Oh, I agreed. I fixed my post accordingly: . . . terms of what constitutes "a successful sesson" in the DCU FO's mind, you gotta admit, they don't exactly set the bar to a Dick Fosbury-challenging height.
I don't like the term DP. I just don't see how it's relevant in MLS 3.0 except as a reminder teams can't always build the way they want to. We paid a lot for a guy who is just another piece in the puzzle. Nevertheless, we're bringing him here as a 10, and they are not cheap. He's 25, which means we can build around him. He's a better than average MX player and he's going to energize a critical element of the DC fanbase. Taken together, I think the FO did good. He's "the right guy." Mostly I'm happy because the acquisition has intent written all over it. There's certainly room for skepticism writ large, but it feels like if we overspent in this case, we overspent for the right reasons.
That he draws at least 2 PKs and gets an opponent red-carded due to either persistent infringement or some hideous tackle at least twice in the season.
No one got hacked more than Lucho did and I don't think there was ever a PI yellow issued to a DCU opponent so I don't think you're going to ever see that in MLS.
I'm not sure who here wants to only replace Olsen as the answer. Raise your hand if you're in this group! That said, lots of other coaches could do a lot better than Olsen with all the remaining positions the same. The whole org sucks, but Olsen is bringing the mean down as he learns on the job.
Aaron Maund is on trial. Former Real Salt Lake and Vancouver defender. Last year with second-tier Charlotte.— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) January 20, 2020 United will train indoors the rest of the week, then move operations to Clearwater, Fla., on Sunday. First preseason friendly is next Tuesday vs. Montreal in Tampa.— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) January 20, 2020
They are delaying home games until May so they can build bathrooms at the stadium ... takes even longer to build actual training facilities. They did finally stop training at RFK - because of lead and asbestos, not budget.
D.C. United has just traded for Julian Gressel. Exchange for money. More to come ... #dcu #ATLUTD #mls— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) January 21, 2020 $1 million in various financials going to ATL— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) January 21, 2020
That certainly helps answer the question of who is feeding Kamara the ball in scoring positions! Flores Arriola Gressel Martins Moreno Leaving Canouse (or maybe Martins) and Asad on the bench, or so it would seem. A good problem to have, of course, presuming everyone's attitude is strong.
I hear you and I realize that he has played there some for Atlanta, but its hard to imagine DC shelling out that kind of money and then sticking him on the back line. And Asad - with his more limited commitment to defense - strikes me as a tough combination if you wanted Gressel making forward runs all the time.