Caught in Possession

Here's the wrap from my counterpart in Denver, Owen Perkins:

http://www.mlsnet.com//news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080208&content_id=138425&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

And my own postmortem (for now) on the Gomez era:

http://dcunited.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080208&content_id=138431&vkey=news_dcu&fext=.jsp&team=t103

Sooooo...what does Colorado give up merely for the right to pay Christian what he thinks he deserves? “Future considerations” and a first-round pick in next year's SuperDraft, eh? Not bad at all, considering this is an out-of-contract player the club clearly turned their back on more than a month ago. If Goff's "multiple sources" are correct, the option to snag the Mile High Club's DP spot in future years is HUGE...but it will take some time for all that to play out. Victor MacFarlane did not amass his fantastic wealth by spending dough unwisely and I'd bet that he will wait to see how this first DP adventure fares before writing another check of similar size.

Many will point out that United hasn't exactly made hay with their SD picks of late…though before any further snickering erupts, it might be worth noting that neither Andrew Jacobson (bolted to France) nor Jay Needham (bolted to, heh heh, Puerto Rico) were actually first-round picks.

Some food for thought: here is a list of United’s Round 1 SuperDraft picks this century, in reverse chronological order:

*Justin Moose

*Freddy Adu

*Alecko Eskandarian

*David Stokes

*Justin Mapp

*Daouda Kante

*Mark Lisi

*Ryan Nelsen

*Santino Quaranta

*Bobby Convey (rhymes with “oy vey.” At least that’s what John Harkes told me.)

Only one of these gents is still in a United uniform (and speaking of Moose, for all his ups and downs so far, I think he may contribute to the club in surprising ways this season; depth on the wings is already shaping up as a problem area and so far he’s the only incumbent there). But in terms of both raw ability and on-field results, it’s hard to quibble with D.C.’s premier talent identification when looking over this list.

There’s really only one “whodat?” on the list, but there are six past or present international players and a couple of outright stars. The real question is, will there be a useful array of talent on offer in St. Louis next January? Or does United just barter it away in the coming 11 months?

On the flipside of this debate, just how much of a gamble is D.C. taking by exchanging a proven MLS performer and team talisman for Marcelo Gallardo, a highly rated but much more expensive – and for the last year at PSG, benchwarming – playmaker of very similar qualities. D over at the DCenters blog is one of many observers who’s pondered the wisdom of this decision.

Does El Muneco have the durability and temperament to withstand the rigors of MLS? Is United placing too much meaning in his international and World Cup exploits (in terms of playing time, he only got a brief cup of coffee in the big tourney)? Is Dave Kasper just hopelessly in love with Argentinean footie? Or will the DCU brain trust prove that they are still a step ahead of the pack?

Comment posted by Charles Boehm @ 5:18 PM