A new month also will bring a new player to Houston Dynamo. On Tuesday, the club dealt for forward Nate Jaqua, in exchange sending midfielder Kelly Gray and a second round pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Gray was a member of last season's MLS Cup championship team, and it was hard for some of the Dynamo players to see him get traded.
"It was a joy playing with Kelly Gray," said defender Patrick Ianni. "He was always smiling and always fun to be around. He was always positive in teaching me things my first couple years in the league."
But Dynamo add another offensive threat in Jaqua, who is coming off an eight-goal season for Chicago last year. He has only one goal in 10 games this year.
Jaqua's play is something the Orange are looking forward to.
"Thank God he's finally on the same team as me," said defender Craig Waibel. "He's an absolute beast. He's a man-child, and he's tough to guard. He's big, he's strong, he's athletic, he's great in the air. One thing it does is free up Brian Ching a little bit too. He doesn't have to play every minute as the post-up guy. Nate and him can work off each other and also with Joseph Ngwenya and you have Brian Mullan up top. Nate just adds to the arsenal that we already have."
Head coach Dominic Kinnear said teams had interest in Gray, and with players returning, there was a chance to get something for Gray, so the deal was made. It was, however, a hard move to make.
"With the guys coming back, we didn't know where we were with that," Kinnear said. "There was some interest in Kelly, and it was a chance to get something somewhere else and get something. You don't like making changes, but sometimes you do for a number of reasons. We wish Kelly well because I had a lot of time for him on and off the field."
Jaqua, 25, is in his fifth MLS season. He was named to the MLS All-Star team that beat Chelsea last July at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. The native of Eugene, Ore., has also appeared in two games with the U.S. national team.
"He's versatile where he can play up top or out wide. It's nice to have fresh forwards, and I think with this round of games coming up, it's going to be hard to be able to play the same 11 time after time after time," Kinnear said. "He holds the ball up well and he's a tireless worker. Set pieces for us are a big part of the game. He's a good person to have marking and he's a good person to have attacking the ball, so he's good in both boxes."
Gray, on the other hand, has appeared in nine Dynamo contests this season, with one assist. He began his MLS career in 2002 with Chicago before being traded to the San Jose Earthquakes in 2005.
"Kelly is a great person on and off the field," said midfielder Richard Mulrooney. "I liked playing with him in the middle for those four or five games. I think he added a lot to the team.
"Having said that, bringing in Nate, who is an all-star player but hasn't found his form for one reason or another in L.A. -- we know what he can do because I saw it in Chicago, and I've played against him enough in this league to know that when he's on, he's a handful to play with," Mulrooney continued. "I think him being a team player, he will fit right in with this team. L.A. picked up someone great in Kelly, and we picked up someone great in Nate as well."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
