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Dax McCarty, Ryan Miller Called Up To USMNT

Ronald Martinez - Getty Images

United's new addition Dax McCarty will be one of the most experienced players to participate in this January's U.S. National Team camp.

Dax McCarty has had quite an eventful offseason so far.

First he gets selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft, then he gets traded to last place D.C. United, and now he's been named to Bob Bradley's list of 24 players invited to U.S. National Team Training Camp in January.

The last D.C. player to get significant playing time with the USMNT while on United's roster? Ben Olsen. Yes, it all ties back to him.

Another name jumped out at me when reading the list of 24 players. Former D.C. United midfielder Ryan Miller, who made three CONCACAF Champions' Cup appearances with the club in 2008, but didn't see any time with the first team in MLS action, and was cut during training camp in 2009.

I don't want fans to criticize United for allowing a potential future USMNT player to be released. It's easy to look back and say that United should have know that Miller had a bright future. At least it's easy to say that if you never saw him play. Miller was outshined by fellow failed MLS prospects Dan Stratford and Ryan Cordeiro often that season, so I really don't fault the Tom Soehn regime much for not recognizing that he had much potential for growth.

Star-divide

Now back to McCarty. In addition to being named to the USMNT camp roster, it was also revealed this week that he'll be wearing the No. 10 jersey for D.C. United in 2011, joining Marco Etcheverry, Christian Gomez, and Marcelo Gallardo as the only players to wear that number in United history. Big shoes to fill kid.

Wait. Should we be reading anything into that? By granting the prestigious No. 10 jersey to a young player like McCarty, does that mean that the team will not be targeting a traditional central attacking midfield style No. 10?

Other jersey number changes: Branko Boskovic is now No. 8. Joseph Ngwenya will wear No. 11 and Conor Shanosky will wear No. 17. Nothing official yet for Ethan White or Steve Cronin (but the No. 1 is available).

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Numbers

It is certainly not as bad as awarding number 9 to a 15 year old rookie, especially when they were already working to bring back the club’s true number 9.

It does say to me that they will not be targeting a South American CAM, since they seem to be the ones that actually care about that numbering scheme.

by BrunoReturns on Dec 23, 2025 9:23 AM EST reply actions  

Number 9 Number 9

I did like that Jaime chose 99 upon return which subtly implied “I’m 10 times the player you are kid”
Would DCU take Freddy back at this point?
Regarding Miller, always makes me wonder when players cycle through quickly. Though Miller did have the advantage of a reserve league and still didn’t shine. Is he really that good or is this just a “he’s in Europe so he must be good” pick?
Is Dax a 10-type player? I’ve never really thought of him that way.
Ngwenya gets Emilio’s number… let’s hope he matches Emilio’s first year production.
Will this be a breakout year for Connor? Not quite like Najar of course, but will he make first team?
Looking forward to reserve league.

by Irrlicht on Dec 23, 2025 9:06 PM EST reply actions  

That's a lot of questions

1. No to Freddy
2. He’s probably pretty good. I’ve got to think that Bradley has watched enough film on Miller to think the selection is justified.
3. Not a true No. 10.
4. Our deep central midfield is crowded enough already. Shanosky will almost certainly start the season behind McCarty, Boskovic, Simms. I’m more curious to find out where he ranks against King and Morsink.

Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.

by Martin Shatzer on Dec 23, 2025 10:51 PM EST up reply actions  

You wouldn’t take Freddy back? I would trust him more than any of our current forwards, besides Pontius. Wolff is on the decline and I don’t think Ngwenya is gonna score many goals. If Freddy has less than a $200,000 wage, I would take him since Omar Salgado is probably gonna be the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft.

PS How is your daughter? I hope she is getting better

by Zach J on Dec 25, 2025 1:52 AM EST reply actions  

Freddy Adu

Nah I just don’t think he fits in with what our team is trying to accomplish. Olsen is trying to build a team of hard workers, and Adu doesn’t qualify.

Also, Chest has talked a lot about how awesome it is that our team stuck together last season. No one in the locker room revolted against their coaches or teammates. I don’t think Freddy would have been able to resist.

Thanks for asking about my daughter. She’s doing much much better. We’ve been home since Thursday afternoon.

Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.

by Martin Shatzer on Dec 26, 2025 7:03 AM EST up reply actions  

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