Erpen sucks. His defending is awful. He is constantly caught out of position, doesn't mark well, and tries so hard to be a flashy, impressive player that he ends up having to make dangerous, high-risk plays to make up for his other shortcomings. I've been on the Fire Facu bandwagon for some time. But, you know, I had an idea last night. Don't fire him, use him differently. Because he's not a bad *player*. He's got wheels, he has plenty of guts, he's tall, and he has an excellent outside shot. Which make him a good candidate for an outside midfielder. We really, REALLY need a couple of good, solid defenders. Not just one more, but 2 or maybe even three. Maybe we could trade Erpen for one, but I wouldn't be too quick to ditch him entirely. We might well be able to make something out of him--just not a defender.
Erpen isn't an outside player. He should be the libero in a 4 man backline. Remove the full time requirement of marking up, encourage him to get forward, let him clog up passing lanes, and look to set him up for those outside shots. That's what Soehn should do. Hell, play him at D-mid for that matter.
Maybe you are right, but moving him doesn't mean that he won't be out of position up farther up the field. I don't know if someone is telling him this for when his is on the field, but... KEEP YOUR FEET!! YOU ARE KILLING US!
Not to excuse, but there was a lot more wrong with last night's (or the end of last season's) game(s) than Facu. Always thought he'd be good as a stopper in a diamond backline. Boz at sweeper. Namoff at one wing defender, and <insert strong, stay at home type here> at other. Start with Emilio as the only striker and bring on Jaime to change the game against less-than-fresh legs, or to preserve a lead. Go fast early, skillful late. Since we seem to get gummed up just outside the box anyway, having 2 people up top just doesn't seem to be working, and this might also help us to bring in younger, faster players as subs and in starting roles. Anyway, its at least as good an idea as starting Moose and de Roux.
"Keep Your feet," as in, don't slip, the way Namoff did vs. Olimpia, and the way Gros did last night on the 2nd goal? And what are your plans for Namoff and Boswell, who've played at least as badly so far this year? Erpen was "out of position" on the second goal because he was up for a corner kick, something defenders the world over do. Is John Terry "out of position" when he moves up for Chelsea corners? Was Erpen "out of position" when he scored on a corner aganst Olimpia? I'm assuming people would say Erpen is the last of our three defenders responsible for the third goal, when Johnson raced ahead of Namoff, and Boswell was a little too slow to react after Carroll's giveaway (and I really don't blame Boz or Namoff all that much on the goal). Erpen slipped on a wet field and his man raced past him. Usually, there's some cover. Last night, there wasn't. But let's see, home game vs. Olimpia, Namoff slips on a wet field, compounds the problem by making a rash challenge, and gives up a PK. Is there really any difference there other than that Namoff is Namoff and Erpen is Erpen? In the three threads that are now dedicated to Erpen, I've seen almost no metion of his (primary) assist last night, presumably because it makes it too complicated for some fans to think that a defender might do something other than stand around in the front corner of his box. Touch for touch and play for play, Boswell has played worse than Erpen the first two MLS games, and that's not even factoring in Erpen's assist last night. I really hope we start the same three in the back in two weeks, and that Sohn has a little patience with a team that I thought played damn well in the CCC.
Mistakes kill defenses, Erpen easily makes the most mistakes in the back. It's not really that hard to see is it?
DCU's defensive problems were apparent last year. It's unfortunate management didn't move to shore up the defense up in the off season. Maybe the suits should check out of European transfer lists and bring in a journeyman to help fill the holes pending the arrival (hopefully) of some young talent on defense. Meantime, DCU must switch from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2. Slowing down the goals-against is the primary task. Move Erpen inside and play Olsen, McTavish, Gros or Carroll at right back. Gros has not looked his normal self on the wing this season anyway. Play deRoux or Casal on the left wing to bring speed to this side. Play Fred at the right wing, with lots of overlapping from the right back. The first two MLS matches have not been pretty. Soehn has to make changes.
If I wanted a defender whose primary asset to the team is the occasional assist or goal then I'd get a midfielder instead. Maybe Erpen gets too much individual blame. Nonetheless Erpen is the symbol of this team's utter lack of defensive seriousness.
Forgive my laziness but how much is Erpen making a season? IMO if its more then 120K a year theres no spot for him on this team at defense or any where else on the field. I don't think we've ever gave a guy making so many mistakes a game so many chances, am I right?
Off the top of my head (and in the past five years): Galin Ivanov David Stokes Devin Barclay Ali Curtis Nick Rimando Freddy Adu Bobby Convey Brandon Prideaux Bobby Boswell Christian Gomez Jaime Moreno Brian Carroll Josh Gros All those players (yes, all of them) have been villified (whether warranted or not) for making multiple mistakes during a game. Some worked out, some didn't, but throwing a single player under the bus ignores the countless others who were just as bad in the same game or in similar positions.
Lets see we finally did let Ivanov go. Stokes is no where near Erpen's level I mean how many starts has Stokes had, he was never more then just a sub? Same goes with Barclay just a sub getting garbage minutes. The last 7 on that list I hope are a joke, two MVP's, defender of the year and two other Nat team players. Sure everyone has a bad game but none of these guys has made a bonehead play that kills us in just about every game hes ever played for us. I'd say Adu and Curtis are two good examples though.
So you're basically claiming selective memory as an excuse? I mean Bobby Boswell and Brian Carroll have had several mistake-laden games over just the last month, but you conveniently forget about those? You don't like Erpen, fine. But don't try to convince me that he's the only area of concern DC has right now as far as defense goes. Otherwise, he's just a convenient scapegoat for the boatload of deficiencies this team has right now.
That's not what he meant. Do what you like with the claim the poster made, but it was that he makes "so many mistakes" (plural) per game--implication being he does so reliably.
And convenient because he makes more money than most (probably all) of the other guys who haven't gotten it done. Caroll and Boswell have made mistakes--they also made about $25k less than Erpen combined in 2006. (Caroll probably makes a little more in '07 than in '06, but we don't really know yet). (fwiw, we also have the problem that he's a foreigner who'll be taking up an SI spot next season, though that's obviously more of a long term concern.)
When Bobby had that poor stretch of play with those own goals he got benched. Same goes with Carroll and Adu they've both been benched after poor games. All I'm saying is that we've never benched Erpen after a poor game, especially after the NY playoff series last year any other play on our squad not named Gomez would've been benched the next game. I just don't understand why the guy has gotten a free pass for so long Wow calm down, show me where exactly I tried to convince you Erpen is our only problem? You sure you ain't confusing me with another post?
I really don't see how making Erpen a central defender or even a libero will solve his biggest problem, which is that he is AWFUL at man-marking and clearly hates playing defense. He is costantly out of position. He gives the ball away much more frequently than any of our other players. If Erpen can't do a better job *in the role he's been assigned to* than someone like Stokes (was even a serious comparions?) then he should not be on the team. If he can't do the job he's assigned to, then the problem is in his head and his attitude, not his skills.
The question is whether Erpen is better than some big dumb oaf, all-mid-major-conference team selection in college, that could be drafted in the third round of the draft. There are too many of these guys floating around the league doing competently-well that that must be the point of comparison. Do we get anything extra with Erpen, anything better? And why hasn't DC drafted any oafs the last couple of years (beside Boswell. I suppose that's the question, whether there is room for more than one BDO on a team.) PS - By "dumb," I don't mean inarticulate or stupid, just unadventurous and willing to inflict pain.
Not when I wear my killer new glasses from Bobbyboswell.com. They're great. I never see anything he does wrong....which is, like, a lot. Seriously, Boswell was just a timid little boy against EJ all night. Just poor. Poor.
I wasn't even talking about the slippage. That can happen to anyone. I am talking about the pointless bicycle kicks, the sliding tackles that take a defender out of the play, and the consistant falling when defending. Yes, he has a great shot, and he has good vision for passing. The fact still remains that he is a defender and he is not defending well. The rest is just gravy.
I wish. Seriously though I don't think Erpen has that much value anymore, I mean Onalfo said it himself he wanted to attack on Erpen's side. Everyone in the league knows how vulnerable he is, its got to a point where hes the joke of the league. Its gonna be hard if not impossible to get anything of value in a trade involving Erpen.