Who should stay, who should go?

RSL, UT · 09-28-2005, 05:12 PM

I hoped to find some intriguing talk of how certain players have performed this year in the threads, but have found nothing. So I thought I'd give it a try and hopefully we get a good discussion going.

Negatives

Obviously we had a lot of disappointing personal performances this year and it all starts with Mathis. I'm not sure he's got much left physically, and he obviously has nothing left mentally. Maybe a few goals under his belt would have helped, but I don't know for sure.

I am not sure how to feel about Williams. All I can say for sure is that he was inconsistent. He had some great games and also some games where the effort level was not there. Many times he seems to get too frustrated if he doesn't get calls in his favor or if he feels he is not getting the ball enough. Getting him to get back defensively is also a struggle.

One of these two needs to go if you ask me (if not both). Personally, I'd rather keep Williams and get rid of Mathis, but I think I could handle the other way around too. I wouldn't be too sad if both were gone, but I don't see it happening.

Dante Washington is an acquisition that does not make sense to me. Obviously because of his age he was not brought in for the future of the team, yet he has seen very little action with the first squad. What I have personally seen I have not been impressed with. If the coaches had any confidence in him I think he would have been on the field more often. I will be very surprised if we see him in a RSL jersey next year, maybe any MLS jersey for that matter.

I may get ripped for this, but I have also not been impressed with Pope on the field. He seems like a good leader and has the right attitude, but he hasn't played all that well IMO. I've seen way too many sloppy clearances and not tight enough marking from him.

DJ has also been a bit disappointing. He is not agressive enough, and gets caught "in between" too much for my liking. You may want to defend DJ by saying he is young, but with 3 yrs. experience in the league, he should be way ahead of Nolly, yet they seem to be pretty close talent wise (and are both 23). I expect Jay to be the long term goalkeeper here, but I could be wrong. I would be shocked if any changes were made here...both will compete for the starting job next year and the best man will come out on top and start.

Positives

Jason Kreis is the consummate professional and is team MVP in my book. I can't say enough good things about him. He shouldered the pressure as our only legitimate goal scoring threat for 2/3 of the season. The only thing I think he could improve upon is taking the team under his wing and becoming the undeniable leader. He seems like a soft spoken guy, but I'd like to see him take the reigns of the team and become more out-spoken in expecting nothing but all out effort every game. If Mathis is gone, this may be a little easier. Hopefully he and Tarley will become a great tandem up front next year. Another talented finisher would take a lot of pressure off Jason and open up a lot more opportunities for him.

Scarlett was a great mid-season pickup that helped our lack of wing midfielders to send in crosses into the box. He is fun to watch, and hopefully we will get to see him for years to come.

Cutler has also been a pleasant surprise. He seems like he has embraced the roll Ellinger wants him to play at defensive mid, and has done a good job. It would be nice if he'd push up a little more when we are attacking, but I assume the coaching staff has instructed him to stay back for the most part.

Dunseth has also been a bright spot in our back line. He plays aggressive and has done a good job especially with Pope missing so much time this year. He takes stupid fouls every once in a while when he doesn't need to, but overall I think he has been our most consistent defender.

Brown and Kamler have also done well wherever Ellinger has asked them to play. Brian will be missed on the field, but it is good to have him stay witin the organization. Chris was a huge asset early in the season playing all over the field. I'd love to see him back next year because a player with such versatility adds great value to the team.

These are the players I feel strongly about either way...what say the rest of y'all?

devNull · 09-28-2005, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSL, UT

I hoped to find some intriguing talk of how certain players have performed this year in the threads, but have found nothing. So I thought I'd give it a try and hopefully we get a good discussion going.

Negatives

Obviously we had a lot of disappointing personal performances this year and it all starts with Mathis. I'm not sure he's got much left physically, and he obviously has nothing left mentally. Maybe a few goals under his belt would have helped, but I don't know for sure.

I am not sure how to feel about Williams. All I can say for sure is that he was inconsistent. He had some great games and also some games where the effort level was not there. Many times he seems to get too frustrated if he doesn't get calls in his favor or if he feels he is not getting the ball enough. Getting him to get back defensively is also a struggle.

One of these two needs to go if you ask me (if not both). Personally, I'd rather keep Williams and get rid of Mathis, but I think I could handle the other way around too. I wouldn't be too sad if both were gone, but I don't see it happening.

Dante Washington is an acquisition that does not make sense to me. Obviously because of his age he was not brought in for the future of the team, yet he has seen very little action with the first squad. What I have personally seen I have not been impressed with. If the coaches had any confidence in him I think he would have been on the field more often. I will be very surprised if we see him in a RSL jersey next year, maybe any MLS jersey for that matter.

I may get ripped for this, but I have also not been impressed with Pope on the field. He seems like a good leader and has the right attitude, but he hasn't played all that well IMO. I've seen way too many sloppy clearances and not tight enough marking from him.

DJ has also been a bit disappointing. He is not agressive enough, and gets caught "in between" too much for my liking. You may want to defend DJ by saying he is young, but with 3 yrs. experience in the league, he should be way ahead of Nolly, yet they seem to be pretty close talent wise (and are both 23). I expect Jay to be the long term goalkeeper here, but I could be wrong. I would be shocked if any changes were made here...both will compete for the starting job next year and the best man will come out on top and start.

Positives

Jason Kreis is the consummate professional and is team MVP in my book. I can't say enough good things about him. He shouldered the pressure as our only legitimate goal scoring threat for 2/3 of the season. The only thing I think he could improve upon is taking the team under his wing and becoming the undeniable leader. He seems like a soft spoken guy, but I'd like to see him take the reigns of the team and become more out-spoken in expecting nothing but all out effort every game. If Mathis is gone, this may be a little easier. Hopefully he and Tarley will become a great tandem up front next year. Another talented finisher would take a lot of pressure off Jason and open up a lot more opportunities for him.

Scarlett was a great mid-season pickup that helped our lack of wing midfielders to send in crosses into the box. He is fun to watch, and hopefully we will get to see him for years to come.

Cutler has also been a pleasant surprise. He seems like he has embraced the roll Ellinger wants him to play at defensive mid, and has done a good job. It would be nice if he'd push up a little more when we are attacking, but I assume the coaching staff has instructed him to stay back for the most part.

Dunseth has also been a bright spot in our back line. He plays aggressive and has done a good job especially with Pope missing so much time this year. He takes stupid fouls every once in a while when he doesn't need to, but overall I think he has been our most consistent defender.

Brown and Kamler have also done well wherever Ellinger has asked them to play. Brian will be missed on the field, but it is good to have him stay witin the organization. Chris was a huge asset early in the season playing all over the field. I'd love to see him back next year because a player with such versatility adds great value to the team.

These are the players I feel strongly about either way...what say the rest of y'all?

I agree with most of what you have to say. I do have a few things to say though. I have mixed feelings about Pope. He does seem to be showing some signs of age and hasn't been super sharp. I would however still like to see him around. I think he has been a bit dinged up and not playing up to his potential. I see him as one who can get it together. I think he is a definite keeper.

I am glad to see that you gave Cutler some credit. Yes, he has not been as offensive as most would like him to be. I think that his play has been very conservative in general. His passes are often very simple and not creative. I think that he has done well enough as a young player in the defensive/holding mid position. I think he is someone we keep around to watch develop. That said I would prefer to pick up someone with more experience to start in that position next season. I think that the defensive/holding midfield position is probably our biggest weakness right now.

I am not nearly as sold on Dunseth as you are. I think he has just been mediocre. He is great in the air, but I think all too often he is a liability against the dribble and loses his mark at critical times. I don't think we should get rid of him, but I wouldn't mind seeing the team pick up another central defender or give one of our younger guys a bit more playing time to accelerate development and take over that position during next season.

Super Phil · 09-28-2005, 07:48 PM

Hmmm........good topic:

I hope Kreis and Tarley are back next season. It seems like the perfect combination of youth and experience up front.

Andy Williams has definitely been inconsistent. I don't remember him doing anything noticeably positive until the last couple of games. But he has definitely shown that he can be a great player if he so desires.

I don't remember seeing Fitzpatrick doing anything that really impressed me.

Mathis is a tough call. I think it's probably best for the team to cut him loose...there is a reason he hasn't really stuck anywhere he's gone. But moments like that free kick in the 3-0 win vs. Dallas make him tempting.

As far as Countess goes, I hope he wants to play here next season. That poor guy got hung out to dry so many freaking times by our joke of a defense that I wouldn't blame him for bailing if another team made him an offer. He stopped tons of point blank chances and made many great saves this season. Sure he may have made some mistsakes, but he got little, if any, help from his defense this season...yeah...the defense is a sore spot for me!

As far as the defense goes, it's hard to know who is worth keeping and who isn't because they played so badly as a unit all season (and maybe a lot of that has to do with weak midfield play). It's tough to argue with Pope's pedigree, though, and all his National Team experience. Broome looked pretty good at times. Aside from that, it's really tough to say. But is obvious that changes need to be made.

I think the team really needs to add some toughness/effort/grit. We need some guys that will get in there and mix it up, run hard all day, not take any crap. An example of this is from the game where Kreis got his 100th goal...I believe. It was very close to the end of the match, and Kreis got elbowed in the face by someone. Just after that, an RSL player (I think Trembly) took an opposing player out of bounds with a VERY HARD slide tackle. He did get a red card (I think it should only have been a yellow), but it was about time we saw one of the players take a stand and actually play with some guts and stand up for his teammate. I mean, if you're going down, at least go down swinging...and let the other team know that you aren't going to roll over for anyone. Maybe that's just the hockey player coming out in me, though. I think that's part of what was disappointing for me watching this season. RSL would get down early, and then only play hard for the final 10 minutes to try to avoid being shut-out. Not a way to run a professional team.

Still.....I already got my tickets for October 5th against DC United, and I'm excited for next season! :signrocko

RSL1 · 09-28-2005, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Super Phil

As far as the defense goes, it's hard to know who is worth keeping and who isn't because they played so badly as a unit all season (and maybe a lot of that has to do with weak midfield play). It's tough to argue with Pope's pedigree, though, and all his National Team experience. Broome looked pretty good at times. Aside from that, it's really tough to say. But is obvious that changes need to be made.

I think the team really needs to add some toughness/effort/grit. We need some guys that will get in there and mix it up, run hard all day, not take any crap.

Well, as for the defense, Cabrera must stay. He's showing very well with guys that he's never played with before (notable exception of the first ten minutes of the Columbus game). He's also exactly what you wrote in the next paragraph, namely tough, gritty, maximum effort. He also brings skills and a more advanced tactical understanding than other MLS defenders.

dysko · 09-28-2005, 11:06 PM

I say we just arrange a loan from Real Madrid (remember that tie in we were supposed to see eventually)... Their team for ours! 🕺

dysko · 09-28-2005, 11:21 PM

I think this is who I would like to see back.

Starters
Kries--Tarley
Williams
Cutler
Pope--Cabrera--Broome--Pierce (if he can stay healthy, if deemed too fragile get rid of him)
Countess/Nolly ( I would give up either one for a solid field player)

Reserves
Gregorio--Fitzpatrick--Besagno--Sergio (let the kid play in a game, home town bias admitted on this one)--Watson--Scarlett (I believe he will develop into a great player)--Dunny

There are several that I sould say are border line... Obviously any started can become reserve if we aquire a higher quality replacement.

This gives us 11 free roster spots (we get 28 right?), two of which are definate starters. I could see Kreis not making it back opening up another spot on the roster and starting line-up. I could see Peirce going... opening another roster/starter spot.

In all reality, I see at least 3 starter spots being open and 12 to 15 new guys on the roster. Any way you cut it, we need to pick up some top quality talent to fill starter spots and a couple solid back ups.

DadOf8 · 09-29-2005, 12:36 AM

Quote:

I may get ripped for this, but I have also not been impressed with Pope on the field. He seems like a good leader and has the right attitude, but he hasn't played all that well IMO. I've seen way too many sloppy clearances and not tight enough marking from him.

It seems like Pope puts all his energy into playing with the Nats and then comes back and gives a mediocre performance with his team. I've heard Metros fans complain about that. Still, I love the guy and hope he stays with RSL. It's really hard for me to say get rid of anyone because I really like this squad, but at the same time we need to put a winning combination of 11 out on the pitch and if that means getting rid of some of the more popular players, then so be it.

SoccerPrime · 09-29-2005, 06:24 AM

dysko, RSL needs more than 3 new starters.
I wouldn't be surprised if 5-6 of next year's Starting 11 are new.

Of course, many of these predictions are based on Kreis making a full recovery. He said that at the least, he would need 6 months of recovery. That means the earliest he would be ready would be the end of March right before the season starts. I hope he can return.

dysko · 09-29-2005, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

dysko, RSL needs more than 3 new starters.
I wouldn't be surprised if 5-6 of next year's Starting 11 are new.

Of course, many of these predictions are based on Kreis making a full recovery. He said that at the least, he would need 6 months of recovery. That means the earliest he would be ready would be the end of March right before the season starts. I hope he can return.

Yes, those are definate starting spots (I believe that either Kries or Pierce will not be back, possibly both). Others depending on who we get at what possitions. Basicly that was just my list of must fill spots.

I would guess that we will see 1-2 new starters on defense. We will see at least 2 in the midfield (pperhaps 3) and possibly one of front. So that puts us at four or five starters base on what I see. I just don't have names to plug in yet. We will have week spots in our roster no matter what next year. We are not currently a one year fix... more like a two or three year turn around before we win the MLS Cup.

SoccerPrime · 09-30-2005, 05:39 AM

I mentioned this before, but do remember, due to our "great" position in the rankings, we will get a good draft pick (#2 or #3) and we will get the infamous MLS "You Suck" allocation pick.

Perhaps we can debate now who we should use it on (or trade for).

My first pick for the YS Allocation?
Oguchi Onyewu