I hate being proven wrong

[Cantankerous]

Stokes. Oy!

I was pleased to see him given a chance on Saturday. I was doubly pleased to see a four-man back line, because that's a less dangerous and stressful way to break in a defender. I was hoping he would show signs of overcoming some of his weaknesses from Wednesday, and build on some of the good points.

He looked bad. Shakier than I thought he'd be; slower than I expected. He marked worse than I hoped.

All in all, not a good outing at all. He also ventured forward more than I thought he would, esp. since most of the time he wasn't getting back quickly enough to cover his man.

He's a strong young kid, and wins more than his share of balls in the air, but the primary responsibility of a defender is to defend, and right now he doesn't do that well enough to warrant a place on the field.

I'll stand by my earlier statement that I think he can develop into a good player, but he needs work - a lot of work. And on a team that must rely upon its defense to cover for an attack that doesn't score much, it's tough to justify getting a run out too often.

[TEConnor]

Yea, he flat out sucked. As wrong as Hudson was about Carroll's ability, he was dead on with Stokes...5 year project.

Now, how on earth did we blow a #5 pick on this guy?!? Stupid, stupid, stupid draft pick by Hudtraskper.

Tim

[Sandon Mibut]

Now, how on earth did we blow a #5 pick on this guy?!? Stupid, stupid, stupid draft pick by Hudtraskper.Preach on! I said it at the time they took him that they took Stokes too high and were passing on too many good players and I maintained that all last year.

Yet another item to add to the growing list of why Kasper should also be fired.

I think Stokes still has potential but he is raw and just needs games. Someone needs to sit down with him and let him know that he can't have his head up his ass when he goes to the A-League and that he needs to take those games seriously as they are key to his development and impact, greatly, his chances of playing again in MLS.

[TAKK]

Look on the bright side, while Carrol and Stokes are obviously limited you have Gros. As a Metro fan I hate to give props to any DC player, but with the Freddy tour dominating TV DC is on constantly. Gros gets better every match. Just have to wonder what the ceiling could be on him. Just watching him you see a player with a huge upside while handling himself well now.
Where was he picked? Just curious because I don't know. What do DC fans think of him?

[MeridianFC]

I thought Stokes looked terrible. Doesn't change my opinion from the other thread (he'll won't always be as terrible as he his now, but he certianly doesn't look like he'll be world class).

[AB727]

Look on the bright side, while Carrol and Stokes are obviously limited you have Gros. As a Metro fan I hate to give props to any DC player, but with the Freddy tour dominating TV DC is on constantly. Gros gets better every match. Just have to wonder what the ceiling could be on him. Just watching him you see a player with a huge upside while handling himself well now.
Where was he picked? Just curious because I don't know. What do DC fans think of him?

I'm sure I'll be corrected if wrong, but I believe he was a fourth round pick out of Rutgers.

As far as I can tell, we all love Gros.

[jmsdoc]

Stokes will not be a mls player for two reasons only--heart and desire. I believe one is born with variable measure of these less tangible attributes and he doesn't have them. One may be taught some of this at a very early age, but like so much of child rearing...it's pretty much done by the teen years. In my opinion we need to release this young man and move on. There are other endeavers in life that do not require physical effort or indeed "heart and desire" that he may excell in.

This may seem harsh and of course I don't know him personally, but his play seems self explanatory to me.

[TEConnor]

Look on the bright side, while Carrol and Stokes are obviously limited you have Gros. As a Metro fan I hate to give props to any DC player, but with the Freddy tour dominating TV DC is on constantly. Gros gets better every match. Just have to wonder what the ceiling could be on him. Just watching him you see a player with a huge upside while handling himself well now.
Where was he picked? Just curious because I don't know. What do DC fans think of him?

First off, I want to say that speaking for myself alone, Brian Carrol is still one of the best things to happen to DC's midfield in a long time. He may have had two poor games, but the majority of his play this season has been far above average. I think that he is suffering a bit of the rookie season (didn't play a minute last, so this is, in effect, his rookie season) swale. He'll return to form when he doesn't have to shoulder all of the load in the middle of midfield and defense simultaneously.

Now, as for Gros, my opinion is that he is better at this point of his rookie season than Olsen was during his first year. Granted, Gros is 2 years older than Ben was at the comparable time, but he has shown several rare talents and abilities for DC United draft picks the past 5 years: skill, athleticism, and attitude. Few of our other draft picks the past 5 years have had all three (including Convey, Quaranta, etc.). So in a nutshell, speaking for myself, I am thrilled that DC actually found a good player from a draft! Better than you can say about many a kid we picked up. It's too early to say much more.

Cheers,
Tim

[TAKK]

Thanks for the replies. I agree whole heartedly about the attitude. I love watching him. Guys like EJ, Mapp and Santino do not seem to have that edge. Makes a big difference. Brought those guys up because they are about the same age and they were all highly touted, but none of them seem to attack the field like Gros does. We have Clarkie, but he can't even get on the field now. Thanks for the info guys. Good luck against all - except us of course!