Petke? Petke is having a very subpar year, but he's a good defender who is a strong man marker (so he's ideally suited for Ray's 352), has decent speed as well as tall and strong in the air. I could see Hudson going after him, particularly the way the Metros owned the Fusion. Ray probably has an overestimation of their ability because of that (see Villegas being a "Ben Olsen Lite" as Hudson referred to him when acquired). Petke would actually fit well in Ray's defense ... but we don't need starters as long as Prideaux, Nelsen, Petke and Reyes are here. Sooooooooo, maybe there is a possibility that Pope will move elsewhere, or that Nelsen is being shopped. I don't really think that Prideaux is expendable, given how seldom our defenders actually appear on the pitch after injuries, National callups and card accumulations. We simply cannot afford Petke's salary as a backup. Or, he could be used in a 3-way-trade with the Crew to acquire Dante Washington. That would certainly help United and the Crew, but what would the Metros get? Most likely our potentially #1 overall SuperDraft pick. Oh, the joys of speculation. -Tron
Going to the Crew for scoring is like going to a baseball team with a league worst ERA for pitching help... It NEVER works! If he was worth a damn he would have showed more there. --This is coming from someone who is generally in favor of any new player we bring in here.
My sincere condolences to Bryan Namoff, and I hope we see him back in MLS again. I truly think he has the talent to play here, but apparently not under Hudson. -Tron
i'd expect Namoff to tear the A-league up if he is HALF as good as his backers here claim him to be... But then again David Hayes was a great DC player too.
...and David Hayes has done quite well for himself playing in the A-League. He carried Richmond during the stretch in the season when nobody else could score...sound familiar?
And MLS is just wetting their pants to sign him up aren't they? --This speaks more to the caliber of play in the A-league then talent...
Hope this is a good move for Bryan. At least he will get to play for a team that scores goals, wins games, and is going to the playoffs. Hopefully down the road he gets to actually play in MLS.
Apples and Oranges... Hayes was a noted prolific goal scorer in college (over 100 goals in 2 seasons) whilst Namoff was your basic hardworking central midfielder who would score occasionally.. I'm with DT in that I think Namoff can play in this league (as evidenced by some very good play late last season) but again, Hudson thumbs his nose at more young players (bye-bye Lisi, Ziadie, Perez and now Namoff).. Hudson has managed to jettison 5 of the last 8 players drafted by United.. Nelsen being the only one who now is counted on to contribute as Ludwig is basically a roster filler player and Mapp is apparently too green to trust right now...