It probably had something to do with thinking to myself that this guy cant be good enough to be on fhis team... this is thebest we could do? It hurt my brain.
Well, I'm still allowed to have an opinion, right? And I can think of ten players that seem to me to have been more talented than Llamosa. So I wouldn't count him as among our most talented players. But that's just me.
Chris Albright...no wait, everyone hated him. Bobby Convey? No, this isn't the most overrated and loved for no reason thread...hmmm...I'm going to go with Gori or Chino. Gori had the heart of a lion, and Chino, how could you not like that kid?
Old school. These guys were my camp counselors for a couple of summers. My dad, who knows next-to-nothing about soccer, used to say that Ken Mokgojoa would use his tongue to shoot because that's how little power he got on his shots. Dude could run like lightning, though.
Seriously, how is this not Richie Williams, hands down. The ABMOD was very effective, but I don't think many of us would consider him skilled. But in his prime, we all loved the ABMOD.
Kevin Payne, Dave Kasper, Ray Hudson, and DC United's Media team! OK, they aren't players, but they certainly have been the heart of the team over the years! And I'd argue that more than any player they've management to create more chaos over the years.
No. I know all the management had something to do with creating the current squad. However, the team hasn't done anything as of late other than have a nice little run. Everyone must admit that they are playing well relative to what is expected, but for all we know the previous six opponents will end up being the bottom six in the league. Also, the only thing that changed over the last couple of years is Ben Olsen, and I'm dealing in absolutes. Is this a fair assessment? No, but this is BS.com!
Usually the server prevents that but I guess I faked it out somehow. For some reason I can only post via quick reply on my mobile browser, so maybe that was it.
I loved Brian Kamler and Mario Gori. I was at a meet the team day at RFK one year, and the two of them were sharing a table signing autographs. It was just after Kamler stopped having to wear the protective mask (from the Jake Dancy incident). I mentioned to Kamler that he should go back to rocking the mask, because it had a kind of "Phantom of the Opera" vibe. He laughed and talked about how much he hated the thing. Mario Gori then leaned in and commented: "He NEED mask. Look at face!" Good times...
For me Pope is the best American defender ever (maybe Gooch has an argument) so I wouldn't classify Llamosa as his equal. But easily one of the top 3 or 4 of his day and one of the best US defenders I've seen. Probably the best I've seen at the slide tackle as well...his timing was always impeccable and he always got ball.
Emphasis, great tackler of the ball. And further, was generally a really decent, honest, law-abiding defender who stayed on his feat and worked hard to mark, but wasn't afraid to put in the perfect tackle when needed. At times you could see he took a foul for the team, but I don't think he enjoyed doing it.
Actually, quite controversially, Washington didn't get an NCAA invitation. One of their big games (against SMU) was canceled because of weather - hurting their RPI. I watched them twice and they had a very nice team with several future MLS players. This year, may be tougher.
Personally, I think that talent is overrated. Don't get me wrong. It is important to be talented enough to be a pro, but so much of what makes a good player has to do with hard work and determination. Also, when a lot of people use words like talent, they are referring to different things. Some are referring to physical tools like size, speed and strength, some are referring to technical skills, other refer to mental qualities like your ability to read the game quickly and solve problems. Players can be over achievers or under achievers in so many different ways that it is hard to compare the least talented players without getting into an apples to oranges type comparison.
Oh, he didn't disappear. We traded him to Colorado for Roy Wegerle, straight-up. We then traded Roy Wegerle to Tampa for Roy Lassiter, straight-up. Greatest Jedi Mind trick combo in MLS history...Rammel for Lassiter in two moves.
Also, back on topic, my favorite least-talented player of all time based purely on their song/chant? ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-ERICDENTON-
You left out the part where Rammel scored a bezoo of goals for us, we traded him into infinity for Wegerle, who then played really well for us and provided exactly what we asked of him, who we traded for Lassiter, who again came in and scored a mega-bezoo of goals for us. "These aren't the forwards you're looking for... move along." Bombad mega-bezoo bamboozle!
I loved the guy. I can remember how unhappy I was that some Bolivian guy named Moreno waltzed right in and took his starting spot! I was not as sophisticated a fan as I am now. Also, he owned Cobi Jones. And then there was the season that he quietly continued playing every minute of every game with a stress fracture in his foot, then had surgery to fix it as soon as the season was over (2002, I think). Great story. I liked Kamler, too.
Josh Gros was enormously popular, but primarily because of his motor. I don't think he was all that talented, and he wasn't as fast as some thought, but he might have been the fasted player on the pitch in the last 10 minutes.
He owned Ben Olsen, too. I still remember the KC@DC game in the forgettable (for me) 99 season when some young kid was shutting down Ben Olsen - and really pissing him off - for the whole game. That was back when the Mystics gave Wizards players custom "Man of the match" scarves. I always did the honors at RFK. Prideaux got the scarf that day. He definitely earned everything he got in MLS the hard way. Great kid who gave his all.