Re: Vanney to DC?! I certainly hope not - Vanney's time is long gone - He's an adequate support player, but has no where near the upside of Erpen - I'll take his rare brain farts any day of the week - Its the midfield that needs to step up its defensive pressure to stop quality crosses into the center The only thing we would be getting out of this is a current SYI slot and a future SI slot - We (and DC United coaches) know what they got in Erpen - Can they be so confident in what they think they'll get out and that they'll get someone so much better on the open market with limited resources compared to big teams in Euro, SA and Mexico?
Re: Vanney to DC?! Yes! See ya, Facundo! Great, great move. Why? Because Vanney doesn't bike balls back to Perkins. That in itself makes this trade worthwhile.
Re: Vanney to DC?! Can't think of the last time I saw Facundo swat the ball in the area with his hands, though.
Re: Vanney to DC?! There's not enough room here to list the number of times Erpen has blown assignments, was out of position, or got toasted by faster forwards. He consistently gives away balls out of the back, as well. His only saving grace is that he's decent in the air on set pieces. Other than that, he's rubbish. Do you even remember the first 5 or 6 games this year? Vanney can play any number of positions (yes, he's not the best defender in the world...I think we can all agree), and Erpen can't. Our depth is lacking (see last night...Simms and McTavish are dreadful in the back when forced to play there, and Gros is not that great, either), so Vanney can help cover for us across the line. Finally, Erpen will be a senior international next year, so do you really think he's worth that slot?
Re: Vanney to DC?! Realistically, I'm more interested in 'what comes next', otherwise, this trade smells of the Scott Vermillion trade.
Re: Vanney to DC?! Don't agree with this move at all unless there is some hidden ends that somehow justify the means, because on a player for player/salary cap basis, we'd definitely be getting the short end of the stick on this trade.
Re: Vanney to DC?! What a stupid trade. Erpen makes mistakes, but he's got a helluva lot more upside than Greg Vanney.
Re: Vanney to DC?! That was classic! I'm totally against this. You see, me and Erpen's Mom, we have this thing, going on...
Re: Vanney to DC?! Vanney looked absolutely out to sea last night. And Facu had a good match. This is a bad trade. Me no likey.
Re: Vanney to DC?! 1. It is truly funny to read comments on the Rapids boards and here--both groups of fans are generally convinced they're getting the worst of the deal. 2. There could be more to this than meets the idea. The Rapids picking up some of his pay for instance or we're about to make a larger deal. 3. My take on the players is that it's all about fit. Erpen has a bigger upside than Vanney. He's younger, more skilled, more physically gifted. He clearly is proud of the shirt as Nowak said at one point of our Argentine players and he's never badmouthed the fans or the team. At the same time, for all of the good moments Erpen has had this year (and it's dishonest to argue he hasn't had a lot since moving to central defense), he still has bad mistakes. He was in a position to coordinate/organize our defense last night and it was pretty clear that the separation between the midfield and backline was bad (just as our backline didn't provide enough space against Findley). And Erpen has regressed as a player: he is not as good now as he was 2 years ago when he joined us. Vanney has his limitations. But his positioning is good. He's definitely a natural lefty. Speed ain't good and he's overpaid for his value and he's older. But don't forget--he wanted to be here originally (but the allocation order forced him to go to Dallas). As for going to Bastia, I don't hold that against him. He started his pro career in the A-league, had to follow Caligiuri (who was popular in LA) and saw the opportunity in France as a way to get more money plus upgrade his game for more NT shots (and it didn't work out that way--the reverse actually). 4. Unless this is the first step in something else, I think the issue here isn't about quality, it's about "fit." I always hate to deal someone like a Petke who honors the uniform and respects the fans. Erpen does. And it's blind to insist he's a good player or a bad player--like all players he has ups and downs, good moments and bad. The key to this deal is whether or not Vanney is a better fit for our team than Erpen. And that, I honestly don't know--I really don't. I think when it comes to positioning, Vanney and Erpen are polar opposites: Vanney is quite good and Erpen relies more on his ability. In short, I don't quite know what to make of this deal and whether we've made a steal or are getting robbed.
Re: Vanney to DC?! I'm trying to convince myself that this will be OK. I'm trying to envision some bombing free kick goals or wicked crosses right to the heads of our forwards. The thing I am really trying to focus on is that maybe this upside that keeps getting thrown around would never have happened in DC. Maybe he didn't want to stay. Maybe he let them know what it would take to keep him and they weren't willing to go there. I don't know. I usually don't like assigning winners and losers to trades before things are all said and done, but this one is a little puzzling.
Re: Vanney to DC?! That's where I'm at, too. Well, that and the fact that I've grown quite fond of Erpen.
Re: Vanney to DC?! When's the last time Vanney actually did any of this? Back when he was with the Galaxy? I swear, when he was in the USMNT pool, every time there was a free kick to be taken the announcers made it out like he was the USA's version of Beckham. Not once did I ever see him score. We've got Gomez for the FK's and Fred is supposed to be serving the ball in. Vanney to DC makes no sense. What? DC couldn't persuade Arena to trade us Dunivant? I actually hate Greg Vanney and would have a hard time cheering while he is on the pitch. He's not in the Jay Heaps/CJ Brown mold, but just a notch below. Thx, Jay! I looked up stats. 22 Career Goals, 22 Career Assists. 1G and 2A since coming back from France. And plenty of the goals were PK's. So his vaunted left foot seems more the myth every day.
Re: Vanney to DC?! I've been horrified by Erpen's recklessness from Day One, so I don't object to a more mature presence in the back. I would have preferred Dunivant, but Vanney can organize a defense, a skill that Perkins and Boswell should appreciate. As for his skill set, it reminds me of Agoos in his later years: not much speed but a great left foot and canny positioning. Nevertheless, I lean toward the idea that the principal upside (especially if we don't have to take the full salary hit) is the YI slot opening immediately and keeping the SI opening we have now.
Re: Vanney to DC?! Ok, so we get that you like the trade. But trashing McTavish along the way? McTavish has actually played well as a CB last night (despite starting on the right with Simms in the center - bad idea), and Simms, while not amazing, was solid enough considering all the players we're missing.
Re: Vanney to DC?! Thrilled. I am simply thrilled. Erpen, take your arrogance and your bag of stupid tricks that inevitably result in your being out of position at a critical moment, getting a card, or injuring someone (on a couple of memorable occasions, yourself) and jump on the first flight to Colorado. I wish we could have gotten Petke back in return, but Petke is worth about five Facundo Erpens, and I fear even the Colorado front office know that.
Re: Vanney to DC?! Assuming that the trade was in the works before Petke broke his ankle (if that is indeed what happened) why would Colorado trade away ANY defender, even for another defender. I would think they would be trying to work a trade which added a defender to their roster, now that Petke is done. Switching Vanney for Erpen still leaves them one defender short of where they started from.
Good Luck Greg!! GV is an okay DEF, but not a great DEF .. .. Defending: C+ Mobility: B- Shooting: C Crossing: C Vision: B Set-Pieces: C After seeing every match he played for LA, I just can't remember him sending in quality crosses .. .. In fact, I don't think he came forward a whole lot .. .. Whereas JAZIC makes overlapping runs for us, I don't think GV was a presence there .. .. The one thinbg that really stood out about him was how well he hit a cross-field ball to a streaking player on the right/flank .. .. TOP NOTCH TOUCH THERE!! He sent COBI away with a ton of those over-the-top release balls .. .. Yup, he's got a powerful L/foot but not very accurate - Everything always went 'PANDO' (high) but he did take all of the PKs in the early Galaxy years .. .. All in all, don't expect a life-saver here .. .. GREAT GUY and a decent footballer .. ..
Re: Vanney to DC?! I agree that it makes no sense from Colorado's perspective pre-Petke injury. But now, post-injury, here's what happens: --they get a starting centerback (which they need) to play alongside Uhemelu. That upgrades their speed and ball skills in the center of the field and Erpen "might" be better organizationally than Petke. --they upgrade their speed at left back (as a younger, faster player replaces Vanney). --they weren't happy with their centerback situation as they made a DP run at Calderon of Chile (who supposedly turned them down) and that was with Petke and Uhemelu both healthy. And now Mike appears to have a broken ankle.
Re: Vanney to DC?! What is your basis for this statement? In the times I've met him, he's never seemed arrogant to me.