Photo of Marcelo Gallardo by Kyle Gustafson.

Ah, it’s that time of year again: D.C. United is getting ready to start another campaign, full of bouncing stands and an optimistic enthusiasm that the squad can bring home an MLS Cup for the first time since 2004. The team is already hard at work on the chilly training field at RFK, but has been missing oft-injured midfielder Marcelo Gallardo — and he won’t be coming back. Soccer Insider reported on Friday that the team has come to an agreement with Gallardo, releasing him from his contractual obligations. Gallardo — who signed on as the United’s first Designated Player one year and two days ago from Paris-Saint Germain — will return to his homeland of Argentina to finish his career. It’s a shame, really — D.C. fans never really got to see the best of Gallardo, who was hampered with nagging hernia, abductor, and knee injuries last year. His four tallies might not seem like a gargantuan loss, but those goals came in only 15 league games. Even at a creaky 33, United was excited to get one healthy campaign out of Gallardo, who will try a comeback with Buenos Aries powerhouse River Plate, where he first made a name for himself internationally.

So, who will replace Gallardo? There seems to be two trains of thought on the subject. Rumors are flying that former United star Christian Gomez would like to return to the side after spending a season stuck to the bench in Colorado. Gomez scored 39 times for the Black-and-Red between 2004 and 2007. (With all due respect to Gomez, though, one has to question the logic in replacing an oft-injured 33 year old, fragile midfielder with a older, out-of-form one.) The other side of the coin? Allow promising midfielders who filled in for Gallardo last year like Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, and Joe Vide to step in and see what they can do. Going with the young players in place has the additional benefits of saving money against the salary cap. MLS allows transfers well into April, so the team has some time to make a choice — they may be best served by waiting until the summer transfer window, when other international players will be available to make a move.

In other news, this year’s league schedule has been finally released by MLS, barely a month and a half before the season begins. A brief look at the ledger, and it seems like United was dealt a fair hand. United opens with a tasty fixture away to the Galaxy, who may or may not have David Beckham and Landon Donovan. The toughest stretch? United face a string of matches mid-season in which they’ll rack up the frequent flier miles — road games at Seattle (United’s first game against the expansion Sounders), Colorado, Columbus, San Jose, and Houston in a six-week span sandwich only one home date and the All-Star Game in the heart of the summer. For that hard work in June and July, United gets to close the slate with four of their last five at home, when — if recent history is predictive — their legs will be weakest. United will feature on ESPN2’s new rotating MLS Primetime broadcast four times — a smattering of Fox Soccer Channel matches are also on tap.

The full schedule, after the jump.