They might have someone lined up for the 2nd re-entry draft? Bryan Jordan? Hunter Freeman? Tim Ward? Lovel Palmer? Jeremy Hall? There are a few outside backs available, and in the 2nd round you can re-negotiate contracts right? Maybe they are making room for a new back or two?
he wouldn't fill Gargans spot because he plays on the left, but you could bring him in and have him compete with jumper for the backup LB spot.
so you suggest a midfield as well I'd be fine with a new left winger and a 2nd striker. ----Mac-----2nd striker---- LW------Rolfe-----Nyarko ---------Pause------------- -------BACKLINE------- OR i guess if you could sign an AM you could simply keep Rolfe up top as an actual striker, but i seem to recall Klopas stating somethinng along the lines that Rolfe has transitioned into a midfielder over the years... but i could be misled
More than anything, the Fire need to get away from having two defensive mids (Pause and Pardo). That leaves us with 6 defenders. One of these should sit and be replaced by a legitimate two-way player who can lead the attack from the back.
Rolfe has never consistently played striker as a pro.He's pretty much played a right mid most of his career.Playing inside is a recent phenomena , but not playing as a mid.With that, not knowing who would fill the two empty slots in your line up, i would still say that line up would get torn to shreds by opposing teams.Rolfe is not that technically gifted to counter the physicallity he would see smack dab in the middle of the park pulling the strings.His best use is what he has been playing as an Attacking mid/withdrawn forward. My personal thoughts on the Fires two most pressing issues , IMO these need to be addressed first and foremost. 1. Rightback-this is by far the most pressing issue for the team.Its a significant deficiancy which led to both offensive and defensive break downs last season.Anibaba and Gargan are not MLS quality starters at this position.A quality RB will also give the team the option of Oduro as an option on the right in MF. 2.DM/Deep lying playmaker- Pardo is getting up there and his replacement should be brought in while he is still playing and not done.I think they tried this with Robayo , but it just didnt work.The Fire need to find someone with similar qualities to Pavel, and who can compete for a starting spot with pardo from day one.Some have said Alex as the guy to do this,I dont know on that.I like what Ive seen from him but I dont know if he can do that job.Also, I know some heads will explode saying the team needs to get away from 2 DM's.It aint gonna happen, for one if they brought in a true #10 they would likely need to replace pause and a few back ups also.This team is really built on that 2 DM style , its easier to replace one then have to rebuild that whole central midfield. so I would like to see something like this for depth there .. CM 1. New Player 2.Pardo 3. Paladini Holding Mid/DM 1. Pause 2. ANIBABA I think its easier for a CB to tranisition back in forth between a Pause role and CB role then it is to transition back and forth between RB and CB.I would like to see if Jalil could possibly play that type of role for the team, I think he may be better at it then some people may think.
The formation has to be 4-3-3. Get your minds away from the IF/ACM/2 STs nonsense. ------------CF------------ LF/W---------------RF/W ---ACM/CM--ACM/CM--- ----------DCM-------------- LB----CB------CB------RB More importantly, the players have to be able to have the skills and understanding of their position to make it work. Forget about the safety first philosophy. Get out there and attack Mac and Maicon up top Nyarko and Pineda on the left, Rolf and Oduro on the right Alvaro/Alex LCM, Paladini/Alex RCM Pause/Pardo(needs to retire) DCM Besides the RB, another Winger and an attacking minded Mid are needed. They will most likely pick up another CB too.
To be fair, Pardo was kind of able to do that. He was never really a goal threat, but he was able to pass the ball around and take it forward pretty effectively. Unfortunately he got injured and we got stuck with Paladini, who is definitely not that kind of player, and now Pardo is probably past being able to run the field for 90 minutes. Alex also got played there, but he spent so much time forward that he kind of ruined the shape. I think the biggest problem is that Pause isn't a great d-mid. I mean, he gets his job done, but he isn't exactly an imposing force in the midfield. which means he really needs a second guy like Pardo next to him Bringing in a straight deep lying playmaker with no defensive skill would probably leave Pause a bit out of his depth against the better teams. But I doubt he's getting replaced until he retires
Hell yeah! Let's just put both Tornaghi and Johnson in the net at the same time and ATTACK! ------------CF------------ LF/W---------------RF/W ------------CF------------ LF/W---------------RF/W ------------CF------------ LF/W---------------RF/W -------GK------GK--------
never said "defenders, get caught up field and/or stand around bewildered" attacking is not: shitty winger looks to cross to ST standing between 4 defenders. Theres 4-5 other guys out there who don't know WTF to do. The more guys who are involved in the attack means the defending team has do defend with an equal or greater amount of players meaning their possible counter attack is going to be with equal or less players who are defending the opposite way.
All joking aside I am a fan of the attacking style of play (The "Dutch way") and would like to see a few more bodies bombing into the box on attack too but as I recall it going down when Frank took over we were losing games in the CDLC era by giving up too many soft goals and predictably (perhaps) Frank took it upon himself to strengthen the defense first turning losses into ties. This past year they turned many of those ties into wins with a stiffer back line and playing first a quick counter style (Oduro&Nyarko) and moving into a more creative possession style (Mackie and Rolfe). We shall see what happens next season but in order to have only 4 or 5 guys involved in the attack all 4 or 5 of those players need to possess the technical skills to maintain posession and wait for the right opening. Right now (in my humble opinion) we are on the way to playing that style but short a few players to actually execute it.
True dat! Sorry. Right... uhm...Sack all those who have previously been unsacked and those responsible for sacking of the people who just been sacked, sack them too!
So Feilhaber was just traded to SKC. Does anyone feel like we have been really quiet compared to most of the league? I feel like there has been a lot of movement going on. Do we have any allocation money? Because that's basically what all the trades have been for
Benny is not the American Kaka by any standards but he is decent. For the formations and technical skills, it's always the skills 1st and then the formation which is why right before the sentence i posted about attacking is the sentence about competent players. We can scout our brains out and find decent players who may or may not adjust to the MLS's style of play, or you go out and sign the Blanco, Kaka, Lampard, Ronaldinho type player who's already there and makes everyone else around him better. But we might be fighting a money situation here where a $5mil player is not financially feasible...let alone 2 of them. This is why Benny was probably a pretty good option.
On the one hand, I say so what to Feilhaber going to KC. It is not like he elevated the Revs any. I also feel that Klopas has learned that the more minutes retained from the prior year, the better off the team will be so he is trying to keep turnover low within the starting lineup. On the other hand, the Fire has needs at RB, LM, and CM and it would be nice to at least address those needs early. At the end of the day, the team has been getting better since Frank took over. It may be slow to get there, but I think they are going in the right direction.
Yes, the Fire have some allocation money available. We got a lot from selling Pappa, though we probably used some to get Franco. Benny would have been a good replacement for Pardo when the time comes, but I'm happy we didn't offer as much as the Sporks. I don't think the Fire have been unusually quiet. We picked up Santos while the majority of the league hasn't acquired anyone yet.
The fire should sign Girvino. He would fit right in. Not only can he not finish, but he's also proved good at losing cup games to massively lower quality teams. Perfect fit! This was today (they lost):
I really like Pardo...but he can't play 90 every game like before...he's a great guy to have on the bench though... Pause can zone and quickly find the safest pass, he doesn't win balls in the air, he doesn't add to the attack, he doesn't slide tackle or even tackle hard...he doesn't even lead the defense vocally...oh, wait...what was my point...oh yeah, Pause has been with us since Naperville, and has become the guy they point to when they say "tradition, or "Fire original"...that is why he is here...he is a good man, an honest man, a fair man, and one they use to show folks the Fire is a family friendly organization. I doubt he is going anywhere either, and for me, he's been the catalyst that has set us apart from the playoff teams of the last 9 years...we've had a lot of changes over the last 8 or 9 years...but throughout it all, one guy was overlooked for some odd reason...and I don't think that odd reason has anything to do with creating a winning organization. I would be happy with a trade for a #1 draft pick...and I would get EZ from Indiana... On a side note, kudos to Klopas for being the first coach to sub Pause out when down a goal or two, and we actually came back to win or tie a lot due to the offensive substitutions...
I seem to be one of the few that likes Oduro. I think his speed and frankly he has scored goals for us is paramount. I would love to see him playing wing mid opposite Nyarko. If Flacco can play to Seattle standards (he did Not for us) fine but otherwise he hasn't done squat. For Oduro to play that position though I agree with whomever said it..need that very good right back. I am also very glad Segares is back. He may not be quite what he was but he knows the game and overlaps better then any in the league. I am also afraid when people talk of Berry here for cb for awhile I think he will go after 2013 abroad. I can live with Mac up top but don't see the use for Franco. Has anyone considered the fact Frankowski was a big hit with bringing fans in (Polish people have highest population in Chicago outside of Warsaw) so why not look for another Polish stud? And lets bring Blanco back just because he probably still passes better then half of MLS and most of our team. I don't care how slow he is hehehee.
How about Jakub Kosecki? http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/kosecki/profil/spieler_100453.html Contract ends in the summer, son of Roman Kosecki, wiki says he played with the Fire youth system, Poland U21 player. Right sided winger. Not sure what his salary demands are in Poland, but I believe that league and MLS have similar wages. How cool would it be to have an original 98' Fire player's son with the club?