I hope they turn Ashton into DC United's version of Baghdad Bob. Trot him out on Tik Tok and Instagram. Is there a better spokesman for this team for the digital age than a pudgy 50-something?
I think Wayne is safely hedged now. Our goal is to make the playoffs, anything can happen then. 7th or better in a conference of 15 and then he jets off to Everton.
D.C. United close to hiring Carl Robinson as an assistant coach, fulfilling plan to add someone with MLS experience to Wayne Rooney’s staff, per source. Welshman played for Toronto FC and Red Bulls, coached Vancouver 2014-18. Coached in Australia 2020-22. #dcu #mls— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) January 19, 2023
Rafael Romo and DC United have officially parted ways. The team's now down to the three GKs it wants to have around, and down to 9 internationals (Samake would be the odd man out, since I don't see the team acquiring an extra international spot for him).
Just finished listening to the Extra Time podcast which, surprisingly, commented on some things DCU. They noted that 10 players were out and 10 new ones in which was an "improvement" as those who left weren't going to make DCU better. Said this was a win now move because Rooney certainly isn't long term. As for Benteke, the consensus was that he must score at least 18 goals to make his deal worthwhile, as Ola Kamara consistently can give 12 goals/year at much lower cost. Noted that Benteke's skillset is physicality, which can age well, so his age wasn't a factor. In their skewering of the Galaxatives FO, they mentioned Derrick Williams and the LAG center backs generally as pretty much a mess. Ci vediamo. This got me thinking about the 10 who were cut loose. As best I can tell this is what has happened so far: Alfaro - signed with NYCFC Skundrich - signed with Colorado Springs K. Smith - signed with San Antonio B. Smith - signed with Houston Romo - mutual buyout and going to Ecuador So, the rest, to my best information, remain unsigned, including Hamid. Of all of them Hamid is most intriguing. MLS is 2 weeks into pre-season and Bill isn't even somewhere on trial. I wonder if Bill has moved on, new kid, settling down. Maybe he's contemplating retirement or retirement will come for him regardless of his choices. If he truly is out of the league, DCU should hold a huge Bill Hamid Day at Audi Field to honor his service to the team and community.
To be fair – and if I am remembering the quote correctly – he said something like "our priority is to make the playoffs." I don't have any problem with that statement. That would clearly be an improvement and he did not say that is the ultimate goal. The jury is still out on Rooney's managerial skills but he is not a guy who lacks competitive ambition.
So DC had the #2 pick for allocation players. Guess what? A statement from Major League Soccer: pic.twitter.com/RQ4CsAF9Yf— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) January 20, 2023 I ********ing hate MLS.
I would agree that B&RU is uneven, but it is worth looking at for information you might otherwise miss and has its own lively discussion threads. What I think this means is the movement toward subscription newsletters continues unabated. Ives Galarcep went paid subscription years ago, the late Grant Wahl had a Substack subscription based newsletter, the Athletic also is subscription based. As more folks try to make a living covering soccer, the ad revenue from "free" sites clearly doesn't cover expenses. I've had a subscription to the Athletic for years, as does my son, and we both feel it is money well spent. On the other hand, I subscribed to Wahl's pieces for a while and then dropped the subscription because it didn't offer me the same value. The age of "free" coverage is on life support.
Frank Lampard spoke with owner Farhad Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright over the weekend, along with director of football Kevin Thelwell, and has accepted he will be dismissed [@DominicKing_DM] pic.twitter.com/OcXgSkQMEx— EFC DAILY (@EFCdaily_) January 22, 2023 A glimmer of hope for our manager. Rooney slips to 3rd in the betting odds as the next manager at Everton Dyche 2/1 Moyes 5/1 Rooney 8/1 Roberto Martinez, Big Sam, Nuno Espirito Santo 12/1