Preseason 2022 - What's next for United?

Goff just tweeted that DCU and BHI's Belgian side have agreed "in principle" on a permanent transfer.

 

Would DCU have spent on younger talent? Probably not with Dave Kasper at the helm. Should they have done so? Hell ya. Imagine if WE found Raul Ruidiaz who was taken by Seattle the same exact month - for nearly identical money as Rooney. That's how to build a championship team. Rooney was so shortsighted. Now we're at the same junction.

Will we pay money on young talent or buy an aged superstar? Or we can have both: Ruidiaz is unhappy with what Seattle is offering him.

 

If you are saying that the Rooney money could/would have been spent on younger talented players like Ruidiaz you are are mistaken and have never seen a United roster in your life. No the Rooney money would have been spent on a Flores esq Central/South American flop.

 

I make clear that I'm not saying "could/would." I'm saying "should." I've suffered through incompetent, underperforming player selection like the rest of us since 1997. I know what they could or would do -- that's painfully obvious. This is the brain trust that brought us Gallardo, Bošković, Salihi, Rafael (who could forget him), Eddie Johnson (bought a dozen broken eggs), Espindola, Rodriguez and Flores.

What I'm saying is what they should be doing.

 

Pay the man!

Some issues, I’m told by multiple sources, between Andy Najar and #DCU.

Club pick up his option and offered Najar a pay bump but the Honduran would still be the lowest-paid defensive starter on the team; other clubs sniffing around now, a pair of them in the Middle East.

— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) December 10, 2021

 

agreed

 

This was done in '96 when they picked up Moreno but only because they listened to Etcheverry.

 

I would love to have another Boskovic, one of the most talented players on our roster who was terribly underutilized by Benny (and who admitted it to me).

 

apparently a 50% bump from $100k to $150k. Pay him as much as the highest. Our attack went moribund without him.

 

This is the club I've come to know and love over the past 25 or so years.
It's enough to make me go back to watching American football.

 

Let's hope the contretemps regarding Najar is just agent agitation and nothing more. The guy is integral to Losadaball. As Matt Doyle noted earlier this year, the way Najar was used was unique in the history of MLS. The defense apparently now includes: Birnbaum, Pines, Najar, BHI, Alfaro and COA. Birnbaum is at 700K, Alfaro 81K, Pines 125K, BHI 240K, COA 130K and Najar at 90K based on 2021 salaries. Brillant, who is gone, was at 300K. Slide Brillant's money to Najar, bump Alfaro, BHI and Pines and dump COA and you've got something. The albatross here is Birnbaum at 700K, is that Israeli club still interested?

 

Gallardo was fantastic - Unfortunately he got hernias which ended his career even back home in Argentina - If he hadn't them, then we would have rocketed in the league - And maybe he would have stayed on as a coach - His teams have won the Copa Libertadores

Boskovic was under-used by Olsen badly -

They weren't busts

 

Real talk, ya. It's all about potential, and that's nebulous at best.

 

Rooney was "so shortsighted"? So you knew that Rooney would bail on DC United with two years remaining on his deal? How prescient of you.

 

The only out and out bust on that list was Rafael.

 

I have always been openly against contracting aged celebrity players. Waste of money. And while we're at it, here's what is hopefully the last nail in the coffin for the POV that spending more is necessary to bring championships:
From the Athletic today:
"The 2021 season was a good illustration of how spending doesn’t mean much in regards to MLS success. Even by the league’s wacky standards, this year was especially off-the-wall, with teams at the lower end of the wage scale dominating their higher spending counterparts during the regular season. Four of the five and seven of the 11 highest spenders in the league in player salaries didn’t even make the playoffs in 2021. The Colorado Rapids had the lowest payroll in MLS and finished the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference. The New England Revolution ranked 20th in player salaries and won the Supporters’ Shield en route to setting the MLS regular season points record."

 

Disagree that Boskovic was a bad signing. Great player who we just did not know how to use and whose style clashed with United. Heck how can a player playing in the Euros regularly for Serbia and who is given man of the match honors against England can't get off the bench for DC.

 

Totally agree. I also responded in another post.

 

Yes but New England had 3 superb DPs and several excellent TAM signings that were better than anything we had. It's not just what they spend it was how they spent it. Still, you have to spend to a certain level and I don't think you can count on hitting the ball out of the park on every signing. Also, keeping a strong team together requires more money and creative ways to stay under the caps. Of course that's not something United has to deal with.

 

Agree that Birnbaum is not the player he used to be and today is being way overpaid relative to his peers. The absolute opposite is true with Najar.

 

Great point.

 

We are a much better team when Andy is in the starting 11. Unfortunately that seems to not be on any artificial turf and we all know he's fragile. Let's hope for the best - he's certainly worth a buck fitty.

 

Fragile? he has the 3rd most minutes on the team this year, played 26 of 34, started 23. I believe most games he missed were due to international duty and not injury.

 

He played for both Serbia (back when it was called Serbia and Montenegro following the Yugoslav breakup) then Montenegro when they became independent from Serbia forming their own country.