Eager for international success and anxious to end a three-year MLS Cup drought, D.C. United is hoping that another infusion of Latin American talent will push the club's seasoned veteran core over the top in 2008.
Despite the consistent success that brought the club back-to-back Supporters' Shield trophies over the past two years, D.C. United's unhappy habit of big-game letdowns continued last season as the Black-and-Red fell short of their own lofty expectations in both domestic and international play. That disappointment has prompted a major roster shakeup over the winter as United brought in a raft of international signings and acquired some promising domestic prospects.
"I think of anybody, we're always hardest on ourselves and when we sat back and looked at where we thought we could do better, there were a few spots that we felt like we needed to do a better job," said head coach Tom Soehn. "This organization is about winning. Granted, we won the Supporters' Shield, which is a tough accomplishment, but we strive to do more."
While some of those transactions were necessitated by circumstances, like goalkeeper Troy Perkins' move to Europe and defender Bobby Boswell's trade request, the D.C. braintrust clearly sought out players capable of delivering results in pressure-packed situations.
"I think the organization has put a lot of time and effort to better ourselves and get over that hump. It seems like last year and the previous years it's been falling just short of everything we've been trying to do," said third-year veteran Devon McTavish. "That's why they brought these guys in -- they have the experience, the skill and the desire to get where D.C. United wants to go as an organization."
A schedule packed with international tournaments like the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, SuperLiga and the new CONCACAF Champions League competition -- in addition to league and U.S. Open Cup play -- will likely offer many such occasions.
"They are people with a lot of experience and they came here with the same mentality of winning championships, winning tournaments," said captain Jaime Moreno of his team's new arrivals. "That's why we're all here. And much like them, all the young players want to learn every day, different things that will take them to the next level."
Colombian international Gonzalo Martinez and Argentinean Gonzalo Peralta are expected to shore up the heart of a United defense recently prone to ill-timed lapses, with Zach Wells arriving from Houston Dynamo to man the nets behind them. At the other end of the park, former teenage prodigy Santino Quaranta has been welcomed back to the club which drafted him as a 16-year-old seven years ago. He's eager to show that he's put injury and attitude problems behind him as he and Peralta's diminutive countryman Franco Niell look to bolster a strike force that was undone by a lack of depth in last year's playoffs.
But the centerpiece of D.C.'s offseason remodeling is surely Argentinean international Marcelo Gallardo, a World Cup veteran who takes over the playmaking duties so masterfully manned by Christian Gomez since 2004. Gallardo's glittering resume also includes trophy-winning stints with Argentinean superclub River Plate and French side AS Monaco, though he arrives in the United States with something to prove after an unhappy experience at his last club, Paris Saint-Germain.
"It's always a challenge for me, going to a new team. It was a new challenge for me, the first time in my career I was in a new league," he said. "The interest D.C. United showed in me gave me a lot of confidence that I should take this offer seriously. I analyzed it with my family and after that it was just an easy decision to come over here."
But his credentials, as well as his highly-paid status as the club's first designated player, add to the already-considerable pressure of replacing former league MVP Gomez, who could not agree on a new contract with United and was eventually traded to Colorado in February. So far, Gallardo has produced promising displays in United's early season games, showing ample skill, vision and composure, but those around him believe that his true quality is yet to be fully exploited.
"I don't think we found him enough, or as much as we should," said left back Marc Burch of Gallardo's first matches with United, in the Champions' Cup before the start of the regular season. "But you see when we get him the ball -- even no matter where he's at, if he's in the back, if he's out wide -- it doesn't matter. If we find him the ball, he's going to set things up and I think that's going to keep getting better and better throughout the year."
Indeed, Gallardo has shown a propensity for tracking all over the field to receive possession, and can find teammates with an imaginative passing range that could prove devastating as the team hones its collective understanding. He will be expected to feed United's menacing array of goalscoring talents, led by 2007 MLS MVP and Golden Boot winner Luciano Emilio and includes fellow Brazilian Fred, all-time league leading scorer Moreno and right winger Ben Olsen, who has struggled to overcome offseason ankle surgery but hopes to return by mid-spring.
As D.C.'s longest-serving players, Moreno and Olsen have become the face of the organization both on and off the field, and in light of the substantial roster turnover their leadership will be especially crucial. The well-traveled, bilingual Moreno has already played a key role in fostering locker-room communication from the earliest stages of preseason.
"Jaime's importance on this team is always vital," said Olsen. "He obviously knows a lot of our regular guys, the Americans, and he has a bond already with the South American guys. So it's a good spot, a good situation to have your captain be a Bolivian who played in England, married an English lady and lives in America, has played in MLS all its life. He's a perfect middle man for this whole deal and he'll do a great job."
Olsen and Moreno will still be counted upon to perform, however, and the fact that both have already been hampered by injuries in 2008 is a worrisome sign for United. But Soehn and general manager Dave Kasper are optimistic that they've constructed a group with the depth, quality and mental fortitude to challenge for honors in all competitions.
"The pieces are there and most importantly, we've brought great people into our locker room and at the end of the day that's going to pay off big dividends," said Kasper. "So we're excited. We think we're a better team than last year, and we're hoping that we can add more hardware to the trophy case."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
