United 0, Chicago 2

I'd rather have Fred, whatever body became the 7th pick, the cash AND the allocation spot than Troy Perkins, and that's in full acknowledgment that Fred does indeed suck, but not as much as 2010 United. Think on this: put Fred on the field, he'd be United's best player. Kabong.

Kasper Payne could have looked at last year's roster, the downward arc of the team with that core group since 2004, and reasonably said it's time to rebuild. No one disputes Gomez and Emilio (and Moreno) were spent; no one disputes how damaging the (probably permanent) loss of Brian Namoff is; the loyal fans wouldn't begrudge United a restructuring/rebuilding year if it was presented to us as a restructuring/rebuilding year and a strategy was enacted to actually restructure and rebuild.

I'm honestly confounded on where this organization thinks the team is. Did Kasper Payne really think Troy Perkins was the one component separating United from playoff success? I suppose after watching the Crayton and Wicks clown shows one can yield to that temptation, but the problem was never primarily the keepers but the players in front of them. You know what a seventh round pick might have provided? A young central defenseman, a young holding midfielder. Who knows what players will come to MLS in the August window and who could have been nabbed with a high allocation pick.

I apologize to those who want a rant, but my overwhelming emotion isn't rage, it's sadness. The team on the field is short on talent, the coach is a hack (witness the stunted development of Pontius and Wallace), Kasper Payne has reigned - without apparent accountability - over six successive years of downward spiral, and the team's literal future in DC is in doubt. Even with the suck, you still are treating each home game as if there are a finite number, yes?

But at least we have a fucking friendly against AC Fucking Milan. Though after next Wednesday v Dallas in USOC, we won't have any games this year in Germantown.

Here's Shatz, Curmudgeon is speechless, Goff wonders is United is potentially historically bad.

Updates, links, edits, later. Or not.