I'm just glad I am warm. Anyhow, the whole team looked weak and un-organized, blaming it on one player, especially Stokes , is easy. Thanks for handling the ticket purchase for this Dougg.
I have really mixed emotions about #2. In many regards I think he is a very talented athlete. He had moments of glory, but that was about it, MOMENTS. There has been no sustained high quality performance from this guy (e.g. Carroll, Gros) to make him worthy of the starting XI. I'm not ready to write the kid of completely, like Dougg said, Nowak and Co. must see some bright spot in this guys future with our team otherwise he wouldn't have survived this far. I was as shocked as anyone to see him start the HV match, let alone play the fulll match. As far as the David Stokes Fan Club, can I have a partial membership please?
Well said. I am completely with you Dougg. I trust Novak. Also I'd like to echo the sentiments about the cold. It took me hours to finally feel semi warm. Today my face is red a splotchy from the cold and wind. I'm still dressing in layers even while at work because I'm having trouble shaking off the cold from last night.
The goal was Rimando's fault. 100%. Any time the keeper comes out of the goalmouth all the way to the top of the penalty area he has to make sure he gets the ball and needs to call off any defenders who might interfere with him. Stokes did have the horrid giveaway in the 2nd half that led to the 1v1, so I'm not going to defend him too vigorously. But we're weak personnel-wise on defense and we need to continue to develop Stokes. Even if we sign Odvan, Prideaux locks up the starting left back position, and Stokes drops below Kenny Arena on the depth charts - he'll still almost certainly be called upon to start at some time.
Before the game, I had hopes for Stokes development as a player this off-season. I thought he got the start mainly because prideaux was injured, but he came in late in the game anyway. While I was not expecting miracles, I was hoping/expecting an average performance. On the up side, i thought he defended reasonably well. picked up who he needed to pick up, tracked runs he needed to. and tried to support the offense. He caused a few problems for HVFC on set pieces. He was physical, sometimes too much, like somebody said using his hands too much, but i can live with that. He didnt do great in these areas, but he did OK. I saw improvement there. BUT. Stokes laid at least a half-dozen passes to nobody along the sidelines. I think the intent was usually either gros or freddy, but they were so far ahead/behind the player that it just rolled out of bounds. On the HVFC goal, I clearly heard Rimando yell "keeper" from the far side of the field near barra/nest/norte. I cant believe stokes didnt hear it. He should have either headed it clear, or gotten out of the way. He did neither. The pass to the HVFC striker was astonishing. I could swear he looked almost right at him, and was under no pressure when he passed the ball. Nick came up BIGTIME on that save, otherwise we goto Jamaica with a tie score, and that isnt good. One thing I thought was kinda weird was he was constantly motioning at other players. Kinda like "go here", "make that run", "pick him up", etc. It was in stark contrast to some of the errors he was making. maybe its just a case of he's on another page than the rest of his teammates, i dunno. I think theres hope yet, but a long way to go. And I think its important to note the support from his teammates. After the pass to HVFC striker, he had his hands on his head in front of the goal, and petke clearly comes over and tells him (i'm guessing because i cant hear) something like "don't worry about it, move on, and go pick this guy up".
I'm with LN-Dougg. I would like to add my name to the few, the happy few that can count themselves among the Stokes Fan Club. Stokes Rules! Bring the Thunder, David!
OK gang. Fingers slightly thawed. Two comments for what its worth. 1) Stokes was not the only one who stank up the frozen tundra last night. Not sure if the responsibility is 100% his for the goal, but the buck stops with Nicky for the goal. Gomito seemed to drop out of the game for extended periods. I saw giveaways by Jaime (gasp), Petke and others. The team in general looked like they still need work. 2) Having said this, I'm trying to be a realist -- not a kool-aid drinking Stokes booster (strong kool-aid, in my opinion) or a full-on basher (and Piotr-doubter), here's the facts as I see them: a) Stokes is big, but not hugely fast. b) His ball skills seem to have improved somewhat over last year. c) He continues to make poor decisions all over the field, which for a defender is disastrous. d) I have questions about his mental toughness -- hustling back after a bad play, bearing down to defend without using his hands, etc. I don't know what others (Piotr especially) see in him in practice and can't judge what he would do with another team. I am most concerned about the decisionmaking (which can be coached, but needs time) and how much he really "wants it" which is all about him. Last night the team wasn't great, and he wasn't alone in looking awkward. However, at this point he just is not up to DCU standards.
The bottom line is this: If Rimando doesn't make a great save late in the game when STOKES' pitiful pass was intercepted and almost taken in for another equalizer, there would be no one on this board that would be defending him. He stinks.
I thought Petke played well yesterday. Time will tell whether he can play that role. I'm not saying one game can prove whether Petke belongs, but wouldn't you agree he played well at center back? How do you know Rimando didn't call for the ball? I've seen defenders occasionally play balls that keepers have called for. Either the defender thinks the keeper is wrong, the defender can't react quick enough to the call, or the defender doesn't process what the keeper says. It happens. I've done it. Without being on the field it's hard to place blame according to who said what. What was clear is that Stokes was the worst player on the pitch yesterday, regardless of whether the Harbor View goal was his fault.
If you look back on the games where Stokes started and/or played last year, I am willing to bet that more that 75% of the goals scored on us resulted from a Stokes mistake and/or he was involved in the play. This is the guys third year. He clearly survived NCAA on the basis of his athletic skills and not his football skills. The fcat that he is sometimes out of positions or makes mistakes is not the part that kills me. What kills me is the type of mistakes that he makes and the simple plays he blows. How many times did he miss a stationary target. He is one of the worst players in MLS. Even if he improves and someday ends up being capped I will stand stand by my comment that he is one of if not the worst player in MLS at this point in time. He is a really nice guy and I wish him best. But, I think he needs to play with the reserve team. If I was Brendan I would pised about stokes starting. I trust Novak but I questions not only starting Stokes but also Starting freddy, who does not have the best defensive skills or midset in front of him. Stokes is a liability there is no need to further expose it.
Rimando may well have called for the ball. The point is that he did not do it effectively. Stokes clearly did not realize that Rimando had left his line until Rimando ran into him. It is the goalie's responsibility to communicate his intentions clearly and effectively. Whether or not Rimando actually called for the ball, he did not get the message to Stokes and that's the goalie's fault. Moreover, if the goalie leaves his line to get a ball, he must get it. Close is not good enough in these cases. Rimando made the wrong decision and the team paid for it.
I don't think he's horrible, as long as ball isn't near him. Not a big fan of players that make me lose few years of my life every time they're in posession.
I'm in. I think he's improving and will continue to do so and become a solid contributor. He made mistakes last night but the positives I saw in his game make me think Nowak is on to something. We might end up being wrong, but I'm betting with Nowak that this kid will become a player. And I will remember this lynch mob of a thread.
I think I really need to upgrade the audio on my TV. Look, a couple of posters WHO WERE THERE said they heard Nick call for it. You weren't there. The LEAST you could say is that it's not clear whose fault it was.
How much longer do we have to put up with this experiment? Stokes never looks like he knows what he's doing when he's defending, and never seems to know what to do with the ball when he has it. Defending is perhaps the position that calls for the most mental ability and expereince (that's why defenders get better as they age) and Stokes clearly falls short. I agree with a previous post that it's been his athletic ability that has got him through so far, but that's not enough in MLS. It hurts to watch him play.
And at some point, 'fault' ceases to matter. If these thing happen with Stokes and don't happen with other players, then we can all do the math, can't we? Look guys, even if Nicky didn't call or wasn't loud enough, it might have been nice for Stokes to read the play and figure out whose ball it is. Does anyone think Eddie Pope or Ryan Nelsen makes this mistake, even if the keeper's as silent as a church mouse?
The main problem w/ Stokes is his lack of thought. If anyone has a tape of last night, just go to the 75 minute mark (the AWFUL pass resulting in the 1v1)... I must have watched it a few dozen times last night after getting back from the game: Stokes gets a short pass back from Petke. Stokes has several options and time. Looks to Adu WIDE OPEN on the left, then sees Gomez (who's pointing to his own feet asking for it). But he turns away from them and makes a direct pass about 20 yards straight to the HVFC striker to run unmarked to goal!! Had they scored there, it would've been the end of Stoke's career for sure. I urge anyone who has the recording to look at this -- I couldn't stop replaying that incident (Tivo makes it easy). I can't for the life of me understand what was going through his head...
I couldn't agree more. Petke was absolutely abomidable in his role as "defensive organizer." Petke needs to be vocal, organize the defense, and lend Stokes a sense of order and calm. Instead, he f**ed Stokes. The midfield made all of the DC defenders' passing difficult with their lack of movement off the ball.
I'm suprised it took only one game for so many people to line up behind the 'we really, really need a better back line' take. I seem to be with the majority on Petke and Stokes.
Even if Rimando yelled "keeper" loud enough for the entire stadium to hear, the fact remains that he vacated the goalmouth and did not win the ball. Even if Stokes was slow to react to Rimando's call, it's still Nicky who's at fault on the goal. And not just partially at fault but completely at fault.