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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Last week was a little bit ridiculous in D.C. United land. The team signed a new designated player in Hamdi Salihi that no one knew they could afford, added some more midfield depth, cut a well-liked forward from last year, and played its first two preseason games of the season.

This week has been decidedly quieter. Almost too quiet. At least too quiet for us bloggers.

But there has been some news, and we've been following along closely, and wanted to give you the chance to comment. Here are some quick items from across the web:

• Chris Pontius and Ethan White have returned to full training. That's fantastic news. We'd heard previously that Pontius was tracking to be ready for full training around Mar. 1, leaving us to assume that he wouldn't be back in his best shape in time for the opener. Now it sounds like he will be. Fantastic news.
• Remember when Andy Najar was benched early last season for fitness reasons? Apparently that won't be happening this year. Via dcunited.com: "I worked a lot more this year than in comparison to last year because I went to England, so I did a lot more work before preseason and I’m in better shape than last year."
• It sounds like the Conor Shanosky loan to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers is all but official. We knew this was coming, but the surprising thing to me is that the loan will last the entire season, as reported by Steven Goff. With Marcelo Saragosa and Emiliano Dudar now under contract, loaning away the young defensive midfielder / center back makes some sense. But when will we ever get to see him actually show some of his potential that we've been hearing about for two years now?
• Fullback Files has a great new feature using Football Manager to evaluate Salihi and Dudar. While we certainly hope that Ben Olsen and Dave Kasper don't use the same tool for evaluating talent, its just the slightest vindication that these guys should be about as good as advertised, which is a small upgrade over the incumbents.

In an unsurprising development, Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Saragosa has been signed by D.C. United after a brief trial. At 30 years old, Saragosa has 7 years of MLS experience (with the LA Galaxy, Chivas USA, and FC Dallas) but joins United after a couple of seasons playing in Azerbaijan.

While hardly a big name, Saragosa can at least brag about having friends in the right places; the best man at his wedding was some dude named Kaká. It's also worth noting that Saragosa acquired a green card during his previous stint in MLS, so he will not take up an international roster spot.

Saragosa's primary position is defensive midfield, a position DC happened to be thin at. Regular readers of this blog know how most of us feel about Kurt Morsink and his habit of making huge, game-changing mistakes. With Perry Kitchen a probable member of the US Olympic squad, there is a real chance that United will need 7-10 starts out of whoever ends up as his back-up.

Supplemental draft pick Lance Rozeboom is getting rave reviews from his fellow players, but the percentage of supplemental picks who emerged from college ready for that many starts (especially playing arguably the most complex and critical role in the modern game) is virtually nil. Other options include Stephen King - who has little experience at the position - and Brandon McDonald, who is more comfortable at center back.

Saragosa is not strictly a holding midfielder, however. With the Galaxy, Saragosa played both defensive midfield and also a box-to-box role, though it should be noted that he will never be mistaken for a potential source of goals (he has just 2 goals in 116 MLS appearances). At Chivas USA and FC Dallas, he made rather more than a handful of appearances at right back and even played a few games at right midfield. While he probably won't see too much time in those roles here, it's awfully nice to have that on your bench (particularly if we're trying to protect a lead).

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The continuing saga of Andy Najar's international career presses onward, with a Honduran newspaper reporting that Honduran national team coach Luis Fernando Suarez has traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with Ben Olsen and other club officials about Najar's participation in the Olympics. Hopefully this is not a sign that there are tensions between the two sides, but that Suarez wants to work out details for Najar's international career beyond just these upcoming matches. Keeping a key player's club happy is always the goal of an international coach, but United will also be striving to keep Najar happy as well. If they don't, Andy may soon be trying to go to a club that will.

The newspaper report suggests that Najar would only miss the games that occur during the tournament, which would be against the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas. This seems to contradict what Suarez has said previously, and what we recently polled, when he wanted his players into camp two weeks prior to the start of qualifiers. It is most likely the newspaper stating only the facts that they currently know, but perhaps they have heard that Suarez is willing to compromise a little more to make sure that Najar gets into his camp.

As a selfish United fan, I want Honduras to lose during qualification so that Andy is available to the team for the maximum amount of games. However, there is another part of me that wants Honduras and the United States to qualify together, because that means that Mexico will not have made it. Regardless, we all hope Andy shines and begins to show the rest of the world what we already know: that Najar is an exciting young player that can compete at the highest level.

It feels like its been almost a year since D.C. United played its last preseason game. Or at least a few months. But it's actually been just three days. It's felt much longer because so much has happened since. The team shocked the world, including its own fan base when it signed Hamdi Salihi on Thursday to a designated player contract, and then waived promising young forward Blake Brettschneider a day later.

If you've been following along with this blog, then you know that we've already written plenty of words about Salihi, and given you the opportunity to express your feelings about Brettschneider. So how about we take a step back and look at that game again then?

After battling the Chicago Fire to a scoreless draw earlier in the week, United continued its Florida camp with a friendly match against Swedish club Malmo FF at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, FL. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with United falling behind in the first half after a free kick goal from former Seattle Sounders player Erik Friberg, and then drawing even in the second with a header from trialist Ryan Richter.

Follow us below for the lineups and more info.

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