I like Zayner a lot but nothing can save his glass legs. I think those three listed would be an upgrade at RB.
For S@*ts and giggles, here's who I think Montreal will select: 1. Zarek Valentin RB(Chivas) 2. Freddy Adu M/F (Phil) 3. Michael Harrington LB (KC) 4. O'Brien White F (Seattle) 5. Jean Alexandre DM (RSL) 6. Darrius Barnes CB (NE) 7. Danny Cruz RM (HOU) 8. Michael Stephens M (LAG) 9. Sanna Nyassi M/F (COL) 10. Maicon Santos (FCD) I think this gives them pretty good balance across their lineup. They have 2 starting center backs signed already. This would give them a backup (Barnes), plus starting right and left backs (Valentin & Harrington). I gave them 2 options at forward: Santos (8 goals) and O'Brien, who's Canadian and was doing well before he got injured. This also gives them midfield options (Alexandre can start at DM, Cruz at right mid, Stephens provides depth). Nyassi and Adu provide creativity and speed, whether they play up top or outside. And yes, I know that these will not be their picks. I'm procrastinating, thank you. I expect at least one "draft and trade," possibly involving DC. I could easily see Montreal drafting a LB and trading him to DC for Simms, who won't start for us next year. *I left out Eric Alexander because of the rumored deal that Montreal won't choose a Portland player.
I think you're either being argumentative or delusional. Korb has shown the ability to be an MLS-caliber player and seems like he could be a serviceable starter down the road. However, I don't want to see him as a starter and would rather see a more capable player at the RB spot. Any of the three names I mentioned provides better offensive and defensive skills, and, more importantly, would still put Korb in a position to either have healthy competition at RB (and push him to be better) or allow him to push for the starting LB role (which would allow us to drop Burch).
With the released list of players, does anyone think we could possibly be moving to a 3-5-2 next year? Keeping both Simms and Kitchen (playing Simms as kind of a stopper in front of a back 3 would be a pretty good fit for everyone involved I think), putting da Luz, Burch, and Zayner out there (all players who like to attack from deep), and protecting Woolard? In addition, this would give DeRo, Boskovic, Najar, and Pontius freedom to focus on the offensive side of the ball more.
Before the list I thought we might go 3-5-2 (actually 3-2-3-2) with King and Kitchen in front of the back 3.
Well, nobody lost in the draft for DCU. Looks like Santino and Branko will remain members of the black and red(excluding possible trades, etc.).
Didn't understand the Ching and Mapp selections. Ching said he would retire and Mapp is the left-footed Tino -- lots of "potential" but never a consistent field player.
I at least expected to see Joseph Ngwenya's name on the wavier list. Unless he's just going to be out of contract and not resigned come December. Thx, Jay!
Mapp is still only 27, but yeah, I don't know what he really brings day in, day out. I love the Ching pickup, however. They called Houston's bluff for trying to protect 12 instead of 11. Montreal knows he will never play there, but they also know Houston wants Ching to retire there. Now Montreal has leverage over Houston and they can pretty much name the price. Ching is pissed at Montreal, sorry, but he should be pissed at Houston for not protecting him. At least Kinnear is realistic when he said they took a gamble and lost. Good stuff, Marsch!
As a DC native and DCU partisan who now lives in Houston (and has adopted the Dynamo as a second favorite team and am a STH) I agree with this assessment. I am a little amused by the outrage here leveled at Marsch. Frankly I don't understand why Houston thinks we should be able to protect 1 more guy than the rest of the league. Still, I am not sure what Montreal's game is, b/c I don't think Houston would give up Hainault to get Ching back and that's about the only tangible thing Houston has they might desire. So other than to screw Ching again (it's just the latest of Marsch slights against Ching over the last few years), I don't know what Montreal was doing. Maybe they'll stick it to 1836 for quite a few draft picks in the years to come. I dunno. Still, if Houston wanted to stick with Ching (and maybe they don't -- he makes a lot of money and gets injured and hasn't produced much in recent years), they would have protected him.
Actually, I would rate Mapp a considerably better player than Quaranta. Mapp had a good year. I can't really say that about Tino.
Impacted Mon trecal picked up former DCUnited Bryan Arguez. At least we know who will be ripping our hearts out from that club in 2012!
I didn't see enough of Mapp's play to judge, but strictly going off production they look pretty similar for 2010. Mapp had 1 goal and 5 assists, Quaranta had two goals and 2 assists and drew several penalties that led to goals. Maybe Mapp drew penalties as well, but based on production, I think its a bit of a stretch to say that Mapp is considerably better than Tino.
I was thinking Montreal would turn Ching into 2 or 3 picks, perfect for an expansion team. But you brought up something I hadn't thought of, and that's that Houston doesn't want Ching, but is now just posturing to not look like the bad guys. Maybe Houston doesn't offer anything for him and Montreal gets stuck with a player who doesn't want to be there. Interestingly, I wouldn't be shocked to see Ching in DC next year, if he still wants to play. I believe he does. Time will tell.
I disagree, Mapp was a young promise who became a pretty decent player, Tino has been an eternal promise for all these years and never moved from there. This is despite the numbers/goals/assists, you just need to watch a Philly game and a DC Utd game where they both play to see the difference
I watched a bunch of Union games on Direct Kick and Mapp was significantly more engaged with Philadelphia than Tino was with DC. Year Club 2011 Philadelphia Union GP GS G MIN A SHT SOG FC OFF Y R 29 24 3 1861 4 29 8 19 3 1 0 2011 D.C. United GP GS G MIN A SHT SOG FC OFF Y R 21 10 1 1,091 4 22 5 22 15 2 1 I'm not a big believer in stats but even here Mapp started 24 or 70% of games for the Union and played in 29 while Tino only started 10 games or 29% of United's games. Mapp was a regular on a playoff team contending for the Eastern Conference title, while Tino was a reserve on a team that missed the playoffs by 7 points. Stats aside, Mapp was a difference maker for the Union in a way that Tino has not been for a long time.
Does United no longer hold Arguez' MLS rights? I know it was a while ago when he was drafted (same draft as Altidore), but he went immediately to Europe and United retained his rights. Anyone know? If United gets nothing out of Arguez, a high draft pick, that's another strike against Payne and company.
I believe that players rights are held by an MLS team for 3 years. Had he come back to MLS last year, another team would owe DC a draft pick or monetary compensation of some kind. Also, IIRC, if a team gets a transfer fee (which DC did get from Hertha Berlin - I don't remember how much, though), I believe the MLS rights are then forfeited if a player comes back to MLS. Long story short*, I don't think that United is owed anything by Montreal, if they sign him, and there is no strike against Payne & Co, IMHO. In fact, Payne & Co. did get a transfer fee for a kid who had never been used, and had a rough go of it in Europe - bouncing around from team to team to team. *asitis gets the gold star for brevity!