Getting Ready for 2009
2009 is a new year, and with a new year comes a new MLS season, and with a new MLS season, comes new MLS rules. The league has decided to do away with the Reserve League, and thus reduced the total roster size to 24. Twenty senior roster spots, and four developmental. This is what led to the team waiving some depth players in two Carroll brothers, Kirk, Thompson, etc. It’s better for those players who would have fought for old roster spots to go find other teams as early as they can so they can find spots.
Goalkeepers
The roster size change seems to really put a focus on goalkeepers. Which is where the focus was most of last season anyway. United’s been going with three goalkeepers for quite some time. Two on the senior roster, and one developmental. This year it appears that they’ll do the same thing, with last seaon’s Louis Crayton pretty much solidified as the starter…..then it get’s interesting.
Looking at the possibilities:
#1 – Louis Crayton - Pretty much the consensus #1 considering the folks that are in camp. If he does well, he’ll get his contract exended through the end of the season, at least (it expires midseason). He came in last year, dazzled, and then kind of settled in and really helped to solidify the fact that the problems lie in the defensive effort not the goalkeeping.
#2 Zack Wells -
#2 – Milos Kocic - Second round draft pick, big, Serbian. Will need to sign as a senior roster spot, and take a foreign player spot, too. He was supposed to put pressure on Wells.
#3 – James Thorpe - Will go down in history as DC United’s most used #3 goalkeeper (Troy Perkins doesn’t count….he wasn’t the #3 that long). But Thorpe saw a lot of time as the keeper in reserve game action, as well as time on the bench as the backup. (Though this is just as likely due to the underwhelming Carvallho and the injury to Wells, as it is to his own ability). If Thorpe makes the team again, he’ll also be one of the few #3 goalkeepers in United history to see a second season.
#4 - Nic Platter -a a USL keeper trialist from Minnesota. Likely insurance if something doesn’t work out contracturally with Kocic.
#5 - Mike Graczyk – Can we say toss-in on the Christian Gomez (more on that some other time) deal? He was in the MLS goalkeeping pool. What does that tell you? He wasn’t good enough to be Colorado’s #3 guy. And he didn’t last much more than a week in training before being sent on his way.
You’d think that the team want’s to go into the season with Crayton, Kocic, and Thorpe. But with only 24 roster spots, should the team really carry 3? Would it be more prudent to use a developmental spot on a versitile young player? Should the team contact Earnie Stewart about returning as a backup? There seems to be some desperation, especially if the team can’t come to terms with Kocic. Will this be a key issue of 2009, or is the story limited to the 2008 season?
