Santino Quaranta - There weren't enough pills in the world for me

Before Freddy Adu or Jozy Altidore, there was Santino Quaranta, the great young hope for American soccer. He had loads of talent and looked to be a player around which a team could be built, so at age 16, DC United signed him to a pro-contract. All started out fine, but soon the pressure and loneliness of a child in an adult's world would get the better of him.

In a must read interview from this past weekend, Quaranta tells his tale, which includes addiction to painkillers, cocaine and alcohol. Even though you've hear this story before, young rising star turns to the party life only to see everything else crash around him, it is still worth a read.

Thankfully DC United recognized that they, in part, failed too and offered Quaranta a second chance. The fact that he looks to be making the most out of this chance is excellent.

Columbus Crew still looking for striker

The Crew have talked a lot about adding a threat up top this off-season, but so far, nothing has appeared. To prove this theory of need, look no further then their 1-0 defeat by the Premier Development League's Ventura County Fusion. For those who do not know, the PDL is the fourth-level in American soccer.

Yes, it was just a pre-season game, but to come up empty against such a lower level team is worrisome.

"Am I happy (with the lineup)? Put it this way: We're still looking," said assistant coach Robert Warzycha, who was instrumental in courting Polish forward Maciej Zurawski before he signed with a Greek team in February.

"There has been progress with this group. But in the long run, we're looking for a forward who can score a lot of goals."

The Crew are not the only team that has been searching for a striker the past few months, however, unlike most others, they have yet to find one of their own.

If the Crew do not land some quality in offense, one has to wonder if 2008 will just be another replay of 2007. Will the team's decent defense be enough to string together an endless amount of tie games to start things off? And will an injury or two combined with a lack of a bench cause those ties at the start to becoming defeats as the season continues? Unless something changes for coach Sigi Schmid, it probably is a safe bet.

Talking about Schmid, how long with the owners give him to try and piece something together this season?

As far as what can the Crew do, with pre-season coming to an end, I think they are going to be forced to turn to players other MLS teams have cut. A Francis Doe, Santino Quaranta (although DC seems ready to bring him back) or someone from the Chicago Fire (with 6 forwards on their roster, 1 is likely to be released) might give them something. In the end, its looking like another long season for fans in Columbus.

Santino Quaranta humbled, wants to play again for DC United

After a year and a half away, Santino Quaranta wants to return to DC United, but does he have the maturity and discipline to make such a move happen?

Quaranta reputation as a slacker and a bit of a troublemaker, combined with his injury issues have lead to him bouncing between three teams in the last two seasons. When the Red Bulls finally cut him in January, no one was really shocked. However, the 23 year old is hoping to have a second act revival by winning a spot on DC United's roster.

According to Steve Goff, Quaranta has been working hard to get back into shape as he wants to prove himself to DC. He is currently on trial with the team and they will decided whether to offer him a contract after a warm up tournament in San Antonio, Texas, next weekend.

Quaranta has some fantastic skills when he's on, but he fell into the same hole as so many other young players with talent and became a bit of a classless diva (look no further then the salute he gave DC United fans on his first trip back to the capital after his trade to LA). However, if he is serious about this and if he sticks with it, he still has the possibility of many good, if not great, years ahead of him.

As far as the reaction from United fans, I'm going to guess that if he truly apologizes and then backs it up by some great play on the pitch, they will forgive him for his past actions.

If he does win the DC spot, he can expect to make less then the $105,000 he earned last year. Quoting GM Dave Kasper, "He would have to start a lot lower, and we've talked about it."

In the end, Quaranta has a big opening her to prove himself as a player and a person. If he fails for any reason he will have only himself to blame. I just hope doesn't because it would be a shame for him to be another Clint Mathis.

Lalas - Beckham causing problems for LA plus new team logo

LA Galaxy president and general manager Alexi Lalas has admitted that David Beckham is causing some problems for the team, but not the type that Santino Quaranta suggested yesterday. Instead he feels the main issue is with expectations.

“We are going to win with David Beckham and we are going to lose with David Beckham. We will not win every single game and he is not going to score five goals every single game. People will appreciate just watching him live and seeing why he is such a great player.”

This gets to the big question that has been hovering around this move since it was announced, will the non-soccer mad American public take the time to figure out Beckham's strengths or will they just ask 'where are all the goals?' This will taking so teaching on the part of broadcasters and writers but one of the best analogies I've seen is that he is like a quarterback in American football. Seldom does he actually get the touchdown but he is the one who puts the ball in the correct place to make it happen.

Anyway, Lalas did echo a bit of what Quaranta sad, but spun it in a much better way:
“Without a doubt, the pressure has been ratcheted up since the announcement,” Lalas said. “The eyes of the world are upon us now, and we want to make sure we use that to our gain. It’s all been crazy — but a good crazy.”

Just three more days till he is officially a member of the Galaxy. Let the fun begin.

In other LA Galaxy news, what about that new logo. Yes, it has been floating around the internets for a little while now, but I thought why not comment on it. So set your phasers to stun and turn the engines to warp factor 9 as you make your way to Star Fleet Academy LA. I'm not knocking it but it does seem a little Star Trek inspired.

Lalas brings chaos in LA

Former Galaxy player and brand new Red Bull Santino Quaranta is like most American soccer fans in that he has a very strong opinion about LA's general manager Alexi Lalas. And, shock, it's not a very happy opinion.

In his short time in Los Angeles, Quaranta has seen quite a lot. And, not coincidentally, the craziness began with the arrival of Alexi Lalas as president and general manager in April 2006.

"It's mostly chaos in L.A.," Quaranta said after a recent Red Bulls practice. "I guess they did what they had to do in the end. They're trying to keep their jobs, too, as well, so I can't fault them for trying to make the team better. But in the end I don't know if it makes it better."

Quaranta, who arrived in LA from DC last August, says the mood in the Galaxy locker room is a bad one due to all the player moves that have happened. "If a guy comes in at 10:15 when he's supposed to be there at 9:45, (the other players are) joking that the guy got waived and taking the name tag down (from the locker)."

There is no question that LA is a team in flux as they wait for the marketing savior to arrive later this week. However, one does have to point out that the team has picked up a bit of late as they have got more points from their last four matches then they did in their first eight.

If this is a trend, then all the moves made by Lalas might end up looking okay in the end, however if the team fails to deliver during the second half of the season, which the article describes as "more about publicity, corporate branding and ticket sales than soccer", then Lalas will look the fool again.