Dante Washington

[GoDC]

Nice article on Dante. Does not sound like Va Beach will let him go and he is signed for next year as well.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=55336&ran=221156

[Sandon Mibut]

Hel-lo!

His wife, Lisa, and 12-year-old stepson, Duke, live in Manassas, and Washington can be in their embrace less than three hours after pulling out of the Sportsplex parking lot.

“If I was making a pure business decision, I would have gone to another MLS team,’’ said Washington, who said he sought to sign with D.C. United but was rebuffed. “But my personal life is much more important, and everything seemed like it would be better if I came here.’’

So, Dante is on record as saying he wants to come to DC in the preseason but the team said no thanks.

After the season starts - and they see the forwards aren't scoring goals - DC is on record saying they're interested in getting Dante but don't think they can get him from Virginia Beach.

These two facts don't exactly inspire confidence in our club's technical management.

[Claymore]

I agree it seems like someone in the front office was asleep at the wheel when Dante wanted to come here, but the fact that he's now tearing up the A-League is a little misleading; If I recall correctly, Albright did well against A-League teams, too.

[chayes]

Originally posted by Sandon Mibut
Hel-lo!

So, Dante is on record as saying he wants to come to DC in the preseason but the team said no thanks.



Do you know how much Dante was demanding in salary vs. how much DC had available to pay him?



Nope?


Didn't think so.

Did you ever think that Dante may have demanded more in salary than DC was wiling to pay?

Lets not jump to conclusions until you have all the facts.

[Sandon Mibut]

chayes, I'll bet you dinner at the restaurant of your choice that what Dante was demanding is less than what United will have to pay one of the international forwards they're seeking.

Penny wise and pound foolish. They didn't spend the money in the spring and now they have to spend more money to get someone else. That's my point.

[GoDC]

You may be right Sandon but we also may get a better player than Dante. Let's not go crazy and act like he was the greatest forward in MLS history. (Not saying you said this ) Yes he is a good solid player. He had a great year in 2000 and decent years as a part time player the past two seasons. He could have helped this team but if we end up with a younger, better player on this attempt, then we end up better for waiting.

[chayes]

Originally posted by Sandon Mibut
chayes, I'll bet you dinner at the restaurant of your choice that what Dante was demanding is less than what United will have to pay one of the international forwards they're seeking.

Penny wise and pound foolish. They didn't spend the money in the spring and now they have to spend more money to get someone else. That's my point.

And why should they spend the money in the spring?

We had just drafted Alecko and brought in Hristo and Earnie.
Along with Q1, Q2 and Curtis returning from last year.

That's 6 forwards. Wouldn't it be a little overkill to bring in another?

What would Dante add that Curtis doesn't at a much lower price?

There was no way DC Management could have known that Stewart was going to suck or Tino get hurt again. Its easy to sit here 3 months after the fact and knowing what we know now about the lack of production and say they should have brought in Dante, but at the time being, he wasn't a priority.

All of Hudson's quotes from pre-season was that we were going to score a ton of goals, if thinking that, why would he bring in another striker?

We need more depth in the backline. Petke is banged up and its only a matter of time before we lose on of the back 3 to a yellow card suspension.
Are you that confident in Namoff for him to be a starter for 8-10 games this year?

And...
You can't compare Dante's salary to that of someone else we bring in because we will get back however much Hristo is making to give to the new forward.

That wasn't available for Dante this spring, only the salary room we had left over (slim) plus whoever we would have gotten rid of (Curtis).

Oh, and Morton's, Capitol Grill or Caucus Room will be great for dinner. ;)

[JMU Soccer!]

Dante has always seemed like a class act, all the way back to his Warthog days. He's a solid professional that goes out and does his job and keeps himself down to earth. He sounds like he'd be a great teammate.

I'm sure the acquariums in the Virginia beach area only feed his passion for tropical fish.

[stopper4]

Originally posted by chayes
And why should they spend the money in the spring?

We had just drafted Alecko and brought in Hristo and Earnie.
Along with Q1, Q2 and Curtis returning from last year.

That's 6 forwards. Wouldn't it be a little overkill to bring in another?

What would Dante add that Curtis doesn't at a much lower price?


Q2 is a forward only in Ray Hudson's mind.
Hristo was considered, in the spring, to be a 'spark off the bench' at best.
Alecko is green.
Curtis is also green.
Earnie is only 1/2 forward, and could have been expeced to miss signifigant time with the Nats.

Oh, and Dante's not 5'8".

[owendylan]

Originally posted by chayes
And why should they spend the money in the spring?

We had just drafted Alecko and brought in Hristo and Earnie.
Along with Q1, Q2 and Curtis returning from last year.

That's 6 forwards. Wouldn't it be a little overkill to bring in another?

What would Dante add that Curtis doesn't at a much lower price?

There was no way DC Management could have known that Stewart was going to suck or Tino get hurt again. Its easy to sit here 3 months after the fact and knowing what we know now about the lack of production and say they should have brought in Dante, but at the time being, he wasn't a priority.

All of Hudson's quotes from pre-season was that we were going to score a ton of goals, if thinking that, why would he bring in another striker?

We need more depth in the backline. Petke is banged up and its only a matter of time before we lose on of the back 3 to a yellow card suspension.
Are you that confident in Namoff for him to be a starter for 8-10 games this year?

And...
You can't compare Dante's salary to that of someone else we bring in because we will get back however much Hristo is making to give to the new forward.

That wasn't available for Dante this spring, only the salary room we had left over (slim) plus whoever we would have gotten rid of (Curtis).

Oh, and Morton's, Capitol Grill or Caucus Room will be great for dinner. ;)

What about Dante at Stoitchkov's price? What does Dante bring that Curits doesn't have. . . about 6 inches. Out of all the forwards on our roster only Alecko, maybe, is fox in the box type striker, that Dante has shown to be. He scores ugly, opportunistic goals, but they all count the same.

Also we probably won't get all of Hristo's salary back but a pro-rated portion since he was on the roster. Also what is the date at which contracts/salaries are guaranteed for the year? (I think there's a date.) Also I would play Stokes instead of Namoff since, as people continually point out to me, he's a central defender. And Yes I would be comfortable playing Stokes on the back line and Namoff in certain situations, or we could move Nelsen back when he's around. Hell we played Chino at right back so we can put anyone back there.

[gildarkevin]

There are tons of factors at play here, all of which have been mentioned.

Yes, Dante was willing to take less than DC United will have to pay for an international forward. But, what he was willing to take and what DC was able and willing to pay were so far apart it wasn't even a realistic consideration.

Yes, Dante brings some things to the table that Ali Curtis doesn't, but he also brings about 7 years in age and a higher salary. I wanted Dante playing in DC as much as anyone (I'd have become a 100 percent attendance, full fledged DC United fan) but I can't necessarily quarrel with that decision, especially since, from what I've heard, Curtis has done everything the team has asked of him at all times, meaning that decision was partially made out of loyalty. There's something to be said for that.

I don't think anyone was asleep on this one. Dante knows plenty of people in the DC United organization and they know him. They had both talked about this, on and off, since about the All-Star game last season but never got to anything.

Once spring training started, nothing was going to get done. Frankly, the latest round of discussions, are nothing but a red herring. There's never been any real substance to them.

And Dante is about 5' 11".

[owendylan]

Originally posted by gildarkevin
And Dante is about 5' 11".

Which is still 6 inches taller than every other striker we have save Quaranta.