Players coming in, players going out

By: jon | February 27th, 2009

As this is the preseason, and the informal roster deadline for MLS teams is Monday, DCU made some moves which are quite interesting.

First, coming in. DCU has signed Dejan Jakovic from Red Star Belgrade, in a real, honest to god transfer. It’s like MLS is a real league and everything!
Some info about Mr. Jakovic:

All of this according to Wiki and Goff, Jakovic, who was born in Croatia, and has been capped by the Canadian National Team (as a side note, we’ve replaced our quota of one real National Team player since Guerrero was shown the exit). He made three appearances for Red Star, but following a coaching change, he had struggled to find any playing time. It appears that Kasper envisions him as the starting CB, with the commanding presence that the team missed last year. At 23, that’s a curious statement. But what it most certainly does is relegate either McTavish or Janecki to the bench. That’s something to watch for as the season draws closer.

A player that I enjoyed watching, Mike Zaher, was released. Largely a victim of the numbers game and the depth at left back, Zaher looks to find a USL team on the west coast to latch on to. I liked Zaher’s crossing ability, and general stability in the LB spot. He had some shaky moments last year, especially in CONCACAF, but it would have been nice to have had the luxury of having a player like him in the reserves. One can only hope that a new collective bargaining agreement will both increase the salary cap, as well as restore the roster sizes and reinstate the reserve division.

Apparently, Milos Kocic has received European offers and he is considering them. The team has decided that Nic Platter, from USL1 Minnesota, will be the backup, with Kocic and Thorpe battling it out for a poverty contract. Personally, if I were Kocic, I’d be outtie 5000. If he does, DC should keep an eye on him. What this also appears to state is that Crayton will be extended, because I have a hard time believing that Nic Platter will start for DC United in late season games.

Ryan Miller signed a developmental contract. He played in two CONCACAF games, and I don’t remember being impressed. He looks to be depth at RB and MF filler. Good luck to him.

This reminds me. After watching the Houston and Montreal CONCACAF games, it made me think about CONCACAF Champions League.

I really want to win it. Badly. I know its a new tournament with no history, but I gotta tell you, compared to the US Open Cup or Superliga, CONCACAF is a lot more exciting. Also, Montreal needs a team yesterday. That was phenomenal. I hope next year we aren’t playing our scrubs in these important games.