Wow ... he doesn't even have a wikipedia page. DCU going under the radar again for this one. Seriously, any DCU fan would have had to have been pretty connected in Argentina to know what we were getting with Gomez, so who knows on this one. I'm a little surprised it is another forward and not a winger. But, they probably have their eyes on a couple guys for that spot as well.

Depending on the cost, Osorio might be a good idea. I'd be pissed if he was the only foreigh forward signing, but we got Emilio and he is a proven scorer.

With the Superliga and Concacaf Cup, DCU needs more forwards with experience. Other than Moreno, Emilio and Walker, they have no forwards with experience. And he is decent size (at least height wise).

I cant imagine he would be a bargain though, unless he REALLY wants to come to play in MLS.

Depth at forward is a good thing. I wonder if Soehn is considering dropping Jaime back in the attack?

Chico,

Hopefully, Soehn will be better at giving Jaime and Christian a rest when they need it. Or perhaps playing him in Christian's role at times, almost like playing a 3-4-3.

I agree. I loved Nowak but his stubborness and offbeat substitution patterns cost us many a game. At some point in the near future, La Barra Brava is going to set up a meet and greet with Coach Soehn so we can ask him the hard questions.

(btw, we did the with Nowak last year and he answered them all including Jaime's and Christian's subs, he was true to his word)

Talleres de Cordoba is where Erpen came to DCU from, right? I wonder if they overlapped and he recommended him.

32? Don't we have enough guys with walkers and medic alert buttons?

Are they gonna pay him $200,000 like they didn't want to pay the 26 year old Donnet?

Brian:

I couldn't agree more. I'm 26 and wasn't given much of a shot at DCU to prove myself. Osorio? Does his resume look like this?

With Boca Juniors I won the Intercontinental Cup 2003, the Copa Libertadores de América 2003, and the Copa Sudamericana 2005 and 2006. At the match for the Intenational Cup, I scored the equalizer that took the match to penalty shootout, won by Boca 8-7, and was named Man of the Match.

I hope they don't pay him anything near $200,000.

Oh yeah, here's a snap of me with the key to the car given to the Man of the Match at the Intercontinental Cup after we beat AC Milan. That's a winners' medal around my neck.

http://www.valechumbar.com/media/uploads/donnet.jpg

Depth at forward is a good thing, but where's our other wide midfielder? I would hope that, if signed, Osorio would be the 2nd of 3 South American players, because we need to fill that hole.

Too bad Matias types better than he played for DC United. Have fun and I hope the paychecks clear down there.

I agree, donnet deserved another chance, he had a good amount of years left, at 26 his career just started here in the MLS. Etch' joined united at 26 to give you an idea. What do you guys think?

Since we are pretty solid at defensive midfield, giving Donnet another shot would probably be a decent idea because his inconsistent (to say the least) defending would not be as big a problem. We gave Filomeno at least another couple of months last year and I think Donnet should get that too. Starting midseason and in the DC heat is not the ideal way to begin with a team.

We could use some more attacking creativity in the midfield. Gomez is fantastic, but we can't have him be solely responsible for the attack like he was in the last month of the season.

I agree with you Bolivian DC Fan. They gave Filomeno more of a chance than Donnet got. What's wrong with that?! Last year we released Filomeno, a forward after 13 games and only 1 goal. OK, that makes sense, especially with all of the better options on the team. Now cut to the present, who else do we have on the flanks? I don't know the economics of United and it's budgeting for players (Steven, a little help here), but it doesn't make sense to release a player without having an equal or better replacement already in that position. Was Donnet any good in DC? For a midfielder who moves to a different team in a different league in a different country to score one goal in eight games, there isn't enough proof to answer that. If the answer is a resounding yes, then here's what I want to know:

Who is doing the scouting and can United get someone who is better at it?

Half of the Argentinos that were signed are sent back after a few months. That means we either picked the wrong import players, or we can't get the right import players to conform to our team. Either way, not good.

I hope that Luciano Emilio is the start to a chain of successful signings for Soehn, but let's not go overboard with Osorio.

Filomeno wanted to go to Nueva Chicago. He had always wanted to play for them again, as he started his career with them in 1995. It was a childhood dream of his to play for NC in the first division. They were promoted to the first division in 2006 and it was just a good fit.

""Who is doing the scouting and can United get someone who is better at it?""

Huh? Let's start with Boswell, McTavish, Perkins, Simms, Carroll, and end with Dyachenko, Gomez and Erpen.

I'll grant Filomeno, Guppy and some other weak signings, but by and large, DC United's front office staff, scouting included, are the best in the league.

There will always be hits and misses.

As far as Donnet goes . . . he was not worth that kind of cash, particularly when McTavish showed me more in just 5 games before surgery ended his season. Don't forget about DeRoux who showed some promise in limited time. Donnet is clearly not 150,000 better than other players on this roster.

Talking about the right mid--doesn't Mediate or
however you spell his last name--fit the bill
for DC UNITED

I love your blog. I heard about it on Hattrick, an online managerial soccer game. I read it everyday and it is my favorite. You should think about getting a Hattrick account, too, if you do not already. :)

Hmmm, two people Ray Hudson liked 4 years ago? Does anybody else see a problem with that? It's not just Hudson players, but at this stage, Hudson re-treads.

I saw on wiki that Donnet was transfered to Talleres de Cordoba. Anyone know if this is true?

Mctavish Who???

When donnet was actually on the field you could see how fluid like he was with the ball, from the few minutes i saw him playing i could tell his touch was way more advanced than anyone on the team, well except for like gomez and moreno, but you get what i mean. Nowak didnt give him enough time, bringing him in the late 70 mins thinking he was going to always pull some miracle play, which he did once against the red bulls. But i mean come on, he didnt even get a chance to show his stuff and thats not his fault.

His touch alone should have convinced you guys his worth. He came from boca people.... boca.