Since United has the first two allocations and the signing of Galin Ivanov seems to be very good bet it all boils down to this. Which one of the three Earnie Stewart, Joe-Max Moore or Cezary Kucharski should Ray sign. All three have good and bad points but to this point every other option that Ray has looked into has been out of the MLS price range, Osorio, Nunez and Ojeda. So what are the good points and bad of each and which way do you think Ray should go. I am in favor of signing Stewart. Known comodity and would be a perfect fit into the role that Moreno should have played last year. So vote away.
I can't explain it, I just don't like JMM and I don't know Kucharsky, so I vote for Earnie. Plus it would give Q1 a better nickname - Bert.
500 and thirty some odd minutes with out scoring a goal last year? I vote for whoever can stick it in the frickin' net.
It's been 4 years since JMM was in MLS, but I think ES will have more of that "new smell" that makes good "new" players very productive in MLS (Ruiz, Graziani, APC, Serna, Mornar, etc.). We haven't seen players who have played in the Dutch league so I expect he'll have a few tricks that will be new to MLS. Plus the fact that he's been playing first team ball for the past year, while JMM hasn't had the oportunity.
MLS is the saftey option for JMM, or the bargaining counter for whatever First Division club he's talking to. And I don't think he'd bring too much. Kucharsky. Well, it sounds too much like Don Koharski, and any hockey fan should hate this name. Stewart would bring some valuble US/international and profressional experience to the club.
I am solidly on the fence about Stewart. He can probably help, but how much? JMM offers about the same finishing ability that DCU had last year. Don't know a thing about Kucharski, so I can't do more than speculate on his value. He does use an SI spot which is a negative. I am willing to leave it to Ray to figure out which is best for DCU in terms of ability and value and then rip him for the decision when whoever it is doesn't meet my standards. Sorry, thats another thread.
i (for obvious reasons) would like to see Kucharski at DC he is younger then Stewart and JMM (he will turn 31 this spring) and he's still in good playing form (was just picked as the best soccer player in Warsaw) as the capitan of Legia Warsaw, last year's champions and chasing the title this year as well ps he is often listed as a forward, he's not... he's more of an attacking mid (which might not fit in the crowded midfield at DC)
I just don't think JMM is a good fit. I also think he is the type to disapear for a few game. With Earnie I would expect two solid years from him and anything else would be a bonus. After watching my tapes from Japorea 2002 Kucharski looks like a solid forward who could do well here. I just feel that Stewart would bring a better leadership quality than Kucharski could . Actually if I ranked the three in order of preference to me it would be Stewart, Kucharski and then JMM.
I know nothing about Kucharski, but as far as a choice between ES and JMM I'd take JMM because he's younger and has more national team goals (24 vs 15).