Casal Released by United

As rumored on BigSoccer and by Max over at the DCU Offside Blog, Kasali Yinka Casal was released by DC United just before his salary would be guaranteed on Sunday. According to Goff the Front Office wanted him to move down to a development spot but a mixture of his refusal and some homesickness led to the release.

The release frees up about $40,000 for DC United to use in addition to opening up a senior roster spot. Allowing United to find another veteran (hopefully defender) player. The brain trust seems to be making a run for this year's MLS Cup at RFK. By trading a 24 year old defender for a 33 year old defender and cutting a promising 19 year old winger in the span of five days. United has plenty of youth on the team, and you can't really build teams in MLS like you can in other leagues, so the aging of the team does not worry me. What worries me are the salary cap implications for next year, especially if United signs a veteran in the summer transfer window.

But if United raises the Cup in DC these moves will be a crucial part of that story. I am just not yet convinced that this team is consistent enough to make that a reality.

Countries, Counties, Clubs

As United prepares for the game against Toronto, multiple stories that I'd like to draw your attention to this morning.

PARENTS, MEET THE KIDS #1 - CASAL: John Haydon in the Washington Times with a profile of Kasali Casal:

"The more work I do defensively, the more minutes I will get," Casal said... "Right now I'm supposed to be in Nigeria training, but because I've been doing so well here I want to cement my first-team spot," Casal said. "So I don't want to really leave at the moment."

I highlight those particular quotes because it is a stunning change of attitude compared to some previous midfield projects DC United has seen. Casal, in his public statements, seems to be taking the coaching guidance to heart, and is willing to embrace it even if it means changing his style. His focus is on the club, and on his role with the club. You have to like that.

PARENTS, MEET THE KIDS #2 - KPENE: Brian Westfall writes a quick getting-to-know-him type piece on Guy-Roland Kpene. One of the things that I note is that Kpene seems to have a lot of people pulling for him, just from the number of comments we got on him when he was first drafted. To that end, I hope he does well. Both Casal and Kpene are in the real early stages and I don't want to heap expectations on these players for this season. If both manage to find roles to play, even quiet ones with few minutes, and can compete for some significant playing time next season, then I have to consider them a success.

PARENTS, MEET THE KIDS #3 - ARGUEZ: Bryan Arguez started the game for the US Under 20 team and was substituted at the half. Which means he wasn't responsible for giving up the goal that led to the 1-0 Argentina win. Of course, DC United former head coach and current color commentator Thomas Rongren coaches that team.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT: Part owner of D.C. United Will Chang may be interested in an English team, including investing "on behalf of D.C. United." I don't know what that would mean, as the idea of DCU owning part of another team seems... ludicrous, but in a strangely enjoyable hallucinatory type way. Still, the sense I get is that we're a long way from anything happening on this front, so I simply note it and file it for later consideration.

ATMOSPHERE: Jeff Bradley really isn't someone who feels all warm and fuzzy about DC United or our fans that often. So I will note that in his column on the best MLS related atmosphere he has felt, the phrase "At D.C. United" is used twice, the only time such a designation is used more than once. Add to that his discussion of the traveling support in the 1999 MLS Cup final, and it's clear that even if he doesn't want to come out and say it, realistically he knows which team's fans are numerous and passionate enough to consistently bring it. While the league and outside observers fawn over Toronto's support, which is certainly impressive and worth of the praise it is getting, it is important to remember that DC has been doing it for twelve years. In fairness, so have a few other teams (and some have not).

NO MORE BEARS! The Screaming Eagles and other United Supporters that appeared in the Arlington County parade get a shout-out as "a group of D.C. United super-fans." Nice. Congratulations to all that represented their Civic, and Club, pride in Arlington.

Debriefing for Match 12.01: At Colorado Rapids

Colorado Rapids 2 : 1 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

Weather was cold. So was United.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "...United was badly outplayed in its MLS opener by the middling Colorado Rapids and dropped a 2-1 decision Saturday... "
The Washington Times, Pat Rooney: "When United doesn't play its possession game with a certain level of effectiveness, bad things happen."
MLSNet, Tom Buck: "Rapids winger Terry Cooke put in a man-of-the-match performance, continuing his fine play from last season when he led MLS in assists, setting up both Rapids goals. Herculez Gomez headed home the first goal in Dick's Sporting Goods Park history, then Roberto Brown doubled the lead by halftime. Luciano Emilio scored a late consolation goal for United."
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "What in the Hell has happened to Brian Carroll of DC United?"
Ben Olsen's Beard: "92:47- Greg Vanney asks Moreno what the five fingers said to the face."
QuarterVolley: " United did not roll over and die."
BlackDogRed: "...two months from now this will be remembered as a blip with many asterisks of mitigating circumstances...I give Soehn credit: in a relatively meaningless game for DCU, compared to the Chivas game, and compared to how meaningful the game was for Colorado, Deroux and Moose and then Fred and Casal? I think that's smart..."
The Far Post: "United looked like a team that hadn’t been home in many weeks. They make many mental errors and didn’t protect the ball – poor possession, easy give aways, sloppy passing..."

The Good

1. The Potential of Yinka Casal: Audacity and a willingness to take people on the dribble, the ability to send a hard cross from the wing... There's certainly some talent there.
2. Justin Moose: Goff jobs Moose in his player ratings. Moose was, to me, acceptable on the wing in a midfield that played atrociously. That "acceptable" qualifies as a good thing from this game says something, but Moose didn't underperform my expectations like, say, Christian Gomez or Brian Carroll. Even DeRoux looked a bit off what I expected from him.
3. Ben Olsen: If Jamie Moreno retires soon, Olsen deserves the armband. He is a leader, both vocally and in terms of example. Yes, he took a silly yellow, but he knew it the moment he popped up.
   

The Bad

1. Midfield: I'm not going to take issue with the defense. Yes, Erpen had his hands full but played, I thought, relatively decently. Everyone is criticizing DeRoux for getting bumped on the corner kick leading to the first goal, but I felt the culprit was Boswell not getting to the spot to stop it. The real problem was that in a wide field, United should have had an easier time keeping possession, yet were much too careless in their passing and consistently beat to second balls.
2. The Reality of Yinka Casal: Yes, there's a lot there to look at, but at the same time Casal was only marginally effective at best. Even his cross could have been luck, as it seemed to me like he blindly sent it in to Luciano.
3. Weapon Selection: The potential of this season is that with Emilio, Gomez, and Moreno, that United should have multiple threats and not rely on just one or two players for goals. To me, that means you can't just send it over to top to Emilio to see what happens. Vary your play, get everyone involved. Do not make yourself one dimensional.
   
4. Officiating: In the bad column this week. It was fair, and by fair I mean equally below decent on both sides. Kennedy gets a "-1" in the ref ratings for this year.
   

Man of the Match

N/A

Final Thoughts

Cause for panic? No. I agree with all who've said that this may well be a blip. The issue is that while everyone has pretty much been engraving a dash after "2006" on the Supporter's Shield trophy, that means that you have to win difficult games. This was such an example, and the failure to win this game means that this won't just be a gimme season. You'll note that we didn't do a "Preview" with projected standings this year. Why? Because as good as United is, this season could go just about anywhere. A win at home against Kansas City will make things feel better, but I really don't feel that any game (other than Columbus) will be a walk in the park. High expectations, and so far not met.

Placement

This is why getting Steve Goff a blog is a great thing. For the mass consumption, he can lead his stories with the schedule release, and quickly note a potential signing. In the blog, he can devote some time to it. The new prospect that he's talking about is 19-year old Yinka Casal. A Fulham reservist (and a quick google search showed mentions of him creating scoring opportunities, and not much in the way of "Yinka Casal was badly outclassed by the West Ham reserves today..."), winger, and he's young. That kinda sounds good to me. Real good. Color me intrigued.