DCU Draw Away at Houston as Dozzell and Ordaz Debut, DCU Transfer Rumors Fly, and More: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Here we are on a Thursday! Almost there, people. In the meantime, let’s dive into some DC United heavy Freedom Kicks, because things are getting unexpectedly active as the summer transfer window starts to gain steam.
On to the news!
Donald covers the away match that DC United managed to tie last night. New signings, Andre Dozzell and Nathan Ordaz had promising debuts. Dozzell showed some excellent passing range from the opening whistle, while Ordaz came on late and delivered an admirable quick reaction assist for Tai Baribo’s equalizer.
To relive that play, here’s a decent clip:
The Black and Red return to Audi Field to host Toronto FC this Saturday, with Toronto anxious to pick up points to keep their playoff hopes alive. Kickoff Saturday is 7:30 Eastern, streaming, of course, on Apple TV.
Rising star Nathan Ordaz joins D.C. United– NBC4 Washinton (video)
NBC4 sits down with DCU’s latest attacking prospect.
One signing that we know about (though as yet not officially announced by the club), and two rumored interests scattered across the web. Ian Subiabre is a 19 year old Argentine winger currently playing for River Plate, and, if acquired, would almost certainly fit under the U-22 DP designation. Tomáš Chorý is a 31 year old Czech forward currently under contract with Slavia Praha, and United is thrown in amongst the suitors as a minor note at the end. It does seem like DC United are looking to make moves in this window, and, as a fan, thank goodness.
In case you missed this waking nightmare for the Miami goalkeeper
Not going to lie, this one is simply too strange not to talk about. Aston Villa, having lost their most dynamic attacking talent in Morgan Rogers, has secured 22 year old winger Alejandro Garnacho on loan from Chelsea, with an option to buy. The player is most notable for moving from Manchester United to rivals Chelsea, while somehow managing to draw strong antipathy from both sets of supporters at this point, and the annoyances he’s inspired have range. For more details on the move, Sports Illustrated has a further breakdown of what is known about the contract and the context surrounding it.
So, the US did, in fact, tune in pretty substantially to the World Cup on offer this summer.
The Onion had this to say about the experience:
Well played.
That’s all I’ve got! One-up me in the comments, and have a great sporting day!
The Subiabre rumor certainly makes a lot more sense for the team than the Chorý one. I’m still a bit wary on the team being able to get the most out of a 19 year old from elsewhere, but he seems like a solid player and fits a position of need. Chorý seems a bit odd to be linked to, being a center forward, especially with Ordaz now in the mix.
The Apple coverage also explicitly mentioned the Nono transfer, saying that it should be completed/announced soon, so I guess that one is happening. Will be interesting to see how much GAM we have to outlay to deal with the international spot issue in signing all these guys.
Truly don’t know about the depth of DCU’s interest in Chory, but, given the ailing status of professional sports journalism that can cover United, I thought it a notable mention. This international article didn’t have to say DC United, author might not have even known who we are without this connection.
I included it for the visible smoke, hope there’s more out there that the media just doesn’t have the juice to detect till it gets a bit more obvious. Would like DC to
make this window count and get a head start on the next one.
Oh its absolutely right to include it here. Knowing this team, there absolutely could be interest there. Nono is a great example of “is this really a position we should be focusing on right now?” and it seems like he is coming. Getting another CF when we already have 2 starting caliber ones, and need help elsewhere on the field, is definitely something we’d do.
I didn’t think you were being dismissive, don’t worry, I share your skepticism about how likely this would be to be a big deal
My suspicion is that this journalist simply covered this story thoroughly in a way that maybe some of DCU’s other current interests haven’t been.
With Antley out injured (and who knows for how long), and with Hefti’s proclivity for picking up a card or two, I am warming up on Nono as a good pickup. It would still be pretty great to have a backup left back for Kurokawa, but maybe he actually can play every single minute.
I also buy the thinking that Nono is a replacement for Aaron Herrera, but Herrera was not very good as a winger, and if the intention is to play Nono there as well… I’d rather just get a winger.
We should also seriously consider the possibility that the plan is to unload Rowles and play a CB partnership of Bartlett and Hefti.
Rowles will most likely go this summer
And I think Markovic is gonna be ready for some serious growing tests next year.
Hefti should stay where he is, though he’d be serviceable in a more hybrid 3 back setup.
Yeah, if anything, I think Hefti just goes to the bench if Nono wins the starting RB role. Even if Rowles leaves, we still have Bartlett, Nealis, and Markovic. We could conceivably recall Garrison Tubbs, but I think Weiler doesn’t really have much use for him. Hefti can fill in at CB, but I think he’s like the fourth option there.
I think someone is looking at a depth chart and they are trying to stack it deep, but they must also be planning to move on from some people. I don’t know how the contracts are laid out but when contracts are ending has to come into play into this. Some ending soon, some ending in a few years, etc. Looking at young players to develop to replace current players could play into this, but that depends on the mentality of the front office and if they have a long term outlook.
Contracts expiring this year (with options):
Antley
Bono
Clark (2027)
Farr (2027)
Kijima (2027)
Murrell (2027, 2028)
Nealis
Rowles (2027)
Servania (2027)
Stroud (2027)
Tubbs (2027)
Aman, Hefti, Johnson, and Segal are all signed through June 2027
Sadly I think that Kijima doesn’t get his option exercised as he just doesn’t seem to be rated highly by Weiler.
No, he doesn’t, but he’s gotten playing time in two straight games (with a two month gap between those games). So Weiler might be open to giving him a second chance. That said, I think it’s still mostly likely that he’s gone after 2026.
The Kijima thing is harming my aggregate attitude toward Weiler
It’s still in the positive, but I really don’t like it.
He’s not an individual dynamo, but he is so good at combinations and build up with some decent press resistance and passing for such a low, low price. Freezing him out is not right, and unwise roster prioritization, imo.
For completeness, the (fall) 2027 expiring contracts are:
Bartlett (2028)
Karamoko (2028, 2029)
Peglow (2028)
Peltola (2028)
Turner (2028, 2029)
Definitely need to work on locking Peltola down long term there
Is Rowles the only international? The front office is looking at a lot of foreign players and this list looks domestic.
Good catch, that is the case. So not much help there. Peltola just really needs to get his green card at this point.
Yeah. Peltola could maybe be getting a green card, who know? One of the best things that Gabriel Pirani did here was get a green card (Benteke never did).
Also for reference there are only 3 international players that did not join this season (Peglow, Peltola, and Rowles). So most of them are locked up for a while and won’t be getting green cards any time soon.
At least the front office has a pulse this year……
Always love a DC United rumor!
I’d agree that Tomas Chory doesn’t make a ton of sense, given that we’ve signed Baribo, Munteanu, Ordaz, and Segal on some big money moves (and the Re-Entry Draft). That said, Chory is 6’6″ and at least has a good track record of actually scoring in Czechia. He’s got 31 goals in 56 games for Slavia Prague, and scored 7 times in 24 appearances for the Czech national team. He seems to be good with both his head and feet, and it seems like the way DC likes to create chances is from wide crosses and set pieces. He could conceivably make a partnership with Baribo like Philly had with Uhre. I’m not sure where that would leave Munteanu. Out wide?
Anyway, Chory could certainly be a useful player for us (assuming he’s not a DP), but the roster construction remains head-scratchy.
Speaking of, Subiabre seems like a fun talent. I do want United to go with three DPs, but it makes some sense to do the U22 model this year, mostly to get the extra GAM which will allow us to roll over more of our allotment to next year. This year is about getting us sorted out and moving up out of the basement. Baribo looks like a solid star, and Hefti and Kurokawa have been good additions. Peltola has taken a leap forward. We can let folks like Munteanu, Dozzell, and Ordaz work their way into the inner core as well. Then we can use that extra GAM next year to further bolster the squad with talent, get our third DP then, and maybe make some actual noise. But going this route, we do need to maximize our U22 slots. Extending Hopkins makes some sense, getting Ordaz seems like a good move, and adding Subiabre is a fine roll of the dice. Maybe he’ll develop, maybe not. But he’s speedy, and looks like he can play on either side or at striker. It doesn’t have to be Subiabre, but we do need to fill that final spot. Get talent where we can. Caden Clark fills the fourth U22 spot, but it seems like a pretty simple matter to decline his option for next year, he comes off the books, and we have Hopkins, Ordaz, and Subiabre (or whomever else), and then we add a third DP in 2027 to complement Baribo and Munteanu.
Apparently the Group of Copenhagen, an independent network dedicated to combating match fixing, had a summary of its report on the World Cup released by t he Council of Europe.
Some of the potential irregularities:
Red card shown to South Africa in the Mexico opener.Polymarket receiving a large chunk for Spain not defeating Cape Verde.The 3.5 min delay on the VAR review of the disallowed goal for Spain against the Saudis.And apparently FIFA’s suspension of Balogun’s red card card because a market was opened as to whether he would be available against Belgium. No other markets were opened for the other 14 players who got red cards.
There is more detail in this article from The Athletic ($ wall, sorry)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7463768/2026/07/23/world-cup-betting-irregularities-fifa/
Philadelphia won last night (over the Red Bulls, yay!), which brings them up to two wins on the year. They just need one more to catch 2013 DC’s win total. I always like to note whenever the worst team passes three wins and 16 points.
Not that ESPN has really done a great job of covering MLS or any other soccer league, but they just went through another massive round of layoffs. The Athletic ($ wall)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7464865/2026/07/23/espn-layoffs-jimmy-pitaro-david-lloyd/