Here's the link; http://www.dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=main&cont_id=189031 Great job, Diceson. I'm getting excited about Cureton now. Hope we land him. Cherno
"In MLS, you might get someone who is a wily veteran, who can position himself properly to stop attacks. On the other hand, you might get a player that uses incredible physical skills to cover any mistakes. However, Ivanov is the first that combines both, and does it with such ease." Has Eddie Pope been gone that long?
I hope not... The comment about looking at the UMD players as potential draft picks is something I hope does not happen after seeing what happen with this year's picks. This is perhaps the worst possible place for a young player to be drafted in MLS.
What language did Dema and Ivanov use? Does Dema speak Bulgarian? Does Galin speak Ukrainian? Did they both speak Russian? How much of a problem is language to Galin? I wonder how many people he has he can talk with.
I would guess they both speak Russian. It is still taught in Bulgarian schools and I'm sure it's the same in Ukraine. At the time these two were in school it was probably mandatory. It seems unlikely that Dema would know any Bulgarian or Galin would know any Ukrainian but I could be wrong.
I feel bad for Nicky but this sounds good to me. Sorry Hristo but after report #1 sorry but welcome to the world of full time coach.
i remember many times people complaining on these boards about pope being beaten because of poor positioning. i think diceson has a great point about the lack of a total defender in the league. it will be interesting to see if ivanov reaches these lofty heights.
Hey, Dyson. As a former Washington Post employee (although on the business side) I fancy myself a decent judge of good writing. You're better than good. Much, much better. Thanks. Incredibly enjoyable reading.
I'll disagree with you here. While I don't watch much European ball, I've never seen a defender better at anticipating the play and being in the proper position to snuff out attacks before they start (I'm not saying that there is none better, I just haven't seen him). Pope is in a class by himself in MLS and frankly, 5 games out of Ivanov isn't enought to convince me that he is as good as, let alone better than, Eddie Pope.
silvio (sp?) seems to have missed a wide open sitter and hit the cross bar twice. then again cureton scored off a PK (comparable to a sitter) and a run of play goal. cureton sounds better especially since he seems to have lady luck more in his favor.
Nice article Dyson, thanks! As for the Silvio, Cureton, etc., I think it's encouraging that Cureton found the net and that Silvio was so close. It appears as if they're on a 4 day trial, so let's not make any hasty decisions, 4 days is certainly hasty enough. Remember, Joares and Dalglish each scored every practice as well, and we didn't sign them. But, this sounds exactly like the scouting report the Reading fans were giving on Cureton, lethal finisher who always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and if you give him a shot he'll bury it. Regardless of how his trial goes, he's still probably too expensive. On the Ivanov thing, I'd have to disagree with you Dyson. IMHO, Ivanov's foot skills are already very good, and his distribution is a real strength. But, every time I've seen him play he makes at least one atrocious defensive play and puts the defense in a terrible position. Luckily for him--and United--Prideaux, Petke and Rimando have saved him most of the time and the lack of finishing helped him out the rest. But much like the Columbus Crew back line, poor defensive play will be punished eventually. Hopefully he adjusts to the speed of MLS, but regardless of what he says about Bulgarian soccer now, it's clear that he's making poor decisions every game, so he's not quite adjusted to the higher level of play. Hopefully he does, because his skills with the ball are clearly his strength. -Digital
Ivanov reminds me a bit of David Regis. He has great skills with the ball, makes beautifully effortless stops most of the time, and then gets horribly beat once each game.