By definition, the Donnety award goes to the player who has been the biggest disappointment this year. Yes, harsh, I know. But this award's definition could probably be interpreted in a couple different ways. And because I love controversy, of course I will leave that interpretation up to you. Do you give the award to a guy who has played well at times, but hasn't lived up to the hype or to his high salary? Click to continue reading...

Given the focus that this blog has given to United's roster this year, I thought it would be appropriate to base our Mid-Season Review specifically on the roster moves that the team has made. In part 1, we will look at United's acquisitions, meaning the players that the team added since the end of last season that they didn't have to give up anything for. Click to continue reading...

With the July 1st salary guarantee date looming just a week away, that is the question that we ask about two players: Jose Carvallo and Franco Niell. Both were brought to this country in the offseason that saw the additions of five new South American players. Three of those players (Gallardo and los Gonzalos) have earned regular roles in the starting XI. Click to continue reading...

DC United suffered its first back-to-back shutouts since *gasp* the 2005 Eastern Conference semi-finals. Talk about bad memories. Let's get this over with.


No one really stood out to me actually. Even the beautifully consistent Bryan Namoff seemed pretty pedestrian.


1. Click to continue reading...

2-1 was probably a pretty fair result to this match, with all three goals being scored by substitutes. Dyachenko's goal was well-deserved from the run of play, and Niell's goal was probably a bit lucky for him to get the ball in that position, but it was great to see him finish to stop the Kpene comparisons. Click to continue reading...

The MLS Players Union just released the annual salary figures for the league. For easy reference, below are the guaranteed salaries for each DC United player currently under contract as of 3/31/08:

DC Barlow Jeremy D $ 12,900.00
DC Burch Marc D $ 33,000.00
DC Carreiro da Silva Fred M-F $ 242,000. Click to continue reading...

Someone must have forgotten to tell the DC United players that last night's match against Kansas City was actually the season opener, and not just another scrimmage. Really though, I can see why they would make that mistake. Maybe it was that the stadium reminded them of the high school field that they played in in Texas. Click to continue reading...

Gasp! And here we were thinking that MLS only made rule changes in order to benefit the Galaxy!

Maybe this was announced earlier and I missed it, but a change to the MLS roster rules has come up today only because of Goff's latest post announcing the signing of Justin Moose to a Developmental contract, and the news that Kpene and Dyachenko are still eligible for Developmental contracts. Click to continue reading...

Still lots of unofficial uncommented unannounced things happening in the world of United. Jose Carvallo (G), Franco Niell (F), and Gonzalo Martinez (D) all seem likely to join the team in the coming weeks.

I had given up on Gonzalo Peralta (D), but now he might still be coming too, unofficially.

Click to continue reading...

That's our boy Franco Niell scoring the second goal in this clip. Nothing too impressive, more of a right-place-right-time-Rod sort of goal.



But this goal is much more to get excited about. The little man has got some hops! Even if his jersey barely fits him...

Niell's nickname is "El Enano", which literally translates to mean "the Dwarf". Click to continue reading...

The front office has had a pretty busy week down in Argentina. Goff reports, and it appears to be confirmed by Pasion Paternal, that Argentine forward Franco Niell will be joining DC United on a one-year loan for $60,000, with an option to buy for $900,000, pending a medical exam on January 24th.

$60,000 to loan this guy sounds like a great deal. Click to continue reading...