Caught in Possession

Not to sound like a David Allen Coe song or anything. but it seems I've been a stranger on my own blog...sad, sad (shaking head).

Unfortunately I had to bolt out of DC on short notice a few days ago, on account of a family emergency out here in Denver. In terms of soccer work, it's knocked me even further off schedule than I already was, but I'm excited about some of the PSW content I've got coming down the pipe and hope you'll check back in the days to come.

So for now, I'll leave off with an image that should soothe every lover of beautiful football...

Had an interesting phone convo with DC United assistant coach Mark Simpson at Dulles Intl. Airport this morning, where the team was supposed to be catching an early flight out to the West Coast for phase 2 of the preseason...but an abrupt cancellation put the kibosh on that plan. So everyone is dispersing until later today, when a mid-afternoon flight is supposed to ferry the squad out to California. United will be training at a number of locations around the state and will scrimmage Chivas USA as well as that new-old club from San Jose.

Simpson was kind enough to share some of his thoughts on the team's general progress so far, and United's goalkeeper situation in particular. Look for more on that soon...I also got to chat with Georgetown U. graduate Ricky Schramm this week, who played with the Richmond Kickers last season after an unsuccessful tryout with United and is now working to catch on with the NY Red Bulls as a reserve. I have found Ricky to be a genuinely good guy and someone who deserves a shot in MLS -- look for a PSW piece on him in the days to come.

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?

As WaPo stalwart Steve Goff has already noted, Christian Gomez is surely the "major player acquisition" whose Friday unveiling is being trumpeted on MLSnet...I’ll be most interested to see just what United was able to wheedle out of the Mile High Club in exchange for a player who essentially parted ways with DC a month ago. And in the longer term, how will Christian react to the leadership of Fern Clavijo, one of MLS’ quirkier coaches?

But in the meantime, the imminent announcement finally allows me to move forward with a formal comparison of United’s past and present #10s. United had largely framed their hesitance about a new contract and bigger payday for Gomez in the context of big money for an aging Argentinean playmaker…only to turn around and drop even BIGGER dough on, well, an aging Argentinean playmaker. That swap is being treated as a big jump in quality – and it certainly may turn out that way – but how can Gomez not be even more insulted than he was before? Is this going to work out for anyone involved?

With lots of new faces and interesting topics to cover in the Land of the Black-and-Red, I've got several DC United features in the works. The first one just posted on MLSnet:

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080207&content_id=138236&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

I'll be following the language issue closely as Soehn and co. work to get this team gelling in the next month or so. Certainly, there's no reason it can't work – soccer teams around the world have been dealing with this sort of thing for decades and globalization has only hastened the process – but it's still a bit of an obstacle to be overcome and many of the players involved have not been in these situations all that often.

At a fundamental level, these guys are ballers and athletes first and foremost, and anything extra just complicates the routines and rhythms that form their professional lives. When interacting with the person next to you – on the field, in the locker room, on the team bus or plane, wherever – is more labor-intensive than normal, divisions and misunderstandings can sneak in. The potential for locker room cliques and cold, distant relationships are increased and squad unity may suffer.

“The amount of research we do when we look at players, not just the type of player they are on the field, but the type of person they are off the field and in the locker room. We do a lot of research to make sure we get the type of guy that we feel fits the organization and the expectations we put on ourselves.”

That’s what Tom Soehn said at the press conference introducing Carvallo, Niell, Martinez and Peralta, and it’s only one of numerous allusions he’s made to the priority United places on chemistry and character reckonings when they evaluate players. It’s tempting to write his words off as boilerplate – especially given the sheer repetition involved – but this language situation provides a reminder of how simple things can suddenly get difficult when you’re dealing with tetchy or high-maintenance personalities.

So next time you’re stuck in yet another long, boring staff meeting at your job, just think about what it might be like in two languages – and with only one genuinely bilingual person in the room. To quote Devon McTavish:

“It takes some time. It takes some time just to communicate. Every meeting we have, Tommy talks for a couple sentences, then lets Jaime take over and translate, so it takes time. But it’ll be fine.”

On Friday my PSW piece on Brian Carroll went live. The man they call BC is entering a potentially pivotal year in his career as he looks to boost his new club, the long-suffering Crew, and prove that he was – and is – more than just a cog in the DC United midfield machine.

Here are a few outtakes that I found interesting – mostly BC and one from Sigi Schmid.

On his departure from DC and subsequent hopscotch from San Jose to Columbus:

Yeah, it’s a little interesting. I knew pretty close to the expansion draft that I wasn’t going to be protected, so I thought there was a decent chance I would be going to San Jose. And then the day of the expansion draft, pretty soon after I was in fact drafted, I figured out that I wouldn’t be staying in San Jose. So it all happened really quickly. But looking back at the previous expansion draft, things like that occurred then, so I figured it’s not that abnormal for them to be occurring to me now. This just comes with the business and I understand it. Actually, going to Columbus is pretty good. My wife’s family is from the midwest and I think going to Columbus will be a good move for me, a good change, and I’m looking forward to it.

Comparing Crew fans to the vociferous supporters he’s known over the past five years:

I think DC United fans are loyal and they’re good fans, but I also feel like Columbus has a great following. I think their fans are very passionate about their club. They’re the first club to have their own soccer specific stadium, and I think the atmosphere at that stadium is a great one. When I had an interview with one of the other analysts from the Columbus area, he likened it to Lambeau Field, and the atmosphere there, while it might not be the biggest or grandest stadium in the league, it certainly has a good, solid strong atmosphere to it. And I think he’s right.

On the much-anticipated negotiations between the players’ union and MLS to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement when the current one ends next year:

I’m certainly expecting a long negotiation, just based off the history of the last negotiation and the fact that we couldn’t get a lot of things that we wanted. We did make some strides, but we knew back then that the small strides we made were things that we had to do in order for the next CBA agreement to be more in our favor. Just based off how the last one went, this next one coming up is going to be even tougher.

His parents’ reaction to his being traded:

Maybe I’ll be leaving, but hopefully [my brother] Pat will be coming in. But they’re excited for me and my change, and the new challenge I have coming forward. So I think they’re satisfied with the time that they’ve been able to have me around the home area.

Crew coach Sigi Schmid, on the DC/SJ salary concerns that led to BC’s arrival:

I think that’s really a question for DC…Obviously they had to make a decision on [Clyde] Simms and Brian, so was it a decision that they thought Simms was a better player, or was it a salary decision? Because sometimes that happens in this league, unfortunately. For us, that wasn’t a concern.

...or at least you could call them that for a few more days.

DC United have gotten a week's worth of preseason under their collective belt and I was fortunate enough to chat with coach Tom Soehn and several of his players in recent days. It's still mighty early in the game but there are a few noteworthy items, which I will be posting here in the coming hours and days.

Also got to talk to FC Dallas striker and NoVa local Abe Thompson this week, so stay tuned for some interesting stuff from him.



Finally, let me cast aside my cold journalistic detachment for just long enough to offer a warm digital embrace to Spanish upstarts UD Almeria. The Andalucian side made my weekend by dropping La Liga leaders/cabrones Real Madrid 2-0, enabling the brave boys from Barcelona to make up some ground in their chase of the champs. (Yes, I support FCB, a superclub which nonetheless represents all that is both grand, AND good, about the beautiful game.)


It's never a good sign when your #10 has his hands on his hips like that during a match, eh?

Here's my latest piece for PSW:

http://www.potomacsoccerwire.com/news/460/2076

At some point in the next day or two I will post some of the outtakes from my discussions with BC and Sigi. Enjoy the weekend.