Practice Notes & Quotes 09-17-02

[Diceson]

Stuff from Tueday's practice:
http://unitedmania.mlsfansites.com/story.php?news_ID=200797&PHPSESSID=f9c08d6ad150fc08387ed5f72e5d07ef

[go_united_go]

How much does playing a wounded Dallas team – missing starters, losing a couple of games – mean anything?

RH: “I couldn’t careless. If this was the blind school we were playing I would be telling the guys to cut their heads off. I couldn’t careless. That’s the kind of vengeful attitude we’ve got to have because those are the sorts of games that everyone starts coming down 10 - 15%, and the combine effect, we lose those games. So we’ve got to be, like I said . . . we’ve got to have wicked intentions on Thursday, and it doesn’t matter if they’re missing a player or they are hobbled. We are too.”

Gotta love RH

[K]

D What about Moreno?
R “Jaime is still injured.”

D Is his a physical injury or a mental one?
R “I don’t know. I have no idea.”

Well, Okey dokie

K

[Cweedchop]

Good news on all fronts except one..

Moreno is so gone after this season it's not even funny..



On the good news front, Quaranta should be available for late game duty (perhaps finally shutting the curtain on the disaster that was Roy Lassiter), about 15 minutes according to Hudson..


Also of note, Hudson said (and I pointed out as well in the pregame thread - points for me!!) that the starting forward duo of Zambrano and Quintanilla will be starting again because despite not scoring any goals together yet, they have somewhat set an early tone of posession and ability to get inside the box.. So basically, this means Curtis stays in his now trademark Cobi super sub role, where he belongs by the way....

I feel good going into this match.. In fact, I'm coming home from Philadelphia to watch this match in person....

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by K
D What about Moreno?
R “Jaime is still injured.”

D Is his a physical injury or a mental one?
R “I don’t know. I have no idea.”




Ouch baby, very ouch........


Maybe an offseason of pure physical dedication will change Hudson's mind about Moreno...

That is basically all that will save Jaime in DC at this point.. Anything less and he will be released...

[Jose L. Couso]

Excellent report Diceson!

Thank you!

I am so pumped up for the game on Thursday!

BACK IN BLACK!

[DC Forever]

I say go Ray! If Moreno is something less than 100% disabled and he's unwilling to go out and give whatever he's got to help put the club over the top, than ****************** him. He's was a great player for us for years, and has shown recently that he can still make an impact even if his scoring touch is off. But if he's sitting out now without being absolutely unable to play, then we should send his fat a** to New Jersey or Los Angeles or some other place where childish behavior is par for the course.

On another note, does it bother anybody else how besotted Ray still is with his Miami teams? It seems like every interview he's talking about how wonderful they were, how everything happened exactly the way he wishes it would here, etc. Get over it. You're here now. The Fusion don't even exist anymore.

Just a pet peave . . .

[TEConnor]

The big question I come away with is this: Richie or Chino? Ray said he has his mind made up...we'll see who he goes with. I sincerely hope it is Chino. He deserves the shot. I'm behind him.

Tim

[eltico]

Originally posted by K
D What about Moreno?
R “Jaime is still injured.”

D Is his a physical injury or a mental one?
R “I don’t know. I have no idea.”

Well, Okey dokie

K

When Hudson is brief and to the point it can mean one of a few things.

(a) He is really pissed.
(b) He really doesn't give a damn.
(c) The player in question is not even registering in his personal world view.
(d) All of the above.

I'd say (d), and Jaime is screwed.

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by TEConnor
The big question I come away with is this: Richie or Chino? Ray said he has his mind made up...we'll see who he goes with. I sincerely hope it is Chino. He deserves the shot. I'm behind him.

Tim

I think based on the last game certainly Chino deserves the shot but Williams matches up much better with Pareja than Chino does..

One thing to remember is that perhaps the worst game Chino ever played in a United kit was against Dallas and Pareja last season in Dallas as Chino was yanked at halftime.. He was simply dreadful in that match..

I'm not saying this is a deciding factor in Hudson's decision but it is something to think about..

We need to press forward and get the victory, with Prideaux out of the lineup and Reyes's proclivity to get forward, having a defense only guy like Williams is probably the better way to go, though I will concede that Chino's transition from defense to offense is light years ahead of Williams ability.. Just watch the replay of the Mutts game and see how quickly he changes the direction of the ball with BOTH feet, something that Williams and a great deal of MLS players fail to do on a regular basis..

I just wish Chino was a little faster and bigger, he would be the prototypical 21st Century defensive midfielder - tough on the ball with the ability to start the offense...

[DigitalTron]

Hudson wants to build a team around his hand-picked pillars. His agenda requires salary cap space. He's held his auditions, found that Etch answered the bell. All other non-essential personnel with high salaries will be purged from the roster. Pope is deemed essential, because he shows up for big games and is a stalwart USMNT performer. (I don't believe that Hudson has the pull to dislodge Pope even if he wanted to).

Williams is deemed replaceable. Moreno is deemed unreliable. I think Ray is waivering on Prideaux, who is an excellent player and very dependable, but not exactly what Ray wants. Pope, Reyes and Nelsen will start, and Ray wants a 3 man back line, so the question is whether those three are so undependable to be able to afford a medium-priced sub? McKinley was promised a raise, will be kept and will receive his raise. This sorta makes Prideaux the odd man out. If Ray deals Prideaux, I fear that it would be a colossal mistake.

I think Ray is eying the Revolution. My guess (founded on absolutely nothing ;)) is that Ray wants Rooney as his Dmid. He may play Etch as a holding mid (sort of like a roving offensive libero) with Convey as the primary attacking mid.

He intends to add one high profile international up top, and a second probably in the midfield. Hopefully the rumors of Tyson Nunez as the forward are true, because he'd score consistently. Despite his mighty-mite Richie-esque size, they guy can sky and is an aerial threat. He's crafty like Twellman, spirited like Ruiz, and fast like Curtis. Could he work well with Santino ... dunno, but Santino has worked very well with Moreno and Albright, so maybe.

-Tron

[vincero]

Hudson is an idiot at times.

Speak clearly on the Moreno situation. This "I dont know" BS is not going to help improve the situation. I am a huge Moreno fan but if he has decided he does not want to give it his all then dump him. If its a minor psychosis keep him around awhile, while looking at other players.

In the past he emphatically stated that Convey was no inside mid. He has been the difference in the middle.

Some people are better in practice and some better in games. Ray loosely states Mapp may be a game player. Nice to find out in the second to the last
game. If we would have trotted out Alavanja a few more times we might never know.

I think Ray will go with Ritchie this game feeling they need greater defensive depth with Namoff. And he has more grit and spit and has more championships, but lacks skill.

[ursula]

I dunno. I still have the intuition that Nellie is gone this winter. That would close the Prideaux question unless his salary is such that we could replace him with someone cheaper, like in the draft.

Also Namoff has a golden opportunity to be a factor on this team on defense if he does well Thursday and (heaven help us) the playoffs. Basically becasue of injuries Namoff is being given the same chance as Moreno was starting in the SJ game (on the left coast). Moreno has messed up his chance but Namoff has a chance to make the team by playing solid.

If Namoff does make the squad then we'd have these guys next year: Pope, Reyes, McKinley, Namoff, probably Prideaux (or someone like him), and (I'll say) possibly Nelsen. That's 6-7 roster spots (with Namoff's being a developmental spot) for three starting spots. That's about one-third of the roster.

Then there's McGinity and the kid, Rimando.

In midfield, Etcheverry, Convey, Mappy, Alegria, Olsen, with the three question marks of Williams (I think he's about a 66% chance to stay),Villegas (doubtful because we won't give him a raise) and Alevanja (I have no idea).

So far 10-13 regular roster spots and three developmental spots.

Then we get the biggest question marks at forward. Moreno's 95% gone. The Tyson Nunez possibility- be still my heart. THAT might be the one big roster move we make this winter. At any rate a new expensive forward will be the big splurge. Tino stays. Curtis I think will stay as the last forward. Quintinilla stays, but regardless of what Hudson says, I think Zambrano is gone. Lassiter of course is gone. We'll have 4-5 forwards.

That leaves one or two roster spots that will fall into place with trades and the draft.

[GoDC]

Skip, why do you think Nelsen is gone??

[Red&Black]

i got the impression at the ray hudson question night that the first and foremost thing on his mind is a bigger, better two-way d mid. i think he believes marco is effective only when someone can fire the offense a little deeper and let etch push up behind the forwards (and analysis i agree with).

this tyson nunez thing is just Chico's fantasy, it'll never happen.

it seems to me from two conversations with ray, he feels there are very good players available for cheap in eastern europe. my guess is that this where united will find new players.

i am also not sure that the "i don't know" is simply BS. i think that neither jaime or ray know what the hell is wrong with him and why he isn't getting better.

i wonder if nelsen will truly be gone. i don't know how serious his injury is, but he can't move to europe until after the new year according to new transfer rules, will he be recovered enough, etc.

anyway, i wish i could share the faith that we might get a stud forward but my guess is that ultimately they will try jaime again and spend what they can to shore up the midfield.

[CHICO13]

Originally posted by Red&Black


this tyson nunez thing is just Chico's fantasy, it'll never happen.


Although I like Tyson Nunez, he's not really my fantasy player. He was just one of a couple of names I threw at Ray at the Q&A. The other being Jose Castillo, a Bolivian kid tearing up the Bolivian clausura again. Ray said(and this was off the record) that no way could we afford Castillo as he's probably going to the MFL. But when I asked him about Nunez he gave me a big smile and said maybe. Personally I'd rather have a Dante Washington type player who gives us a more aerial game up front. But in a perfect scenario I'd rather Jaime got his shi.. together and played like I know he's capable of.

[GlennAA11]

I guess Ray's comments re: Moreno (both explicit and reading between the lines) jumped out at everyone. What is his contract status? It's not like we can just release him and his salary, can we?

I agree that RH needs to get over his wistfulness for Miami.

Why do we have to keep McKinley? He's not going to get any faster, and he's probably not going to get any less injury prone. He has done some good things, but he's also done some horrificially bad things this season. Shouldn't we be looking for a player with more longevity? If we're going to have up and down players why spend our money on an old McKinley? He's not indispensible. Obviously RH feels some loyalty to him, but he says he's going to be ruthless in fixing hte team.

[Jose L. Couso]

Originally posted by GlennAA11
Why do we have to keep McKinley? He's not going to get any faster, and he's probably not going to get any less injury prone. He has done some good things, but he's also done some horrificially bad things this season. Shouldn't we be looking for a player with more longevity? If we're going to have up and down players why spend our money on an old McKinley? He's not indispensible. Obviously RH feels some loyalty to him, but he says he's going to be ruthless in fixing hte team.

I agree that the loyalty factor is very high in Ray Hudson's mind re McKinley.

What I think will happen (and this is just speculation on my part) is that McKinley will be back...


...as an assistant coach.

Taking the place of departing Curt Onalfo (I believe that I read it here in BS. I don't remember where, but it could have been in Diceson's practive notes).

[Diceson]

Originally posted by Jose L. Couso
. . . .Taking the place of departing Curt Onalfo (I believe that I read it here in BS. I don't remember where, but it could have been in Diceson's practive notes).

Wasn't in any practice notes. I asked about the possibility and DCUnited people just laughed - they laugh about a lot of the rumors, whether they end up being true or not.

To the best of my knowledge there has always been three assistant coaches - primary, goalkeeping, and a third (usually one of the local college coaches on a p/t basis). I would find it hard to believe that they've made a decision this early in next season. I also find it hard to think that CO's job is in jeopardy for several reasons. First, he's the guy who is the "extra body" during scrimmages. It seems insignificant, but with MNT call-ups, injuries, etc just having enough people for a full scrimmage, who can practice at this level, is a problem. Second, because he's practicing with the team, the players respect him. I get the feeling he's the go-to guy when a player has a problem with RH. Finally, he's the only coach that speaks spanish - Reyes, Zambrano, Quintinilla. I've got to figure there are times when you don't want to use Moreno or Etcheverry as an interpreter.

His job might be shifted to include other duties (TD of Youth Teams, Team Scout, etc), but I can't see them releasing him. Much like the rest of the roster time will tell.

[TEConnor]

Originally posted by Diceson


Wasn't in any practice notes. I asked about the possibility and DCUnited people just laughed - they laugh about a lot of the rumors, whether they end up being true or not.

To the best of my knowledge there has always been three assistant coaches - primary, goalkeeping, and a third (usually one of the local college coaches on a p/t basis). I would find it hard to believe that they've made a decision this early in next season. I also find it hard to think that CO's job is in jeopardy for several reasons. First, he's the guy who is the "extra body" during scrimmages. It seems insignificant, but with MNT call-ups, injuries, etc just having enough people for a full scrimmage, who can practice at this level, is a problem. Second, because he's practicing with the team, the players respect him. I get the feeling he's the go-to guy when a player has a problem with RH. Finally, he's the only coach that speaks spanish - Reyes, Zambrano, Quintinilla. I've got to figure there are times when you don't want to use Moreno or Etcheverry as an interpreter.

His job might be shifted to include other duties (TD of Youth Teams, Team Scout, etc), but I can't see them releasing him. Much like the rest of the roster time will tell.

I have no basis for this ridiculous assertion...but maybe he was the mystery leak that Ray was trying so hard to track down...just a wild ass guess.

Tim