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D.C. United parts with Gallardo

Marcelo Gallardo (ISIphotos.net) 

                                                                                 Photo by ISIphotos.net

Argentine playmaker Marcelo Gallardo has left Major League Soccer for good.

D.C. United has released Gallardo from his contract, freeing him to sign in South America with River Plate and giving D.C. back its Designated Player slot and the $400,000 salary cap slot and $1.9 million in salary that go with it.

"It's disappointing," D.C. United general manager Dave Kasper told the Washington Post. "We were looking for him to come back and be healthy and spend a year here, but at the end of the day, he didn't settle in the way we thought and he made a final decision on his side that he wanted to finish playing with presumably River Plate."

Gallardo was a skillful and stylish player who struggled with injuries, which was the big fear when he first signed with MLS. The 33-year old played in 15 matches for D.C., scoring four goals and adding three assists during his one season in MLS.

Now that Gallardo is gone, who do you see D.C. United bringing in? Will D.C. bring back Colorado outcast Christian Gomez? Is there another big-ticket signing in United's future? Or has the club learned its lesson about Designated Player signings? Would you call Gallardo a flop or a good player who got unlucky with injuries?

Share your thoughts on Gallardo's departure below.

Comments

  1. I think he was a waste as a DP, just like every other DP outside of Beckham and Blanco. The whole point of the DP was to bring in players the average soccer fan would be excited to see. Big name players. Gallardo and Lopez were good players, but never players that were well known outside of the hardcore soccer community. Until teams pony up the cash like the Galaxy did with Becks, the DP is a waste. Unless teams are willing to bring in a Ronaldinho, Michael Owen, Del Piero, Thierry Henry, than the DP might as well be scrapped.

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  2. BAM! That’s the door closing on Gallardo’s tail.

    Hopefully, United will learn not to bring overpriced South American players.

    With the draft and some players coming in for United, watch out for United.

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  3. j-spot: no one outside of DC, VA, or MD give a care about united. ives is based in NYC. don’t like him reporting on the closest club? shove off.

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  4. Marcelo was a very skillful player but he lacked the motivation and patience to succeed in this league. MLS should always beware of the thirty-something midfielder, no matter what the pedigree. Other than Valderrama and Schelotto I don’t think too many have made a favorable impact on the pitch(including Goldenballs)

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  5. Sack, I truly wish there was a way to give rep on here. You da man!! jspot sounds like someone who needs to get out of his moms basement a bit more.

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  6. Calling him a flop is a little unfair given the challenges the whole organization faced. That said, it sure was a disappointing experience and I’m glad both sides were able to work out an arrangement where both appear to have benefited from.

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  7. Good player when healthy but that was a rare occurence. His full volley to the back post goal last year was pure class. Showed what he was capable of when healthy

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  8. Happy for United. Gallardo is definitely a good player. But too much of the early portion of 2008 was spent spinning excuses that the other 10 players had to adjust to playing with him. He didn’t do a lot to lift the play of the other players. It was quite obvious that the team performed worse without Jaime Moreno than without Gallardo. And Jaime took a small paycut for the priviledge of still being the best player on the team.

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  9. Gallardo was like a hot dog at RFK. Tasted great in its’ prime. But like all hot dogs at RFK, they are overpriced, old, shriveled and grey…eating them is always a risk!

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  10. Good player when healthy, which isn’t often enough. His kills were a bad match for DC, Gallardo would have looked better with the Revolution (speed on the wings and at striker, Joseph covering ground behind him in midfield).

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  11. Finally, the nightmare that was that decision is over. The oft-injured Gallardo didn’t have much impact on the field nor did he have much impact on ticket sales and buzz.

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