from the home fans, the visiting fans, or both.

This is my favorite chant. Do you have one?

 

 

This was my first time attending a reserve league game, and it was a very enjoyable experience. The midday, weekday start times prevent most from making it out to the RFK practice field, but if you ever get the chance to take a personal day and venture out there, do it. You've gotta use those things before the end of the year anyway.

To me, what makes the games appealing is that they're a celebration of what could be. From the match to the players to the venue. It's like watching D.C. United from a parallel universe.

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On the Keep D.C. United page, there is the option to contact your local rep or the mayor. Although this takes somewhat more effort than just signing a petition, it is more effective. Local politicians hearing directly from people in the District will go a long way in getting them to back our cause. Though I do not live in D.C., I still wrote Mayor Vincent Gray a letter, which you can read below. All you  have to do is drop him or your rep a quick line about why you feel it is important to keep D.C. United in the District.

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