I've been calling out this roster since last season ended and we haven't added much. We paid $2.5M for a deck chair in Enow. Kim who is not an improvement over our last couple of GKs, Kajima ... deckchair, MacNaughton ... deckchair, Leal ... aging deckchair, Badgi once wasn't a deckchair but that.s who he is today, Rowes is not a improvement over who we let walk away, Peglow & Barajas may or may not be deckchairs but it will take some time to figure it out as we waited until the end of the window to acquire them, Schnegg who has not looked like the goods so far in 5 games this season. I think its going to be a long season for Benteke.
Tell us how you really feel...of course you are wrong. This is a better roster than last season or the season before. That said, it isn't compared to the top teams in MLS. We will be mid this year. That's the takeaway. The players we let go were ass. Complete ass. The new players are better than the old ones on paper. We got blown out in Orlando. Okay, next. It happens.
I mean, we're not Montreal, who just fired *yet another* head coach, and has spent $0 on DP transfer fees since 2014.
Whether or not this roster is "better" than last year, it's clearly not mid-table either. Right now I can see 2 players who actually can move the ball to create dangerous attacking chances -- Peglow and Herrera -- and the sample size on Peglow is small. Pirani is the human manifestation of a void. Kijima is industrious, but not a facilitator and Enow has just gotten worse each game since opening day. Stroud is not a facilitator, and his engine this year seems stuck at half throttle. A well coached Orlando team just shredded DCU's defense and the "offense" couldn't muster any sustained chances. As constituted, this is a Spoon contender, not a mid-table team. Right now it looks like a 4 team fight in the East for last between DCU, Toronto, NE and Montreal.
Yes. A well coached team shredded us at their home stadium. It happens. St. Louis beat the Galaxy 3-0, Charlotte beat SJ 4-1. Sometimes it happens.
I'm feeling hopeful! If DCU would simply cut Pirani, Peglow, Stroud, Enow, Kim, Badji, and Talon they'd have a team that could potentially make the playoffs by goal differential on the last day of the season.
Crew v DC reeks of yet another Draw but whoever scores first will have a good chance to win as the pressure will mount. The Crew great in possession but inconsistent in finishing. Crew back line has been doing good but Lacks size and aerial ability to stop Benteke. It won’t be a scoreless draw but can either team put away the other ? Should be a exciting game to witness!
This year’s roster isn’t better than last, just less expensive. Rodriguez would be our best mid this season, think about that. And what is Kijima other than a young Dajome? Enow is about to pick splinters out of his backside, he’s unplayable as it stands. I like Peglow but he hasn’t sniffed the goal and I don’t suspect he will much at all. Aussie = MacNaughton = McVey. Last season the team finished one point out of a playoff spot, incredible really. This season will see them finish 5 points or more back and firing the coach. Morrisey, it is you who are wrong and one of us will have to admit it at the end of the season. Just like last year, this is the high point before every other team gets their business together and knocks the tar out of this sad group of players.
No, what is optimistic that you think DCU actually has a chance to get a result in this game. Most of us are expecting an Orlando like pasting by the Crew.
Montreal hasn't played any home games yet. By the way, somebody should whisper to the dumbshits at MLS HQ who want to switch to a winter schedule that grass doesn't grow in Montreal until April.
Thanks for letting me know. So far, on the field, our new players are not passing the eye test nor are they delivering the results to indicate that they are better than last year's roster. I think most of us felt that 9 pts from the first four games was the minimum indicator that we were better than the spoon contenders. 7 pts puts right in there with the bottom third of the table. 6 of our 7 pts come from team with a combined 4 points right now. These guys have shown nothing tangible. A goal a game with those first 4 games already behind us is a harbinger. Montreal shut us down, stone cold, with a couple of coat hangers and a dusty trash can. I don't know if I'd rather be Montreal who spends nothing and is a spoon contender, Toronto who has the 2nd largest payroll and is a spoon contender or us who spends in the bottom third, just enough to not win the spoon. I was honestly proud of the team when we were one of the bottom spenders, often by a good bit and we routinely punched above our weight. It was something like 7 or 8 of Ben's 10 seasons where we finished higher in the table than our spend would have expected us to, sometimes a lot better.
Listened to the RFK Refugees podcast today -- worth the listen. Ted is not so down on DCU as some of us. He does agree that Pirani is not the answer. One caveat - his optimism is based in part on a belief that DCU will sign a major DP to bolster the offense during the summer window. Ci vediamo.
So his optimism is completely and totally unwarranted. I think we're in another year where anyone looking at this team objectively sees that we put together a bad squad. The idea that we will suddenly make a good choice as a reason for optimism is suspect to say the least.
I do think the roster is slightly more balanced compared to last year but its definitely a bad squad. We have no chance at realistically competing against teams spending money, this isn't 5-10 years ago. The talent gap is obvious and I no longer have any hope or expectations of this team until major changes occur.
More balanced, I agree. McKay also spent 2.5 million on Enow. If we’re tight, it’s gotta be a lot better, can’t afford to swing and miss hardly ever so do better, GM.
Totally agree, just watching the Orlando game and seeing them run out Ojeda, Passalic, Muriel while missing multiple players on international duty....and were running out Enow as our big signing. But yes way too many misses, if Peltola isn't good enough to start why are we wasting a young DP slot/money on him? If the coach prefers Kijima fine but get rid of a Peltola and bring in another youth DP, our approach just makes no sense.
The Crew have not figured it out yet. Maybe they won’t, at least until/unless they bring in a top, top player in the summer. This isn’t the 23-24 Crew, a fine team that’s a joy to watch. Yet.
Doesn't matter. We've been making our opponents, thus far, look like Barcelona. If they're all bad, we're going to get killed when the competition gets more difficult.
I'm going to pretend that MLS now has 3 teams per conference relegated to the USL. So this is what I'll root for in 2025 - that DC United finish above the relegation zone. We win trophies!