DC United begins the next leg of their preseason with a journey south of the border to Torreon, Mexico, home of Premira Division club Santos Laguna.  This brief stay in our neighboring country will include a match against the home side on Wednesday night, which may give us some more insight into Onalfo's preferred starting lineup at this point.

This will be a major test against an in-season club (although its tough to say whether Santos will be playing many of their starters).  Let's take a look at United's options after the break.

So goalkeeper Ray Burse and defender Shintaro Haraka have come and gone since our last Rolling Roster update, and we've also recently seen the departures of last season's #2 goalkeeper Milos Kocic, recently signed Floribert N'Galula, undrafted rookie Two-Boys Gumede, Honduran trialist Quiarol Arzu, and two teenagers Andy Najar and Arnolyn Guity.

Where there was previously substantial competition for the 7 international slots, that seems to have been cleaned up significantly thanks to Kocic's dismissal and Arzu leaving without a contract and probably being out of the team's plans.  It's nice to see Jermaine Taylor finally make it to camp after recovering from a nagging injury, but the inclusion of 37-year old former La Liga defender Juan Manuel Pena will raise some eyebrows.

The competition for senior roster slots remains fairly mild, despite United granting a contract to Kurt Morsink.  With Arzu not likely in our immediate plans, and my assumption that Pena is too old to truly impress anybody, the only real competition might be for Daniels Wasson or Woolard to try to unseat Vaughn or McTavish.  Something else to keep in mind is that the team can start the season with Marc Burch on injured reserve and recall him anytime after five games in.

The developmental roster competition remains fierce.  I've got a hunch that Jordan Graye isn't all that the team hoped he would be, otherwise there would have been no need to give Barry Rice a trial.  So it looks to me like last year's holdovers Hamid, Barklage, and DiRaimondo probably have their spots locked up, which leaves Adams, Graye, and Rice to compete for the final spot.

I'm expecting a pretty quiet week from DC United in terms of roster changes, as it would be kind of brutal to give a player his walking papers while in Mexico.  But with Chad Ashton currently out scouting in Brazil, its entirely possible that a significant international signing could be announced in the near future.