2012/13 Rumors, Speculation and Roster Punditry

Sigh. Of course. That's why I said "question marks" rather than "someone who sucks."

Come on, Chris.

 

And now for something completely different...

...flashback to commish Garber and the crew at Red Bull Arena



More photos from the unplayable field here http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/phot...-football-stadiums-in-the-snow.html?pid=12875

 

A 20 year old with 46 appearances for a club in the top Brazilian league who has played on some sort of youth Brazilian national team. This looks like a potentially good move to me especially if there is a chance to purchase him if things go well. Should be an upgrade over Josh Wolf/Long Tan at least.

 

Wasn't his team like 16th place? and from what I have seen posted elsewhere, he's not always a starter.

Being Brazilian doesn't instantly make you good.

 

No but being that young having a lot of appearances for a team in a better league than MLS (IMO) is a good indication that he might have some potential. For someone who is probably not going to take up much of the salary cap it seems like a decent move.

 

Wait. Wasn't Welton a super star!?!? I may have to rethink things...

 

It has been more than a few days since I've heard that "Marquee Player" 's name floated around.

It must have been that All-Star 1996 effort as I could have sworn he was a "Marquee Player" allocation. However, according to this little tid-bit I remembered incorrectly.

 

Welton, I haven't thought of him in a while. He was brought in for an "audition" with a number of other young Brazilian and Argentinian players back in '96. It was from this group that we acquired Mario Gori. The only other player from this group to play in the league was another Argentinian (whose name escapes me) who played for the Revs.

One other thing: did you notice that Cobi Jones' name is not on the list of allocated players?
Yeah, the Calvin ball started early.

asitis

 

Just realized we only have 1 draft pick...#17. Our second round was traded to New England for Fred

 

Rafael "Gladiador" Teixeira de Souza. I took a look at Bahia's website and he seems to be their best youth player. He was really, really good in the 2011 Sao Paolo youth championship and useful in the Serie A last year. They have two veterans and two other young forwards neither of which look that good. He's six foot and 182 pounds. From his highlight reel he looks like he has an MLS ready body with good skills and a good shots. This feels less like DC getting surplus talent and more like a small Brazilian club is shopping their best asset. Sounds promising.

 

"...ever seen any movies about Gladiators, Joey?"

 

If Kasper hears about this the shit's gonna hit the fan!

 

According to that article he scored 10 goals in 36 games for the main team. That is more than impressive for a teenager's debut in a small team. Of course, you gotta remember that Brazilian teams play a national and a regional tournament plus a national cup. So he's played a little over half the games available.

 

This doesn't mean much, but when translating portuguese commentary on him from youtube etc, you get the feeling many people don't think he has much of a future.
We'll see.

 

I think it's more likely this.

 

Is Hank III sponsoring that team?

 

Interesting....

Lucas Gomes can you give us any inside, amigo brasilero?

Do you know anything of this gentleman?

 

I know little. I'll talk based on what little I saw in 2012 and in the opinion of Bahia fans.

He played very well in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior 2011, the U20 competition most famous of Brazil, where the Bahia came in second place .. It was the team's top scorer in the competition (6 goals) and the decisive victory over Santos in the quarter-finals (the nickname Gladiador came from this confrontation). In the final, he scored the only goal of Bahia in defeat against Flamengo 2-1.

However, not excelled in first team. His first chance was in 2011. Most of the fans hated it, mainly the lack of intelligence and inability to score goals. In the Brazilian Championship 2012, played in 9 games and scored 1 goal.

Conclusion: is young and excelled in the youth categories. Joined to pros as a great revelation (International wanted to hire him and had his proposal rejected) and does not stand after 18 months ago in pros team. A lot a fans of Bahia started hating him. Believe he won chances too and did not correspond. No one regrets his loan to DC United. . Now, we must remember that Bahia has a team too weak, it's a problem to Rafael.

1,83m - 86kg
13/07/1992

That's it.

 

So I'm going to guess that most of his appearances and goals were for the Bahia regional championship. Umm, okay, so I'm less excited now. Is this a case of good, young player that needs to get out of toxic situation with overblown expectations or the case of an immature player that has talent but can't get it together in the bigger scene? I guess we'll find out.

 

Rafael scored three goals in the Bahia State Championship 2012.

In the BRazilian League 2012, the goal that I referred was made in the last round, against Atletico-GO (goal that saved the Bahia, who struggled against relegation). The goal was easy.

 

Ain't that the truth.

 

Muito obrigado lucas!

I too am not as excited about this move anymore. There is reason it is under the radar.

 

I wonder if DC will take a similar approach like last year by inviting 12-15 USL/NASL/free agent players to training camp and try to find a hidden gem? I remember feeling bad for Richter and C'DeBaca for making it all the way through until the last week of cuts.

 

Rafael is still very young at age 20 and may become something yet. As probably #4-#5 in the forward pecking order, this is probably a very low risk, medium reward sort of loan deal. I wouldn't expect the world from this guy, but if he could add 3-4 goals over the course of the year then I wouldn't not complain.