The MLS season is still a month away but it isn’t too early to start previewing teams.
ESPN.com has started its team previews and my first preview was on D.C. United. The busiest team this off-season, D.C. made some big moves and D.C. has to be considered a top title contender. As I state in the preview, D.C.’s success is not assured. Too many people are taking for granted that Marcelo Gallardo will dominate. I’m not convinced that it’s a foregone conclusion.
Give the preview a read and share your thoughts on it below.
still, look at the roster, it was stacked, no team in the MLS now boasts so much quality as that team
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Because Mickey Mouse MLS under Doug Logan broke up DC’s championship team because they wanted more parity.
Because it was held every 2-3 years, duh! GET YOUR facts straight Haig and stop hatin on the hardware.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interamerican_Cup
still, look at the roster, it was stacked, no team in the MLS now boasts so much quality as that team, Garlick was a decent keeper, the USMNT captain John Harkes, the three starting USMNT defenders in Pope, Llamosa and Agoos, a young Benny Olsen, Etcheverry and Moreno, two of the best MLS players ever, Richie Williams, Roy Lassiter and Tony Sanneh, other USMNT players, so that makes 8 USMNT guys and 2 of the best internationals MLS has seen
It wasn’t contested for several years priory to 1998, pal. Get YOUR facts straight. 1998 was the ONLY time it was contested since 1995.
history lesson for those who have forgotten it or never knew it:
The Interamerican Cup, always a bit of a joke, has been contested exactly once in the last thirteen years, so that shows how legitimately it is held to be.
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The InterAmerican Cup was contested for 30 years, it was a legitimate trophy. They decided to end it after DC’s win in 1998 and started inviting CONCACAF teams to the Copa Sudamericana instead.
Get your facts straight next time Haig.
that was an historic win for the MLS by all standards and put them on the map, you can say what you want but Vasco de Gama has 100 years of pride and did not want to lose to an upstart american team,you have to respect the quality of players on those teams, some of the best players in recent US national teams and some of the best international players the MLS has seen (Garlick, Pope, Llamosa, Agoos, Olsen, Williams, Harkes, Sanneh, Etcheverry, Moreno, Lassiter) nearly all played on national teams, including the starting defense for the US team that year of Llamosa, Agoos and Pope, but obviously there is no real logic to your argument you just like to hate on DC, when RBNY wins anything let me know, lets list the trophies DC: 4 MLS Cups, 4 supporters shields,US open cup, CONCACAF champions cup, CONCACAF Giants cup, Interamerican Cup RBNY: La Manga Cup (who the heck even knows what that is)
To show you how seriously Vasco took it, they played their “home” leg in Miami, literally a day and a half after they returned from contesting the Intercontinental Cup against Real Madrid, a game they actually took seriously and spent a week in Japan to accommodate jet lag… so they had no home leg, no time to prepare (DC had almost a month to prep for the game), and were utterly exhausted.”
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This is often cited as some evidence Vasco didn’t take the 1998 Copa Interamericana seriously.
In reality it is quite the opposite.
You see the distance from Tokyo to Miami was much shorter than the long trip back home.
Their coaching staff was fearful that they would lose their competition form on the long flight home so they scheduled their home leg to be played in Miami instead.
Make no mistake, Vasco went all out to win that game and DC United’s upset sent a shockwave throughout South America as a possible precusor of things to come in the future from the young league to the north.
If you ask most Vasco player who were on that team as Tim Vickery has, they will tell you they wanted to win as it was going to be a huge embarrassment to lose to a team from the US.
See this article:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/html/20080303T210000-0500_133157_OBS_H_VIEW_VS_DC_UNITED_FLASHBACK.asp
Notice is calls DC United “MLS Giant”
That is what irks New York fans more than anything. That DC is more internationally recognized than their team.
Just wanted one more post on here by anyone not named “Haig” — the human fillibuster.
Let someone else make some predictions before you change yours again, bro.
“Heart and soul” players being kicked to the curb = the DC tradition.
I fully expect that Olsen (if he can still play in a couple years) will be traded to Philadelphia for allocation money, rather than United having to pay him an extra $50 grand.
“1998 Copa Interamericana”
A history lesson for those who have forgotten it or never knew it:
The Interamerican Cup, always a bit of a joke, has been contested exactly once in the last thirteen years, so that shows how legitimately it is held to be.
To show you how seriously Vasco took it, they played their “home” leg in Miami, literally a day and a half after they returned from contesting the Intercontinental Cup against Real Madrid, a game they actually took seriously and spent a week in Japan to accommodate jet lag… so they had no home leg, no time to prepare (DC had almost a month to prep for the game), and were utterly exhausted.
Nice win for DC, but it’s clearly not much more than a friendly.
The CONCACAF Cup in 1998 was almost a big a joke. Knockout tournament, with DC United PLAYING EVERY GAME at their home stadium. Not the least bit impressive. The pride DC fans take in these wins after the rules were heavily stacked in their favor should embarrass them, but of course they gloss over the facts that the tournaments didn’t meet basic standards of fairness.
all you DC bashers saying they were weak in the early days beating up on bad competition need only look at the 1998 Copa Interamericana and the CONCACAF Champions Cup where they took out some of the best teams in latin america, tell me with moreno, etcheverry, roy lassiter, eddie pope, john harkes, jeff agoos and company they weren’t a great team, give them their due respect
So I get that the Pride, Psssion, and Tradition is unappreciated up here in Red Bull’s land but for all of us United fans who have to sit through all the Red bull on this site we’ll just see who is left standing atop of the division in November. A couple of other notes for Haig: 1) Benny will come back better than ever and stay for another few years – if we can keep Jaime around, we can keep the “heart and soul”; (2) the crashing in the playoffs has been more due to the poor coaching the last couple of years (Novack tiring them out and Soehn just outcoached) then the team; and (3) the goofy playoffs aren’t everything – it’s all about international exposure for us now that we have the “hardware!”
It’s not “highly” unbalanced. It was off by six games, which meant that teams in the East actually faced stiffer competition in their division than the West did (what with five East teams making the playoffs). This year will be off by four games and the next year by two games. That’s moving towards a pretty balanced schedule that would look pretty similar to most leagues around the world.
VAMOS UNITED YOU NY B*TCHES!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg16DwgN39U
DC United = Pride Passion Tradition.
Supporter’s Sheild and total failure in the playoffs. Again.
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DC United = PridePassion Tradition
Supporter’s Shield and ticket in to at least two international competitions. Which is more than New York ever gets per year.
I didn’t actually post that, but I agree with the sentiment.
Mexico, which by most accounts is a major soccer playing country (world cup seed), crowns its playoff winner as champion.
Maybe it’s just me, but the points leader at the end of a highly unbalanced schedule doesn’t mean that much.
Ah, yes. The old “it’s what Europe does” argument. Does that help you sleep any better at night after crashing in the playoffs? No? Didn’t think so.
Haig,
Get off your high horse. It’s easy to criticize. Who is your team? Houston? I’m glad they can get hot for a month a year.
For the record SS is what matters (In every major soccer playing country in the world)…not the MLS cup.
I would love to see CUSA win an MLS Cup without Guzan, but it ain’t happening. The same is true of NY without Altidore. Those two are as good as gone by the end of August. The only way Houston gets SS is if it suddenly picks up a competent forward. Outside of Ching, they have no one up top.
Olsen will quietly retire in the next off-season, after being lowballed by DC’s front office on his contract renewal after a surgery in September.
Houston, SS
Chivas, MLS Cup
RBNY, Open Cup
Pumas, Superliga
Atlante, CCC
Haig said
“Gotta love the DC fans, they think carving up the start-up era MLS for a few easy trophies means their names are permanently engraved on everything.
[snip]
Let me revise my prediction: no higher than 4th in the East, no higher than 7th overall.”
If you’re arguing that the standard of play was worse than it is now, I agree with you.
If the pickings were so easy in the early years of the league, however, what happened to all the other teams? Hmmm? I don’t recall the Metrostars carving up anything. Ever. The point is that DC United was the best of the lot then. That isn’t something you can argue, even in your bias-addled brain. And given recent form, they’re among the best now.
I don’t know how this year will pan out. Ives is right on the money with his analysis. If the team can learn to play together and avoid injury, DCU could be pretty good. If not, it might not be. It might end up 4th in the East (although I seriously doubt it) but if it does, I think it’ll only be because of injuries.
DC United = Pride Passion Tradition.
Supporter’s Sheild and total failure in the playoffs. Again.
Were you describing Richards just then? Because you lost me after “lose the ball a lot”.
I saw him lose the ball a lot, defend badly, and make poor crosses. Sorry if I don’t grasp the subtlety of his play, but he sucks.
Fred is not as good as you think, just as DC United isn’t as good as you think.
If you only look at numbers, and statistics then you can compare fred to alejandro moreno but this is not a game of pure numbers and statistics.
Freds touch is much better. He can play wide but his natural position is the one which Gomez vacated and Gallardo now fills.
In otherwords, unlike Aljendro, he adds depth and options in a league which really needs it.
God help anyone who says anything bad about DC United. How is it that DC fans refuse to allow the possibility of any contrary opinion of the quality of their team?
And what bet are you talking about, Jeff? I’m making a prediction, not making book. Now go home and get your —– shine box.
Great preview, Ives. It should be an exciting year to be a DC United fan – lots of unknowns, but the potential to be really good.
Haig – I’ll take that bet.
“He is the heart and soul of DC United”
Unfortunately he has the ankles of a ninety year old woman.
Out of curiosity, I had a look, and the player who the closest numbers to Fred was Alejandro Moreno: 7/7 in one less game. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Alejandro’s a nice player, decent speed, but he’s journeyman-level, and in 2007 he earned HALF of what Fred made.
Fred is not as good as you think, just as DC United isn’t as good as you think.
No, I don’t rate Fred, even with 7 goals (remember when Wolyniec had 10?) and 8 assists (probably 4 were sloppy passes knocked in by a hustling Emilio, who was unstoppable last year, and the other 4 were “secondary assists”).
But since I know that simply wearing a DC shirt makes any player into a combination of chiseled, Rock Hudson-like masculinity and the playing skills of Pele or Garrincha, of course Fred is better than anyone in the league. Except for Gallardo, Emilio, Moreno, Niell, and Dyachenko and Kpene.
Ives, great article and well deserved praise of Benny Olsen. He is the heart and soul of DC United – THE TEAM THAT WILL RULE MLS IN 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7G, 8A weren’t enough for you? That’s be good enough to be third in goals and first in assists for NY.
And who exactly is trying to forget about Filomeno or Erpen? One was a marginal forward who rarely got playing time (and got a free release when he asked for one), while the other was a decent defender who didn’t mature enough in three years with DC. However, I don’t recall any DC fans pimping either player.
Now, Donnet or Burch would be better guesses, but neither has seen or saw enough playing time to make that kind of argument.
Look out, the DC warning bell has sounded, and we’re going to get a flood of their rabid fans pretending that they know all about what an exciting player Niell is.
JH6,
You have to understand that Haig would say DC was crap no matter what. His hate for all things DC blind him from any rational discussion, so his response is just par for the course. Better yet, I’m willing to bet he thinks NY will finish in the top five of the league despite nothing to back it up.
Fred? Please. Wake me when he does something.
How quickly DC fans want everyone to forget Filomeno, or Facundo Erpen, or a host of marginal players who have been variously pimped by DC’s embarrassing and wishy-washy fans (BOSWELL FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM!).
Emilio, Fred, Gomez, how many people heard of them before they came?
DC is ggod at fondoing unknow or obscure players of a high quality. It is what they do.
Emilio, Fred, Gomez, how many people heard of them before they came?
DC is ggod at fondoing unknow or obscure players of a high quality. It is what they do.
JH6, you’ve got no proof that any of these guys are better than Gomez, or even better than last year’s team, except pure, blind faith, and save that for all those DC fan sites. The real world doesn’t need to hear about your little man-crushes on Guy Roland Kpene.
Fact is, DC has done bupkis in the pre-season, and that’s gotta concern their coaches.
I remember Gallardo, and I thought he was a tricky little player… YEARS ago. The fact that he was either on the bench or on the trainers table for PSG the last couple years is NOT a good sign for a player who relied so much on quickness.
Funny – how many fans had heard of Christian Gomez before be came to MLS? Haig – your analysis is so biased it is not even funny. I also like that you have never heard of any of the players and are more than willing to write them off as trash.
Tell me – what other team in the East has drastically improved their team, hell what team has even remotely improved their team?
Will DCU win the SS again? Don’t know – in MLS it is tough sledding to even win two back-to-back. However, fourth in the East and 7th overall???? Sure.
DC will win the supporter shield, but will get bounced in the MLS Cup final. Improved at every position except wing backs. Not sold on Namoff
Whoever said Columbus will finish high than DC, please remember drinking and posting is dangerous.
It’s too bad they smell like cabbage.
Gotta love the DC fans, they think carving up the start-up era MLS for a few easy trophies means their names are permanently engraved on everything.
The assumption that all these players who were brought in, only one of which any MLS fan had possibly EVER seen (Gallardo, and he has been an oft-injured benchwarmer for a sorry French team for the last couple years), are automatically better than the rest of the league is comedy gold and DC arrogance at its highest.
Let me revise my prediction: no higher than 4th in the East, no higher than 7th overall.
DC United will own the east if not the league. They have a lot of fire power, they shored up their defense and they have options off the bench.
Add to all that they have an empty DP spot they’re likely to fill this summer and it is a recipe for dominance.
gotta love the DC haters, just jealous of our trophies, we don’t even need Gallardo to be one of the best teams in the MLS this year, we hardly lost anyone (Gomez was our only big loss) and added a bunch of solid guys around a good core
I hate DC, but one thing I do admire is that they’re front office has continuity and they’ve put all their chips on the table well before the season starts so everyone gets a chance to play together before the season starts. Should give them ample time to gel before the games start meaning something. RBNY, please takes notes…
Having said that, I’d love to see Haig’s predictions come true…
Columbus?? You have got to be kidding me.
DCU will win yet another Supporters shield.
Mark my words, Columbus will finish above DC. Take it to the bank
I’ll have at it.
Forward: Moreno is past it. Emilio will hit no more than 15, as every new MLS player in the league’s history who scored 20+ had a drop of at least 25% in their second year, after defenders figured them out. Their other forward choices are no good (Niell: por favor).
Midfield: Olsen’s ankle will restrict him to less than 15 league starts. He’ll reinjure it in June. The D will have no bite, and Simms’ problems holding distributing will force Gallardo so far back that he won’t be able to carry the ball forward… and DC’s lack of wing play will give him no alternatives. DC will wilt under pressing defenses with two d-mids, and teams will throw that at them a lot.
Defense: Cornerbacks are overrated, particularly Burch, and while DC should be okay on crosses, combination play will kill them. If Peralta gets hurt they’re screwed.
GK: Wells is very inconsistent and a bad distributor, which will force Gallardo to come even further back. The substitute goalkeeper will be Rimando without the brains.
Overall finish: no higher than 3rd in the East. No higher than 6th overall.