I invite you to listen to this week’s episode of World Soccer Wrap, in which you will hear Dominic Kinnear address this very issue.

DeRo has won four titles, and has been the best player on all four of those teams. (He was more instrumental than Donovan in 2001 and by 2003 was actually a more complete player than Landon)

DeRo was nowhere near to being the best player on the 2001 and 2003 San Jose teams — 2001 was all Landon Donovan, DeRo just happened to score the Cup-winning goal, and in 2003 he missed most of the season with a torn LCL, and was a bit-part player at best when he was back (I should know, I watched numerous Quakes games that year) — even in the MLS Cup final, he had an assist coming on as a late-game sub in a match that was essentially over by then. In 2001-03, DeRo was an exciting player to watch, to be sure, but his decision-making skills were quite poor on the field — he would dribble pointlessly into a crowd of three defenders and turn the ball over.

2004 and 2005 were entirely different chapters in DeRo’s career — the strong CM tandem of Ronnie Ekelund and Richard Mulrooney were gone, and Dom Kinnear thrust him into the attacking CM spot, realizing that he was the best “pure talent” he had on his roster — and there was no looking back! The lineup was such an unpredictable thing from week to week — he had tried Clark at right fullback, DeRo as a forward option alongside Ching, etc., before settling on DeRo at attacking CM and Clark as DM. The rediscovery of DeRo was part DeRo’s hard work, attitude, and technical skill, and part Kinnear’s brilliance.

Like I said, I think DeRo is one of the top-3 players in MLS, and have already penciled in the TFC game at Buckshaw to go to, BUT DeRo was not at all special in 2001 and 2003.

There were many good reasons for Houston to let DeRo go. Perhaps the biggest one was that he wanted to go. Dominic has proven his willingness to let players go at the players request (Jaqua, Cochran), and that reflects well on his confidence in his team and their ability to step up and move forward.

While James does not yet have my full confidence, I continue to believe that Dom can bring even marginal ability and make it fit in his system with success.

DeRo has won four titles, and has been the best player on all four of those teams. (He was more instrumental than Donovan in 2001 and by 2003 was actually a more complete player than Landon)

I happen to think Julius James is a marginal USL player, and not an MLS caliber player. Perhaps he will prove differently this season playing for admittedly the best manager in MLS.

I guess I am being less than diplomatic when I say, I hated this trade for Houston and believe they have no shot at a title or even winning the West because of it.

1. Toronto has a shocking defense. It was the weakness of their squad last year, and will continue to be the weakness in 2009. However, Julius James was not able to break into the starting lineup throughout the year. His rough start with the Dynamo is not a fluke — it is indicative of his abilities. Houston got the wool pulled over their eyes in this trade.
2. I think it’s too early to say DeRo is on the decline. His production went down as a result of having Holden on his team — his output was split over two players. The fact that he scored in each of TFC’s three games in Charleston (vs. the Charleston Battery, DCU, and RSL) supports this notion.

I guess we can judge as the season goes on, but for now, this looks like a horrid move by the Dynamo.