Since we're about a month away from the start of the season(hopefully) and we have an idea about our starting lineup, I guess its time for a prediction thread. Which three players do you guys think will be the key to the season? Here are mine: 1. Brandon Barklage 2. Julius James 3. Danny Allsopp
1. Whoever runs the midfield 2. Perkins 3. Whoever partners with Jakovic as CB It's tempting to say Allsopp or Castillo, but neither is intrinsically essential to the offense, i.e. if either one went down we have players that can fill in. However, the three people above will dictate how our offense and defense function, and those players will have huge rules in whether or not we do well this season.
Onalfo - yes, I know the OP said "player" but Onalfo is uniquely positioned to be *the* difference between last year and this year. He's in a position to take players who were underperforming last year and get them to over-perform. Will he? Perkins - has to not only be a stud keeper but be a leader and organizer. One of: Castillo, Quaranta, or Pontius. Who's going to step up and make himself a threat to opposing defenses?
If I get a sports hernia, I blame you Joe. Seriously, I think both Bootsy and Grill are due for good seasons, and considering what the team pays for them, I think they are worth every penny. Question: Does this mean we have to regularly be in the stadium on time for kickoff??
1. Perkins 2. The Trainer ... can we get through a season without a hernia and multiple muscle strains? 3. Pontius
Uncle Phil Cousin Lamar's boys The Don My choices: Quaranta Pontius Burch (picked mainly to make the veins in Bootsy's forehead pop out - but how he does and whether it is good enough to not replace him may be a key)
You . . .you . . .fatbastard! You stole my pick! However, I am actually rather serious about it. 1. Burch - I've already said that this team will basically be fighting to do the 1 goal/per game and hold opponents at under 1/game GAA. If I'm Onalfo, I'm having Burch (Q1?) thump about 100 free kicks after every practice to become that "specialist" that might steal points in games from one free kick even though the team is outplayed the entire match. 2. Perkins - He'll have to "win" some games by playing out of his mind. 3. Eddie Johnson - What? Yes, EJ will be coming to DCUnited in the summer transfer window. Obviously this is a wild guess. I am interested in knowing what his relationship with Onalfo? If I'm not mistaken, his contract runs through Summre 2011. What type of price tag would he have put on him? Is he like Adu and refuses to think "big fish, small pond?"
Actually, Perkins can win us games by not making the stupid mistakes we've seen too often in the recent past. His steady play will make our back line more confident too.
1. Jakovic 2. Simms 3. Perkins ps-Diceson- having Burch in the lineup almost guarantees the other team will score at least a goal, so having his once-in-a-blue freekick goal is not going to do much for DC United. EJ is a pipedream-do you have a secret stash of Columbian Gold!?!
Perkins Pontius Quaranta & Jakovic's partner in Central Defense yeah - thats four - but not many people here know how to count
skipping the three man thing, going with 3 as yet unmentioned concepts, in no particular order. 1-Castillo and whoever fills right wing's ability to find Allsopp (and occassionally Cristman) with crosses from deep in the flank 2-Onalfo's ability to manage Moreno's fitness and effectiveness 3-Finding 2 2-way central midfielders with enough offense to run the engine of a car named DC United.
This certainly seems to be the consensus that has emerged throughout the off-season threads. We're weak in the middle, and we need another player. I'm starting to get antsy that said player hasn't materialized yet.
I've seen no indications that we're getting another player. Unless the DCU FO is keeping REALLY tight wraps on talks, there's a chance that our team for 2010 is the one that's in training now.
Yeah, I'm back to ramp up slowly. I didn't mean my comment to be a downer. I think we'll have an interesting enough team as is. We might not win anything, but I'm eager to see how our style of play has changed. Just watch; they'll announce Veron tomorrow.
For those of us who loved the 2008 League season, and enjoyed reliving it in 2009, we get another chance in 2010!
This was going to be my response, but Todd beat me here. I was going to say: Mark Abbott, Bob Foose, and Uncle Phil.
If Bob Foose is exerting any real power over the players' decisionmaking, we're screwed. He hasn't impressed me with either his grasp of the issues or his tactica acumen.