I don't think the team will change drastically. Maybe Saragosa will go. Maybe Dudar. Anyone with common sense would unload Pajoy, and probably Santos, too. Then again, Olsen has a love affair with at least 3 of those stiffs, so you never know. Then, of course, there are the questions about Boskovic and Salihi -- and Olsen definitely isn't in love with either of these guys. Finally, there's the question of Augusto, and what the team would have to do to extend his loan. Given the cap restrictions, that could be an issue. Olsen loves his central defense pairing, but they are very expensive. That might be a place where the team could find cap room, but they'l struggle to find guys Olsen will have confidence in. We'll bring in a first-round pick -- probably...unless we trade it again. Maybe a foreign-signing or two. Really though, this team will be relying on having better health (always a dicey thing) and more experience out of its young players. Plus, finding a forward or two that can consistently fill the net.
I don't think I'd mind trading that pick this year. We have some good youth now, and if the price is right, I'd ship it away.
As far as allocations go I really hope we can sell Salihi. Don't get me wrong I'd love to see the guy stay, but not for him to spend another year here as a fringe player. Now Salihi may still have value for a team in Europe. He's still got a high profile being on the Albanian NT and he did produce well in his minutes here. If we get lucky enough to get a $200,000 transfer request, I don't think we can afford to turn that down. That would re-open a DP spot on our team and with our new rich owners we could aim higher for someone in the $1,000,000/year range. That and the $200,000 transfer fee would give us some much needed allocation money which could help out with the salary cap issue you're talking about.
Hopefully this year we can hold on to DeLeon, Hamid, Najar, Pontius and Kitchen. But I thinks in 2 years at least 3 of them will be in Europe (and filling DCU's coffers). Biggest need this year is a forward that can do the work Olsen demands of a forward AND score. And that won't come cheap, so I expect DC to keep either Santos or Pajoy and get rid of Salihi and the other...and bring in a HIGH salary DP...because if you want a forward who works his socks off and finishes you are well into 7 figures. We will find out if Thohir is willing to spend. The prototype would be Drogba. Tough to find a guy that can work that hard and score who also has the patience to allow the midfield to join in the attack. Anybody have a recommendation for that forward? I mean somebody that is available for no/low cost transfer, will accept MLS pay (DP sure, but DCU is not paying $3 million/year) and wants to come to MLS and play hard. And must be able to deal with physical play. If you want a young player, you need to scout Argentina, Brazil, and Africa, I think. Other than that, depth on the wing and at outside back and DCU is in good shape.
Rumours in Albanian press seem to indicate that Salihi is off to Aris in the Greek SuperLeague. If this is true then that's a terrific move for him, finds himself in a better league than he was before at Austria.
I think regardless of whether we keep Salihi or not, we need to bring in a striker with athleticism. We have a huge deficit in that area. De Ro, Pajoy and Boskovic are old, slowish and they get knocked off the ball. Santos has a little muscle, but is woefully slow. Salihi is no physical phenom either. Wolff is so old he can barely jog. Tan has a little speed, but probably the weakest out of the whole lot. We need someone like a Darron Mattocks or a Bright Dike an Omar Cummings or an Eddie Johnson ... Someone who has size, strength and speed. Even if their technique is a little rough around the edges at least you have a guy that can really keep opposing CB's busy. A guy like that can be a target for the Boskovic cross. A guy like that will then open up space for De Ro and Pontius at the top of the box which is the situation we want.
Sounds believable ... Aris has a long record with former MLS players (Carlos Ruiz, Juan Toja, Freddy Adu, Eddie Johnson, Nery Castillo). Could argue that they scout our league almost more than anyone else in Europe. Wonder if they'll pay a little transfer fee. I thought Greek clubs were short on cash
I agree that DCU needs to get faster. Absent incredibly gifted passers who thread their way through defenses, speed is the key to unlocking MLS defenses.
Perhaps something small. Maybe they might just buy out his contract depends how desperate they are on wanting him. I know that they've been chasing him since he was at Rapid. Considering we bought Salihi for something in the region of 400,000 to 500,000 euros we need some return.
I thought Salihi left Rapid at the end of his contract there. I didn't realize we paid anything for his rights
Speed and well-timed runs/early crosses combined with the people smart enough to make them. We've got the latter bits at the moment.
Just saw that KC waived Julio Cesar. If we can get him for around 100K I think he'd be good depth at dmid, which is one of our needs in the offseason.
Nope he still had 6 months left when we transferred him. The deal was undisclosed but it was rumored to be around that amount. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/celtic-told-they-can-have-hamdi-salihi-1113403 ^ This was around about when we bought him and what celtic nearly signed him for.
the only foreign league i follow with any regularity is the eredivisie so my perspective is somewhat limited but i would like to see this guy in black and red: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rydell_Poepon also doesn't dc allegedly have some kind of relationship with ajax? i gather nothing has come of it in the past but they have a promising young striker who isn't getting much pt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Hoesen
why is dmid a need? We have Kitchen, Saragosa, Rozeboom, Shanosky, King theoretically vying for that position(s)
Thanks ... I either didn't realize or forgot that we paid around $500,000 for Salihi. I think this should be strike 3 for either Kasper or Payne ... or both. They've been at this with Olsen now since 2010. First Allsopp gets dropped. They take a chance on Charlie Davies ... and that turns out to be a flop. Now we pay half a million for Salihi and we may lose him at a net loss. How many seasons in a row are they going to bring in an ace striker that doesn't pan out? I'm tired of starting over every season in what is maybe the most important position on the field.
It's very possible that at least 2 of King, Rozeboom and Shanosky may be done this year. Especially King who has actually regressed in his time at DC. If we plan to use Kitchen and Saragosa in the starting lineup together somewhat regularly, it may be good to have the first option off the bench to be someone more experienced than Rozeboom and Shanosky. EDIT : Look what happened in Houston game 1 when Saragosa went down. We had no d-mid option on the bench and we got forced into pulling Boskovic out of position
What's that? You want to see Rozeboom in a hairnet prepping turkeys for Food & Friends? I keep forgetting how tall he is
First waiver draft is today at 3:30 pm. We could already see our first cuts and signings as early as today ... just 24 hours since elimination. We keep talking about fullback depth and there's Solli, Vukovic and Markovic available. They're not super cheap, but they all have quality. Solli would be around $150,000, $100,000 for Vukovic and $80,000 for Markovic. Solli and Vukovic are all finesse though which may not be Olsen's preference at the fullback position
When would D.C be announcing the cuts if they make any? I see many teams such as Crew and Red bulls have already announced theirs.
Goff mentioned today that Payne said something like nobody will be coming or going in the next 2 weeks. Not sure if it applies here.