Filomeno Experiment Over

According to Adam Kilgore at The Post and Steve Silver at The Times, Lucio Filomeno is on his way back to Argentina after asking out of his contract to pursue a spot on the team he 'idolized' as a child, Nueva Chivago.

Analysis:

Filomeno was never a good fit for DC United. He was not match fit when he arrived last August. Comparisons to Gomez' immediate impact after his similar arrival late in 2004 left Filomeno looking worse. This year he seemed to expect to start and when that didn't happen, he was clearly unhappy. He tallied the 5th goal in a rout for his only score as a member of the team. For someone who was making six figures, it was too much money, too little production. Seems to be the best thing for all parties.

Unfortunately it leaves United a bit shorthanded in the near future. Eskandarian (knee) has been out, Jaime (ankle) went down in Wednesday's game against Chicago, Quaranta (hammy) has yet to make an appearance, Olsen is still in Germany, and draft pick Justin Moose (hammy) still hasn't made his first appearance due to injury. Let's hope Jaime is only out a few games.