After a long weekend spent in a snowy bunker fighting off winter madness, it was more than a little odd going back out into the world yesterday. I suppose a man has to move on from watching The Thing once a night sometime.
Honduras defender Brayan Garcia to trial with D.C. United | Black and Red United
Left back hasn't been that high up on D.C. United's list of priorities in an offseason where central midfield, forward, and goalkeeper have dominated the discussion. However, when a young player with 3 caps for a decent national team is potentially available for a trial, you should probably have a look.
Moving on to less sensible rumors:
#MLSrumor |El portero Guillermo Ochoa esta en el radar del #DCUnited pic.twitter.com/OCNuMyYAB6
— Deporte Total USA (@DEPORTETOTALUSA) January 27, 2016
This doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense. However, maybe as a loan from Malaga? Ochoa should be up for anything, as he has just 7 total appearances (none in league play) since the start of the 2014-2015 season.
The best Homegrowns MLS ever signed | Top Drawer Soccer
Spoiler: United fans will be happy with how this ends.
USWNT Olympic qualifying roster released | Stars and Stripes FC
Washington Spirit stars Ali Krieger and Crystal Dunn both made the USWNT's Olympic squad, as has been expected for a while now. Dunn is listed as a forward here, but given the presence of Christen Press and Alex Morgan she is far more likely to spend her time as a winger. Heather O'Reilly's omission is a surprise in that she has been a USWNT fixture for years, but Jill Ellis has not seemed that interested in getting HAO on the field. With Olympic rosters only allowing for 18 players - which, why not 23 like any other tournament? - HAO was always on the outside looking in.
Other changes from the World Cup include Stephanie McCaffrey and Mallory Pugh replacing Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux (both of whom are pregnant); Lindsey Horan and Sam Mewis coming into a midfield that has lost Lauren Holiday and Shannon Boxx to retirement; and Emily Sonnett and Jaelene Hinkle displacing Whitney Engen and Christie Rampone.
Rapids Get Allocation Money as Figueroa Signs For FC Dallas | Burgundy Wave
Yesterday, the reaction to this news was "ha ha, silly Rapids, what are you guys doing?" The thing is, Figueroa had already left Colorado, with the Rapids maintaining his MLS rights. So in this case, they got something for nothing. Granted, they should have tried to acquire a player from Dallas due to their ever-shrinking roster, but something is still better than nothing.
Colorado Rapids loan Juan Ramírez to U.D. Almería | ColoradoRapids.com
Let's stick with the Rapids, who are sending young midfielder Juan Ramirez to Spain for a six-month loan. Which makes some kind of sense for a team with Marco Pappa and Dillon Powers. However, Colorado is alleged to have spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 million to acquire Ramirez last winter. At that price, you need to see a lot more than a shrug of a season followed by loaning the player out so he can get minutes.
Alleged racial incident scars past of newest Galaxy signing Jelle Van Damme | LAG Confidential
We've always regarded the Galaxy as jerks, but usually it's just based in their arrogance, their whining, and their overwhelming privilege within MLS. Jelle Van Damme, as this piece lays out, has a history of being a next-level jerk that has not exactly been rectified. And Ashley Cole is still on his way!
Conor Casey Fits What Columbus Crew SC Need in a Backup Forward | Massive Report
Veteran striker Conor Casey has a new club, and unfortunately for United he's staying in the Eastern Conference.
Source: Icelandic forward Finnbogason turns down offer from Impact | Goal.com
Montreal is trying to prepare for Didier Drogba's departure, whether it comes sooner or later. Those preparations will apparently not include Alfred Finnbogason, as the Iceland striker allegedly turned down a move to Quebec.
Houston Dynamo sign defender Sebastien Ibeagha | Dynamo Theory
Ibeagha is a former US u20 returning to the States after a couple of seasons in Scandinavia. This one has been rumored on and off for a couple of years now.
Empresa chinesa patrocina Segunda Liga, que passará a chamar-se "Ledman Proliga" e obriga a ter jogadores chineses | Observador.pt
So this is a strange one. Ledman, a Chinese manufacturer, has bought the sponsorship rights to the Portuguese 2nd division. That part isn't that odd. The devil is in the details: Ledman has required that 10 Chinese players and 3 assistant coaches must be employed by "the top 10" clubs in the division.