Veron Spurns DC United
Juan Sebastion Veron has reportedly turned down DC United’s transfer offer. read more...
Veron Spurns DC United
Mike Martin
December 14, 2007
Juan Sebastian Veron
Photo: Rafael Crisostomo
DC United’s off-season was already off to a rocky start, but now that Veron has thrown a spanner in the works, things all of sudden things look a lot less rosy for the Black and Red in 2008.
Washington, D.C.
Juan Sebastion Veron was interviewed on Argentine TV tonite and stated unequivocally that he will not be transferring to DC this January as expected. Despite the lucrative offer by DC United, he intends to stay at Estudiantes of Argentina in order to continue playing at home for the team that gave him his first professional start and especially to be able to play with Estudiantes through the Copa Libertadores in 2008.
Well, I think its safe to say that this off-season isn't going quite as well as United had planned. With United already dealing with goalkeeping and defensive departures, as well as the continued uncertainty over the status of playmaker Christian Gomez, losing Veron has got hurt the grand scheme planned for United’s 2008 campaign tremendously.
Veron was expected to add the strength and determination to United’s midfield and go a long way to making up for the loss of Gomez should United not be able to come to the terms they wanted to make with him. It’s still possible that Veron may change his mind again, or that United may agree to him joining the team next August, but as of now, it seems that the deal is all but dead.
As already stated this week, United is in the process of losing their starting keeper, Troy Perkins to a Norwegian team, and had to trade away an extremely cap friendly defender, Bobby Boswell in order to acquire a credible, but relatively untested backup, in Zach Wells in order to fill the void between the pipes.
Now, if Gomez were to leave United would surely be in a pickle, and it’s even more certain that Gomez has picked up on his suddenly increased leverage in negotiations with the team. Unless United already has a another player in mind to spend the Designated Player money on, the team may well have to pony up to pretty much whatever reasonable demands Gomez has. If it is three years guaranteed, so be it.
However, that still won’t address the biggest need that United has and the reason they so desperately wanted Veron to begin with. The team flat out lacks that killer instinct and the lose over my dead body mentality. La Brujita would have brought that attitude in spades, but now that he’s out of the picture, United still desperately needs to find that from somewhere else if they expect to challenge for trophies next season.
So, bottom line is that so far this off-season United has pretty much gone backward, and while they have piles of cash, that has yet to translate into any good players. On balance, United has weakened their bench in losing Brian Carroll in the expansion draft and likely Josh Gros to retirement, their defense has also taken a hit in losing Bobby Boswell to Houston in trade for Zach Wells. Also, their goalkeeping has at best stayed the same. Comparing Perkins to Wells is an exercise in existentialism right now as it remains to be seen how well the youngster will play for United, but expecting him to be an improvement is certainly a stretch.
Now, with the loss of Veron and Gomez still up in the air, United’s midfield clearly hasn’t shown any improvement and could seriously take some steps backward if Gomez goes on his merry way. When you consider Moreno isn’t getting any younger and he might well be asked to take a pay cut that he might not exactly welcome, and that no wingers, speed, or third forwards appear to be on the horizon, things get even more grim, especially as the team has no draft picks to speak of so any talent that will be picked up will have to be bought or traded for.
Still, United has plenty of cash, but sometimes it’s not as simple as that. You can throw a lot of money around and end up with nothing to show for it like what happened in Dallas, KC, NY, and LA last year. DC has the salary cap room, but now that money being used wisely becomes even more imperative.
There’s a long way to go to opening day, but signing Veron likely would have covered for a multitude of sins in other areas, as what he would have brought o the team is more than the sum of his skills on the field. His passing on United certainly isn’t the Christmas news anybody wanted to hear.
Visitor Comments
The Veron loss will sting no doubt, but all we have to do is go back 12 months and look at all the moves being made before we even signed Fred or Emilio. 6 squad players were traded away and plenty of the fanbase were angrily asking the FO why these moves were made.
Again, whilst not signing Veron hurts United and what they were aiming at in the offseason (in terms of bringing in an internationally seasoned veteran), there still is a some time for them to get some things done.
Whether that is re-signing Gomez and Moreno or bringing in other players, United's FO is not done doing their business.
If United goes into late March with what they have now (and they won't), it will indeed be a long 2008.
However, I feel they will rectify the situation and will be back to propping up MLS as is their rightful position
Editorials
The Current State of United
July 30, 2008
Riding Out the Perfect Storm
May 19, 2008
Soehn Still Seeking Solutions, But Needs to Look in the Mirror
May 10, 2008
DC United Seeks Solutions for Slow Start
April 24, 2008
Los Tuzos and Ticos School MLS in Concacaf
April 03, 2008
2008 Eastern Conference Preview
March 26, 2008
2008 Western Conference Preview
March 24, 2008
Coming Together the United Way
March 07, 2008
DC United Looking to Texas for Results
March 02, 2008
DC United’s Goals are to Score Some
February 29, 2008
DC United and Poplar Point
February 18, 2008
Gomez Gone for Good
February 09, 2008
DC United: Excitement is Building for 2008
January 29, 2008
DC United Signs Gonzalo Martinez
January 24, 2008
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
December 24, 2007
MLS One Liners, tidbits from around the league...
