Terrible news, we don't need more defenders we need people to put the ball in the net, other than Stewart I'm not excited about any of those players coming to DC. Harkes is past it, Stoitchkov is past it..another central defender? No tyson Nunez??? a no named Polish Striker..Probably slow and probably old. GREAT!!! can we just use the allocation for a decent forward??? Hudson please tell us you are blowing smoke once again, and we will be happy with the secret players behind the deals???
Well it looks like once again Ray will not land the big one. I'd be quite happy with Stewart though. Frankly, the best part of this article is the part that makes it sound like Stoichkov might not be coming here. As for the Bulgarian defender, I'm a bit puzzled, as Nelsen, Prideaux, Petke, and now this Ivanov guy are all central defenders. Anyway, I'd rather have a Bulgarian National Teamer who plays on the best team in their league than a former great and current injury problem Stoichkov. -Tron
I'm starting to think now that maybe Petke is being shipped to Columbus for Dante because Columbus hasn't yet resigned Dunseth...we are looking at another central defender..and we need a striker..this is the only thing making sense to me right now.
I think the thread title should be altered a bit. I almost jumped for joy thinking that Stewart was actually on his way. About the Ivanov thing, it depends how much we'd be paying him. If he's max salary, didn't we just trade Eddie Pope?
That "No name Polish Striker" just happened to play in the the match at the World Cup between the USA and Poland...he also has an assist on one of their goals...not exactly a washed up player. Ivanov played in the second-leg tie vs. Blackburn Rovers (Brad Friedel) , which I did happen to catch. I can't exactly remember his play in particular, but he has played in some high level matches, and does offer some good experience
I did a little digging on Kucharsky...He plays for Legia Warsaw in Poland. I don't read Polish, but from the team's website, it seems like he's scored 4 league goals and 2 goals in European action for his team. http://www.legia.pl/strzelcy.html You can find his basic stats here: http://www.legia.pl/druzyna.html FWIW, Legia are currently 3rd in the table, with 15 games played, it seems.
4 goals in 15 games in the Polish league? Not exactly the kind of strike rate I was hoping for...I'll reserve judgement till he takes the pitch
If he gets Stewart, what will count as "the big one"? I mean - whaddaya want? He's without a doubt the best attacking player entering MLS this year, and he can play both forward and attacking mid. Many of us love Nunez. But he's simply not a proven commodity at this level. Stewart is. Petke is the only established central defender on the club right now. Prideaux is, IMHO, too small (in terms of strength) for consistently high play in central defense, although he can fill in there in a pinch. He played his best soccer as a flank defender last season. And let's not forget that Nelsen was drafted as a d-mid and has exactly one season as a central defender under his belt. Bringing in Ivanov would allow Ray a great deal of flexibility with these four players plus Reyes as far as who plays d-mid, who comes off the bench to defend a lead, and who plays in what position in the back.
Stewart may be a known commodity but Tyson Nunez has great speed and great potential to add some fire power along side Quarrantana. He gave our boys fits in the WCQ. To bad the deal's on ice 'cause I think he has pescalido type potential as a +20 goal scorer. Why would DC ship Petke for an aged Washington when they just got him for pope. That's the equivalent of moving the best defender in US history, still in his prime, for an aged 2nd string forward. Btw, wasn't Cezary Kucharski relatively quite on a rather tranquil polish strike force? 4 goals in 15 games in the Polska league? I don't think that scares anybody.
I don't know about the rest of you but I'd be dang happy to land both Stewart and Ivanov.. You simply can't have enough quality players in this league and both of those guys fit the bill.. We still have 4 of the top 14 draft picks which will undoubtedly be used on Eskandarian and other young studs (Clark perhaps?).. Let the chips fall and then start bitching......
Neither does having a defender (Nelsen) a midfielder (Convey) and a backup forward (Curtis) vying for your team lead with 5 goals for an entire season..
on the polish striker... brian mcbride and santino quaranta aren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard either, but they are valuable members of their teams. wait til he screws up in a dc uniform, then crucify him.
ALL DC United forwards (Moreno, Tino, Ali, Quintanilla, Zambrano, Lassiter, ATC) scored 15 goals last year. Almost anyone would be an improvement.
i guess what confuses me the most is---we need a f-ing dmid!!! we need a ball winner and someone who can provide some kind of physical two-way play.
Kucharski isn't really a forward. He's an out an out attacking MF based on his play for the Polish team. In my opinion, Earnie Stewart isn't really a forward either. He's an excellent player, but doesn't really fit what United needs right now. The worry for me is that DC needs a finisher and it isn't Quaranta. Where's the spearhead? If Osario and Nunez are bust, then Ray still needs to find a go to offensive threat. I'd be disappointed if that was Stewart. I'd rather let Dallas have him and try to get a finisher from inside MLS if no foreignor could be signed. Btw, Ivanov could probably play D-mid, and Petke is more of a marking back than anything, so his signing doesn't mean Petke or any defender is doomed to a trade.
funny that at NAC he has played close to half his games at forward, same at Wilhelm II. guys often play different club positions from select positions. if he can score 13 goals at forward for NAC (a very low scoring team in the Dutch league) in a year (2000) he missed a significant number of games, i think he could do alright here. is he a classic, back to the goal target guy? no. can he effectively play forward in MLS? yes.
I can't understand what everybody sees in Earnie Stewart. This guy is the WORST that US Soccer has to offer. He's pathetic when playing for the USMNT. I've seen him blow so many opportunities, that it's sad. I'd rather have Moreno back. Matter of fact, I'd rather have anybody else than Earnie Stewart. Stay in Holland or go to Dallas, Earnie!
No, I'm just posting for no reason.... The question is do you? I've seen the USMNT since WC '94 and Earnie Stewart is terrible. If it came down to choking, he could do it. If they kept a stat for that, he'd have more chokes than goals. Guaranteed. I've never seen him do anything to merit him ruining DC. We don't deserve that. It's a slap in the face.
Who was it who scored that goal against Colombia, knocking out the team that was favored to win the cup in '94? That has got to be one of the all time great goals in US Soccer history. From what I remember of Ivanonov is that he'd be one of those tough with some bite that Ray wants and he's got skill too. The young guys on the team would only get better with some schooling from Stoitchkov, look what he did with Beasely(sp) and the other kids in Chicago.