It Boggles the Mind

[JoeW]

I remember reading so many posts as early as 2 weeks ago about how management wasn't taking the CCC seriously, how we had done nothing to backfill all the holes in the roster, how we were writing off the first part of the season b/c we obviously weren't adding much talent.

All I can say at this point is...."Wow!" Part of it is the Olimpia series. Part of it is talent aquisition that clearly is not spontaneous but driven by some very serious and long-term scouting and part of a larger plan with contingencies. Part of it is having a roster that is veteran (but not necessarily old) and has been together a long time. Part of it is a brainstrust that continues to prove themselves over and over and over.

Fred looks good but MLS competition will tell us for sure just how good. Emilio is clearly the real deal and I think the only question is whether he's just going to be a very good forward in MLS this season or if he's going to be the guy that everyone points to as the league's premier finisher.

And we still haven't used our DP slot yet. And still have a bunch of allocations. And we still have cap room. And we still have senior roster space. And that line in tomorrow's Post article about how we're continuing to search for a particular foreign player...

I'm trying hard not to get too cocky. But where we're at right now is pretty amazing. Not just the shape of the team, but the positioning of the entire organization, especially compared to the rest of the league. To think--what people are mostly worried about is that we need another reserve defender. There are teams out there who are starting 17 year old strikers (who haven't played a full season) or don't have 11 definitive starters yet or no player on their team who has ever scored 10 goals in a season professionally.

[Sachin]

Wait... so beating a team after signing their best player is a mark of how good we are?

I suspect that if Emilio was on the other side, we'd be asking why Steve Nicol was running our CCC campaign (C4).

So let's not get cocky. If we manage to get past Chivas, then we can get cocky.

[Boloni86]

I agree. I think we're about as good as we were last year, and with another addition or two, we should be better than last season. I still think Houston and New England are in our ball park, but at this stage the rest of the league is behind.

[Allan Quatermain]

Let's not go overboard. The goal differential in the Olimpia series looks great, but is probably a bit deceiving. I thought the teams were quite evenly matched, and at times we were outplayed. Luckily we put in some goals -- good stuff from Gomez and Emilio -- and were very fortunate that Olimpia didn't score a few in the first game they should have.

Our defense looks shaky. The front office hasn't seemed to do anything to shore it up ... much like we didn't do squat in the offseason a few years ago when we knew we wouldn't have Nelsen for the Pumas series (Remember starting van Sicklen in Mexico City?)

No one is more excited or giddy about what's happened the past few weeks ... and I also think it's quite possible we can defeat Chivas. But I am not convinced we are prepared as well as we could be.

[RecSpecs]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f391/moshimoshidesign/pat_on_the_back_1.jpg

OMG we rule! LOL!

[seahawkdad]

Let's just hope that we're the only team that continually looks to the South for foreign talent rather than to the East.

[MattMathai]

Let's not go overboard. The goal differential in the Olimpia series looks great, but is probably a bit deceiving. I thought the teams were quite evenly matched, and at times we were outplayed. Luckily we put in some goals -- good stuff from Gomez and Emilio -- and were very fortunate that Olimpia didn't score a few in the first game they should have.

Our defense looks shaky.

We're in pre-season, and entered the Olimpia series with three weeks of training. Keep that in mind.

Yes, Chivas will likely be the toughest match we've played. And we're STILL not ready. But we're in amazingly good shape going into this season.

[Sanguine]

We still haven't replaed Prideaux, have we? Has a new defender impressed in camp that I don't know about? If not, we're still awfully thin on the back line. We have Wilson and... uh... yeah. McTavish and Gros can play back there in a pinch, but I'm not sure I'd call them naturals.

[jason1551]

DC isn't built around "naturals." I can name at least ten players on this team who fit between the defender-midfielder and midfielder-forward roles. Labels and categories are a thing of the past in today's soccer (or at least for DC and its system).

[Marco10]

You know, I've got to go with Joe on this one. I'm usually in Sachin territory, where into every day a little rain must fall, but I've got to admit, this season is looking pretty sunny just now.

That's it. I'm going to put my stamp of approval on this offseason so far!

More than that, I am going to assume MLS and International hardware as befits our birthright! I declare us champions right now! Of what point is there to be games played? Enough with that grain of salt crap! Away with those petty claims to the throne!


Sarcasm aside, I really do agree with Joe. Assuming Casal or Fred is a decent wing player and /or backup, and Emilio is the real deal (and neither of those things seem to be much of a stretch) there's good reason to believe DC has addressed all it's off-season needs and should be able to do well in all competitions assuming that they get no horrendously bad luck.

So, I guess that's it. As Chris would say, I've officially put the kiss of death on this season. :)

[Sanguine]

DC isn't built around "naturals." I can name at least ten players on this team who fit between the defender-midfielder and midfielder-forward roles. Labels and categories are a thing of the past in today's soccer (or at least for DC and its system).


so you're OK with us trotting out a back line of Gros-McTavish-Wilson?

[Wallydrag]

Between Fred, Emilio, Moreno, and Gomez, DCU is ahead of the league in individual player skill. This combined with a deep team discipline will be a great combination.

The backline is still quite shaky. At first glance it seems like we're going to rely on as much as Perkins can give us then simply outscore the opposition. This may change but as of right now, that may be the plan.

While DCU aren't world beaters right now, their series with Olimpia was very impressive. DC showed chemistry and cohesiveness that normally take a month or two to rediscover. I also think too many people put the credit on Emilio taking advantage of his intimate knowledge of his former team for winning than they should. Gomez had more to do with the wins than Emilio, and even Emilio's goal in the first game had as much to do with Gross getting up the flank and getting in a good ball as anything Emilio did. His back heel into the goal was great, showing he's a great finisher which is sorely needed commodity for any team.

We'll see how we fair against Chivas but being very optimistic about the upcoming season isn't the product of some blind fanaticism or flight of fancy.

[jason1551]

so you're OK with us trotting out a back line of Gros-McTavish-Wilson?
Not really, but if we're in that kind of a position we've got bigger problems than just our defense. It would have to be some combination of injuries, suspensions, or call-ups that hasn't been seen in MLS since the DC glory days of the late 90's. However, if the players are comfortable there and have played there regularly in reserve/practice, then I probably wouldn't be that distraught over it. Now, if we have to start filling out our line-up with Stokes and G.R. Cannon, then I'm truly concerned.

I honestly expect us to sign one more defender before the season starts. And by defender, I mean a player who's main position is as a defender, say Kotschau or Leitch or someone else of that ilk. Probably a low-cost veteran that can fill in when necessary.

[DMP73]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f391/moshimoshidesign/pat_on_the_back_1.jpg

OMG we rule! LOL!

:) Growing up I thought all of my dad's funny little sayings weren't funny at all, but I just have to offer that my dad would say....

"don't break your arm patting yourself on the back to hard"

:D

As cool headed and down to earth as everyone wants to be here, sometimes you just have to smile.

Fred...Emelio...Emelio...Fred....Christian, Jaime....Fred and Emelio....

a billion goals.... priceless

[Sanguine]

Not really, but if we're in that kind of a position we've got bigger problems than just our defense. It would have to be some combination of injuries, suspensions, or call-ups that hasn't been seen in MLS since the DC glory days of the late 90's. However, if the players are comfortable there and have played there regularly in reserve/practice, then I probably wouldn't be that distraught over it. Now, if we have to start filling out our line-up with Stokes and G.R. Cannon, then I'm truly concerned.

I honestly expect us to sign one more defender before the season starts. And by defender, I mean a player who's main position is as a defender, say Kotschau or Leitch or someone else of that ilk. Probably a low-cost veteran that can fill in when necessary.

I certainly hope so - that's the kind of player I was referring to when I said we hadn't replaced Prideaux. We need at least one more guy back there for depth.

Goff's reports of Kaspar's comments after they didn't offer Fearrington a contract make me think that sort of signing will not be coming, however.

[jason1551]

I certainly hope so - that's the kind of player I was referring to when I said we hadn't replaced Prideaux. We need at least one more guy back there for depth.

Goff's reports of Kaspar's comments after they didn't offer Fearrington a contract make me think that sort of signing will not be coming, however.
Or that Fearrington didn't fit the kind of player DC's looking for.

I take Kaspar's comments with a grain of salt because he wouldn't give his hand away if he had something else in the works anyways. I find the correlation between Goff's blog and new player signings to be quite interesting. Trialists are named right away, but players we're really keen on take a while to be revealed.

[seahawkdad]

...I honestly expect us to sign one more defender before the season starts. And by defender, I mean a player who's main position is as a defender, say Kotschau or Leitch or someone else of that ilk. Probably a low-cost veteran that can fill in when necessary.I guess that would rule Roberto Carlos (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6433711.stm) out of your expectations then...

[MightyMouse]

Can't help but feel Roberto Carlos would be an awsome pickup... ok I'll shut up now...

[Bootsy Collins]

I'm a bit surprised by Joe's post, and Mike's concurrence.

We've basically made three pick-ups: Emilio, Casal, and Fred. So far, the only signing that we really know anything about at all is Emilio; he seemed very good against his former team, which is doing very poorly in the Honduran league this year. In those games, he showed skills/tendencies that make a strong argument he'll be effective against league competition, and possibly against Chivas too if we can get the ball to him in dangerous spots; but we'll have to see.

But he's the only one of the three we truly know anything about. Fred and Casal have played exactly zero minutes for D.C.. What we know for sure -- not second-hand, but for sure -- about Fred comes from YouTube videos that show him scoring effectively against orange traffic cones -- well, OK, not that bad, but some truly horrendous defending, worse than I've seen in MLS except for our 2005 away vs. RSL. As for Casal, Bradenton reports were decidedly mixed; but despite not being injured, the guy couldn't even make the Fulham reserves' bench on a regular basis. How have you guys already decided that these two are monster pickups that show we're in great shape? Don't they have to actually play well, or are CONCACAF and the league just going to give us the trophies now and skip our having to actually play the matches?

[Bootsy Collins]

Goff's reports of Kaspar's comments after they didn't offer Fearrington a contract make me think that sort of signing will not be coming, however.
Yes. Until Fred and/or Casal grab a wing spot with both hands and make it theirs, we're thin out there. And even if they do, we're thin in the back. And I agree, Kaspar's comment seemed to me to suggest they didn't consider further defensive depth to be a high priority.