That was a Stoitch/Hudson move all the way.. Nowak won't make that same mistake one would think.. However, I just don't see this mythical European central defender coming to the US to play and get paid for probably substantially less than what he is already making in Europe.. I just don't think Europe is an option.. Gregg Berhalter has been mentioned on occasion and he is probably the only realistic option at this point. However, he is playing and captaining a German team that is contending for promotion, and he is making way more than what MLS can offer him and the WC will be in his backyard in 06'.. Why come back to MLS when he can just stay put.. Besides, the only reason he would come home is to get closer to the qualification effort and honestly, he's probably 4th or 5th option for Arena already.. I think the option now is either thru the draft (which at present time we will be picking at the #24 spot, not exactly prime positioning for getting a talented defender) of thru the CONCACAF region.. This region is where we are going to find our next big defender, if at all.. Other teams in MLS won't bend over backwards to help United in any way via trade.. We're going to have to do this on our own and it won't be very easy..
Threads merged. Why? Well, first off I am a jackbooted moderator that is drunk on power. (Well, at least drunk on Powers). Second, we've had a bit too many splintered threads recently with the draft. For example: Ezra Hendrickson post-draft and EZ to Chivas... So, while Ursula wanted to get back to the depth on the roster and start a new thread on that, the original post in this thread was almost identical and had the same purpose. Just because some jacknut from section 134 wants to hijack the thread and talk about Ivaov doesn't mean y'all have to let him. Take charge and keep the thread on track! Have a nice thread.
Right. First why break up the team? Second, folks here who see a major trade have to look closer at MLS-style reality. Trade a guy like Petke for 3-4 guys? Folks, we already have a huge hole in central defense with Nellie and EZ gone; trading Petke will just make it worse. Or put it this way- those of you who see a trade happening try and come up with a trade with names that fans of the other team(s) wouldn't instantly deride as cloud cukoo land. It's plain old hard to get a defender in trade in MLS without giving up the same- and those trades, position for the same position, are rarely done. I could see a minor trade or two with a team that may need what we have in abundance- midfielders. Maybe get an old backup defender with injury problems, like Llamosa. But even he's valuable. For those who want a forward- do you have an idea of who and what yopu would give for him? Are yoiu wedded to having a target forward in spite of the fact that our offense works great without one?
Reading another thread I found an interesting theory/rumor about Rimando going to Chivas for early picks. If this happens (highly unlikely, IMHO) who are some college players likely targeted by DC? (I'm out of the loop on the whole college-prospect-thing.) What is Lawson's true position? Is he a D-mid? If so do y'all see him as merely cover for an injury to Olsen/Carroll or do you think PN might want to groom him for a future spot? I know he was injured but has anyone heard anything about his form in practice or what PN thinks of him? ursula, I think you're probably right about our next central defender comming for Concacaf. I just have a hunch that PN has been keeping tabs on his old stomping grounds and will bring us a young promising player that wants to experience America for a few years.
From 09/09/04 What role in midfield do you prefer? “I’m more of a central midfielder. In my first couple of years in Germany I played more of an attacking midfielder, but in the last couple I played a defensive midfielder. I can play a bit of both.”
The only "definitive" listing of posible draftees so far is with 3rd degree though I'm sure Sandon will be posting extensively about this and Mike Marshall @ revsnet.com will do also. As you say, if we want one of the so-called stud defenders out of college (remember Stokes was such back in the day) then we have to move up in the draft. Some sort of trade with Rimando could accomplish that. One still gets the feeling that several GK's in the league will be moving to other teams...
Ursula, Are you sure Dema will stay on the left wing with Stewart gone? Wouldn't it make more sense to slide Dema to the right, and put Gros into the starting role. Quite honestly, I don't think you guys lose much with Gros starting rather than Stewart. I know Stewart made some nice plays in the playoffs, but don't forget that whomever he faced on that wing during the playoffs, ran all over him. In other words, a marginal player like Leonard of the Revs, looked superb against you guys. Same with Burciaga. Good player, but really took advantage of Stewart's lack of defensive abilities. I think you guys become much more solid both ways with Dema and Gros maning the wings. The main question for me coming into this season, and I posted extensively on it the past couple of years was at forward. Who was going to score? That was the sole problem for DC in my opinion, and it had been for 3 years. You guys always had a strong defense, and a strong midfield, but nobody could finish. Hudson wasn't able to solve it. He thought Stewart was going to score some, and hoped somebody would step up. His hands were tied with Etch, and the inane addition of Ivanov to the team (an up and down player, but the team was deep at defense, especially considering Reyes was still on the team). Eski and Moreno (that bum...Bradley gave him another chance and he stabbed the Metros in the back, showed no class...) were defiant in their response to my questions. Not at the start of the year (Dema at one point was your most efficient finisher), but as the season wore on. The addition of Gomez, whom Hudson was supposedly after, really helped the play of the forwards also. The question this off-season is defense. Nelsen and Moreno are the most important players on the team. Everyone else is expendable or could be replaced. You guys are losing the rock, or rather the foundation of the team. You guys need to get a Nelsen type player in the back, and another backup. Up top, you guys are fine. Eski has proven to be a lethal finisher, fulfilling all that promise that I saw when he was playing in high school. Moreno has some durability issues. Will he hold up? He was fouled a lot this year. Q1 is going to be good. I have some questions as to whether he is a forward or not. I think he looks much better on the wing, but we'll see. What I always found fascinating about united, is how many times the lineup ended up looking like a 3-6-1, the much-maligned sampson lineup. Eski was always perched up top, but Moreno would always move into a deeper role. He would accept the ball at midfield, and Eski would be 10-15 yards farther upfield. It worked well though. In the end, I think Nowak did a lot for the confidence of the team, etc. His handling of Adu was fantastic (although I think he played him too much at the start of the season, Adu grew as a player). Moreno, obviously in my opinion was the more important of the two. However, the issue of the defense is going to be big. Leadership also. Nelsen obviously was a very vocal leader. Stewart, although not as a good a player as he was 2 or 3 years ago, was also a classy veteran who showed great leadership, and demanded the best from everyone. It's going to be an interesting off-season I think, for every team in MLS, as it seems everyone except for KC is going to be doing massive retooling.
I think Olsen takes on many of Nelsen's leadership responsibilities, as far as being the captain, the most vocal leader, the guy who is considered the heart and soul of the team. So, to replace Nelsen, as far as leadership goers, we need a guy who can organize us in the back. Considering the way we attack, with numbers and the ball on the floor, Agoos-like distribution out of the back would not be at the top of my list of qualities I want The Guy Who Replaces Nelsen to have. However, none of our backs are organizers, and with Rimando in goal, The Guy Who Replaces Nelsen must be able to organize us in the back and be solid in the air. Unless Nowak thinks Thompson is the answer up front or Q1 can ever get healthy, we need someone who can fill in when Eskandarian is suspended (his penchant for picking up stupid cards is his most maddening quality) and when Moreno is injured or simply too banged up and needs a game off. I still don't see how an expansion team that is based in LA and didn't pick a goalkeeper isn't interested in a goalkeeper from LA coming off an MLS Cup victory. I guess we'll see...
Ivanov's lack of success doesn't prove the strategy unsound, IMO. Ivanov had many issues, such as lack of speed, lack of speed, minimal tactical awareness, and lack of speed. it's too expensive to bring over an established Euro star. It's too much of a gamble to bring in someone just over their peak like a Branco (or a spitting image thereof.)
i think you have a good point here. to add on to your post: Ivanov never seemed to have any sort of motivation behind him either
Ursula, you make many good points here. I think petke is pretty much off-limits, altho i think some combo of prideaux/stokes who both *seem* to play better in a 442 than 352 may be a good option fot us to dispose of in exchange for draft picks or other bodies. i remember last year some of the insane trades that would be proposed here on BS. If i had nothing else to do, i would love to dig up some old threads . I suppose it won't be long before we hear of trades like "we'll give you stokes for Edson Buddle and Chad marshall, Eddie Johnson, Carlos Ruiz, Clint Dempsey, Shalrie Joseph, two allocations and cap relief." guys for us who have trade value IMHO that we could afford to lose without missing a beat are prideaux and dema. a guy like stokes may have value elsewhere, but i doubt it. guys like Q1 would have value for the "potential", but the injury question and his high salary would deter many teams. guys like Q2 with low salary but questionable talent (i like the guy, but he has size/speed issues) may have some value. And the poeple who would get ALOT of interest like namof, gross who are american, cheap, talented are precisely the ones we dont want to let go. I've been a proponent for getting a target FW for long time, but i wouldn't give much up for one. This guy would be a sub for esky/jaime or an option off the bench if we are down a goal late as an extra attacker. I'd still like to see what Thompson can bring to the table in this role. As for a euro defender, i think its possible, but i dont think its going to be likely. a defender from euro will likely require an allocation and at this point we are still unsure of how many we will have, in addition to taking up an SI slot. if they are "proven defenders" they are likely to be expensive, and i'm not so sure about a defender who cant crack a starting lineup other there coming here and being a solid defender for us. As someone else said, a likely candidate would be a CONCACAF defender, and maybe more specifically, a carribean one. We've seen severl guys (some of them HUGE) in the US's recent qualifiers. Another thing to consider is the door that is still left ajar in regards to nellie *possibly* coming back for next season. i think that question wont be answered till after the winter transfer window has closed. if he's still here i think it changes our whole outlook on EVERYTHING.
In regards to Q1, I think he will stay up top because other than him all we have up top (as a sub) is Thompson. Also, is everyone sure that the Convey allocation won't be sent to Dallas as compensation for the #1 pick last year? Assuming we don't have that allocation here's my guess for what we'll use our allocation, discoveries, and draft picks for. Allocation: obviously a strong, good in the air, leadership type of defender to replace Nellie. Also would be helpful if he was fairly young (24-28). I'm not too worried about this, considering Nowak has a great eye for talent. I think this defender will either come from a CONCACAF nation (Nowak will really be watching those WCQ tapes a lot) or from a Euro team that probably be relegated and is bleeding money. I doubt we'll be able to get another steal like Gomez from an Argentine/Brazilian club. Discoveries: I think one will be used to get a cheap talent from somewhere in the CONCACAF, the other discovery would be used to get a player from somewhere in the A-League. The two draft picks obviously from college. How we fill the rest of the roster is anyones guess. Although getting a starting defender, back-up defender, back-up winger with speed, and a back-up d-mid are our main concerns.