There's been no news that indicates so, but on DCU's webpage, on the "Stats" page, Casal has been marked with the "no longer with the team" asterisk just like Erpen. Probably a typo by someone working on the page, but nonetheless I figured I'd check and see if anyone had heard anything that confirms or denies such a thing. EDIT: In Goff's blog on Saturday, someone by the name of "unitedfan1" said "Rumor: Casal is headed back to Europe. (not giving my source)". Hmm.
Re: Status of Casal? Well, there was mention of it on Goff's blog in the comments section for Friday's post, but that's about it. I suspect he was a strong candidate to be waived, and, if he was, we'll find about it whenever Goff makes his next blog entry. Here's the post: and my response: I see no reason why that still wouldn't be true, especially if the Brazilian defender impresses in camp. Besides, Casali at $100k is way over-paid for a back-up or at least one who fails to contribute much offensively or defensively. Today was the final cut-off to not have any waivers count against the cap, so I suspect we cut him even if we had only an idea at picking up someone better somewhere down the line.
Re: Status of Casal? He wasn't making an impression on the field, and he was wilting in the heat.....in May. And the backline would seem to be more secure with Vanney, McTavish, Boswell, and Namoff, so Gros can move back into midfield. Good luck to him, wherever he turns up.
Re: Status of Casal? Yeah, I quoted the initial mention, but didn't see your response. I did not know that. Sounding less like a typo then.
Re: Status of Casal? Yeah, but OTOH, Jamil Walker and Kiki Willis are still listed; so the Roster page can't be counted on too much.
Re: Status of Casal? Jamil is still on the team and is on some sort of 'Season Ending Injured Reserve' and can't be let go. But Kiki's status is a mystery.
Re: Status of Casal? If this turns out to be true, I wonder what the living situation is now for the rookies. IIRC Willis, Casal, Arguez, Deroux (not a rookie) and North were all sharing a house in Fort Washington. Are the remaining players going to pick up the slack for rent? Is Perkins going to hook everyone up with second jobs? Is Kevin Payne going to let everyone stay with him?
Re: Status of Casal? Yeah, that sad part I knew; but somehow I had it in my head that we had released him afterwards. No idea where I got that.
Re: Status of Casal? So Casal flew to Nigeria only to not make the U-20 World Cup roster and now this. Doesn't seem like it's been a good week for the guy.
Re: Status of Casal? I was initially thinking, "why make a quick decision on the guy? Let's see how he develops over a year or two before making a move?" But if, as Jason says, he makes $100K? Then yeah, make the decision and let's move on.
Re: Status of Casal? I had a vague notion he'd been let go as well. I think we got it from the gist of the discussion immediately after his injury. There was a lot of speculation--not necessarily ill-founded--that it's over for him.
Re: Status of Casal? That probably stems from Jamil's freefall down the forward depth chart, and that Kpene took Jamil's senior roster spot. But only after Jamil was 'deactivated' (or whatever terminology MLS uses) for the season, freeing up his roster spot, but offering no salary relief.
Re: Status of Casal? When was Kasali on 100k? The mls salary list was released recently and if your read that you would know he is not earning that money. Also you clearly dont know soccer if you can say he does not contribute anythink offensively. Kasali has only appeared in 4 games and within in those games he has an assist and won a penalty kick, i believe for a 19 year old with no first team experience that is good. I dont know what his status is but if he is gone that will be a great loss, because the boy has potential, that is the key word potential. You guys are being way to hard on the kid. He did not come in as a first team player, he came in as a youngster to get developed.
Re: Status of Casal? I agree I think it is a huge loss. I was singing his praises when I saw him play, but I think he was complaining about the heat and that was what really saw him take a seat. That and removing the extra mid fielder in way of the 4-4-2. I hope doesn't sign with another MLS team cause that kid has pace and can be very dangerous.
Re: Status of Casal? Casal made 4 appearances, within those appearances he got an assist and won a penalty kick, which resulted in DC winning the Chivas game, which was DC first win of the season , which then DC went on a winning streak! Yeah sure no impression on the field what so ever. If you play soccer you will know that playing 10 minutes hear and there is no good, you need at least a half to get into the game. The two games that Casal got good playing times was against Colorado and Chivas. Against Colorado the kid came on when the team was 2-0 down and he got an assist and against Chivas he came on 0-0 won a penalty kick and the team won the game. Im not saying that the kid is the next greatest thing but the boy had talent. He is 19, 6ft1, left footed, and the fastest player at the club. That is something we could have developed
Re: Status of Casal? I am totally with you, when the kid first came i was very skeptical about him but after seeing him train i was blown away. If you ever went to a training session you would have been amazed. The way the kid use to blow past namoff and boswell like they were not there. There was one session when they did 11v11 and namoff was trying to mark the kid and he could not get near him and it was only a matter of time before this converted onto game days. All the kid needed was more minutes to get confident, because if he played half as well of what i saw in training DC will be a crazy attacking team along with Emilio, Gomez, Jaime, Fred, and Olsen. But the situation with the heat did not help him, but on his defence he came from London, and the weather in London is a joke
Re: Status of Casal? He also played effectively no defense in his appearances, in a position that requires it. In practice, he hasn't been showing, which is why he stopped getting first-team minutes over Justin Moose. Oh, and he sat down during practice because the heat was too much -- in May. Well, there's no announcement yet, it's just a rumor; so we may yet. But if he is gone, then the coaches who see him every single day in practice didn't feel his prospects for development were so big that they were worth the money and the roster spot. Not watching practice every single day, it's hard for me to second-guess that.
Re: Status of Casal? I agree with the no defense, but i dont know what training you have been watching to say he has not been performing. I go to there training at least 3 times a week and what i have been seeing from the kid is amazing. He is doing things that no one in the squad can do. I spoke to Kasper no longer than 2 weeks ago, about Arguez, Kpene, and Casal and Kasper only had good things to say about Casal. He was saying that the kid has a bright future at the club and the coaching staff is so happy with him, so i dont know what is going on.
Re: Status of Casal? It's all speculation, as is most discussion here. I liked watching him play, and he made an impression when he was on the field. He hardly played defense at all, but that's fairly typical of a young player. That can be taught. Who knows? Maybe the prospect of the heat made him look elsewhere.
Re: Status of Casal? Well in sporting language that does mean he is gone at the next available opportunity.