Official: Mapp to Chicago for Dema

It appears that this was a straight-up trade. If that's the case, I like it. I know Mapp has potential, but Dema is a proven all-star. Sure, our lineup is looking a little thuggish, but I'd describe it as "thuggish but talented" (kinda like Anthony Michael Hall's "demented and sad, but social" chess club (or whatever) in the Breakfast Club).

 

Damn!!!! I hate to lose Mapp. Why does Ray always give up on young players. Think about it. Tino and Convey were before Ray got here. Its not impossible that if they hadn't already gotten some time under their belts, that Ray would've given up on them too. The only positive thing is that we didn't get Stoichkov.

 

Crap.

Well, it could have been a lot worse. We could have picked up the old dude and given away more picks, but I'm still disappointed that we won't get to see Mapp blossom in black.

As I will do with Petke, I will welcome Dema to the fold and hope he has a great year for us.

 

http://www.dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=main&cont_id=153466

 

Well, you replaced Richie Williams.

 

Reading that link to the Fire site makes me miss Mapp even more. It just seems so wasteful as Mapp does possess qualities this team needs. And Ray just seems to not want him. Dema's not bad but I think Mapp will be better. I know Tron will be pissed.

 

I've gotta disagree with this sentiment. Mapp certainly has potential, but he wasn't going to start too many games (if any) for us next year. It's not like Dema is some scrub - the guy is for real, and still young. We're getting a veteran all-star starter, and we gave up a guy who played a total of what, forty minutes last season?

Hopefully Mapp will flourish eventually, but I for one am sick and tired of waiting for "someday." Think about this: even if we make the playoffs next year, we'll still have gone nearly four years between playoff matches. In my opinion, Dema will do a lot more to help us get back to the promised land of the playoff next year than Mapp would have.

 

I like the trade for several reasons:

- Dema the Demolition man is a good player, a borderline all-star easily. We are lucky that he doesn't have his US citizenship yet as Arena would be starting to look at him. Folks, this guy, even last year, has the talent to make the all-star team. He is also at the moment our best forward and i understand we had problems scoring last year.

- This trade also means (suprise suprise) that Hudson wants to win NOW. Mapp doesn't help us next season and probably wouldn't help much for a couple of seasons, which is an eternity in MLS.

- We didn't get Stoichkov as part of the rumored deal. This shows that we have Chicago by the balls because we didn't have to add any draft picks to get a broken down player.

- Dema fits well into a 352 in the central midfield/withdrawn forward positions. He has a lot of energy to move the ball forward fast. In that respect he should combine well with Olsen, Convey, and Reyes.

- Dema is not very expensive- good bang for our buck- and we still have lots of cap room to play with.

This probably means that Convey will spend most of his time on the left wing, which I don't like, but I don't think he will stay there all year. I still expect to see him in the middle fairly often. However Convey at left wing won't be as bad next year if we continue to get more productive forwards who can receive a pass from Bobby.

Also to me it makes our depth chart at left wing kinda thin: Convey will normally start, and we only have Alegria and ITT to back him and neither have the pace. Still we have some more deals yet to do and I hope we pick up another left winger type.

Finally, getting Dema means we don't have to give up more to get Dante Washington from C-bus. Dema has a brighter future than does Dante easily.

 

Dang, Lowecifer, I quote your initial post, and then you go and change it to a sentiment I can agree with...it certainly will be tough watching Mapp blossom for someone else. Still, I want to win now and sheeit.

 

I agree with all that. I think that this trade now forces us to look for a left winger, in addition to a forward and Hmid. I hate to bring this up and bitch and moan about this in every thread, but why the hell did we sign Etch again because if we hadn't, coudln't we get another allocation? We could then use this for a left winger. We just have to pray that Ray doesn't screw the draft and then give up on the players he picks. Also hope he brings in good allocations. Rongen didn't do much good, but he gave us Tino and Convey who may mature into great players. Like John Harkes 6 said, if Ray does leave this team in a horrible condition, lets hope he leaves us with a few more good players.

 

And I think Kovalenko and McKinley won't allow others to push Bobby and Marco around. Whack!

 

Folks, Dema is not Hudson's answer at d-mid. That is coming later.

 

Now our allocations and picks mean more than ever. Petke and Dema might be complimentary players, but we still haven't addressed our real needs. The pressure is really on Ray et al to get the next moves right, or it's going to be another long season.

At least Dema is taller than Richie.

 

I'm not a big Dema fan but I don't mind him coming here. I just hate that we had to give up Mapp for him. I think a central Mid trio of Ricardo Clark, Convey, and Kovalenko wouldn't be too bad. Or maybe not Clark starting but an allocation.

 

Agreed. He has experience playing Right wing, forward, and central mid. Not Dmid. Just cuz he's scrappy doesn't make him a holding midfielder. I also would prefer him at Central midfield over the other positions he's played.

 

I think it's a fantastic trade for DC.
Kovalenko gives the midfield some grit and stability.

 

Let's put this move in perspective. It's totally about cap space from Chicago's perspective. They were looking to deal a player--almost any player--for someone who was cap exempt.

Before we start talking about Mapp blossoming with Chicago, the last time I checked, they had a guy named Demarcus Beasley playing left-mid there. I think Mapp (if he continues to grow) is at best, a partial sub who earns some minutes when DMB is at the Confed Cup or hurt (which does happen) or gets sold to Europe in 1-2 years. Obviously, Mapp could turn out to be something special. But unless it's going to be at right midfield, it won't be with Chicago for another year or 2--at least before he starts getting serious minutes.

And as for Kovalenko, I bet he doesn't start for us (at least not regularly). I bet what we just got in Kovalenko is a guy we can plan almost anywhere in front of our backline or goal if need be, a guy who can give us quality minutes as a sub or 12th man. Think of our bench last year. Reserves (like Lisi or Alavanja) who could play 1 position or role--if that. Kovalenko gives us an MLS vet who will work hard, has some technical ability, and can be a very good 12th or 13th man. This team didn't have that last year and now we have it.

 

yeah. At the moment our starting lineup looks like this:

------------------Rimando
Reyes------------Nelsen-------Petke/Prideaux
----------------no d-mid yet
Olsen---------Kovalenko--------Convey
----------------Etcheverry
--------Quaranta----------2nd forward

This however is subject to some changes still, probably more than at just d-mid and one forward position.

 

I can't believe someone used the words "Kovalenko" and "stability" in the same sentence.

I'm not a fan of Kovalenko and I'm really not happy about the number of well known hacks that DC United is acquiring.

But, to be very honest, this move is good for Mapp. Thinking purely in terms of his development I have to believe that Sarachan will do more for him than Hudson.

So as much as I hate to lose him and as much as I hate the fact that the current situation at DC United does not favor the development of young players, for Mapp's development this is a positive move.