Novak meeting Thought I'd go ahead and register and provide some insight on this thread... I was at a reception for Peter Novak at the Polish embassy this week. There was a long Q&A session. Bobby Convey's role came up in one question. Peter said that Convey would play in the middle of the field and run the offense (I believe he referred to Bobby as the new Marco Etcheverry). I can't remember his exact wording -- but he believes that Bobby's place is in the middle of the park. SR
... mod's note ... srichens - Welcome to the boards. I thought this was newsworthy enough and sufficiently different from the discussion in its old thread to merit splitting it out and setting it up in a thread of its own.
I'm guessing no one's going to take 10 until 2005 as a way to honor Marco without retiring the number permanently.
Folks - If you please the who wears the #10 now that Etch is gone question has already been debated endlessly on this board. Let's stick to the matter at hand - Convey's position on this team and it's implications for how we'll lineup and play next year.
I've been advocating for this for over a year, so I'm happy. I predict that Convey and Stewart are going to work very well together. I really believe that Earnie fits in well with Bobby's quick give-and-go attack style much more than with Hristo and Marco's slow build-up approach. So who plays the vacated wing? Freddy? Reyes? Q2?
This is good to know, though apparently only Ray Hudson seems to be think he is better served on the left for whatever reason.. I'm glad Bobby has taken these two opportunities (U-20 WC and Olympic qualifiers) to show people that he can indeed be effective from the middle of the field.. Like I said a month ago when Nowak was hired, if there is any player out there in MLS who resembles, or has the potential to resemble Nowak, it's Convey.. As for who will play the vacated left wing, well, we'll cross bridge when we get to it.. To me, having an effective player in the middle is more important to this team right now..
Thank you for the welcomes -- I've lurked on this board since it was called SoccerBoards.com -- I used to post a lot on SoccerAmerica.com before its bulletin board was ruined. Here are some other items from the Q&A: - Peter is very excited about many of his players -- he singled out Convey, Santino, Stewart, Dema, and Eskandarian. - He is trying to instill a winners attitude in the team -- he said it wasn't there when he first met with the team -- and that is his focus right now. - He thinks Freddy is ready...and I think he is very excited about the challenge in coaching him. Novak pointed out that he was 15 when he turned pro...and that he expects Freddy to fight for his spot like any other player on the team. With that said, he believes he is a very rare talent. Novak joked that the U.S. would not win the WC in 2006 because Freddy won't be ready just yet. - He spoke a lot about Bob Bradley -- I think Peter learned a lot from Bradley...and they seem like pretty good friends. Peter did say that Bradley is just a tad bit too intese and that he hopes to bring a bit more comeraderie and levity to the team (to build a tight team bond) -- he pointed to the training in the snow. - Back on the team attitude -- I think he believes the team lacked professionalism in the past -- he is trying to inject that into the team. - He spoke at length about Dema...who sees as a bit of a project -- incredible potential that needs to be properly developed. He spoke about a recent meeting Dema and Peter had with the MLS referees (to clear the air)...he did not speak about how Dema would be used (an issue that I was interested in learning about) - There was a bit of discussion about college soccer...and some mention of Ara -- how he came out of Harvard and has many opportunities in life available to him -- but decided to play in MLS -- this is in stark contrast to Euro player development -- with that said Peter is very, very bullish on the development of US players -- he could easily rattle of the name and club of every U.S. player in Europe. Personally -- after listening to Novak, I am pumped for the season. He is a very charismatic individual -- he commands respect -- I think he knows what he is talking about -- and he is excited about his new job. Can't wait to see how we do! SR
These are all very encouraging developments. It's interesting to read that he feels Dema is kind of a wild talent that needs to be harnessed and focused.
i think it's a positive sign that while he learned a great deal from bradley, he will not try to be bradley... he is going to be himself instead of someone he is not oh to be a fly on the wall
I find these two notes most interesting of all. Convey, Stewart, and Dema are not surprises on the list of players Nowak is excited about. However, Quaranta and Eskandarian are. To be blunt, both were crap last year. Tino was injured for much of the season, but he still only had 2 good games that I can recall (the season opener at Kansas City and that game in Chicago where he played left midfield and actually worked). Esky, meanwhile, couldn't get a game by the end of the year despite our totally anemic offense. Perhaps Nowak is excited about getting their undoubted potential to come through? If he can pull that off, then I can't wait to see what he does with the other, already complete players. I have wondered what Nowak would do with Kovalenko, since in Chicago Dema was not ever used as a defensive midfielder. Will Nowak look to use Kovalenko differently? We have Namoff, and Carroll will be out to impress. Very interesting stuff here.
This should be Bobby's team in 2004. As for Dema, I am not a big fan of him. He plays out of control and takes bad shots. But, if Nowak can get something out him - great.
I'm thrilled to hear that Nowak is trying to form a team, as opposed to the collection of individual soccer talents we had last year. Work ethic, professionalism, competition, and cameraderie will help DC improve their play from last year. Maybe this year passes will connect, off-the-ball runs will be rewarded, and un-marked players won't have to do "jumping jacks" to get their team-mates attention, the way they did last year.
Originally i thought dema would probably be traded, but i think the situation with bobby and earnie being called up for nats makes him indispensible. i see him as a great backup at the AM spot. the only question in my mind is whether he plays at all when everyone is available.
For what it's worth, Nowak may see Q1 and Esky as victims of a lack of professionalism. He may consider their situation to be one where neither (Esky especially) has really had the opportunity to develop as pros in the proper environment. In other words, they are more or less rookies in his eyes.
??????????? You do realize of course that Dema led MLS in shooting percentage.. If he keeps taking bad shots and they keep going in, he can take all the damn bad shots in the world..
Who was it who said "If you don't know where to shoot, just put the ball in the net and we'll discuss the options later." ? That's a great quote.
I believe it was either Shankley or Paisley. From everything I've read, Nowak hasn't put a foot wrong yet. He really seems to get it and to have the presence good coaches need. As for all the "crap" players last year -- name one player for DC United who overacheived under Hudson? Namoff? Who else?
"If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options later." Bob Paisley
Right now, I would expect that left mid spot is Quaranta's to lose. However, Tino better play well out of the gate, or he will be yanked. I assume we are going to go with a 3-5-2 with Dema playing that true center mid role. I don't think Freddy will be in the starting 11 at the begining of the season, but as he imporves, he will get more playing time and will evertually be starting.
He lost it to Adu at the U-20s. I don't see why he'd be put ahead of him now. Putting either wide left in a 3-5-2 is asking for disaster.