Onward

I'd like to take this moment to wrap up the entire Veron story. The DCenters was pretty neutral on the signing of Juan Sebastian Veron, and to the extent that we're disappointed he's not signing it's because it was clear that this was the guy the Front Office wanted. We never believed, and I'm sure you never believed, that Veron was the magic bullet to take us to the next level. He would have been a piece of the plan that United was putting together. I bring this up especially in light of this Martin Rodgers piece on Yahoo:

The important question now is where D.C. United goes from here. Early suggestions indicate it may look elsewhere in South America for another high-profile player. How quickly, and how urgently, the club chases a designated or senior international player will give an important insight into the current mindset of president Kevin Payne and his organization.

Are they happy being perhaps the most-respected club in MLS, with a loyal and vocal fan-base and an effective, consistent, well-drilled team?

Or do they want to rival the Los Angeles Galaxy in the fame game and spread their message to a wider audience?

I don't believe the premise that United was bidding on Veron primarily as a play for global notice. Instead, Veron was a piece that United saw as a way of winning championships. While the team would certainly have changed with Veron in the mix (moving back to a 3-5-2 became a much higher probability bet), the team was never going to be about Veron.

The question for me, beyond who United signs, is how this affects their planning. Do they still intend to deploy the strategy they had developed with Juan Sebastian on the team, or do they look for the players they can find, and develop a new strategy for the next season? My sense, based on the last few years, is the latter is the more likely approach.

On a side note, reflecting a sentiment I think many of us share, commenter Goose writes the following: "His reason for not coming is the same reason that I would've loved having him on DC." True that.