Does Ray understand the draft?

[monster]

Logan Pause has played 545 minutes. He was the 24th pick.

Damani Ralph has played 293 minutes, scored twice and assisted on one goal. He was the 18th pick.

Tim Regan has played 244 minutes. He was the 17th pick.

Kenny Arena has played 153 minutes. He was the 32nd pick.

Casey Schmidt has played 262 minutes. He was the 48th pick.

Matt Crawford has played 205 minutes. He was the 38th pick.

Even Ryan Fugataki has played 17 minutes. he was the 54th pick.

But Ray can't find a chance to "bleed in" two of the top 11 players in the draft on a team that has won once in nine games.

"I would've loved to have bled some of these players in earlier, but every game has been on a knife edge and we've been incapable of giving them the minutes they need."

Yeah, Ray. They might have, you know, scored a goal or played the ball forward. God forbid they not learn how to properly accost an official from Hristo before getting their minutes. :rolleyes: I know the people who have seen Carroll and Stokes have had mixed reviews, but they can't do much more harm than the guys we've put out there.

Tell Trask to take a long walk on a short pier and lets get someone who knows what they are doing tell you what tacticts you should use.

[Sandon Mibut]

I couldn't have said it better myself.

I watch a lot of college soccer and go to a lot of games in the DC area, mostly Maryland and my school, UVa but also Georgetown and George Mason.

At those games, I often spot an MLS coach.

I have never run into Ray Hudson at a college game.

Some buddies of mine from college try to get together at the ACC Tourney every year. This past year, I was there in Cary, NC and saw eight different MLS head coaches with Ray and Sigi The Hut being the only ones I didn't see. (And when Ray wins some hardware like Sigi has, he can skip whatever he wants.)

Getting international players is great but you don't win in this league without good, cheap Americans and the place you get most of them is the draft.

[JohnR]

Side note, but this guy's expiration date has passed.

Miami played well for a year, yes. However, the goodwill is gone. DC United is bad, ugly, and thuggish -- the least attractive team in MLS, aside from possibly Colorado. Ray doesn't seem to have much appreciation for the U.S. way of doing things, and the postgame has morphed into Wenger-style whining.

He's tiresome and unsuccessful. Bye, Ray.

[Jose L. Couso]

This is a MAJOR weakness of Ray Hudson.

[Lanky134]

Ray thought he'd rely on the veterans to get us going, but they didn't. Now he's relying on them to pull us out.

http://www.borisbj21.com/photos/genius.jpg

[Knave]

That was a rhetorical question in the title of this thread, right?

[DigitalTron]

A lot of good opinions here. Sandon (and Monster and others) has been pointing this out for quite some time. The proof is in the pudding. Coaches that scout find a gem or two. With the exception of Logan Pause, all of the players on Monster's list were pleasant surprises. But, only Schmidt, Ralph, Pause and Regan have a chance to become good MLS players. I thought Casey Schmidt might be a sleeper, but I wouldn't have guessed guys like Damani Ralph would have made the transition so effortlessly.

A coach like Bob Bradley can take a solid player like Regan or Arena and cover for their weaknesses well. It doesn't mean the player is going to be good just because they play as a rookie.

I have also been critical of Hudson's draft strategies, but I do believe that David Stokes will be a very good MLS player. And, none of these MLS coaches would have criticized Hudson for taking Esky. I always preferred Ricardo Clark (and hopefully everyone sees why now ;)) but for a team in need of finishing, Esky was a fine pick. I'm confident that on any other team Esky would have already scored.

IMHO, what this particular team needs to succeed this season is for Ray to add another assistant who concentrates on the offense. Make sure that assistant has just as much say in the tactics as Trask does. Frankly, I think Trask is a good defensive coach. But the instant we win the ball, he needs to let someone else coach this team. Ray is the motivator, he needs an offensive tactician. Ironically, Thomas Rongen would have been a great match for that staff, because that's the one thing he always did very well.

Speaking of drafting, Rongen's teams failed because of poor defense, with the worst element being in Dmid. Rongen drafted Ryan Nelsen to play Dmid to solve that problem. By the time Nelsen grew into that spot, Rongen was already fired. The other major holes were a central partner for Pope (which Nelsen eventually filled by the end of Rongen's last season) and right back. Rongen tried to obtain Milton Reyes. Again, because of the World Cup timing, he wasn't affordable until after Rongen had been fired. I sometimes wonder what this team would have looked like if Rongen were still coach with the veterans Ray brought in, Trask's defensive skills, and Rongen's eye for talent.

-Digital

[jmsdoc]

I agree! Hey, Ray, blood the effing young guys before we lose every effing game in the effing league this effing year and we have to throw a effing grenade down your effing chicken throat to get your effing attention.....oh, eff, I'm sorry!

John

[Lanky134]

Originally posted by DigitalTron
A lot of good opinions here. Sandon (and Monster and others) has been pointing this out for quite some time. The proof is in the pudding. Coaches that scout find a gem or two. With the exception of Logan Pause, all of the players on Monster's list were pleasant surprises.

But the point is that our draft picks haven't been given the chance to prove themselves to determine if they are gems or not. The veterans are not doing their job, and yet he's sticking with them.

[juventusfan10]

I think that Ray is confused at the direction the club should be going. DCU shouldnt be going with veterans, when we have a large amount of talent. I agree with one of the ealier posts, how do we know if the draft was succesful unless we let the young players prove themselveS??? We really should knock some sense into ray hudson's head, and tell him that we should head towards a younger more evergetic team... if it doesnt, work this season, at least they are getting valueble experience, that they wouldnt get riding the pine. Thats all i have to say, if ray doesnt want to change, im sure we can find a fine replacement.

[doctorjim]

Too right. You will never know how good a player will be until you give him a chance on the pitch. And a chance is not just a few minutes in garbage time. Look around the league at players Ray couldn't find time for --Lisi, Ziadie, Mapp -- all playing and contributing. Look at other teams approach to improving -- youth, youth, youth. Chicago's bench is a virtual soccer kindergarten -- but, if only a few of their youngsters make the grade, the Fire could be awesome in a year or two.

Bring back Rongen!!! (Only sort of a joke.!!)

[MikeLastort2]

Bradley is starting four rookies for the Metros today.

[JoeW]

I think there is a little bit of revisionist history going on here.

1. Rongen's teams also had a terrible record on set plays (defending them). They also gave up a lot of soft goals at the end of the half and end of the game. And he had a team of veterans (Agoos, Llamosa, Richie Williams, Eddie Pope, etc.) that gave up more goals than anyone else in MLS in 2000. And if you think I'm being harsh, look at his performance in NE where he basically remade the team in two consecutive years and his personnel choices (and most of his draft picks) didn't work out. I'm not convinced that if Rongen had been given another year or two, that this team would be better.

2. The stats for rookies playing ignores a crucial fact: some teams are FORCED to play their draftees b/c of their cap situation. Metro is a great example. They are so cap strapped that John Wolyniec has had several starts for them. So is Chicago--where they had to start rookies from day 1 b/c of the cap. For all the arguments about youth (and I'm in favor of it) and developing young talent, if it hadn't been for the cap, there is no way Chicago trades us Kovalenko for Mapp--they'd have laughed at that deal if cap wasn't a consideration. Wilt pretty much said that afterwards (that the deal was totally cap driven). If there was no cap in MLS, Stoichkov and Daniv and Nowak and Wolff would still be with Chicago and most of those Fire rookies mentioned previously wouldn't have been given PT. It's mostly a function of depth and that is a function of cap.

Look at Columbus as in illustration of this point. Diego Walsh (in terms of ability to play from day 1) was probably one of the top 5 rookies in MLS. How many minutes has he gotten this season? And that's b/c Columbus is a deep team.

Or Shavar Thomas with Dallas? Is it b/c Jeffries hates rookies? Or maybe it's b/c Dallas is a deep team and so a guy like Thomas (who, at the time they were drafted, was probably a better defender than Stokes--though I think Stokes has more of an up-side) can't get any PT.

If you look at the draft, he recognized that Clark was a great pick (ie: the proposed deal to Metro to trade all our other picks for the pick that became Clark) and he publicly said that there were 2 guys in the draft who were instant starters (meaning Eskandarian and Clark). You can argue he should have chosen Pause over Carroll but even then you'd have to admit Carroll ain't a bad pick. You can argue he might have taken Warren later (but have to admit the team needed a #2 GK, Warren was the best available, and the A-league options ended up slim b/c of a GK shortage). Even the later round picks (Swann, "Woodstock") were good choices.

Maybe he got lucky, but I have a very hard time being critical of him for this draft. Like I said, maybe you argue for Pause over Carroll--but at this point I think that's a narrow complaint (especially since Carroll is local). Maybe Thomas over Stokes (but Stokes is local and has a better upside and is a US citizen). Maybe Clark over Eskandarian (but see D-tron's comments about a finisher). You go through the entire list of draftees and at absolute worst, they're solid picks that made sense--even the ones that didn't stick.

There is a lot to be critical of Hudson for. But let's be realistic here about the criticism--he's being blamed for just about everything here but the state of the world economy and the outbreak of SARS!

[GrillMaster]

Too right, JW!!

Further, many of the posters on BS criticize players if they ever hang their heads. Yet the majority of those fans posting here seem to have hung their heads at the adversity. Hipocrisy?

I am hopeful that we'll get 6 points in the next two games. That said, I'm not terribly optimistic unless Ray's threatened changes have the desired effect.

I'm pretty down about our season to date, too. But I'm not yet ready to throw in the towel.

See you at the game. Our fans should be there without making excuses.

GM

[amyep]

Well...Since no one else has....A draft that Ray understands....
http://www.breweriana.com/tabicdraftblack.JPG

(come on guys....you knew some one would do it eventually)

[Freestyle2000]

Originally posted by GrillMaster
Too right, JW!!

Further, many of the posters on BS criticize players if they ever hang their heads. Yet the majority of those fans posting here seem to have hung their heads at the adversity. Hipocrisy?


Yeah. Sure. Because those of us who have to pay money to see the team should be judged the exact same way as those who get paid to play. Yeah, we're massive ************ing hypocrites.

RS

[Knave]

Originally posted by MikeLastort2
Bradley is starting four rookies for the Metros today.
Most all of the rookies and teenagers contributed quite nicely for both sides in that match.

[rymannryan]

Originally posted by Knave
Most all of the rookies and teenagers contributed quite nicely for both sides in that match.


As a soccer player myself, seeing how well Eddie Gaven played today is discouraging because he's three months younger than me. Mike Magee is a good player, but he needs a little practice in the air after seeing today's game.

[The Artist]

Didn't Ray draft Daouda Kante twice when it seemed like no one else had heard of him? Ray seems to do quite well in the draft, he just doesn't play the guys after he drafts them. That's a totally different argument. Judging by his willingness to give serious minutes to Chino and Namoff this year, his decision to play Bobby more centrally, and starting Tino the first few games Ray seems to believe that with a few exceptions most young players are better served developing in low pressure situations but that after a year or two they are ready for much more. By next year Carroll and Stokes might be important players. You can definitely argue with Ray's philosophy but I don't think there's a lot of evidence that playing a lot of minutes your rookie year is the only way to develop. Guys like Razov and Quill barely got any playing time as rookies while players like Jason Moore and Tahj Jakins not only played a lot but were supposedly the top college players to start with. I'm not sure what exactly Ray's philosophy is on development but it's definitely not as simplistic as "young American college players just aren't good enough."

[shawn12011]

Here is a observation that is accurate about a flaw the Ray has regarding rookies. In the last two games Ray has missed a opportunity. He has had one sub left and 2-0 and 3-0 leads where he could have used those subs. These were both opportunites to give 5-7 minutes of playing time to either Carroll or Stokes. The simple forawrd for a deefender sub where the risk is low and these guys could get something other than intersquad scrimmage action. This is factual proof that RAy does have a problem in developing young players. Any Tom, Dick or Harry could simply insert a Eskandarian as his talent level is obvious. There are other players that need a more proactive approach and two straight weeks Ray has missed that opportunity.