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D.C. United lands Guerrero from San Jose

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                                                      Photo by ISIphotos.com

D.C. United made its first major move of the summer this morning by acquiring Honduran midfielder/defender Ivan Guerrero from the San Jose for a partial allocation, the club announced on its team blog this morning.

The acquisition is a bold one for a D.C. club that could certainly use the spark that Guerrero can provide. Equally capable of playing on the left flank as well as at left back, Guerrero’s speed and versatility will be a very good addition to a D.C. squad that has struggled in recent weeks. He won’t come cheap though. He is set to earn $147,000 this season, a price tag that helped lead the Chicago Fire to include him in the waiver draft last winter, and probably helped lead to his departure from San Jose, which added Darren Huckerby on the left flank last week.

Guerrero’s arrival should help D.C. shift Colombian defender Gonzalo Martinez into a central defense role after spending time at left back. D.C.’s defense has struggled badly in recent weeks and Martinez should help stabilize the middle.

D.C. fans will remember Guerrero for his man of the match peformance in helping the Chicago Fire eliminate D.C. United from the first round of the MLS playoffs in 2005. Guerrero scored a pair of goals and assisted on a third to lead the Fire to a 4-0 win at RFK Stadium.

What do you think of the trade? Did D.C. United just get a steal? Will Guerrero be enough to help turn things around in D.C.?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If the Galaxy knew how to work a salary cap, they’d have Guerrero instead of D.C. — and, boy, do they need experience on the left side.

    Another reason to fire Lalas, Bravo and Leiweke — and, for that matter, Cobi Jones, who is supposed to keep Gullit “updated” on MLS.

    What a boatload of maroons!

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  2. Ives (and Aguinaga),

    FSC picked up your report about Toronto offering Cunningham to RBNY and ran with it during the MLS news & notes section of the Fox Soccer Report last night. They gave you (and the blog) full credit for the news.

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  3. DCU scrambling to pick up cast-offs from an expansion team. How the mighty have fallen. I love it!

    Also makes me wonder if there are any legs to the Pat Noonan to San Jose rumor…

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  4. Very good pickup by United.

    1. Goff is reporting that SJ will pick up some of Guerrero’s salary this year. Which makes it an even better deal for United.

    2. I imagine that Guerrero will miss some MLS games due to WCQ matches for Honduras.

    Ives, I don’t know if this moves Martinez into the middle again. I think what it does is allow Fred to play CAM while Gallardo is out a few more weeks.

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  5. If he’s making $ 147K now, then he took a pay cut from last season’s number, which was somewhere in the $ 190K range.

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  6. Ivan was one of the few bright spots for SJ this season, why would they let him go? Do SJ want the salary space for someone else?

    Strange move by SJ, great for DC.

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  7. He will be taking the $ that we saved by dumping Niell.

    Now we need another keeper to push/replace Wells.

    Injuries and too many changes may of already sabotaged this regular season, but there is still a chance for a USOC win and maybe a run in the playoffs as well as the new CL so we need more depth and steel badly!

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  8. Was flippin thru channels and was out of it, but still fairly certain the SBI reference was with respect to their reporting of the Kenny Cooper situation. Got the pronunciation right on your name as well. Not sure if it’s happened before, but props all the same.

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  9. Osorio dumped Ivan a few weeks before osorio left for NYRB. I always regarded this as a bit of departing sabotage. Another sign of just how unethical Osorio is.

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  10. Ivan – nice take..I didn’t think he’d play left back, but DC’s experiment with 3-back clearly isn’t working.

    Not sure if it’s a steal – but DC needed some assistance to get over the hump.

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  11. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz…

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  12. I’m disappointed to lose him. Obviously he wasn’t going to keep Huckerby off the field, however. Adding Alverez just makes the field that much more crowded. Still, I really like him as a player but I understand the move.

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  13. This is a good move for DC. I never know exactly what a “partial allocation” means, so as long as DC didn’t give up serious money, then I think it is a good move. San Jose just needed to make some space for further changes, and a salary of $147k was probably an albatros around his neck. He is a solid veteran performer who should fit well into DC’s passing and possession oriented play. He and Burch should give DC some nice service down the left side. Now if we could only get Bennie healthy.

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  14. How is it that DC adds a starting quality player in exchange for a partial allocation? This has got to be a joke, right?

    It is another reason why dealing from a position of relative strength always pays off.

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  15. Ugh! As a Fire fan I hated to see Ivan go last winter now to think of him in United black……..

    DC fans you’ll be happy with this one.

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