Getting the ball rolling

DC United opened up its training camp last week at RFK, and continued this week at the previously snow covered auxiliary field.

Good thing the team's slated to go to Florida and other points south starting next week.

It's fair to say that after last season, United has some work to do in all areas.  Forward, Midfield, Defense, and Goalkeeper.  And United's made a bunch of moves this season to try and address these.  Starting from the back….

Goalkeeper

United traded Fred to get Troy Perkins back after his two year stint in Norway.  Simply put, he's the best 'keeper that United's had since Troy Perkins left.  Though this leaves a logjam in goal.  Bill Hamid, signed out of the academy is likely to be the #3 GK, so that leave Milos Kocic and Josh Wicks to fight it out for the #2 spot.  Wicks may be the odd man out due to some of his on-field antics and laundry list of injuries that put him on the shelf late last season that won't see him returning to action until mid-March.

Defense

Actually, Perkins will help the defense with his communication and confidence.  Unfortunately, Bryan Namoff isn't ready to play after his head injury last season.  It's got to be getting to him to not play, but after the team's mis-adventures with Alecko Eskandarian and Josh Gros' head injuries here's hoping that they've learned that patience and time are what matters.  Though Julius James, Dejan Jakovic, Devon McTavish, Marc Burch are slated to return.  Sole 2010 draft pick Jordan Graye, late season pick-up Lawson Vaughn, and former United draft pick Lyle Adams are also in camp looking to earn roster spots.  Some folks figure that United needs another central defender, but the four man unit of Burch-James-Jakovic-Vaughn actually did pretty well at the end of the season, considering that James and Vaughn were mid/late season pickups a full preseason should help gell that group.

Midfield

This is where the largest player turnover has been.  Out: Olsen, Gomez, Fred.  In: Christian Castillo.  From looking at online highlight footage, he's likely the long time coming replacement for Earnie Stewart: A wide midfielder who stays wide and can cross the ball on the run.  Yeah.  DC United hasn't had one of these guys since 2004.   Clyde Simms, Santino Quaranta, Rodney Wallace, Danny Szetela return.  John DiRaimondo and Tiyi Shipalane (hopefully he continues to wear his shorts the right way) will likely provide some depth.  Brandon Barklage will hopefully return to form after his ACL injury (he provided a nice hungry spark to the team that was definitely missing after his injury).   United also signed former Manchester United prospect Floribert N'Galula.

Also Two-Boys Gumede is on trial.  Don't care about his talent, but just the prospect of Boyzzz and Two-Boys on the field at the same time sound like fun……even more so if Ray Hudson could call the game on TV.

Note here that there's no natural 'number 10' in camp.  Gomez had a horrible 2009 season, and United rightly decided to go in another direction.  At first it seemed as if the team would turn to Fred in that role (where he's played in other leagues but not with a lot of success in MLS), until the opportunity to re-acquire Perkins arose and he was traded to Philadelphia.  Some folks fret over the lack of a 'playmaker', the Nest Liner doesn't think so.  United's been OVER reliant on a 'playmaker' or '#10' for way too long.  Gone are the days where Marco Etcheverry's skill stood above others and he could have his way with them and setup plays.  MLS defenders are more savvy and sophisticated.  Want proof?  Go watch footage from the last 3 or 4 DC United seasons (or just search the Nest Liner archives during the same period).  Shut down/clog the middle of the field, and United quickly runs out of ideas.  Funneling the ball through one player is only going to stifle the offense and make average defenses look stellar.  Attacking from several different areas of the field, using several methods is the way to keep defenses guessing and off-balance. 

The other big hole is the midfield presence that Ben Olsen brought to the field.  No one player can do this.  As a unit they must step up and fill the void……or Assistant Coach Ben Olsen will chew them out.

Forwards

There's more change up front.  Luciano Emilio returned to Brazil.  That's a big hole on the roster in terms of goals, but it's not a big hole removed from the field.  Emilio wasn't getting service and problems just compounded on problems and led to some horrible team play up front in the waning moments of the season.  United is rightly moving in a different direction.   Look for Chris Pontius to be a full time forward this season (he bounced from midfield to forward repeatedly last year).

The question though is who the other forward shall be.  To that end United signed Aussie forward Danny Allsopp. Jamie Moreno has signed on for another season, but Jame is getting older and likely can't log the minutes (though United does have considerably fewer games this season).   Add Boyzzz Khumalo to the mix for depth and spark.

If Pontius and Allsopp gell, this is pretty good group of forwards (along with Tino).  The biggest worry, is depth and injuries.

Salary Cap

Not going through the cap-ology, United's got to be looking pretty good in terms of the (existing) Salary Cap after ditching the contracts of Olsen, Emilio and Gomez.  Every other roster move is pretty much a wash.  Then again, the collective bargaining agreement has expired and they're still negotiating a new deal, stay tuned on this issue.