The Fullback Files

Roster Reset #6

2012-01-25T23:02:00.001-05:00

The boxes are being ticked, slowly but surely. With the addition of central defender Emiliano Dudar, the depth acquisition project seems all but complete. Still, the two biggest needs, left back and finisher – the ones we’ve been pointing to all offseason, remain frustratingly unfilled. Stefan Jerome, recently arrived on trial, would be a nice project up top (can’t believe he’s only 19 – my memories of him as a U–17 seem distant), but isn’t the finished product.

Resetting the roster leaves us with…

Salary Budget Players (minimum 18 required)

D (I) Jakovic, Dejan
D Woolard, Daniel - Is he really a starting-quality MLS fullback?
D Korb, Chris[1]
D McDonald, Brandon
D Russell, Robbie - Past it or the second coming of Namoff?
D (I) Dudar, Emiliano
D/M Kitchen, Perry
M Morsink, Kurt - Under threat from trialists? Svard inclusion says maybe…
M King, Stephen[2] - Ditto
M (I, DP) Boskovic, Branko - Ready to make a statement?
M Cruz, Danny
M/F De Rosario, Dwayne
M/F Pontius, Chris
F Brettschneider, Blake - Wonder how safe his spot is. Can he be re-classified as off-budget?
F Wolff, Josh
F Santos, Maicon
-
-

Optional Salary Budget Players (maximum 2 allowed)

Off-Budget Players (maximum 10 allowed)

GK (HG) Hamid, Bill
GK Willis, Joe
D (HG) White, Ethan
D/M (HG) Shanosky, Conor - Ready to play with the big boys?
M (HG) Najar, Andy
M/F DeLeon, Nick [3]
-
-
-
-

Trialists

GK Dykstra, Andrew - MLS experience, excellent competition for the largely unproven Willis if the price is right
GK Lambo, Josh - ex-GenAd and youth nat; has pedigree but has yet to live up to it
D Rodriguez, Charles - Suppie pickup. Projects as left/center back depth?
D Zayner, Jed - Versatile back-line veteran, but is he healthy?
M C’deBaca, Seth - Trained with the big boys last year and played with U–23’s so we should have a firm handle on his qualities
M Richter, Ryan - Union washout, college goalscorer (for what it’s worth)
M Rozeboom, Lance - Suppie pickup. D-mid depth?
M Svard, Sebastian - journeyman Danish d-mid
F Adlam, Alanzo - 22 year-old Jamaican domestic-leaguer and youth nat. Hope this isn’t the solution at striker or that FO have concluded Santos is.
F Jerome, Stefan - US youth nat has been toiling in lower-tier Euro-obscurity, but used to have some pretty smooth skills if memory serves.

Just some final food for thought. If we’re entertaining d-mids on trial and the acquisition of Dudar frees McDonald to serve as cover for Kitchen as well, what exactly is Morsink still doing on the roster? Making sure we have enough salary budget players to fulfill MLS regs? Or is Benny just preserving tactical flexibility (assuming he’s more willing to experiment this time around)?

Korb turns 25 this year, making him (to my understanding under previous year’s rules) ineligible for Off-Budget status. ↩
Listed as Off-Budget on dcunited.com, but turned 25 last year. Wouldn’t that have made him ineligible for Off-Budget status in 2011? That’s what the rules say anyway. ↩
Listed as Off-Budget on the roster. Isn’t GenAd, but qualifies for status anyway by virtue of age if United lists him as such. Of course, they still list Kitchen as Off-Budget by virtue of GenAd status, and he graduated from GenAd months ago… ↩

Sporran Not Included

2012-01-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

Okay. It's not just me. I've asked a few people if this thing looks like it should be worn with a kilt and have 100% agreement.

Wait a minute...Isn't Beckham intent on leading Team Great Britain at the London Olympics this summer? What better way to get the Scots on board with his leadership, eh?

So...has anybody seen the "shorts" the Galaxy are supposed to wear with this abomination?

Roster Reset #5

2012-01-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

Not a striker.

The fight is on for roster spots as half of last Reset’s trialists are gone and new faces arrive for the Florida camp. I’m still not seeing the potential for significant improvement in the weakest areas (finisher, left back), but at least we’re no longer stuck in stasis-land and the depth issues look like being addressed.

Your current roster + campers…

Salary Budget Players (minimum 18 required)

D (I) Jakovic, Dejan
D Woolard, Daniel - Is he really a starting-quality MLS fullback?
D Korb, Chris1
D McDonald, Brandon
D Russell, Robbie - Past it or the second coming of Namoff?
D/M Kitchen, Perry
M Morsink, Kurt - Under threat from trialists? Svard inclusion says maybe…
M King, Stephen2 - Ditto
M (I, DP) Boskovic, Branko - Ready to make a statement?
M Cruz, Danny
M/F DeLeon, Nick
M/F De Rosario, Dwayne
M/F Pontius, Chris
F Brettschneider, Blake - Wonder how safe his spot is…
F Wolff, Josh
F Santos, Maicon
-
-

Optional Salary Budget Players (maximum 2 allowed)

Off-Budget Players (maximum 10 allowed)

GK (HG) Hamid, Bill
GK (HG) Willis, Joe
D (HG) White, Ethan
D/M (HG) Shanosky, Conor - Ready to play with the big boys?
M (HG) Najar, Andy
-
-
-
-
-

Trialists

GK Dykstra, Andrew - MLS experience, excellent competition for the largely unproven Willis if the price is right
GK Lambo, Josh - ex-GenAd and youth nat; has pedigree but has yet to live up to it
D Rodriguez, Charles - Suppie pickup. Projects as left/center back depth?
D Zayner, Jed - Versatile back-line veteran, but is he healthy?
M C’deBaca, Seth - Trained with the big boys last year and played with U-23’s so we should have a firm handle on his qualities
M Richter, Ryan - Union washout, college goalscorer (for what it’s worth)
M Rozeboom, Lance - Suppie pickup. D-mid depth?
M Svard, Sebastian - journeyman Danish d-mid
F Adlam, Alanzo - 22 year-old Jamaican domestic-leaguer and youth nat. Hope this isn’t the solution at striker or that FO have concluded Santos is.

Just as an exercise, shoving the players actually signed to the roster into an eleven…

Biggest weaknesses there?

Not thrilled with the high-forward options.
King’s not terrific in the link-man role and Boskovic is a wild card. If neither perform, pulling De Rosario back to fill the creative void in midfield weakens an already weak striking corps.
Shanosky’s unproven and White is still raw. Room for another veteran center back?
Zayner might have some say at left back if healthy, but that’s the biggest problem-spot now (even if I’m not thrilled with the options up top).

So, if this were my FM team, I’d be looking for a starting left back, options (preferably proven ones) up top, veteran help in central defense, and a passing central midfield option. You?

Korb turns 25 this year, making him (to my understanding under previous year’s rules) ineligible for Off-Budget status. ↩
Listed as Off-Budget on dcunited.com, but turned 25 last year. Doesn’t that make him ineligible for Off-Budget status? ↩

Roster Reset #4

2012-01-21T11:08:00.000-05:00

Missile Swap: Out with the Clydewinder, in with the Cruz?

Don’t look now, but the glacial pace of United’s roster assembly is starting to pick up. Hot on the heels of the Maicon Santos acquisition comes the signing of former Dynamo right mid Danny Cruz1, leaving the current roster + trialists looking like this…

Salary Budget Players (minimum 18 required)

D (I) Jakovic, Dejan
D Woolard, Daniel - Is he really a starting-quality MLS fullback?
D Korb, Chris2
D McDonald, Brandon
D Russell, Robbie - Past it or the second coming of Namoff?
D/M Kitchen, Perry3
M Morsink, Kurt - Under threat from trialists? (the author hopes, knowing it probably isn’t so…)
M King, Stephen4 - Ditto
M (I, DP) Boskovic, Branko - Ready to make a statement?
M Cruz, Danny
M/F DeLeon, Nick
M/F De Rosario, Dwayne
M/F Pontius, Chris
F Brettschneider, Blake - Wonder how safe his spot is…
F Wolff, Josh
F Santos, Maicon
-
-

Optional Salary Budget Players (maximum 2 allowed)

Off-Budget Players (maximum 10 allowed)

GK (HG) Hamid, Bill
GK (HG) Willis, Joe
D (HG) White, Ethan
D/M (HG) Shanosky, Conor - Big plus if he’s ready to contribute
M (HG) Najar, Andy
-
-
-
-
-

Trialists

GK Dykstra, Andrew - MLS experience, excellent competition for the largely unproven Willis if the price is right
GK Goody, Carl - Coming out of college. English. Does he have a green card?
GK Swaim, Will - Another college (UMD) keeper
D Rodriguez, Charles - Suppie pickup. Projects as left/center back depth?
D Zayner, Jed - Versatile back-line veteran, but is he healthy?
M C’deBaca, Seth - Trained with the big boys last year and played with U-23’s so we should have a firm handle on his qualities
M da Fonte, Mike - Small college and small euro-club experience, just 21
M Richter, Ryan - Union washout #1, college goalscorer (for what it’s worth)
M Rozeboom, Lance - Suppie pickup. D-mid depth?
M/F Berhanu, Yoni - Hometown kid means off-budget possibility?
M/F Kuhn, Matthew - Suppie pickup. 11 goals, 4 assists in 20 collegiate matches
F Houapeu, Levi - Union washout #2 and another hometown kid with experience in the DCU youth ranks
F Oduran, Matt - Academy kid and UMD product, sensing a pattern?
F Touray, Sainey - Gambian youth nat with USL experience. Green card?

Assuming nobody on the current roster gets bumped (which I wouldn’t argue against – there’s still some dead wood there from my perspective), that leaves four senior roster spots. That’s enough for Dykstra as genuine competition for Willis, a third veteran center back, a left back with quality, and a striker with the same. The only question is: does United have enough cap space to accomodate all those additions and the requisite ambition to pursue them?

Thoughts on the Cruz acquisition here. ↩
Korb turns 25 this year, making him (to my understanding under previous year’s rules) ineligible for Off-Budget status. ↩
Graduated from Generation Adidas. ↩
Listed as Off-Budget on dcunited.com, but turned 25 last year. Doesn’t that make him ineligible for Off-Budget status? ↩

More a Colonel Than a General?

2012-01-21T10:08:00.001-05:00

First the good.

In acquiring Danny Cruz, United looks to have settled the flank depth question, initially addressed by the drafting of Nick DeLeon as Pontius' backup. A regular starter for the MLS Cup finalists from Houston, Cruz provides excellent cover for Najar, who will likely be away for Olympic and possibly World Cup duty with Honduras and may even attract interest from abroad this summer. Though he's more an athlete than a soccer player, Cruz brings energy and aggressiveness that I can see Olsen valuing and certainly has enough quality to hold his own in MLS. He's also not likely breaking the bank.
But when Dave Kasper says (via previously linked article)...

At 22, he has enormous upside and we look forward to his contributions for years to come.

...I'm a little nonplussed. Of course, Kasper has to say this kind of thing; it's the expected corporate, "go team!" line. But the problem is that -- given his track record -- I think he might actually believe it. If Cruz really had "enormous upside," can you see somebody as shrewd as Dom Kinnear letting him go easily?

Reading between the lines, it looks to me like Kinnear and Houston have seen what Cruz can bring to the table in the last few years, and they think they can do better with allocation money than they can with Cruz in the fold (hell, he wasn't even listed on the Houston roster before United traded for his rights, which says volumes). It also speaks to the general level of ambition currently being demonstrated across the league -- a level of ambition that United seems to lack.

True, given United's recent history of foreign signings, stocking the roster with proven league veterans may prove a better route to short-term success for this FO. And, like I said, I'm generally positive on this move, even if it seems a little like trading one fully-committed wide midfielder who never lived up to his youth national team career potential (Quaranta) for a younger model (Cruz). Potentially (donning the rose-colored specs for a moment), you might even have a situation similar to Oduro, deemed a One Trick Speed Pony (I claim dibs on band-naming rights!) and surplus to requirements in Houston but emerging as one of the league's more potent attackers once shipped to Chicago last year.

The question now becomes: after shipping allocation dough to the Dynamo for Cruz, how much cash does United have left to splash on a striker and a real solution at left back? If Santos and Woolard are expected to fill those holes, I sense a year largely in the mold of last season's campaign, lurking around the edges of the playoff pie.

That said, those holes are really -- outside of perhaps a third veteran center back option -- the only glaring weaknesses I can see. Might Olsen be chewing on a cigar in the bowels of a crumbling RFK, rubbing his hands together in a cloud of smoke and saying...

I love it when a plan comes together.

Roster Reset #4 is on the way shortly...

Roster Reset #3

2012-01-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

Praying for goals.

Movement at last! Maicon Santos makes it 15 for Salary Budget players, and United drops a 14-trialist bomb as pre-season camp gets underway. Of course, the majority of the trialists are guys with limited to no MLS experience, but such was always going to be the major source to roster depth1. Of greater concern, at least to me, is the lack of a starting-caliber left back and the thought that Santos doesn’t quite address the problems up top.

The updated roster (with questions and limited tidbits of analysis/supposition) looks like this…

Salary Budget Players (minimum 18 required)

D (I) Jakovic, Dejan
D Woolard, Daniel - Is he really a starting-quality MLS fullback?
D Korb, Chris2
D McDonald, Brandon
D Russell, Robbie - Past it or the second coming of Namoff?
D/M Kitchen, Perry3
M Morsink, Kurt - Under threat from trialists? (the author hopes, knowing it probably isn’t so…)
M King, Stephen4 - Ditto
M (I, DP) Boskovic, Branko - Ready to make a statement?
M/F DeLeon, Nick
M/F De Rosario, Dwayne
M/F Pontius, Chris
F Brettschneider, Blake - Wonder how safe his spot is…
F Wolff, Josh
F Santos, Maicon
-
-
-

Optional Salary Budget Players (maximum 2 allowed)

Off-Budget Players (maximum 10 allowed)

GK (HG) Hamid, Bill
GK (HG) Willis, Joe
D (HG) White, Ethan
D/M (HG) Shanosky, Conor - Big plus if he’s ready to contribute
M (HG) Najar, Andy
-
-
-
-
-

Trialists

GK Dykstra, Andrew - MLS experience, excellent competition for the largely unproven Willis if the price is right
GK Goody, Carl - Coming out of college. English. Does he have a green card?
GK Swaim, Will - Another college (UMD) keeper
D Rodriguez, Charles - Suppie pickup. Projects as left/center back depth?
D Zayner, Jed - Versatile back-line veteran, but is he healthy?
M C’deBaca, Seth - Trained with the big boys last year and played with U-23’s so we should have a firm handle on his qualities
M da Fonte, Mike - Small college and small euro-club experience, just 21
M Richter, Ryan - Union washout #1, college goalscorer (for what it’s worth)
M Rozeboom, Lance - Suppie pickup. D-mid depth?
M/F Berhanu, Yoni - Hometown kid means off-budget possibility?
M/F Kuhn, Matthew - Suppie pickup. 11 goals, 4 assists in 20 collegiate matches
F Houapeu, Levi - Union washout #2 and another hometown kid with experience in the DCU youth ranks
F Oduran, Matt - Academy kid and UMD product, sensing a pattern?
F Touray, Sainey - Gambian youth nat with USL experience. Green card?

That’s an impressive list of trialists, at least in size. The quality? Tough to say, but I wouldn’t expect anybody outside of Dykstra or Zayner to potentially have much of an impact as anything beyond raw depth. With the number of local products being looked over, I vacilate between being worried (penny-pinching, lack of ambition) and understanding (local kids are what you stock the off-budget pond with and have probably seen the most of and therefore know who best might fit).

Given my admittedly limited knowledge of the college game, I welcome any further input/opinions/contradictions.

At least we’ve got more guys in camp than we have roster spots, so that’s saying something, right? Still not enough to inspire optimism though.

We’ll entertain a limited hope that there may be foreign mercenaries on the way, but won’t be holding our breath, will we? ↩
Korb turns 25 this year, making him (to my understanding under previous year’s rules) ineligible for Off-Budget status. ↩
Graduated from Generation Adidas. ↩
Listed as Off-Budget on dcunited.com, but turned 25 last year. Doesn’t that make him ineligible for Off-Budget status? ↩

When the Santos Comes Marching In

2012-01-18T11:59:00.000-05:00

Finally another addition hits the roster with United's acquisition of Maicon Santos. In another time, with a different club, I might be pleased with this pickup. As it stands, I'm just left feeling suspicious.

Why?

While Santos has a reasonable history with the league (and so will not have to suffer through a period of adapting to the style of play), his mediocre goal tally (14 goals in 2.5 years) and the fact that he's far more adept at scoring the odd spectacular goal than finishing chances regularly don't exactly make him the ideal fit as the style of poacher I think United lacks.

Likewise, while his build and reasonable technical ability make him an interesting prospect as a target forward, I'm less sanguine about his levels of effort/commitment and ability to play well with others (read as: share the ball). While selfishness is often a requisite trait for a good forward, I'd suggest that Santos' MLS goal haul doesn't exactly justify his.

Of course, if Santos is motivated, comes with a reasonable price tag (as you would expect given last year's $126k salary figure and no sniffs in the Re-Entry Draft), and is projected as depth, he's an excellent choice. He can play up top or in the hole, possesses good athleticism and skill, and can score you the odd goal. As cover for both forward spots (up high or in the De Rosario spot), he'd be a pretty good fit. That said, the FO's recent record leads me to believe that this may be their "solution" up top.

Color me a little underwhelmed and looking nervously at a team (and franchise) that are uncomfortably reminiscent of the consistent promise and consistent failure of a certain club in Toronto.

Sigh.

Still, this list of trialists looks promising for our depth problems. Roster Reset #3 coming soon...

Nick DeLeon Highlights + Interview

2012-01-13T10:32:00.000-05:00

Kid looks to have a pretty impressive mix of technique and athleticism in the highlight package. Will it translate to MLS?

DC United 2012 Roster Reset #2

2012-01-12T19:05:00.000-05:00

Nick DeLeon, courtesy dcunited.com

Hey, look, finally an addition to the roster! United picked up versatile attacker (is he a winger, a forward, an attacking midfielder?…Hmm, I’m sensing a pattern here) Nick DeLeon1 in the SuperDraft. I don’t watch much collegiate ball, so I’m not going to pass any judgement on the pick. We’ll have plenty of time for that in the weeks and months to come, right?

Of course, the pick comes hot on the heels of the Goffster laying down the news that da Luz looks likely to try his luck elsewhere rather than accept United’s invite to a pre-season trial. So if you were assuming da Luz would make the squad as wing depth, DeLeon basically slots right into that vacancy, leaving the FO still needing the exact same pieces to complete the puzzle.

How might they do that? Goff continues…

United plans to invite several trialists to camp. Kasper declined to identify the candidates but said they’d come from the free agent market, U.S. lower leagues and undrafted college players.

Vive le médiocrité!

The updated roster looks like this…

Salary Budget Players (minimum 18 required)

D (I) Jakovic, Dejan
D Woolard, Daniel
D Korb, Chris2
D McDonald, Brandon
D Russell, Robbie
D/M Kitchen, Perry3
M Morsink, Kurt
M King, Stephen4
M (I, DP) Boskovic, Branko
M/F DeLeon, Nick
M/F De Rosario, Dwayne
M/F Pontius, Chris
F Wolff, Josh
F Brettschneider, Blake

Optional Salary Budget Players (maximum 2 allowed)

Off-Budget Players (maximum 10 allowed)

GK (HG) Hamid, Bill
GK (HG) Willis, Joe
D (HG) White, Ethan
D/M (HG) Shanosky, Conor
M (HG) Najar, Andy

Trialists

D Zayner, Jed

Allow me to lay down a pre-emptive tweet/post title for when DeLeon scores a vital goal…DeLeon Pounces! Sigh. ↩
Korb turns 25 this year, making him (to my understanding under previous year’s rules) ineligible for Off-Budget status. ↩
Graduated from Generation Adidas. ↩
Listed as Off-Budget on dcunited.com, but turned 25 last year. Doesn’t that make him ineligible for Off-Budget status? ↩

There Is No Try

2012-01-09T22:26:00.000-05:00

Headline over on dcunited.com says...

DC hope international scouting yields signings soon

Smacks of magical thinking doesn't it? Go scouting, pray a bit, and check under the tree to see what Santa Transfer Window has left you. Of course, I realize that headlines can often be misleading, and perhaps I'm reading a bit too much into it. But then I read this quote from Ashton...

“[We’re] still trying to negotiate particulars and things of that nature. There’s always a lot of hoops and a lot of red tape you have to get through, and so we’re working on that. I think we’re getting closer all the time and hopefully we’ll have some announcements soon.”

Think? Hope? How about "do"? Same article says pre-season training begins in less than a week, and United have just 18 bodies on the roster plus two trialist hold-overs (I'm thinking their chances of making the squad look pretty damn good at this point, don't you?). Not that I'm looking for any preemptive trigger-pulling from the FO...

*cough!*

Lest you need any reminding, here's Ashton on December 15. That's almost a month ago for those of you keeping score at home...

“We’ve definitely done our due diligence, now it’s about trying to work out deals that are acceptable with both parties. We’re hoping to have some announcements we can make over the next few weeks. It’s just a matter of those things progressing in the direction we want them to go.”

Weasel words. Endless inaction. "Trying to negotiate"? "Trying to work out deals"?

In the words of a wise old dude in the last good Star Wars movie, "Do or do not, there is no try."

DC United 2012 Roster Reset #1

2012-01-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

Based on the current roster list on United’s web site and the little scraps of information we have to go on, I thought I’d begin the Roster Reset in advance of the SuperDraft and the absolute rafts of new signings the United brain trust are just waiting to announce (hello, sarcasm, you insufferable trollop).

Of course, we don’t have the official 2012 roster rules yet to verify that the numbers and the statuses remain the same, but I’ll update as and when that information becomes available. Likewise, if you’ve noticed anything that needs to be changed/updated/et cetera, don’t hesitate to let fly via comment or email.

Salary Budget Players (minimum 18 required)

D (I) Jakovic, Dejan
D Woolard, Daniel
D Korb, Chris1
D McDonald, Brandon
D Russell, Robbie
D/M Kitchen, Perry2
M Morsink, Kurt
M King, Stephen3
M (I, DP) Boskovic, Branko
M/F De Rosario, Dwayne
M/F Pontius, Chris
F Wolff, Josh
F Brettschneider, Blake

Optional Salary Budget Players (maximum 2 allowed)

Off-Budget Players (maximum 10 allowed)

GK (HG) Hamid, Bill
GK (HG) Willis, Joe
D (HG) White, Ethan
D/M (HG) Shanosky, Conor
M (HG) Najar, Andy

Trialists

D Zayner, Jed
M da Luz, Austin

Korb turns 25 this year, making him (to my understanding under previous year’s rules) ineligible for Off-Budget status. ↩
Graduated from Generation Adidas. ↩
Listed as Off-Budget on dcunited.com, but turned 25 last year. Doesn’t that make him ineligible for Off-Budget status? ↩

What I Want For Christmas | Part III

2011-12-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

To wrap things up with the “What I Want For Christmas” series, we’ll begin with a bit of a tactical aside before prioritizing the shopping list…

(In case you missed the beginning of this discussion: Part I and Part II are available.)

Our likely man in the middle?

In all of this discussion, we’ve curiously ignored tactics for the most part. Why is that? Well, for one, I’m going to assume that while Olsen is going to be somewhat more flexible in his second term at the helm, the basic manner in which he set his team out is going to be largely similar. And secondly, I don’t think the roster and wage restrictions of MLS allow you much scope for variety.

Thus, I’m basing my target-list on the assumption that United will line up with a back four and either (1) a diamond midfield with two up top or (2) a midfield bucket with a lone striker and a trequartista floating between attack and midfield. Ultimately, I can imagine something more progressive, like so…

… but that’s not so much of a change from the bucket + trequartista1 or diamond-midfield2 models. Indeed, most of the current roster could probably move between the two fairly seamlessly. But it does leave an awful lot of weight on the shoulders of young Kitchen.

Yes, you could pull Pontius and Najar deeper, but I think that both blunts their danger and shifts an inordinate load onto the back of a striker we don’t even possess yet. The key is going to be Boskovic, and there are so many questions there.

Can he withstand the rigors of playing in the middle in MLS week in and week out? Does he have enough range and energy (not to mention desire) to help lighten Kitchen’s defensive burden? Can he not only thread the delicate through ball and make nice touches in limited space but ping the cross-field bomb to flank attackers as well?

The elephant in the room here is that instead of two top priorities (forward and left back), we might actually need a midfield dynamo as well if Boskovic doesn’t pan out. But United seem to be entertaining giving him a go, so I suppose we’ll have to as well, and trust that either (1) he works out and/or (2) there’s enough time to switch to Plan B come the summer.

With that established, let’s sort the list. We’ve got two broad bands of priority here. The obvious holes in the starting line-up are left back and forward. Yes, Woolard was our starting left back last year and Wolff started more often than not, but I’d argue that starting the season with them reprising those roles seems to signal a lack of ambition inconsistent with the club’s current off-season behavior and, more damningly, another season probably spent watching the playoffs from home.

Of the two, the demands of the position and the relative scarcity/cost of a quality forward would make that my first concern. But what type of forward? Given that the supporting cast of Pontius, De Rosario, and Najar have goals in them, I’d argue that we need less a poacher in the Emilio/Fowler mold and more a dynamic presence up top that creates space for those coming from deeper positions. This would be a forward that can worry defenses and stretch them with movement, strength, and pace as well as hit the target when called upon.

Bit of an ask to find all of that in one package on an MLS budget (unless we’re looking DP), which is why that has to be the first priority, with a left back sporting a big motor, decent crossing ability, and good recovery speed3 rounding out the top tier of targets.

But what about the secondary needs, the depth? Given that we have a decent array of bench-quality forwards and some attack-minded mids who can play up top in a pinch, my initial look would be elsewhere. With White proving a decent third option in the center of defense and only a third-string keeper required to fill out the netminder quota, I’d push d-mid and right wing cover to the top. Hell, if you could find a quick winger who can also play up top, you’ve gone and killed two notional birds.

That said, I’d rate cover for Kitchen at d-mid slightly higher. Yes, we’re hearing that Morsink is looking to re-up and King can probably do a job there, but I’m not sold on either.

After that, the order probably doesn’t matter as you’re looking less at coveted players being targeted by multiple clubs and more at who you can squeeze onto the roster with the cap space available. In other words, journeymen, draftees, and trialists.

So what does your shopping list look like? Mine is…

Forward - starting quality, decent physical presence, passable finisher, mobile, likely from foreign climes
Left Back - starting quality, decent crosser, high endurance, good recovery speed, outside shot at a domestic trade/draftee, but likely from abroad
D-mid - cover for Kitchen, good range, aggressive, decent distributor
Right Wing - cover for Najar and up top as well, quick, good engine
Central Defender - depth, preferably veteran, but that may not be an option
Keeper - third stringer

Seems obvious? Probably. Most of you playing the home game probably have similar-looking lists. What will be interesting is to see if Olsen and the FO do as well. Are they chasing roster-filler or genuine quality? Do they really think Woolard is a viable starter? How about Wolff? Does the acquisition of a dynamic central midfield presence signal the end for Boskovic? How does Olsen modify his tactical approach, if at all?

Given the ruthlessness of the cuts thus far, you’d have to imagine that the Bearded Bombardier has a definite plan and list of his very own. That said, experience says you’d have to stretch your imagination a bit to entertain the possibility that the current FO can tick all the boxes on his wish list.

Just with the wings pushed higher and the central midfield withdrawn slightly. ↩
With Pontius almost acting as a second forward cutting inside and the diamond skewed to the right. ↩
I wonder if the thought of trying da Luz there in pre-season has crossed anybody’s mind? Wouldn’t be my first choice, but if you’re thinking attack-first… ↩

Oof!

2011-12-16T15:55:00.001-05:00

14. D.C. UNITED
The most successful franchise in the early years of MLS has struggled mightily to find a better stadium situation than it currently has at RFK, and the ongoing frustrations in the nation's capital have caused United to consider perhaps moving to Baltimore. Out-of-town owner Will Chang may or may not be committed for the long haul, and the club is trying to start over from scratch on the field under coach Ben Olsen. In other words, there's still a lot of uncertainty in D.C.; one bright spot from an ambition perspective is that Kevin Payne remains one of the league's more entertainingly public executives.

Oof!

14 out of 19 when it comes to ambition in MLS (according to Wahl).

Not arguing the point. Just, well...oof.

What I Want For Christmas | Part II

2011-12-16T15:35:00.000-05:00

In the first part of this series, we ran the rule over the current United roster. In this second part, we’ll compile a list of wants by position, setting us up for the grand finale, where we put those wants in order…

Would you trust this man with your roster?

GOALKEEPER

Needs: Hamid and Willis are solid in the first two spots on the depth chart, so there shouldn’t be much work to do here.

Targets: If there’s a solid keeper available in the draft, nab him if he’s the best player available with that pick. Otherwise, bring in a few undrafted or unattached young keepers for pre-season and see which one is left standing.

Priority: Low.

DEFENSE

Needs: A starting quality left back. Given the tendency of the likely left-wing starter (Pontius) to drift inside and get the ball on his right and Russell’s generally stay-at-home tendency at right back1, the ideal candidate would provide a quality, quick overlapping option down the left flank. Depth, preferably experienced, in the middle is a secondary concern, with the starry-eyed optimist also entertaining a potential challenger for Jakovic/McDonald for starting minutes2.

Targets: There are some fair, though not outstanding, options around the league at left back, but I don’t see what we have in trade value to get them outside of draft picks and allocation money3. I’ll make the charitable assumption that we’re looking for outside-the-league help while simultaneously fretting that the braintrust are content with Woolard as the starter. Central depth is likely available through negotiations with those on the current MLS scrap-heap (if we get there first – given our slow movement thus far, that’s in severe doubt) or via the youth route (draft/academy).

Priority: A starting left back would be near the top of my list; is it near the top of the FO’s? Central depth is a middling concern, alleviated somewhat by Russell’s versatility and the presence of the promising White.

MIDFIELD

Needs: I would assume the starting quartet to be set with Pontius, Boskovic/De Rosario, Kitchen, and Najar. If we go to a five, De Rosario is the fifth floating atop it. Depth is a concern at d-mid and on the right flank.

Targets: How long will United be able to keep hold of Najar and Kitchen? I would assume they will both remain in D.C. for this season, but both will also miss time with their national and/or U-23 national teams, and, though planning for the long-term isn’t really an option in MLS, we should be looking at options for their eventual replacement whether this be through the draft, the academy, or acquisition from abroad.

Priority: High, but not yet desperate. I’ll be interested to see what the FO comes up with as an alternative to some of the long-serving players that could have served in these capacities.

ATTACK

Needs: Assuming that De Rosario will be playing the trequartista role between forward and midfield, we’re still short a starting forward as Wolff is no lone striker candidate and, and, while Brettscheider can fill the role, he’s not proven as deadly in front of the net in the regular season as he did last pre-season.

Targets: If we’re not actively pursuing a starting-caliber forward, I’m pretty much ready to give this team up for dead in 2012 already. Given that the FO ignored Jacqua in the Re-Entry draft, I’d argue that Benny wants a quick poacher whose running pushes defenses back and opens space for De Rosario to weave his magic in4 rather than a bruising target-man. Wolff and Brettschneider are adequate depth, but maybe another, different style option (a speed merchant, perhaps?), would not go amiss.

Priority: I think the first sentence of the “Targets” section pretty much laid out how big a priority I think a starter is. Depth? Not so much, but also not off the table completely.

So that leaves us with the following list of wants, in no particular order:

third-string keeper
starting left back
central defensive depth
d-mid cover
right mid/wing cover
starting forward
forward depth

That’s a lot of boxes to check over the next month or so, particularly given the not-exactly-inspiring “50-50 chance that at least one [player acquisition] could be completed and announced before the end of 2011.”5 In part three, we’ll take that list and prioritize it.

Yes, he can cross and get forward, but he’s a defense-first option at fullback. ↩
Perhaps that’s White. I still think he needs seasoning, but maybe he’ll surprise. ↩
Assuming, considering how precious little depth we have remaining, that you’re not going to create a hole elsewhere by trading away any current players. ↩
Assuming, considering how precious little depth we have remaining, that you’re not going to create a hole elsewhere by trading away any current players. ↩
Noting that the optimist reads this as “we’ve got targets who can’t move until the transfer window opens in the new year.” ↩

What I Want For Christmas | Part I

2011-12-14T15:35:00.000-05:00

It’s that time of year again. Time to consult the D.C. United roster list, see who’s been naughty and nice (and who is, frankly, useless), and compile my own off-season shopping list. Ready to begin?

Russell: Finally a replacement for Namoff?

The process of re-shaping the roster has already begun. Scouting missions have been dispatched, Robbie Russell has been acquired to bolster the back line, and severe roster pruning has already seen United definitely part ways with at least three long-serving veterans. So let’s take a look, in this first part of “What I Want For Christmas,” at the current state of the roster, identifying weaknesses and potential dead wood.

Some caveats and assumptions before I get started:

For the purposes of assessing the current roster, I’m going to assume that the players who did not have their options picked up are potential trialists at best and certainly aren’t part of Olsen’s core plans going forward, even if their names are still on the roster page at United’s website. For that reason, I may mention them as potential depth, but likely will ignore them altogether.
Charlie Davies is gone. He’s not coming back.
Outside of the players we’ve currently lost to either retirement or the Re-Entry draft, we’re not going to lose anybody else. Trades or bids from abroad may very well happen, but I’m going to assume that nobody is being actively shopped and that those retained thus far are part of the plans for 2012.

GOALKEEPERS

We begin at the back. Hamid staked inarguable claim to the #1 spot this past season, and, though he has his flaws, his current quality is high and potential even higher. Might that see him attract outside interest? Absolutely, but assuming he’s still around, he’s the starter.

In limited duty last year, Willis did enough to surpass the veteran (and projected competition for the starting spot) Cronin, who hasn’t had his option picked up for 2012. Willis is still largely unproven, but should be a decent backup option, an option United will have to exercise with Hamid facing potential Olympic and/or qualifying duty.

DEFENSE

The post-season pruning has left the defensive ranks looking rather sparse. Add in the likely move of Kitchen, a defensive starter for most of 2011, to midfield, and those ranks are thinner still. The addition of Robbie Russell from RSL locks down the right back spot and provides potential central depth. Korb provides cover on both flanks while Woolard is the putative starter at left back with Burch gone to Seattle. McDonald and Jakovic are the likely starters in central defense, with Ethan White (and possibly Shanosky?) as depth.

Given my documented doubts about Woolard and uncertainty about the central pairing of McDonald and Jakovic, at the very least we’re short a couple of bodies for depth here. Perhaps a fully-healthy Jakovic makes the central partnership more reliable, but given his injury history (not to mention potential duty with Canada), that’s not exactly something you can count on is it? Russell will likely be a rock on the right, but I’d be shocked if we weren’t actively scouting left and center backs.

MIDFIELD

The potential starting four (or five) look strong. Najar and Pontius are among the league’s best flank players. Kitchen looked impressive in closing the season with cameos at d-mid. De Rosario is a solid central option (though I prefer him further forward) and Boskovic looked like he was beginning to click before his injury last year.

The problem, as should be obvious given that the options on a third of the roster weren’t picked up, is depth, particularly with Kitchen, Najar, and De Rosario all potentially being called up for national team duty. At the moment, said depth consists of the decent King in the middle, the reasonable da Luz on the left flank, and possibly the unproven Shanosky (who has not played a single professional minute, lest we forget) at d-mid. Word is that Morsink is looking at a restructured deal as well, though I’d entertain his presence as a trialist at best if we’re looking to increase the quality roster-wide (read as: not a fan).

ATTACK

Wolff and Brettschneider. That’s it. Maybe you could toss in the tweeners like Pontius and De Rosario, who range from “likely” to “almost certain” to start elsewhere. Either way, that’s thin to the point of vanishing. Considering that I don’t think consistently starting Wolff or Brettschneider is step 1 in anybody’s plan for world domination (though I’m fine with them off the bench), that leaves United needing severe help in the form of starting-quality forwards.

While I’d argue that United should probably start De Rosario either up top or in a free role working off a solitary striker, thus filling one of those starting spots, questions about Boskovic’s health, consistency, and effectiveness could force De Rosario’s use as a midfield creative dynamo. That leaves you with potentially two holes to fill up top.

UP NEXT

Having run the rule over the current roster and identified where it is lacking, Part II of WIWFC will compile those weaknesses and assign priorities for addressing them.

Changing of the Guard

2011-12-12T21:05:00.000-05:00

The Sounders traded with the Vancouver Whitecaps to earn the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and used it to select defender Marc Burch, who spent the past five seasons with D.C. United. Terms of the trade with Vancouver were not released and are expected to be made public by the clubs later on Monday.

Wait...what? They traded up? To get Burch? Really? Huh. That said, I'm pretty sure Sigi was in charge at Columbus when they brought Burch in from LA on a trade. Of course, I'm also pretty sure he was in charge when they sent him packing to United less than a year later...

United also lost Simms, and some quiet, steady character along with him, but I'm on board with cutting ties there. Going to be weird seeing him in Revolution colors, and I can't imagine Heaps making a thug of him, so I wonder what the Elbower-in-Chief imagines he's getting in Simms. We shall see.

Roster's starting to look a bit thin. Methinks it's time to fire up the "What I Want For Christmas" post series again, eh? Your pardon while I go compile my notes...

Hello Chaff, Any Wheat In There?

2011-11-30T22:25:00.000-05:00

The list for the Re-Entry Draft is out. Any interesting targets for United?

Ante Jazic: To old (36 before 2012 season starts) and too expensive ($115k salary), but plays a position of need. This would be an extreme reach, even at a reduced salary in Stage 2.

Bobby Boswell: Way too expensive ($210k salary) and we’re probably set with McDonald and Jakovic in the middle of defense, but … Jakovic struggles to stay healthy and will be doing qualifier duty for Canada next year if healthy. White proved himself capable as a rookie and Russell can fill in if needed, so again, a stretch1.

Hunter Freeman: I know we just acquired Russell and both are natural right backs, but both can play on the left as well where the likely departure of Burch2 leaves us with only the mediocre-at-best Woolard. That said, doesn’t seem like a “Benny” kinda guy. And $150k? Bit steep.

Adam Cristman: Hahahahaha! Just seeing if you’re paying attention.

Kheli Dube: Not really that interesting, but $90k when we’re jettisoning half of our current crop of forwards is. Would smack a bit of desperation despite that.

Pat Phelan: $60k for backup/cover for Kitchen at d-mid? Maybe. How’s he doing with the concussions?

Carlos Mendes: Direct from the enemy, but a solid veteran presence who can play across the entire back line. $100k salary.

Jean Alexandre: Still raw after three years in the league and a brute to boot, but a solid physical presence, cheap ($42k?) and can slot in at a number of positions.

Nelson Gonzalez: Interesting player and cheap ($42k). Wonder what the sticking point with RSL is? And isn’t he on loan from Quilmes?

Bobby Convey: Huge ($300k+) salary is a major roadblock and didn’t leave on the best of terms, but could be an interesting left back option at a (much) lower salary.

Nate Jaqua: See Dube, Kheli … though a bit less of a stretch. $140k is too much.

Jonathan Leathers: Cheap ($42k) back line depth. Less appealing with Russell in the fold.

Keep in mind that the salary figures listed here are for 2011, so any Stage 1 draftees will likely be above, if not well above, the listed figures. Remember Ngwenya was listed at something like $77k last year, and we ended up paying him more than double that.

With all of that said, I’m not seeing any names, even in that reduced short list, that are hugely tempting.

You?

Unless, of course, you factor in that we were willing to snap up another Houston reject, Ngwenya, last year and pay him over $150k. Sigh. ↩
Finally. ↩

Oh Dear...

2011-11-28T21:21:00.001-05:00

Train. Wreck.

Absolute train wreck. 30% off at the team store? I'm afraid you'll need to be paying me to wear such an abomination. Which, I suppose, is how they got those gentlemen above to don them. Ignoring for a moment the awfulness of the red away collars and those apparently bloody sleeves...What's the deal with the little red patches on the shorts?

Ugh.

The Extended Sigh Continues

2011-11-22T12:39:00.001-05:00

I can understand protecting Charlie Davies if you’ve got a rumor of trade interest that you think might enable you to significantly improve the team1. I can even plunge past the mystifying decision to protect a well-past-it Simms if a pay-cut or trade are on the horizon.

But Korb and Woolard?

This is the core you’re building around? Fullbacks who are maybe within spitting distance of the wrong side of adequate?

Sigh…

On the bright side, it looks like the pickings available from other rosters might be much more exciting to L’Impact…oh wait. There’s a reason for that, isn’t there? Certainly is. The reason is that the FO’s vision of our “core” team going forward contains Korb and Woolard manning the defensive flanks. It’s no wonder that even the needlessly-exposed bits of our roster are significantly less tempting targets.

I’m sure there’s a plan in place for the off-season, and that the FO is convinced that they’re building a better mousetrap. But if this is the first step in that plan, I’m preparing to be appalled by what manner of wheezing, chunking, clap-trap assemblage of has-beens, cast-offs, and never-will-be’s gets defecated on the training fields at RFK2 come pre-season.

(PS: Landru beat me to the punch saying essentially the same things with a tad more invective.)

Note that nowhere in this supposition do I entertain any demand on my part for his return for 2012. I believe I’ve already detailed the reasons why. ↩
Or wherever. ↩

Sacrifice Three Lions and Call Me In the Morning

2011-11-18T23:04:00.001-05:00

Very Strong

2011-11-18T22:53:00.001-05:00

Grant Wahl interviews the Don...

SI.com: What are the chances of D.C. United playing in Washington D.C. in 2012?

Garber: Very strong. Very strong. I think my comments were misconstrued as if we're trying to move the team. That couldn't be further from the truth. We need to find a stadium solution there, and the folks we're trying to work with don't seem to understand how unfair it is for D.C. United's ownership and their fans and players to be playing in a substandard stadium with a ridiculous deal that doesn't even provide them with in my opinion the basics that teams and players and fans deserve. That said, Kevin Payne and Will Chang are working hard to try and find some solutions, whether they're a better deal with RFK Stadium or a stadium project in D.C. or a stadium project somewhere in the area.

But something needs to happen there. I'd like to see fans come together there like they did in Philly and Portland and almost any market across this country and really bang their fists and start screaming loudly at their political leaders that their team and this league in this sport deserves better. How about Occupy RFK?

Comparing Lists

2011-11-17T15:15:00.001-05:00

Goff’s version of the protected list is out, so I thought I’d stir from my hibernation1 to do some comparisons. (Revisit my list in four parts by hitting the links highlighted in the sidebar.)

On both lists: Willis, Jakovic, De Rosario, Kitchen, McDonald, Pontius, Quaranta, Wolff
Goff also protects: Korb, Woolard, King
I also protect: Boskovic, Brettschneider, da Luz

We’re in alignment on a number of points beyond the obvious (De Rosario, Kitchen, Pontius). Simms is too expensive and doesn’t fit tactically, Jakovic is a flawed but vital part of the back line, Woff likewise up top, and having a backup netminder you can depend upon, particularly with Hamid likely to be missing games for national duty next year, may seem frivolous, but is potentially key.

We differ on two major areas: Boskovic and which group of scrubs to go with.

I’ll concede that given his injury and contract situations, Boskovic seems an unlikely pick for Montreal, but I think you put him on the list for two reasons. First, Korb, Woolard, and King are the type of players you can replace easily. Sure, we may not have depth in those positions at the moment, but all have flaws for their preferred position (Korb’s aerial deficiencies, Woolard’s being 75% of a top-flight player, King’s inability to finish despite getting in great spots coming from deep) and the type of journeyman player you can find a ready replacement for. Maybe you don’t take that risk if you’re the FO, but I still think it’s easier to dig up another Woolard than another Boskovic.

The second reason is more nuanced and possibly reeks too much of pop psychology, but I think putting Boskovic on the protected list sends a signal to the team and the player that he’s a vital cog in the machine going forward. Maybe I’m putting too much stock in that. Maybe Boskovic doesn’t even know there’s an expansion draft going on. Whatever. My default position is always going to be to protect the players that are harder to replace (assuming they’re key to your plans moving forward).

Which brings me to the scrubs, where I really don’t have that much to say. You can take your pick of any two of Woolard, Korb, Brettschneider, da Luz, and King and make a fairly decent argument for their inclusion. If you project either Woolard or Korb as a starter in 2012, I guess you’d have to give them one of those spots2. Of that group though, I’d still lean towards Brettschneider and da Luz as potentially having the most long-term value, but then, I only play the home game3…

I tried to do a reaction post to the two latest USMNT friendlies, really I did. But who needs to hear more complaints about Beckerman's inadequacies and Klinsmann proving little better than a media-friendly, Euro-fied Bradley (when it comes to tactics/player selection). Sigh. So jaded. ↩
Of course, if you’re sane, you’re furiously searching for better options at both spots and/or praying that Zayner finds a miracle cure for all that ails him. ↩
Football Manager, of course. I’ll have something coming regarding that in the near future. Probably. ↩

Steamed

2011-11-03T09:03:00.000-04:00

I’ll begin with a caveat. I’m not a gamer. Not anymore, at least. My one remaining vice in the genre is the Football Manager (née Championship Manager) series, which I shuffle up to the till to purchase every year, a process that has grown increasingly frictionless. Given such a limited gaming habit and the fact that I’m on a Mac, I’ve never had any use for Steam and have always bought a physical copy of the game.

Initially, my buying process involved ordering the Mac version of the game from a company in the UK (with all the added shipping costs that entails). That progressed to the short-lived experiment of having the game sold here under the name World Wide Soccer Manager and got easier when the game was published as a combined PC/Mac disk. Of late, I’ve been able to order the standard flavor of FM through Amazon in the US. Cheaper, easier, faster.

But this year, Sports Interactive and Sega (developer and publisher of FM respectively) decided to require Steam to play the game though they would continue selling the physical disk. Even though it was slightly more expensive to buy direct through Steam1, I figured not having to find and insert the disk every time I wanted to play carried some value. Since I was going to need to install and run Steam in order to play anyway, why not take the plunge and go 100% Steam?

I plunged.

The first few weeks were fine even if I wasn’t a huge fan of the somewhat obtuse (to these non-gamer’s eyes anyway) Steam software. Patches were pushed automatically in the background, the downloads were relatively quick, and even if it required a little extra digging to find the editor2 or if there was a slight delay while Steam connected (prohibiting the launching of the game until it did so), the experience was generally a good one.

Then came last night.

With KC cruising to an easy second-leg victory in the MLS Cup playoffs, I decided to pop into FM while I waited for the start of the RSL-Seattle tilt. I launched FM using the application shortcut, which caused Steam to launch in turn(verification of credentials, remember). Sadly, Steam proceeded to beachball during the “connecting” phase. I watched a little of the by-now-decided playoff game while I gave Steam a chance to churn, then Force Quit the Steam app when it persisted in an unresponsive state for over 10 minutes.

I tried the same process again and, despite a long delay in connecting to Steam, managed to get to my game library. FM said it was ready to play so I clicked it. A little dialogue box popped up for a moment saying FM was launching, but nothing happened. Tried again. Same result. Tried to quit Steam, but it said I had to quit FM first.

What the hell?

I launched Activity Monitor (Applications>Utilities), verified that there was no FM process running, then Force Quit the Steam app. When I relaunched (again with the delay in connecting), Steam said it needed to update itself and proceeded to do so. I finally got back to my game library, clicked FM to launch it, and…

Nada.

Same little dialogue box. Same big bag of hurtful nothing. A little forum-diving had me attempting to verify the integrity of the game’s cache3. That didn’t help me launch the game, but it did shift the game’s state from “Ready to Play” to “Download Paused.”

Hmmm. Apparently, FM had tried to update itself at some point and failed. I tried to resume the download, but that had no effect. More verifying of the cache and more forum-diving later, I was deleting or renaming files in my ~/Library/Application Support/Steam folder. All of which resulted in…

“Download is Starting.”

Ah-ha! Progress of a sort. Except it never went beyond that point. By this time, RSL-Seattle is on, so I let it sit in that state for while and watch the game. I come back at halftime and it’s still stuck.

Ugh.

I’ve given up on playing the game at this point, but I’ve got the bug: I need to fix this. Unfortunately, the forum-diving all ends up pointing to “delete and reinstall.” Not ideal, but what the hell. Thankfully I’m not bandwidth constrained or capped. I figure I’ll uninstall and get the reinstall started before I go to bed. I right-click FM in the Steam library, tell it to delete local files, and it does so.

Or at least, it says it does. Nothing’s in my trash and on relaunch, FM still shows up as installed in the game library. Huh? I fire up the Finder and see that the game files still appear to be present. Nice. Delete must mean different things to Steam and to me. So I trash the app from ~/Applications and trash the FM files in ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common (forum suggestion from technical support).

This time, the relaunch sees the connection handshake with Steam take a fraction of the time it’s been taking and FM finally shows as uninstalled in the Library. I start the reinstall download and head for bed…

This morning I woke to find FM sitting in the library “Ready to Play.” I fire it up and…success! FM launches, my saves appear to be intact, and all is right with the world. Given the horror stories of folks on the Steam and SI forums having to purge every last element of FM and Steam on their systems before reinstalls would take, I consider myself quite lucky. Still, the experience left me pretty disgusted with the system as a whole. If there were an option to play the game sans Steam, I’d take it in an instant at this point.

My best guess as to what happened is that I interrupted Steam while it was trying to do something during that initial suspended state it entered into. Or perhaps there was a download conflict caused by my launching FM directly rather than launching Steam first and then FM? Maybe if I had just launched Steam directly and had it do its update dance, then launched FM and had it download the patch, all of this nonsense and frustration would have been avoided.

In any case, if you’re running into this problem, I hope this helps you work through it. As I said, I haven’t had any problems with Steam to this point, things seem to be back to normal now, and I’m hoping this is an isolated incident. I certainly won’t be trying to launch FM directly in the future, and, if SI/Sega give me the choice, will have to think long and hard about using Steam in the future.

Your mileage, as always, may vary…

At the time of the game’s release, there was no option on Amazon to buy the physical disk. Still isn’t, though download purchases have since been made available. ↩
In your Steam library, click on the drop-down next to the search box (default choice is “All Games,” I believe) and select “Tools.” Find Football Manager 2012 Editor in the list and double-click to install. ↩
Right- or control-click the game in the library, chose “Properties,” navigate to the “Local Files” tab, and click “Verify Integrity of Game Cache…” Seems to be a potent fix for some ills. ↩

The List is Life, Part IV

2011-10-31T10:41:00.000-04:00

In the first three parts of this series, I worked my way through the thick weeds of the roster, pruning and purging. On the far side, I arrived with the roster sorted into the following categories…

PROTECT: De Rosario, Jakovic, Kitchen, Pontius
EXPOSE: Barklage, Burch, Cronin, Davies, Korb, McTavish, Morsink, Ngwenya, Woolard, Zayner
BUBBLE: Boskovic, Brettschneider, da Luz, King, McDonald, Quaranta, Simms, Willis, Wolff
N/A: Hamid, Najar, Shanosky, White

Four of the twenty-seven players on the roster don’t need to be sheltered from the rapacious grasp of L’Impact de Montreal by virtue of their being home grown talents. I identified four others that seemed like obvious candidates for protection (De Rosario, Jakovic, Kitchen, Pontius).

Now, in the final set piece, we pop the bubble and find out which seven of those nine make it onto the final list for protection1.

Almost immediately, I’m going to push Boskovic to the protected list based on the assumption that he wants to come back and that the FO is willing (as Goff’s interview with KP suggests) to bring him back. Simply put: a healthy and committed Boskovic brings tools and talents to the table that simply don’t exist elsewhere on the roster, tools and talents that were sorely lacking over the course of this season. Maybe Montreal isn’t interested in taking a risk on him, but I’m not willing to chance that.

I’m also going to add McDonald and Quaranta, solid and reasonably-compensated MLS vets in their prime who can cover multiple spots on the field and always put forth maximum effort even if they’re fundamentally limited as players. You need those type of guys to form the bedrock of a roster, particularly in MLS, where the salary cap and limited senior squad size play such a large role.

So that fills seven spots, leaving six players competing for four spots. Before we move on to the final reckoning, I’m going to make one last set of assumptions. Assumption #1 being that Benny is going to persist with a 4-4-2 of some variety that features Boskovic and Kitchen in central midfield with De Rosario up top2, and assumption #2 being that Simms and Wolff don’t negotiate their salaries down.

So where then does that leave us? We’ve got four players on modest salaries: Brettschneider (a rookie forward with a different toolset than our other forwards, but whose forte, hustle and athleticism, aren’t rare commodities in the American game), da Luz (a wide man in potentially the Brad Davis mold who contrasts well with Najar and Pontius, our dribble-first wingers), King (a limited, but generally reliable central midfield option), and Willis (rookie netminder who shined in limited appearances). And we’ve got a pair (Simms and Wolff) who each pulled down what those previous four made combined.

Obviously, Simms and Wolff both sucked up big minutes this year, though both performed at a level relative to their salaries that left me nonplussed. Granted, Wolff posted better numbers that I thought he had and can’t be faulted for effort, but my lasting impression is the subjective one that he always seemed to pop up in connection with killing attacking moves through poor control, underhit passes, or a failure of vision.

Could he still be a useful player? Probably. But I think a healthy Boskovic and a full season of De Rosario means he finds his opportunities more limited, and his cap figure is starter-money, not pinch-hit specialist3. Likewise, I think Kitchen installed in the d-mid role makes Simms too highly paid for a backup. Now, if they are willing to negotiate their salaries down (and I’d be more interested in Wolff than in Simms doing this), I think you protect both and expose Brettschneider and King, two players who would seem to be eminently replaceable via the draft, cuts from other teams, or trades, keeping Wolff and Simms available as cover or trade-bait.

With all that said, however, I’d lean more towards protecting the cheaper, younger players as part of the core of this team that is going to be growing together. Willis and da Luz would make the list nine, and I’d add Brettschneider simply because of that knack for goal he displayed in pre-season, the fact that we currently don’t have anyone in his mold at the club, and because I’ve already exposed most of the forward corps. That makes ten.

So who gets that final spot? Given the previous arguments I’ve laid down, I think you’d assume King, but I’m going to go with Wolff, perhaps surprisingly in the context of my previous criticisms. So why? Well partially it’s those goals and assists, partially it’s the veteran presence in the locker room. He’ll also be decent cover for De Rosario’s World Cup qualifier absences.

But then I’ve gone and left both Simms and King exposed, haven’t I? Ah, but Montreal can only filch one from us, can’t they? Even if we lose one, we still have the other as cover and Shanosky has to be ready for minutes next year, doesn’t he? As I’ve said, I think Simms is past it physically, not nasty enough for his position, and carries too high of a cap hit. And King? Simply not good enough to protect. If they don’t take him, you’ve got cheap depth. If they do, he’s replaceable.

So in the final reckoning, we have the following list of protected players and players who are automatically protected by virtue of being home-grown (denoted by hg):

Boskovic, Brettschneider, da Luz, De Rosario, Hamid (hg), Jakovic, Kitchen, McDonald, Najar (hg), Pontius, Quaranta, Shanosky (hg), White (hg), Willis, Wolff

Thoughts?

In, of course, the demented universe where my input actually counts for something. ↩
Whether that be two flat banks of four behind a traditional little-large forward pairing, a diamond midfield, or something a bit more progressive that looks like a 4-2-3-1 with De Rosario free to operate as a third central mid or as a second forward depending upon the game scenario I leave unexplored (though I obviously hope for that last option). ↩
Besides, his current skill set isn’t one that makes him ideal for a super-sub role. ↩

The List is Life, Part III

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

In Parts I and II we looked at the first two-thirds of United’s roster in an attempt to compile preliminary lists of players to PROTECT, players to EXPOSE, players on the BUBBLE, and players who didn’t have to be protected (N/A) for the expansion draft at the end of November that will stock L’Impact’s stables for 2012. Let’s carry on with the final third of the roster…

PONTIUS, Chris (M/F, 24) - Had an excellent 2011 (7 goals, 5 assists), often serving as United’s most dangerous attacker prior to De Rosario’s arrival. If he doesn’t go down for the season against Chivas, I think this post series probably wouldn’t be taking place until a week or two from now. No quibbles here. PROTECT

QUARANTA, Santino (M/F, 27) - Lack of production and failure to fulfill the entirety of his promise aside, Quaranta is solid MLS depth at a number of positions and never fails to give a commited effort when called upon. He’s not an automatic inclusion on the protected list, but he’s on the inner surface of the BUBBLE.

SHANOSKY, Conor (D/M, 19) - Haven’t seen enough of him to know whether he’s worth protecting in the long term, but thankfully, his home grown status means I don’t have to make that call. N/A

SIMMS, Clyde (M, 29) - I’ve never been hugely convinced by his game, but he’s clearly past his best now and about to be eclipsed by Kitchen. Might he be useful as depth going forward? Sure, but not at his current salary. Though my first inclination is to expose him, I’m going to keep him on the BUBBLE for now.

WHITE, Ethan (D, 20) - Picked up way more minutes than I think anyone had a right to expect in his rookie campaign. He wasn’t terrific, but the experience should stand him in good stead going forward. He’d probably be on the inner edge of the bubble if we had to protect the home grown players (might be much tougher to get the list down to eleven), but as it stands…N/A.

WILLIS, Joe (GK, 23) - Better than expected when tossed unexpectely into the breach and grabbed firm hold of the backup spot from Cronin. Still, I find it hard to justify protecting a reserve keeper. BUBBLE

WOLFF, Josh (F, 34) - Can’t fault him for effort, but an inconsistent first touch, spotty finishing, and misplaced passes that often broke down counterattacks factored in with his age don’t leave me convinced he’s as key as the number of appearances he made would suggest. I’m somewhat surprised to see that he registered 5 goals and 7 assists without being a lock to start, and that has me moving him onto the BUBBLE.

WOOLARD, Daniel (D, 27) - Doesn’t really seem like he has either the athletic gifts or the technical ability to hold down a roster spot in this league, but he wasn’t consistently exposed as being completely out of his depth and racked up an impressive haul of minutes this year. Provides adequate depth and experience on the back line but little else. Faint praise, and not enough to protect him. EXPOSE

ZAYNER, Jed (D, 26) - Showed a lot of promise at the tail end of 2010, but sidelined this year by a potentially career-ending injury. If he can recover, he’ll certainly be worth having back, but I doubt Montreal would risk taking him. Neither should United risk protecting him. EXPOSE

And that gets us through the entire roster. Compiling the initial assessments, we’re left with…

PROTECT: De Rosario, Jakovic, Kitchen, Pontius
EXPOSE: Barklage, Burch, Cronin, Davies, Korb, McTavish, Morsink, Ngwenya, Woolard, Zayner
BUBBLE: Boskovic, Brettschneider, Da Luz, King, McDonald, Quaranta, Simms, Willis, Wolff
N/A: Hamid, Najar, Shanosky, White

So we have four spots filled out of eleven. That means we only need to kick two of the nine off the bubble to complete the protected list. In the fourth and final part of this series, that’s exactly what we’ll do.