Gomez To Rapids Final :: United Gets 2nd DP Slot.

So after attending both the Washington Capitals game this past Friday evening at Verizon Center, and a friend's birthday party that night afterwards, I got sick. I've been indoors, under blankets sweating it out, and FINALLY feel better today, thus why there has been no activity here for a few days.

The long awaited Christian Gomez deal was finalised Friday afternoon, and the pending trade between D.C. United and the Colorado Rapids that was to be executed upon Gomez and the Rapids agreeing to terms on a contract, has occurred. What does United get in return for Gomez' rights? Well MLS has decided to remain vague in announcing what was coming back in the Black and Red's direction, stating that United is to receive the Rapids 2009 1st round draft pick, which could end up being a fairly high pick, and future considerations. According to the Washington Post's Steven Goff, part of those "future considerations" is control of the Rapids Designated Player slot.

"The Post has learned that United has gained control of the Rapids' designated player slot, a year-old initiative that allows teams to sign a high-profile star outside the league's salary guidelines."

That said, it does appear unlikely at this point, that United will use the DP slot to go out and obtain another international star player. There are a couple of things that stick out in my mind as possible uses of the 2nd DP slot.


Firstly, it could be used to upgrade the contract of Luciano Emilio, who, while winning MLS' scoring title "MLS Golden Boot" last season with 20 goals, and also won the MLS League MVP Award for 2007, is only set to make about $300,000.00 this coming season. It is my understanding that Emilio is under contract through the 2008 season however, I believe United can upgrade his contract as they see fit. If Emilio continues his prolific scoring in the 2008 season, I would look for this to be the most likely use of United's 2nd DP slot. However, should United / Emilio receive a major offer from another club, most likely over seas, United could accept that offer, thus transferring Emilio out of MLS, and then use this 2nd DP slot to go after another high level, international star caliber player. Personally, I would like to see Emilio stay, and see United reward him with an upgraded contract.


One other scenario would be to use the 2nd DP slot on Juan Sebastian Veron, who, after 5 months of talks with D.C. United brass from July 07 to December 07, decided to stay with his current Argentine club, Estudiantes de La Plata. There is a possibility that Veron may still desire to come to United this summer, after his obligations to Estudiantes are over, and the summer transfer window is open. While that possibility does seem rather exciting, I still have reservations about Veron. Personally, the fact that Veron stretched out the talks with United over 5 months does not sit well with me. While he is a great player, winning numerous hounours over the past 13 seasons in both Argentina, and in Europe, if Emilio once again steps to the forefront of MLS top scorers, perhaps it would be best to use the DP slot on efforts to retain a proven commodity. However, as pointed out earlier if Emilio finds himself leaving MLS on a major offer to D.C. United for his services, this could become his replacement.

Or, United could just hold on to the DP slot until next off season, to see what cards it holds after the 2008 champions are determined, who has worked out, and who has not, and if they do in fact retain Luciano Emilio for the entire season. It will definately be something that bears watching over the course of the 2008 season. Any way you slice this one, United definately seems to have come out on the winning end of this trade.

MLS / D.C. United's 2008 Schedule Released - Christian Gomez To Rapids Deal Done?

MLS and its member clubs today released thier respective schedules for the upcoming 2008 season today. D.C. United's home schedule is slightly better than last year's. Our favorite home match days and start time has always been the Saturday, 7:30 PM matches. Those matches are almost always the best attended, usually breaking 21,000, and as high as 25,000. This season, United has 9 such matches. Last season United had only 7. So were happy to have 2 more of those this season. This year, David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy come to town on a Sunday, for a 12 noon match up on 29 June to be aired on ABC. One half of United's 30 league matches will be nationally televised this year.

Also of note for United for the 2008 MLS season schedule is the abscence of any league matches during the month of July. During that time the SuperLiga and U.S. Open cup competitions will take place. The 2008 MLS All Star match will take place at BMO Field in Toronto, home of Tornoto FC on 24 July, 2008. United will also compete in the CONCACAF Champion's League, which is set to begin its inaugural run this fall, and will replace the current CONCACAF Champions Cup. The dates for the matches in each of these 3 competition have not yet been set.

One final note regarding possible news on the Christian Gomez front, MLS and the Colorado Rapids have announced a press conference for 8 February @ 2PM EST to announce a "major player signing". Could this finally be the news of Gomez' signing, and pending trade for his rights with D.C. United we have long awaited? You can view the official press release here. Our good friend Steven Goff, is reporting on his Washington Post Soccer Insider blog, that the deal has been finalised, and a new contract with the Rapids signed, today. We'll post an update tomorrow after the official announcement is made.

***************************************************************

D.C. United 2008 Schedule

L = MLS League Match C = CONCACAF Champions Cup Match

Wed. March 12 at Harbour View (Jamaica) 7:00 p.m. - C
Tues. March 18 Harbour View (Jamica) 7:30 p.m. - C
Sat. March 29 at Kansas City 8:00 p.m. - L
Sat. April 5 Toronto FC 7:30 p.m. - L
Sat. April 12 at Real Salt Lake 9:00 p.m. - L
Th. April 17 Columbus 8:00 p.m. espn2 L
Sat. April 26 Real Salt Lake 7:30 p.m. - L
Sun. May 4 at Colorado 3:00 p.m. - L
Th. May 8 Chicago 7:30 p.m. espn2 L
Sat. May 17 at Chivas USA 10:30 p.m. FSC, FSE L
Wed. May 21 at Toronto FC 7:30 p.m. - L
Sat. May 24 Toronto FC 7:30 p.m. - L
Th. May 29 at New England 7:30 p.m. espn2 L
Wed. June 4 Houston 7:30 p.m. - L
Sat. June 7 at Chicago 8:30 p.m. FSC, FSE L
Sat. June 14 New York 7:30 p.m. HDNet L
Sun. June 22 San Jose 3:00 p.m. TeleFutura L
Sun. June 29 Los Angeles 12:00 p.m. ABC L

July - SUPERLIGA & U.S. OPEN CUP – United has no league matches scheduled during this time.

Thursday, July 24 MLS All Star Game, BMO Field, Toronto, ON, Canada
Sat. August 2 Kansas City 7:30 p.m. - L
Sat. August 9 at New York 7:30 p.m. - L
Sat. August 16 at Chicago 8:30 p.m. - L
Wed. August 20 at New England 7:30 p.m. - L
Sat. August 23 Colorado 7:30 p.m. - L
Sat. August 30 New York 7:30 p.m. FSC, FSE L
Sat. September 6 at San Jose 10:00 p.m. - L
Sat. September 13 FC Dallas 7:30 p.m. FSC, FSE L
Sat. September 20 at Los Angeles 11:00 p.m. FSC, FSE L
Sun. September 28 at FC Dallas 3:00 p.m. TeleFutura L
Sat. October 4 Chivas USA 7:30 p.m. FSC, FSE L
Sun. October 12 at Houston 7:00 p.m. - L
Th. October 16 New England 7:30 p.m. espn2 L
Sun. October 26 at Columbus 5:00 p.m. – L

U.S.A. 2 | 2 Mexico

2-2

I'm feeling a bit lazy today, so I am not going to include the usual plethora of links to player pages. I am also going to assume that most reading this will be fairly football educated. I'm quite sure that if anyone wants to read further on any particular player or subject, they know how to use Google and Wikipedia. The USMNT drew Mexico last night in Houston, and did not look all that great doing it. U.S. Goalkeeper Tim Howard (Evreton FC) was the difference for the U.S. in this match. Howard once again showed just why he is one of the very best in the game.

This match seemed to be a very chippy to me. The U.S. appeared very disorganised in the back last night. Tim Howard seemed to get very frustrated at times while attempting to direct the back, especially on Mexican set peices. Both Mexican goals were scored on set peices.

The US held the edge in play for long stretches in the first half, but it was Mexico that came out with long periods of sustained pressure in the second. They kept the U.S. on their own half of the pitch for extended periods during the early going in the second. The U.S. appeared to regain some momentum after the substitutions began, and appeared to play better in the later stages of the half, but it was not enough to undo the earlier poor defending on Mexican set pieces that led to both of their scores.

The U.S. did not appear comfortable defencively, and it showed espeically during the second half. The defencive play of both Drew Moor, and Ramiro Corrales was suspect at best. I don't feel they should even be on the National Team, they both just are not that good. To Moor's credit, he did have the assist on the U.S. 2nd goal, on a very nice set up for Jozy Altidore. The goal put the US ahead 2-1 at that point, and was Altidore's first goal for the U.S. National side. Shortly there after the U.S. appeared to score what likely would have been the game winner. Clint Dempsey collected a nice through ball, turned, and got of a very quick shot which cleanly beat Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa. However the AR would raise his flag to signal the play offside, in what I still feel was a very questionable call at best. My note on the officiating: The officiating in this match left much to be desired, and often appeared to be one sided. You can kind of get a feel for that by looking at the discipline and the fouls called in the game statistics which I'll post below.

This was an intense match, and there are a lot of new faces in the U.S. lineup. The U.S. side has alot to feel hopeful about as the side is considerably younger now than it has been in the past. It may take some time for things to really jell, and come together, but this was a great test. The U.S. did not play badly, but it was clear that its going to take alittle time and effort for things to really come together and the chemistry to develop. The U.S. appears to have all of the tools in place to be very successful with the combination of time tested veteran players, as well as some very young, and very bright emerging star players. Fortunately, time is on their side for now as World Cup Qualifying does not begin until the middle of June. A draw was not the result most wanted, but I think there is enough good that can be taken from this match to provide plenty of hope for a successful future leading up to the 2010 World Cup. We've only just begun!

Scoring Summary:

USA - Oguchi Onyewu (Landon Donovan) 30th minute
MEX - Jonny Magallon (Pavel Pardo) 35.
USA - Jozy Altidore (Drew Moor) 40.
MEX - Jonny Magallon (Carlos Salcido) 47.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 21-Drew Moor, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 22-Oguchi Onyewu, 6-Ramiro Corrales; 10-Landon Donovan, 13-Ricardo Clark (Maurice Edu, 79), 4-Michael Bradley (5-Benny Feilhaber, 63), 15-Bobby Convey (7-Eddie Lewis, 70); 9-Jozy Altidore, 8-Clint Dempsey (19-Freddy Adu, 63)
Subs not used: 11-Pat Noonan, 16-Michael Parkhurst, 18-Brad Guzan
Head Coach: Bob Bradley

MEX: 1-Guillermo Ochoa; 2-Jonny Magallon, 3-Carlos Salcido (14-Fausto Pinto, 59) 4-Rafael Marquez (capt.), 5-Israel Castro; 6-Gerado Torrado, 7-Fernando Arce (18-Cesar Villaluz, 90+), 8-Pavel Pardo, 11-Carlos Vela (16-Giovanni Dos Santos, 71); 9-Antonio De Nigris (15-Juan Carlos Cacho, 67), 10-Adolfo Bautista (17-Antonio Naelson, 71)
Subs not used: 12-Luis Michel, 13-Oscar Rojas,
Head Coach: Hugo Sanchez

Stats Summary: USA / MEX
Shots: 3 / 13
Shots on Goal: 2 / 9
Saves: 6 / 1
Corner Kicks: 2 / 4
Fouls: 19 / 13
Offside: 4 / 3

Misconduct Summary:
MEX - Carlos Salcido (caution) 38th minute
USA - Michael Bradley (caution) 45.
USA - Oguchi Onyewu (caution) 69.
USA - Jozy Altidore (caution) 76.
USA - Ramiro Corrales (caution) 89.
MEX - Gerardo Torrado (caution) 90+.

Officials:
Referee: Carlos Batres (GUA)
1st Asst.: Carlos Pastrana (HON)
2nd Asst.: Leonel Leal (CRC)
Fourth Official: Baldomero Toledo (USA)

Attendance: 70,103

United States Vs Mexico - 6-Feb-2008 @ 9PM EST

V S

While we await news on any possible deal for Christian Gomez between D.C. United and the Colorado Rapids, we'll turn our attention to the USMNT, who have a "friendly" coming up this Wednesday, February 6th, 9PM EST at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Once again, our CONCACAF rivals, Mexico, pay a vist to the US for what should be a very good, and competitive match. Perhaps a preview of future World Cup Qualifying matchups to come over the next two years, ahead of the 2010 World Cup which is to be held in South Africa. The U.S. roster for the match has been set and will include 10 MLS players. Here is the roster:

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC).

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo).

MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Lewis (Derby County).

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pat Noonan (Aalesund FK).

And the roster for Mexico:

GOALKEEPERS: Luís Ernesto Michel (Chivas de Guadalajara), Moisés Muñoz (Morelia), Guillermo Ochoa (Club América)

DEFENDERS: Israel Castro (Pumas UNAM), Rafael Márquez (FC Barcelona), Johnny Magallón (Chivas de Guadalajara), Fausto Pinto (Pachuca), Oscar Rojas (Club América), Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven)

MIDFIELDERS: Francisco Arce (Santos Laguna), Pavel Pardo (VFB Stuttgart), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Antonio Naelson Zinha (Toluca), Cesar Villaluz (Cruz Azul)

FORWARDS: Adolfo Bautista (Jaguares Chiapas), Juan Carlos Cacho (Pachuca), Giovani Dos Santos (FC Barcelona), Antonio de Nigris (Ankaraspor), Carlos Vela (Osasuna)

Judging from both sets of rosters for this match, both sides appear to be calling on thier full strength arsenal of big name players. Of note missing from the Mexican side, according to the U.S. Soccer Blog is Andreas Guardado, who was injured this past weekend during an away match Vs Betis. The USMNT's last meeting with the Mexican side was the CONCACAF Gold Cup final on 24, June 2007 in Chicago, which the United States won 2-1. Mexico had not scored a goal against the United States in 8 years until that match. The United States have won that compeition 4 times. (91, o2, 05, & o7.) Mexico has won it 6 times. The CONCACAF Gold Cup was first contested in 1963.

U.S. Soccer also announced today the USMNT's openning match for 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying will be held on 15 June, 2008, 2PM PDT at the Home Depot Center in Carson California. The U.S. will face the winner of the first round series between Barbados, and Dominica. Those matches are to be held on 6, February, 2008 in Dominica, and 6, March, 2008 in Barbados.

GO YANKS!

Christian Gomez to Rapids Deal Nearing Completion...

Once again, the soccer scoop master of the universe and D.C. United beat reporter over at the Washigton Post, Steven Goff is reporting on his Soccer Insider that a deal between D.C. United, and Colorado Rapids is all but complete:

"The latest in the Christian Gomez saga is that Colorado has offered him a two-year, guaranteed contract with a base salary of at least $400,000 and bonuses/incentives that could bring his total compensation close to the $500,000 figure per season that he has desired all along. Gomez is apparently close to agreeing to the deal. If that happens, the Rapids will formally acquire his rights from D.C. United. The consensus among MLS folks is that, in exchange, United will receive significant financial considerations and perhaps draft picks."

After nearly a year of going back and forth between United and Gomez on extending his contract here, it became very clear last week with the signing of Argentine star attacking midfielder Marcell Gallardo, that Gomez's time in D.C. had finally come to an end. As far as what United may get in return, well that has been the subject of much speculation among fans. Being that Gomez is out of contract with United, (his contract expired last December) what is actually being traded for are his MLS player rights. At this point, I would have to agree, United will only get financial considerations, (possibly player allocation money) and possibly a first round draft pick at most. Considering United would have gotten nothing for Gomez had he signed a deal with an overseas club, Ill take what we can get should Gomez remain in MLS and go to Colorado.

Gomez came to United in late 2004, and helped spur United on to winning its league leading 4th MLS Cup championship. In Gomez's 4 seasons with United, he achieved multiple awards and honours. Gomez was named to the MLS Best XI in 2005, and won the MLS Honda MVP award for the 2006 season. In addition, Gomez was named to the MLS All Star team for the 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons.

Gomez will improve most any club he goes to by a significant and noticable margin. One thing that will remain to be seen, is will he play for, live for, and die for the badge for another club, like he did for the Black and Red? I would think that he will, but I also think his relationship with United is a bit different, and a special one. We were his first MLS side, and he bled black and red through and through here. I think that is a decent part of his play, was his passion for, and dedication to the badge which he represented. Like I have said time and time again, he was not just "a player" he was a D.C. United fan himself too. The proof is in the pudding as Gomez, being suspended for an away match against Red Bull New York, (a couple of seasons ago I can not remember the exact date) drove himself to Giants Stadium, and stood with the 300 or so Barra Brava and Screaming Ealges members in the stands, cheering United on to victory. Players such as gomez, in professional sports today, are extremely rare. You definately can not say that about TOO many players. United has been lucky to have a string of these type of players, players like Marco Etcheverry and All time MLS goals leader, Jaime Moreno.

I think those Rapids fans who are skeptical will find themselves very pleasantly surprised should this deal get done, and the Rapids actually aquire Gomez. Weather or not he lives and dies for the badge he plays behind there remains to be see, but if he does ( no reason to think he would not) then they will be in for an extra special treat. He's one of the very best A-Mids MLS has seen, and they'll noticed that right away. The one question as far is just strictly play goes in my mind at least, is do the Rapids have the guys who can provide the kind of higher level support that will help Gomez flourish. I guess time will tell. We wish him all the best, wherever he goes, and he certainly will be missed by the Black And Red, and their ardent supporters.

I will an update with details as the become available.