http://www.soccertimes.com/oped/2004/madbrit/apr23.htm About half way down to the section that is entitled "Where's Ray".. Not exactly very flattering comments about the typical American player, Convey and Olsen in particular.. I'm not saying he is wrong, just that he is very honest about his feelings.. Good to hear from Ray but he could have been more diplomatic without dumping on Bobby/Bennie, but, that's Ray.....
Olsen maybe, but Convey? Whatever. The kid is way too young and shown way too much poise in international matches to be brushed aside like that. He's athletic, yes, but does that mean he has less vision? I've think for the role and responsibility he gets from BA at this young an age says more about his skill than the lack of quality on the American side.
you guys are taking this way too personally. he didn't say that Convey was bad. he just basically said that the guy is not someone who brings any special or out of the ordinary skills to the table ........ which he doesn't. he has good skill with a tremendous work ethic, tons of hustle, and great athleticism. there is no shame in that. ps by the way, i just read the link that was provided. I was going off of this by memory, because someone yesterday or the day before had provided the link to the more complete interview with Hudson. The site provided in this thread only gives snippets. in the full story, he is not railing on Convey and Olsen. he is talking about the specialness of Adu and then kind of floats back into how his skill level is on another level than everyone else, including those guys. the quote on the site provided here has no context to soften the blow of what he said in that one sentence.
Yeah, I really think Ray Hudson is the guy who we need to be listening to about young American talent, considering his judgment on the subject has heretofore been pretty much infallible.
This is eaxctly why I defended Ray.. people going off on him for all the wrong reasons... What he said (in case people are too lazy to click the g-damn link): I love Olsen and I STILL think he is right. Adu (and even Quaranta) are special because they are not the generic (but good) hard working US type player. Adu (and Quaranta) can actually take a ball through defenders with the ball at their feet. That is the type of player we rarely if ever see in the US ranks. Thats what I see Ray saying here. It also supports my long standing belief towards Convey. He IS special. But far more special in a JOHN HARKES way then a Marco Etcheverry one. Apples and oranges really... but many people around here dont seem to know the difference.
exactly. He even said Olsen and Convey were very good. He's not saying those players aren't skilled, but that they lack flair. I think it's a perfectly fair assessment.
Ray Hudson shows his ignorance F Hudson. He proved that all he could do is hold onto Preki's coattails and play thuggish uber-defensive bore-ball. He took one of the better teams in the league scoring-wise (United) and made them challenge for the leagues all-time futility record offensively then tried to cover it with a smeared layer of BS. When Convey played in the middle, Hudson's teams SCORED. Yet, Hudson has his pre-conceived notions so freaking set in his mind that he can't see the obvious, and it rightfully cost him his job. This man is so set in his ways that he'd cut off his nose just to spite his face. He's a great quote, but one of his many faults was that he didn't know when to keep his pie-hole shut. It's no wonder we landed ZERO transfers under Hudson. He comes in preaching that we have talent and he only wants to "tweak" the roster, then he completely remakes it in wholesale changes and he hides behind the weak excuse that we didn't have enough talent. Face it Hudson, the problem wasn't Convey or Olsen, it was YOU! Look at what we were begging for you to do for so freaking long ... it's what Nowak is doing! Guess what dipstick, it works! Pizz off Mr. anti-American Brit. Our nation of "cookie-cutter" players outplayed your beloved England in the World Cup, so we must not suck as badly as you think. I, for one, am DANG GLAD you are nowhere near Freddy. -Digital
This is just another "Paul Gardener Style" arguement. "Too much coaching stifles creativity" 'There is an untapped group of players hidden in the inner cities of this country" Hudson is just repeating the same mantra he used at United. He just threw what he believed to be the most talented players and give them only minimal direction. He believed that superior talent would win out over organization most of the time. Well his record showed that that was not he case in MLS, since you could not simply buy 11 extremly talented players with a salary cap to work within.
Two things: 1) WHY did you link to a Mad Brit column and not give fair warning?!?!?!?! This guy's a complete idiot who can't spell. (Gary Nevill?) 2) F Ray Hudson.
Just finished reading the rest of it . . . Patrick Viera is now playing in Italy?????? What a moron. Soccertimes: Worth exactly what you pay for it.
I guess Hudson thought Eskandarian and Carroll were just run of the mill Americans judging the amount of time he gave them on the field. He was a bad coach in MLS because he doesn't understand the most important aspect of it - the fact that there are mostly run of the mill American players on every team's roster and that they're not going to get any better if they're sitting on the bench. And yeah, that article was a piece of crap, just like everything else "The Mad Brit" writes.
They won't ..... they think Convey is great player......(work rate and he LOOKS dangerous) lol that all they are left saying about this golden boy! 4 years of ********!
We are not bashing Marco! There are some morons here who do, but thanks goodness it's a free country so that locos make themselves self-evident. (Of course, from their point of view, they are thanking God that it's a free country, too!) GM
I agree with him, but I have yet to see the "X-factor" in Adu. Except for the lind he drinks. To tell the truth, I haven't seen anything. That goal was frickin luck to get through all of those players on the ground. So far even, even though I know about the pressure, Freddy's been suckin it.
It just continues to amaze me how some people feel the need to consistently bash Hudson like he's some kind of complete idiot. Can't deal w/young players. Plays boring ball. Is crazy. Doesn't understand soccer, is just a great quote who should to stay in the booth. Whatever. What is it w/this need to bash him? The guy bled for United-NOBODY denies that. Despite taking two teams that were bad-United and the Fusion-his OVERALL coaching record is over .500. If he's such a f ing idiot, would he have such a record? Or is he just LUCKY. C'mon. As it stands, we are 1 win, 1 tie, and 2 losses. We go to San Jose-and guess what, chances are we lose that game. 1 win, 1 tie, 3 losses. And so.....OBJECTIVELY (record-wise) are we any better under Nowak? OBJECTIVELY, AT THIS POINT, it's clear that we are NOT. Yet SUBJECTIVELY if someone feel the need to p*** on Hudson until your dying breath, so be it. But MAN it gets to the point where it bothers me. Give the guy his respect and leave him alone-he got the team in the playoffs despite major injury problems and a roster w/some underachieving players. If anybody needs to shutup it's people who feel they're above everyone and can p*** on Hudson like a know-it-all. I'm sorry for getting upset here but like I said it's gotten to the point where it bothered me. Our DC United performance the last 2 weeks is bothering all of us.
Hudson was full of fire and spirit, but was he a complete soccer coach? Looking from a distance, I'd say no. The team lacked discipline and he didn't play/develop the younger players enough. No one questions Ray's heart, it was his lack of team discipline and questionable tactics and poor handling of youngsters. Also, I think there are a number of positive signs that this team is better than last year, despite the record so far. Much better midfield play is the number one difference. Nowak's work will bear fruit in the coming weeks. Mark my words.
You don't even have to put Marco in that list to make the case. Here's a list of players that fit at least one of those criteria: Lassiter Zambrano Stoitchkov Cerritos Ivanov Villegas McKinley Alavanja This is the article from which Mad Brit took the quote.
THe whole "bash one guy and defend the other" is puzzling. I liked Ray and Thomas and I like Peter now. The bottom line is it is clear that we can lose with old guys and we can lose just as well with young guys. I don't think there's one piece to the puzzle missing. We can't finish opportunities and we can't stop giving up 2nd half goals. One coach, one player isn't going to cut it. I fell prey to a bit of false (as it seems) optimism after the first two games but before the season I pretty much expected to have games like the last two. THe only things that have surprised me are the number of chances on offense and the abominable 2nd half defending. All other things being equal I'd rather be losing with young guys because you at least have hope they'll learn to play. Then again when you see the other teams' young guys play much better I wonder if our guys just aren't that talented.
I don't think Hudson's commnets were that harsh at all. In fact I think he's right for the most part.