To all you idiots that have been talking stupid all year on these message boards about Kovalenko take a look at what our own coach had to say about him: United’s second-year manager however singled out another player as having emerged as a true leader on and off of the field for the Black-and-Red. “Dema Kovalenko has been our brightest light, a dynamic inspiration” recalled Hudson. “His play has been beyond anything I could have imagined. He’s been a titan amongst the others.” DEMA IS THE MAN!!!
Sorry, haven't seen Dema play, and I've learned to take what Ray says to the press with a grain of salt. Hard to learn much about players playing against Lynn U. Better to wait for the regular season before making judgements.
Sort of along the lines I was going to say...practice is one thing, playing for points and the playoffs is certainly another...while it's great to hear the compliments, I'll reserve judgement until about 5 games into the season to see what the team and Dema have accomplished so far... Peace....
Isn't that a verbatim quote of what Hudson said about Carey Talley or was it Mark Lisi or perhaps Lazo Alavaja... Mod Note: These are the bigsoccer boards not the "my favorite player is beyond reproach boards". Every single player in the league has been taken to task by somebody here. If you don't like it, then please surf elsewhere! Don't come to the DC boards and call people idiots! Disagree all you want but please avoid name calling - it makes your opions seem less valid because your only response is to call someone a name. Birdman, I am not singling you out. There are several other posters that have been behaving in similar fashion concerning their favorite players.
Dema is one of the guys on this team I am not worried about. Is Olsen healthy, can Eski step up, is Ivanov any good, can Etch and Hristo bring some magic, ... are all questions I have but Dema is a good MLS player who plays hard every night.
Right. Dema could be the second coming of Pele/Maradona/George Best/Beckam etc. but he's only 1 player. I hope and except he'll contribute to the success of the team, but it will take at least 10 or 11 guys for us to win.
Unfortunately, by ray saying that you can expect one of two things... either 1. Dema IS really good. 2. the rest of the team sucks....
KOVALENKO DEMA IS A VERY HARD WORKER AND HATES TO LOSE AT ANYTHING. i THINK THAT OUR FANS WILL SEE THAT DEMA IS A TOTAL TEAM PLAYER, SOMTHING THAT WE HAVE BEEN MISSING FOR THREE YEARS! DEMA IS NOT PELE,BUT HE DOES PLAY FOR US NOW,AND HE PLAYS TO WIN!!!! GO DC
Interesting. I think one of the nice things about Hudson is that he seems to say exactly what he feels (for better or worse) to the press. If Kovalenko looked subpar, I don't think Ray would hesitate to say so.
Kovalenko is a solid pro and I'd think that if we had XI guys of his talent level all playing well together we'd have a good team. But he's not the kind of player you can bulid a team around and whatever the questions end up being this year, he's probably not the answer.
I'm not a moderator or anything, so sorry if I'm overstepping here, but all the personal attacks and insults that have been going on here lately are really starting to get out of control. The DC United boards used to be one of the best places on BigSoccer, so how about we all keep it that way? If you read something you don't like, don't just post a rage response to it, get up, get yourself a glass of water (or a cold beer) and cool off a little. MODERATOR'S NOTE I just deleted the quote of the personal attack above.
Dema plays with allot of heart and gives his all every time he is out there. In allot of ways he is just like Benny O., one of my all time favorites on the team. I would love a team of players like those two, never dogging it, just giving their all. Win or lose what more can you ask of a team except to leave everything on the field. (Rather they win though) Looking forward to watching the team this year, and have high hopes, from the Far Side.
Welcome to BigSoccer TheFarSide, hopefully you'll manage to get a little closer and make it two a game or two this year. I agree. I like the rough and tough players. Not too much flare, just balls out hussle... makes the other team look lazy.
Welcome to the boards, TheFarSide. (Does that translate as TheQuietSide in Babblefish? ) I really look forward to seeing what Ray hath wrought, and Dema looks to be a big part of this team. I guess he's finally got the "fist of a team" he's been talking to Punky about. dadman