Marcelo Saragosa Rumors & News

Despite the result, I think that the lineup template that Ben Olsen put out in the game against Sporting Kansas City is the right formation for D.C. United right now. Injuries to Marcelo Saragosa, Lewis Neal, and John Thorrington forced Olsen to play Raphael Augusto, and his performance in the first half left me wanting more. If he can take that performance and string it out over the course of an entire game, he could really be that number 8 that we want beside Perry Kitchen. With the (hopeful) return of Dwayne De Rosario, someone has to be relegated to the bench. I, like many of you,...

Let's make no mistake, Marcelo Saragosa is an important part of D.C. United coming into the 2013 season. His partnership with Perry Kitchen in the deeper part of central midfield is one of the major factors that helped shore up United's defense and allowed the Black-and-Red to keep clean sheets at the end of last season. He also acts as a leader on the field, vocally organizing the midfield and pushing players forward when necessary. All that said, and even if he's among the more attacking options among our defensive midfielders, Saragosa is limited as a central playmaker. He's got goo...

Brazilian Raphael Augusto joined D.C. United last fall and has only played 50 minutes for the Black-and-Red. Every one of those minutes came in last season's Eastern Conference final first leg in Houston, when he came on for an injured Marcelo Saragosa late in the first half. He immediately moved into a more attacking role than his compatriot and in less than 10 minutes suffered what should have been ruled a red card foul from Andre Hainault in what was very nearly a 1v1 situation with Houston keeper Tally Hall. That, so far, is our only real glimpse into the talent held by the 21-year...