Not if Hainault stays. Hainault can play outside back or CB and Creavalle could play either outside back position. In a pinch, Sturgis could play CB as well. Shallow? Yeah. Dangerously shallow? Not yet. A DP striker would be the dream right now though. Make it happen Canetti/Kinnear.
Didn't know where to put this but Espindola and Olave to NY? The rich get richer. Dislike Espindola as a player but I'd love to have him with us.
NY is where players go for their careers to die.....only to be reborn in DC, it seems Someone earlier asked about Angel....yeah, no thanks. We've already an old, worn down work-horse of a striker. And he is infinitely better, and more beloved, than anyone else of that mold we could bring in.
I bleed orange now but the first part of your statement somehow still infuriates me. Some things die hard I guess.
I saw somewhere today that Calen Carr was going for an MRI on his knee this week. That could change plans if the knee injury is a major deal (didn't look like a grotesque ACL but something looked odd about his leg when flying to the ground after the collusion; they immediately did the old stabilization tests on his knee on the field).
I talked to him at the hotel after the game. He was on crutches and said he wouldn't know until after his MRI but that he thought it was pretty bad. I was pretty wasted so hopefully I misunderstood him.
As much as a work horse as Espindola is he isn't someone I would trust in how would I put it "clutch" situations... Sadly this showed during the Seattle and the CCL game.
Interesting I have my MRI tomorrow too. We share the same health team. I beg differ on the look though, the way it turned it looked like ligament damage, probably ACL. Which at 30 coupled with his head issues, could spell bad news for everyone. Let's wish him well.
I thought ligament damage when I saw it as well. That MRI likely defines our off-season strategy completely. Because if he is out for most of the season we have lost our pace option up top (in either formation).
It was odd because the contact was in the thigh and his knee wasn't locked out so I didn't see the clear knee turn/give, but his leg looked funny when he hit and rolled. I do think if it is ACL and 6-9 months out that dictates our offseason moves
If I remember what I saw, I thought the knee was bent and turned outward. Which now that I think about might be MCL. I can't remember which is which since I did both. I think my ACL was inward (since someone hacked my leg while cutting).
Can't remember if I've ever shared this on here or not but his mom told me in Kansas City last year after the ECF that he he was misdiagnosed in Chicago and never had a concussion. The issue was damage to the gyroscopic apparatus in his inner ear which helps determine orientation and consequently balance. They were able to properly diagnose and treat it in Houston and he's no issues with vertigo since (source: his mom, November 2011). The reason he still wears the head gear? The anecdote went: Mom: You said you are fine now. Can't you stop wearing the head gear? Calen: I like it, mom. Mom: But Calen... you're such a good looking boy. You look like a retarded kid wearing that thing.
Carr tore his ACL. http://www.houstondynamo.com/news/2...83888522317_2166737_382385521855487#fa87d31d8
That's good to know but as Dr. L just posted he's got another problem, which at 30 can be quite daunting. I feel terrible for the guy. He could be done. You can come back from ACLs but as all of my docs have said, with any injury but especially on joints with cartilage, the older you get the tougher it is. I think he can do it if he wants but will he be the same? That's the tough question. Especially a guy who's game is based on speed and quick first step. I don't fault the guy if he starts rehab and says screw this, I go through all this pain, and for what 2-3 years if that. Gotta remember he has an education (a pretty good one at that), so I don't think soccer is his be all end all. My first day of rehab post ACL reconstruction was the most painful ordeal I have ever had bar none. That includes a day where I had 6 gall stone attacks. But I did break Benard King's first day range of motion rehab record at Sport o Rama in NY! I wish Calen the best-he has become a model Dynamo player. A typical one-a cast off that finds a second life and excels in the system.
My wife seeing him on the sideline warming up before a match: Her: Who's that? Me: That's Carr, he's not wearing his helmet. Her: Oh...he's cute when he's not wearing that thing. That being said, we needed another striker...now we NEED another striker.
I think (supposition) the Dynamo were going to offer him a deal either way. I also, based on what we have sen in the past, don't think the injury to Carr will force the team into overpaying. SO frankly, I think Kandji can come back if he wants to at an MLS approved salary. What it likely does, is force "speed" into the desired list of strikers we need to acquire and probably places it top on the priority list ahead of Defensive depth.
We needed to sign a high-quality forward anyway. Given the other forwards we have, signing one with speed was also possibly already in the cards. But it does concern me that we may bring back Kandji just in case. In a way, it would be warranted. There's no way to know whether we'll actually be able to sign a high-quality, fast forward in the off-season. So, having him is sort of insurance. But I just hate the idea that we may be forced to re-sign Kandji. I'm just not high on him as a starter.
I agree with all you have written with one exception.... I think he was being offered a deal anyway. He isn't on the re-entry list which he would have been eligible for if we didn't offer him a deal, and I have seen no indication of him going outside MLS which is his only other option . . so I assume he has an offer on the table from us now.
That makes sense. Assuming that a fast, high-quality forward is item 1 on our shopping list, I'd love to see item 2 as an attacking midfielder who plays centrally as his primary role. Dom worked wonders with Rico and Moffatt in midfield. But they're both defensive mids. I know that Rico can contribute to the attack, but a few good moments on attack doesn't change what he does primarily - and what he doesn't do primarily. He doesn't control the pace of play. He doesn't slow down or speed up play as our tactics require. He doesn't link quickly with the forwards or the wider attacking mids. By the time he's taken the steps he usually takes before feeding the attack, a well-organized opponent has already reacted. I think Rico is an excellent defensive mid. He has great range and an engine. But a few moments in the attack every few games doesn't make him an attacking mid. We need him -- as a defensive mid. We need someone else who can link the defenders (defensive mid and center backs) to the attacking players (forwards, left/right mids, and outside backs). That someone else would be an attacking mid who primarily plays centrally. If finances force us to choose between items 1 and 2, then, well, the fast, high-quality forward is a bigger need. But then we'll still lack that attacking spark in the center and won't get as much out of whatever forwards we have.