Re: DCU Contract News I agree with your first statement about the box, but I don't agree with the 2nd. As I see it, Wilson would be much better in that role than he was in the 3 man backline. In the 3 man backline, Wilson had a tendency to drift forward and attack too much, leaving the backline exposed. That was one of the reasons that I actually believe Nowak made the right call in having Prideaux take his spot. In a 4 man backline in MLS, Wilson and Namoff are more than adequate to get the job done. Hell, at points this season, many on BS were wondering if those guys should be getting more time as the left and right midfielder, for the very reason that they seemed to be decent in the attack (which I didn't necessarily agree fully with because i think they are good enough to attack from the backline, but not to be middies).
Re: DCU Contract News And how bad would it be to have a berserker (in our kit) on the field all year long? Esp. if we let Dema go?
Re: DCU Contract News (Chico's response above is in reference to using a 442.) A strength the team has is that several of the plaers can play multiple positions. In fact with our normal starters the team could switch from a 442 to a 352 or vice versa practically on the fly or at most with one substitution.
Re: DCU Contract News Then Sachin is right and I would like to change my grade of a B- to a D- for Nowak. I don't recall them changing sh!t during that 4-0 clusterfvck. That last game still has me stewed. [sorry, rant over]
Re: Nana Kuffor I read in Soccer America that Kuffor was waived. If that's true I think he's one of those guys that could come back to haunt us. I don't know if its a smart decision. He was one of the best guys on the reserves last year and is pretty young. Thoughts?
Re: DCU Contract News While I really liked Dema's hustle, he lack skill in several other important categories. He's good enough to start on many MLS teams right now, but in all honesty, I'd like to see the expectations raised for certain positions for DC United. Dema is a faithful and energetic player. It's got decent pace and is pretty physical, but he doesn't cross all that well, and his shot is definitely less than accurate. I would expect DC United wingers to have a lot of pace, size, crossing ability and pretty good accuracy. From our current roster, I think that Josh, who I view as average all around, and Santino, who, to be honest, has the tools, but not the hustle, are OK for our wingers. We definitely need depth, and I'd suggest we look for players as good or better than who we've got right now. As for Santino's forward slot, leave it to Freddy. I think that Freddy's best shot of being a regular starter has to be as an all out striker, until Christian get's yanked after 60-70 minutes. Freddy's too small to be a winger. He's quicker than who we've got right now, but he can get played out of a game easier if he's sitting on the wings. Hell, just look at his performance in the YWC. Anyway, back to Dema... I hope if he can improve his shot accuracy, I'd take him back. In 2004 he had 2 goals and 10 assists, but in 2005 he dropped to 4 goals and 4 assists, and that just isn't what I'd like to call production for a winger at his salary.
Re: DCU Contract News One reason our outside midfielders didn't contribute the past year is that no one was committed to getting them the ball, particularly through the early pass to the wing. Moreno and Gomez, bless their South American hearts, do not look for this pass at all, nor the pass to an overlapping wing. They want to push the ball up the middle of the field and look to make the short pass in the middle of the field. Freddy is the only central mid-fielder who really wants to pass the ball early to the wing and then look for a return cross. I would guess that the times Kovalenko received the ball on the wing in a position where he could be dangerous, Freddy was usually the originator of the pass. Sadly Dema didn't do much with those passes -- one reason his contract was not extended. And, as for Freddy's troubles on the outside, one reason for them is that he can't pass the ball to himself. I think the issue here is trying the meld players who grew up with different systems, not that Moreno or Gomez are selfish players. It's just one of the many challenges of coaching DC.
Re: DCU Contract News dema is friggin awesome. he will defintely be missed by me i love you, dema. you da man
Re: DCU Contract News As long as they leave the chocolate glazed, sure! Either would be a huge (literally and figuratively) upgrade over Rimando
Re: DCU Contract News I liked Dema too, but not at 165K. He is at best, worth about half that in MLS standards because he is really a utility player and in any league the utility player is not one of your highest paid players. Who knows about Filomeno. I thought he showed promise, but I didn't watch him in practice. Also, does anyone know the cost of exercising the option? If he was cheap, I don't understand. If his option was expensive, buh-bye.
Re: DCU Contract News Since wingers are the smallest players in the sport, you're saying Freddy can't play soccer. But he can play soccer. Ergo, he's not too small to be a winger. He's bigger than SWP, he's bigger than DMB, size is not the problem.
Re: DCU Contract News I compare Chris Klein, Eddie Lewis, and Ben Olsen (in his winger days) to your above names and am confused. I'm used to wingers with size and bite, neither of which Adu possesses.
Re: DCU Contract News You're right in terms of physical size. But Freddy plays 'small'. Or at least he has in the past. I don't like him out on the wings much either, because I think that he's better if he gets a lot of touches in a game. And as several folks have pointed out, wingers can dissappear for long stretches.
Re: DCU Contract News Thomas Rongen used Fred as a winger, a left one, to good effect. (Imagine! Convey as an a-mid and Freddy as a left winger!) Freddy as a winger would make his opposite number very very nervous to go forward.
Re: DCU Contract News ...assuming he has defensive help behind him, which he did in Rongen's schemes.
Re: DCU Contract News Well in a 442 you should have fullbacks behind you. At that World Youth Cup, Convey, Adu, and Eddie Johnson were the main guys to spring counters. (Interestingly at that tournament, Adu took the place after the first game of Tino who was in the middle of his funk/injury/babies/moving to White Marsh era. Johnson also missed more than his share of sitters.)
Re: DCU Contract News That's my point. Wasn't Rongen using more of a 4-5-1 anyway? As with my other thread/poll, if Nowak isn't going to move to a 3-5-2 the point may be valid but it's also moot. Fred (and Santino for that matter) could be a fine winger with someone behind him and he only had to go back and help on double teams/mark the opposing outside back when they came forward. Wide midfield in a 3-5-2 requires extensive two way play, which is something that neither Adu or Quaranta can contribute at this point.
Re: DCU Contract News I don't think it was a a choice of Rongen to do a 451. I remember Mike Magee played the first two of games in tandem with Johnson. The remaining three games saw Johnson paired with Ned Grabavoy, which was more of a 451. Interestingly Rongen only used Knox Cameron as a sub in a couple of games and didn't use Quaranta at forward at all except in one game (the second) he moved to forward after Magee subbed out. Clint Dempsey I think was only used once the whole tournament, in the midfield. So, yes, Todd, you are right when Freddy started as a winger (beginning in game three) it was in a 451: Moor---Cochrane--Marshall---Whitbred ----------------Rico Clark Adu-----------Grabavoy------Mapp -----------------Convey -----------------Johnson The games Tino started (the first two) it was your basic diamond 442 though: Moor---Cochrane--Marshall---Whitbred ----------------Rico Clark Quaranta----------------------------Mapp -----------------Convey -------Johnson------------Magee The first game the US dominated Paraguay. The second game the US visited Germany's woodshed. So, bottom line, I agree with you in that in Nowak's 352, neither Quaranta nor Adu are good fits as the wingbacks- just like Dema isn't a good fit either. So I guess the worst case scenario for next year is if Nowak sticks with the 352 (a given) while keeping the same personnel on the wings.
Re: DCU Contract News Ah, but would you also agree that without even thinking about price since they are all in a similar range (Dema 165k, Q 120ish[?], Fred will probably count around that) that Dema would be the best winger in a 3-5-2? He still goes forward some, albeit not as well as Q or Adu, but his defense is significantly better than either of those guys. I would venture to say that Dema is also the most consistant of the three. While Adu and Quaranta can be on the verge of brilliance sometimes (Adu vs. KC and Quaranta 2nd half vs. Chicago both at RFK come to mind), they can also be very poor at others. With Dema you get a pretty consistant work rate and skill set game to game. I'm hoping more than anything that the trip to Argentina finds a guy who can beat people on the dribble, serve decent balls into the box, and play a little defense.
Re: DCU Contract News Of course none of this would matter if Nowak threw out something like: ---Namoff-------Erpen------Boswell-----Prideaux--- Quaranta------______------_______------Adu----- ---------_______------------_______------------ Of course, this would be tough to get Olsen onto the field and it would be bad to leave his 160k on the bench regularly. DC would also be thin in the back (although Olsen could convert to outside back potentially?) leaving Wilson and Stokes as the main subs. Quaranta could slide up top if Esky isn't ready or in Moreno's spot sometimes and Olsen could play on the right, but again I don't think this matters since I doubt Nowak changes anything.
Re: DCU Contract News To those of you that follow EPL, I believe Adu plays more like Wright-Phillips than Pele http://www.chelseafc.com/Player.asp?plid=1212&nav=players&title=Shaun+Wright-Phillips
Re: DCU Contract News That sounds like a good comparison. I haven't seen a whole Chelsea game recently, but the highlights of SWP see him using blinding speed and skill to get forward. However, how is SWP on the defensive end? He may not need to do much defensively considering Chelsea's team. Adu has improved defensively, but he doesn't seem to have the type of defense edge (right now) that Nowak would require of him in Nowak's system - IMHO Adu could play on the wing, but he has to see the ball more often, IMHO.
Re: DCU Contract News I think it mainly comes down to the fact that Adu can play on the wing, but he doesn't fit it in the 3-5-2 Nowak prefers to play. With a four man backline behind him, his defensive liabilities can be covered. He has to work much harder in the 3-5-2 and it takes away from his overall game. Right now though, there really isn't another place to play him. The team is stronger with him out there than with him in the middle.