Hot and humid as hell (98 and, of course, chance of tstorms late) aka The Usual for the annual DC/Kickers scrimmage

That is sad. There is a decided lack of talent on that roster and Freddinho is about as good as it gets for Salt Lake. Williams is washed up and I've barely heard of half the other players.

Since the Copa America is not our regional champ, does United have to let the players go? Can't they tell Skeletor, err I mean Bob Bradley, one or the other but not both?

Great - another forward. Just what we need.

Well, can we at least get rid of Addlery then? He has shown absolutely nothing with the first team.

Second the movement to dump Adderly. He was invisible on Saturday, despite a dreadfully depleted and depressed opponent.

Congrats to Dominic - must feel great after thinking his career was over before it even started.

I thought Adderly was OK the other night. Worth keeping, I think.

RSL is a mess. Esky deserved to reprimanded for his lame play against Dallas. Freddy had a nice corner against LA the other night.

The YouTube clip on him showed some good stuff, but I agree we are pretty stocked right now at the position.

Maybe we're hoarding quality forwards for a trade with RSL in exchange for their new stadium.

mandrake -- I think it is a 'gentleman's agreement' thing? Not that I'm one for being nice about this stuff... we might could get by without Boz but I would like us to keep Benny.

I have to second DE's sentiments about adding another forward at this point in the season. The only way they should be considering it is if they plan on releasing one of the many non-starting forwards we already have.

I'd rather have scoring-machine Olsen go to the Copa then Boswell, purely because we have depth in midfield, while we have ZERO depth in back. Can we afford a backline of Namoff, ErpFu, McTavish, and Gros, with Burch/Wilson off the bench? It worked against a second-string Fire, but will it work against the Rapids, KC, and possibly Houston (not likely the US advances, I know).

Walker is the one they'd release, surely. Adderley has real potential. I think McTavish is fine, mainly because ErpFu is totally comfortable commanding a 4 back line. He was at his worst out on the wing. From all reports, Burch is ready to get time.

Give Ben the reward of more National team time. He's not going to get many more opportunities and he's earned it.

Just read in the NY Times that the Mets are rumored to be interested in establishing a second MLS franchise in NYC. Though a Queens-based franchise might get more love than one playing in NJ, it seems a bit presumptuous to want two teams in city that can't regularly attract five-figure attendance at home games (despite a star-studded line-up) and where two baseball teams (and a WNBA franchise) play, not to mention a pair each of football, basketball, and hockey teams play in the fall/spring. Can't MLS recognize that more deserving cities like Portland and St. Louis are out there, and severally of these don't already have a major league summer-season team?

Addlery only played 7 minutes on Saturday in a game that was already over at that point..........hard to make too much of an assessment as to his contribution (or lack thereof) in that game.

With Knepe passing him on the depth chart, Addlery is probably in the same boat as Wilson as the low $ senior roster players whose spots are most in jeopardy if DCU does not want to drop McTavish or Kpene to the developmental roster. With Moreno away with Bolivia, DCU may still be reluctant to get rid of a forward like Addlery capable of playing with the 1st team although Dyachenko's goal against the Fire may change their thinking.

It's not Bradley they have to tell no to. It's the players.

Read Jamie's quotes again about going up to the Bolivian team and how much it meant to him, and figure that that all applies to Boswell and Olsen. It's the right thing to do for two of your standouts over the last two years.

The way Gomito is playing already and Fred wide on the wing, not to mention how much more comfortable Erpen is in the center, I think we'll do fine even missing all those guys.

mandrake wrote: "Since the Copa America is not our regional champ, does United have to let the players go? Can't they tell Skeletor, err I mean Bob Bradley, one or the other but not both?"

I believe you're correct that they don't _have_ to let anyone go, however you gotta think about it from the player's point of view. If I were good enough to be selected to represent my country and then my club wouldn't let me go, I would be pissed. It would have to affect my morale and general attitude.

Moreover, in an intangible sense, a club's prestige is raised by having their players on the national team. When the games are shown on TV all over the hemisphere and DCU player starts or enters the game, the DCU brand is mentioned by the announcer or shown on screen.

IMHO, clubs should only fight call-ups for friendlies, otherwise, you gotta let them go. Your players will only get better playing in a more competitive atmosphere.

Speaking of getting the DCU brand out there, when I was watching one of the Gold Cup games this weekend on Univision or Telefutura (I forget which), they had a little pregame feature about an effort in El Salvador to provide equipment to kids in poor areas of the country. They showed footage of some dude from the national federation, I think "Raymond Munoz" who was out in some fishing village working with kids and bringing them soccer balls, etc. He was wearing a DCU jersey! Never saw the back, so I'm not sure whose.

I would think the club would waive Walker, considering that a) he's out for the year and b) he hadn't done well for us in some time before that. By my count, a fit Walker would be behind Emilio, Moreno, Dyachenko, Kpene, and Addlery at forward. I've never seen Mupier, but numbers-wise there isn't really room to keep 7 strikers on the tight roster MLS forces you to have.

If not Walker, then I would guess Wilson, who has been often injured and seems to not have the confidence of Soehn. Obviously I'm not talking to Kasper or Soehn, but I would be very surprised to see McTavish demoted like that.

Also, while Freddy's theatrics were not really a surprise, I could completely understand. He was as wide open as you can get, and Esky had a simple pass to get the ball there. You've got to make that pass, no matter how good a shooter you are.

10 american dollars says I know who was on the back of that jersey even though I never saw it.

I'm following up the comments on a previous thread and here with my thoughts on why NYC will get an expansion team. Presented, of course, in list form.

1 - So that the New York Times will finally cover MLS (albeit with fabricated stories).

2 - GW Bridge traffic too heavy for Garber.

3 - GW Bridge toll too confusing for Garber. Is it free in-bound or out-bound?

4 - NY mafia pissed that NJ families get all the construction kickbacks.

5 - Reduces the appearance of favoritism by adding a third team that is exempt from the salary cap.

6 - Sell-outs of NYRB matches creates demand for another NY-area soccer team.

7 - Posh wants to move to NYC in five years.

8 - Employment opportunities for defecting Haitian U-20 players.

9 - Insider Nation demands a team on a subway line!

9.5: Back off! This is my list! Nobody gets a 10! (sorry Steve, couldn't resist).

A few things:

-- Mupier is essentially filling Kiki Willis's developmental spot. Both are attacking players. It's a wash.

-- Walker is injured. He cannot be waived. The team received a new roster slot because he's out for the year. His small salary still counts against the cap.

-- If the Mets have the investment money and a stadium plan, they will get a team. Those are the top priorities for MLS, not necessarily location.

-- No, technically, MLS teams do not have to release players for Copa, but in the middle of a long season and for such a prestigious event, you let them go and wish them well. The situation would certainly be different if the playoffs were about to begin. United lost no one for Gold Cup while some teams lost 2-3 players. It all balances out (sort of).

speaking of teams interested in joining up again, any truth to the rumor that the A's are thinking of resurrecting the Earthquakes? I heard (from the ever reliable interweb) that they are opening an office in downtown San Jose this summer, and that Billy Beane (of all people) wants to manage?

Hey, me too DCAustinite...

I remember going to the '99 home opener against the Clash and you'd have thought the game was playing at Spartan Stadium. Definitely an away game for United that night.

The Salvadorans love them some Raul Ignacio Diaz Arce!

DCAustinite: I wouldn't bet against you, however if it wasn't the all-time leading goal scorer to ever put on the Salvadoran uniform, who also helped win our first two championships, then I'd be pretty pissed.

9.5: Back off! This is my list! Nobody gets a 10! :-) If a defensive midfielder scoring a hat trick won't do it, it's not possible.

While I don't want Boswell to go for selfish reasons, the Copa could be great for him and his exposure for next year. His contract expires, and he wants to test his value abroad. A good showing at the Copa could do a lot for that.

- I would love to see Benny and Boz get the call up because I think they are both great, but if I was Bradley I would let Ben stay. As much as I love him, I don't think there's a chance Ben Olsen is in the plans for South Africa 2010. We need to be giving young guys experience and exposure to that level of play so they are ready for the big show.
- I think DC has the attacking power it needs. I'd like to see DC use that last DP slot for a high profile defender.

While Freddy didn't start for RSL, he certainly came on and added a lot of punch to a lifeless attack. He also did it out of central midfield as opposed to his "normal" left side of midfield.

I get it when people like Wynalda, Lagerway and Messing say that getting him outside gets him the ability to go at players. But to me you are only utilizing a portion of his effectiveness in that regard. His best skill is his ability to spray passes around and get that final ball to a teamate and also put up the occasional dangerous chance at goal. His ability to do that is limited on the wing. I also understand peoples fear that his size works against him in the middle. But unless he's given a real opportunity to run the show from the middle, I just don't see how people can make a fair judgement of his abilities given his lack of real game time in his best position - central midfield.

Honestly, RSL has nothing to lose by doing this.

northzax: The Earthquakes under Wolff and Fisher are the real deal. They had a stadium setback when talks with San Jose State fell through back in the spring. They are talking now about a site right along the SJ-Santa Clara border by the airport. It used to be an FMC industrial plant (Bradleys were made there). There's also talks about the niners building a new stadium in Santa Clara and using that for the Earthquakes as well.

but I thought the league was trying to get away from cavernous, nearly empty NFL stadia? I don't see how sharing a stadium between the 49ers and the 'Quakes accomplishes that goal.

The goal is to get a SSS built in San Jose. If that's not possible, to build one in the vicinity of San Jose. A new Niner's stadium is not first choice or even second, but better than nothing. I haven't heard anything about the new site in a few weeks(supposedly a city hall meeting a week or 2 ago), but I'm far removed from the local gossip on the matter since I now live in Loudoun County, VA not Santa Clara County, CA.

"speaking of teams interested in joining up again, any truth to the rumor that the A's are thinking of resurrecting the Earthquakes?"

The same NYT article that reported the Mets' possible interest in an MLS franchise reported this, not as something they are thinking of, but as a done deal, with the new team (which may or may not be called the 'Quakes) making its debut next season. No venue was mentioned; presumably they will return to Spartan Stadium in the short term, while sorting out the stadium situation.

Hey, this team from Guadaloupe is looking pretty good...maybe DCU should do some scouting over there?:)

Regarding the DCU jersey in El Salvador...I also caught the report and am 99.9% sure it was only a training jersey with no name or number on the back.

Another reserve forward? Brad North is completely boned. I forget he's even on the team. Way lower on the list than Addlery. I've met him and he's a great guy but, sorry.

Both Benny and Boswell have been great and I wish both of them nothing but the best. But I think DCU needs Boswell right now a heck of a lot more than the USMNT does. Benny on the other hand has earned the USMNT spot, and I think DCU can handle his absence better than Boswell's.

Any idea what Mupier's been doing since his 11 game stint with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in 2005? Not used to seeing employment gaps in a quality soccer player's resume.

Ben Olsen can go to the Copa.

Ben Olsen's beard can stay in DC and drop hat-tricks on unsuspecting MLS defenses.