The Month that Was: A Busy time for DC United

By: jon | January 23rd, 2010

Last I left you, DC United had finally announced their new head coach, Curt Onalfo, and we were all wondering what moves would be made, and what moves should be made. Well, some of those moves have occurred and they should be discussed.

Christian Castillo by dcunited

Christian Castillo, left winger on the El Salvador Men’s National team and bench warmer on Leon, in Mexico joins DC on loan. No word on whether there is an option to purchase his contract at the end of the year, but if this loan deal is similar to others in MLS, that is likely the option. At the time, the move was explained as an option on the left side, which would move Fred to center midfield, and possibly move Rodney Wallace to LB, putting Marc Burch on the bench. Onalfo was rather convincing in his plans for Fred, so we all kind of thought that Fred would be given a chance to shine.

Fred by dcunited

But he wasn’t. On the eve of the 2010 MLS Superdraft, Fred was traded to Philadelphia Union, along with the 7th overall pick, and allocation money for the top spot on the returning USMNT draft list. (Let me just add, good luck Fred, I felt like this was going to be your year, and if Nowak plays you in the middle, I still think it will be).
Who did we get for this bounty?

Photo by Chris Leon

That’s right, familiar face Troy Perkins returns to DC, and clears up a rather murky goalkeeping situation. The USMNT keeper will slide into the starting spot for United, while DC now has three other keepers on the roster for 2010. This may be short term, as Wicks’ option was picked up, but I’ve been told you cannot cut a player who is recovering from injury, which Wicks is. Possibly, there is a trade market for Wicks, who is a great shot stopper. More likely, the world knows he’s cut when he gets better and we will get jack.

Photo by Rob Rowe

The 7th pick traded to Union was used to select Jack Mcinerney, a young US U17 player who will be a longer term project. DC had no pick until late, late, late in the draft, selecting Jordan Graye in the forth round, out of UNC and formerly of the DC United youth setup. He’s a local product, attending DeMatha high school, and has a chance to make the team out of preseason.

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Luciano Emilio was allowed to leave, where he joined a second division Brazilian side (and he’s already scored a goal there with his head, which I thought was impossible.), leaving a giant hole up front for DC. Danny Allsopp is an attempt to plug that hole, and find a strike partner for Chris Pontius. Allsopp has a long career for a 31 year old, and here are his teams as follows:
1995 Croydon (Australia)
1995-97 South Melbourne (Australia)
1997-98 Carlton (Australia)
1998-99, 2000 Manchester City (England)
1999, 2000-03 Notts County (England)
2000 Wrexham (England)
2000 Bristol Rovers (England)
2003-05 Hull City (England)
2005-09 Melbourne Victory (Australia)
2009-10 Al-Rayyan (Qatar)
(Thanks to BTB)
He’s signed to a two year deal, with an option year after that, so we should all get a good look at the Australian. Hopefully, there are more moves for the attack.
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The most recent acquisition by DC was made on Thursday, out of the blue. Floribert N’Galula, formerly of Manchester United, Randers, and Rotterdam, will be in the Black and Red for this upcoming season. He’s a defender/defensive midfielder, who I believe is projected to start in the middle with Dejan Jakovic.

Analysis: The cliche is that you can’t get something for nothing, and I’m sorry to see Fred go. Out of the old guard that was possibly on its way out at the end of 2009 (Olsen, Moreno, Gomez, Fred, and Emilio), Fred was the one I thought most likely to stick. Now it looks like Moreno stands alone. We obviously have a gaping maw sitting behind the striker at the moment, with internal candidates being Santino Quaranta…and Santino Quaranta. I believe they want to keep him on the right, thus more moves are obviously forthcoming.
The forward position is yet to be settled, but will be bolstered with the return of Brandon Barklage, who showed well in his first year. If he’s back to full strength, we’ve got some depth in the position. We still need another top forward, preferably someone with MLS experience.
Goalkeeping is set. Would I like to see Bill Hamid loaned to a USL1 side who will give him playing time? I would. Will it happen? Doubtful.
Defensively, I still say we need a left back and another centerback. I’d like to see Lawson Vaughan make the team as an option at right back, but it remains to be seen if that will happen. No one knows what Bryan Namoff will be able to contribute as he comes off of a season shortened by concussions.

Fans can be sure that the front office is not done, and that they were not satisfied with last years results. Sorry for being an absentee blogger, and I promise to be more with it in the new year. Vamos United.