I am attending a meeting in Buenos Aires and spotted Tom Soehn coming in on Saturday at the airport. Just wanted to pass it on.
Maybe since both of the teams playing in the Championship game have gotten there WITHOUT a roster full of big name foreign players (in other words, home-grown players) DC's front office should look around this country for a change. And don't blast me for this statement, I have nothing against any of our players, and the highest regard for Jaime, Christian and Emilio, to name a few. I just was thinking that the paperwork would certainly be easier, the players a bit cheaper, and their tendency to stick with this club a bit longer!
I don't know about that last...Convey, Adu. And on the other side, seems to me that our top foreign players have either retired with us or were traded away for various reasons. Fortunately we got Jaime back and he'll retire here. I think as long as Europe beckons we are going to have a tough time keeping top caliber US players...and when they do come back they are probably on the same downward path as some of the high priced Europeans who have come over.
But he's not. He's in Argentina with the Albiceleste. World Cup Qualifier at home to Bolivia on Saturday at Monumental and then Tuesday night in Colombia.
Be careful...there are plenty on this board who are just a little too sensitive about this subject...they think you're insulting latin players or something if you dare mention the lack of domestic talent on the squad. Personally though...I agree. In recent years we've missed out on good draftable players like Altidore, Christman, Ashe just to name a few that would really have helped this team. This has been especially troubling considering we used to be so good at drafting players...Convey, Santino (he was good once) Namoff, Gros, and Carroll were all good picks once upon a time. The last two years we've draften zilch and missed out on some good players. Granted we've transferred in a few gems....most recently Fred and Emilio but in this league we HAVE to be good at drafting too.
Except that the US players that can play in positions we've normally gone overseas for are not cheap and with few exceptions move overseas just as quickly. Adu and Convey were mentioned, throw in Dempsey, McBride, Mathis, Beasely... Who has stuck around? Johnson and Donovan (at DP money) Ching and Twellman, that's about all. Though, hey, I'd love to have a Yank pulling the strings for DCU for the next decade, but who's it gonna be?
I hope my post didn't come off as one of those who is too sensitive about the subject. The thing about American players is, it's hard to be a stand-out MLS type player and go unknown.
Drafting is still very much a crapshoot. You're citing Corey Ashe and Adam Hristman, guys with potential who have hardly proven themselves to be keepers. And since we picked Arguez, a long-term prospect, it's a little unfair to compare '07 picks. To me, the easier part seems to be the MLS vets you do or don't acquire as the season goes on and your key needs emerge. We lost Jamil early, and by June, it was apparent Kpene and Addlery weren't going to be guys we could count on. The Dynamo, meanwhile, lost Dalglish and Ching early, and decided they couldn't count on Alejandro Moreno. With a lot more money available than Houston, DC's sole move to bolster the front line was to bring in a very raw Montero from Chicago, who ended up playing zero minutes. Houston, meanwhile, managed to trade MID-SEASON for Jaqua and Ngwenya, and those two will be starting Sunday, with Ching out of action. If Houston had hung onto Alej Moreno and only moved to get Montero, I doubt they're in the cup final. Realistically, you don't look abroad for your third and fourth forwards--I think you look at the other teams' surplus, and between Heron, Buddle, Eskandarian, Dalglish, Moyvisian, Merlin and Neko Hernandez, there are plenty of surplus forwards (I'm reading them all as fourth forwards, although where Heron stands with Sigi, I have no idea, and I don't know how Kreis ranks Findley, Brown, Espinoza, Esky and Moyvisian) who could be had if their $$ is right. It's fantastic that we're getting great attacking players from South America, and I'm impressed that Payne/Kasper can find a bargain like Burch, but they seem completely unwilling to bring in any mids or forwards with MLS experience. That's what's missing from the formula right now. and now...Back to Argentina. Roca encendido, Cristina Kirchner! That is SO not true. The first time over there, he only whimpered loudly.
Che, this is true. This is where the FO failed the worst. We could have/should have had Jaqua or Findley. We should have been in for Findley and Sturgis when Alexi pulled a Lalas and traded them away.
Colorado has a surplus of decent SIs and could look to make a trade before the expansion draft. I would certainly take a gamble on Nico if we were looking for a third forward who fits our style of play.