i'll second this myself. the job that stephen et. al. do is amazing. this is a tough sports/lesiure market, they have a crappy stadium deal, so on and so forth yet they do a great job. the team comes off of three straight losing season and what does the front office do? it sets a record for season ticket sales! this is a good front office and an organization that does a lot without a tremendous amount of resources. to say the front office isn't doing a good job just isn't true.
Ray has done an excellent job, and has accomplished all of the goals that a reasonable person might expect: 1) Improve the team record 2) Make the playoffs 3) Score more goals 4) Allow fewer goals 5) Improve team chemistry What the h_e_ll more do you want?????!!!!!!! We are in the freaking playoffs!
on the one hand...on the other... While I love Ray, was thrilled he came here, and think he's made significant progress with the team each year, I also have to agree that other coaches have shown that you can completely turn a team around in one season *in MLS* if you have the commitment from the head office *and* lots of smart scouting/recruitment. I don't think Ray has had that kind of support; I don't know if he could have done the turnaround in one season thing if he had, but he did pretty damn well in Miami in a season and a half. And, you know, I'm going to lay some of this at the door of multi-team ownership. Why would AEG go balls to the wall to improve DC when they own several other teams who have little or no silverware? That said, some stupid decisions have been made, in that grey area between the coach and the GM and people higher in the food chain. I'm convinced that Marco has been told the last two years that the decision to stay or go was in his hands, not the coach's: that, given the disparty between his pay packet and his performance, is stupid. This is the same head office that saw us through two disasterous seasons of Rongenball before pulling the plug, that approved the re-signing of Roy Lassiter and RDA, the hiring of such outstanding stars as Pete Marino (remember when he was going to be the solution to our scoring woes?), Dennis Ludwig, and that goal-scoring wonder, A.J. Wood. I don't know whose idea spending an allocation on Ivanov was, or picking up Earnie Stewart (if Marco 10's numbers are correct) for more than the league maximum salary (how did we swing that?), but those were also bad moves. Ivanov is no more than mediocre, and Earnie, while better than I gave him credit for at the beginning of the season, has not brought this team this year a max salary's worth of benefit. Ray has come up with some boners (the constant refusal to use his subs fully when there were tired players; the bunker on the road) and has his blind spots (Ivan McKinley?! Lazo Alavanja?!), but he's done some good over the last two years. And the problems we've had have no been his alone. Don't let the front office off the hook for some of the howlers they've committed.
And people think Ray is tactically naive. . . Gabarra was reviled by many a Freedom fan who thought the team had hired the wrong Gabarra to coach the team, this is even after winnning a championship. I truly hope Jim Gabarra never gets another pro coaching job in his life he is that bad. There are plenty of potential candidates out there and I think the team would be remiss to not consider them. Ray may have reached these goals, but I think in many other ways (draft picks, cap management, player management) he has failed this team and for that I would replace him. We wouldn't be the first team in sports history to fire a coach who got a team into the playoffs or even won a title (should that happen). This team will once again need some major re-tooling due to cap problems and personnel problems and I just don't trust Hudson, Trask and Kaspar enough to do this. I'm not sure that keeping Ray and getting rid of Trask and/or Kaspar would be enough either. I think all 3 need to be swept out.
No we're not. Our magic number is 1. Until we have reached that number we are sitting in the drivers seat, but have not crossed the finish line. We could still blow it, remember the MetroStars last season thought they were in also but failed down the stretched and joined DCU hitting the golf course early and watch other teams play on.
I am not a fan of Ray Hudson, but I am not calling for his head either. The team improved this year. Last year we actually had a decent team towards the end of the season. Ray must get some credit for that. Regarding young player development, we have young guys like Convey, Warren and Quintanilla playing now. Ray gave opportunities to Quaranta, Ali and Esky earlier this season. I think that is pretty decent. I do not think Esky or Quaranta should be given more chances based on their performances. I do not know about Stokes or Carroll, but I bet they are not as good as our current starters. It was a mistake to let Justin Mapp go, but other than that, I would not blame Ray Hudson for playing the "older" players. DCUnited is in its best shape since Rongen soiled it.
Agreed. Those people are pure class. As far as the "improving team chemistry," Mario speaks off, do you include are Hristo's antics, including the tiff with him and Marco that Ray described as something that had to be dealt with all year. He's done all those other things you mentioned, but do we - as fans - want to be satisfied with small jumps in goal production and team defense and a possible fourth-place finish? I have my sights set higher.
Playing the older players fine. What about developing the younger players? You say it was a mistake to let Mapp go. If he had stayed, how much would he have played and how good would he be? Be honest.
Regarding developing young players, Ray seems to be stuck in the apprentice system in which he grew up around. If you're already a pro, you'll get time with Ray. If not, wait, wait, wait, wait. With MLS' relatively small rosters, this is a philosophy I don't agree with. Since he was coach at DC, drafted field players have played 775 minutes. Alecko has 717 of those. My biggest beef is that with the inevitable injuries and suspensions through a season, why doesn't he trade the picks for role players who will be used. At least last year, he dumped/didn't sign the picks.
My biggest prob is the young American Nats that get stunted. I look at Gaven, Magee and Mapp and see what they can become and see the young americans with DC and see that they will die on the vine regardless of what they can become.
Okay, its' true. If DC had not traded Mapp, he probably would have sat on the bench all this season. What does that prove? That it was okay to trade him regardless of his potential? That's the usual conclusion. Isn't the correct conclusion, however, that DC did not evaluate Mapp's potential properly and is too stubborn, stupid or whatever to recover from the first mistake even given the opportunity? If you want to defend the decisions to unload younger players by arguing that DC will not play younger players regardless of the circumstances, that's okay. But it doesn't amount to much of a defense of DC management.
Ughh, the only thing I would change is the person that is in charge of targeting the market, the Marketing director. That dude seriously needs to go. That dude is only going to kill the atmosphere at DC United, or scare off many DC fans. Never had I seen a marketing director so stuborn. The pros and cons would have easily directed the focus to a different market for any well educated Marketer. The dude must be one of Kevin Paynes close buddies or something. I cant judge Hudson just yet. He has had too many problems with the line up, and the team is just begining to gell. Arena was lucky enough not to sustain the injuries Hudson had to face with. RONGEN on the other hand, I knew was crap 3 months before we won our last cup (I was bashed for talking crap, but I WAS RIGHT!). ROngen had healthy players playing like crap. Hudson is trying to make the best of what is on the table. Undecided about Hudson, but Marketing director must go.
Mapp was traded for Dema. Can you imagine what this season would have been like without Dema? He's arguably been our best player this season. Ray can be criticized for many, many things, but trading Mapp for Dema is certainly not one of them.
I totally agree. Dema is my personal MVP for this season. The guy does it all. Thank you Ray for making that trade!!
Dema is a hard worker, no doubt about it. He brings a certain gusto to the game. On the other hand, he also brings poor decision making, almost no defensive skills and limited offensive ability. His one offensive move is to charge full speed at goal. He has no field vision to speak of and, as a result, rarely makes an intelligent pass. Dema is, at best, a useful 13th or 14th player who fills in for more talented folks on occasion. If DC had replaced Dema with Namoff from the start of the season as a two way midfielder, the overall skills and athleticism of the team would have increased significantly and I have to believe the difference would have shown up in the league table in the forms of wins. And that's if Mapp did sit on the bench all season. Mapp has the potential to be one of the best attacking midfielders in the league. Even at his young age, he has shown this season excellent pace and passing ability. Like many youngsters, he needs to work on his defense. But he has proven to be physically tough. The Dema for Mapp trade will prove to be one of the worst trades in MLS history.
I respectfully disagree. Of course he makes poor decisions sometimes, so does everyone. But he brings tenacity, a high work rate, uncompromising tackling, timely finishing, reasonably intelligent play in tight spaces. He is a two-way midfielder of the highest MLS order. He can go forward with reasonable ability as well as defend with reasonable ability. The poor decisions he makes he more than makes up for. Anyway, if Mapp does develop into the second coming of Ryan Giggs, he sure isn't gonna stay in MLS. To be successful, an MLS team needs guys like Dema -- solid players who can do many different things and do them fairly well, and, this is the key, not be here as a stepping stone to Europe. We're getting the prime of Dema's career. The only way we'd get the prime of Mapp's career is if he turns out to be Jason Moore.