I'm sure someone will be able to make a sound argument that the entire roster needs to be purged and upgraded. Magee can stay and SJ, but if the rest left, I wouldn't be upset.
I'd be thrilled if we were able to bring our starting lineup back next year. We have been on a tear since Soumare and Magee came on board. I don't think anyone's contract is up and the only people otherwise likely to leave are Mackie and some fringe guys like maybe Atouba or Bone.
Your fringe guys are not the same: Bone will be entering his 5th year in 2014 and has not shown for this Club; regardless of why, he needs to move on. Atouba is a 19 yr old kid. No comparison.
I would keep Magee, Nyarko, Duka, Berry, Atouba and Berry. I would not mind keeping Big Red and Paladini (bench). The way our defense has been I would actually like to keep Sega despite his age/lost a step. Amarakwa does hustle at least. I would keep Mila...uhm..oops. Regressed there for a moment. I live in my dream world at times.
The only important roster change for 2014 would be #HauptmanOut. Until that happens, our rosters will suck because Dollar Menu won't bring in good players or an FO who knows how to spend money wisely.
As bad as you think this year has been, next year will be an even lower level of Hell. Sean is gone - everyone knows this. There will be NO DP. They think they are building a great team around Magee and thinks will work out better next year.
We need a RB for sure. I know people keep asking for a DP goal scorer, but shit we have Magee, Can't he be our goal scorer? We probably need a Creative mid (would Frank use him?)
Honestly, I don't think this season will turn around any more than possibly another play-in berth. If thats the case, the first position we should be speculating about for 2014 is Franks. I here Jesse Marsch has just completed his soul searching vacation...Or maybe Nowak has wrapped up his legal dealings...
GK 1. Sean Jonhson 2. Paolo Tornaghi 3. Alec Kann RB 4. Steven Kinney (RB) 5. Jalil Anibaba (CB) CB 6. Bakary Soumare 7. Austin Berry 8. Hunter Jumper LB 9. Gonzalo Segares 10. Shaun Francis RM 11. Patrick Nyarko 12. Victor Pineda 13. Wells Thompson (RM) 14. Brendan King (RB) CM 15. Logan Pause 16. Jeff Larentowicz 17. Joel Lindpere 18. Daniel Paladini 19. Corben Bone (CAM) 20. Michael Videira CAM 21. Chris Rolfe, 22. Alex de Lima LM 23. Dilly Duka 24. Yazid Atouba ST 25. Sherjill McDonald 26. Maicon Santos 27. Quincy Amarikwa 28. Mike Magee 29. Juan Anangono http://www.chicago-fire.com/players On Loan. Kellen Gulley (Atlanta Silverbacks) "On Loan" Puppo (Defensor Sporting) Alvaro Fernandez Robayo (Millonarios) Barouch (Bnei Yehuda) Rummors IN Egido Rios OUT Sherjill McDonald
on Dec 31: Tornaghi will have a GC by then. Puppo, Alvaro Fernandez and Robayo's contracts are all up and gone. I also don't see how Kinney, Videira or Bone can stay. Lindpere, BR, Pause and Santos' contracts are up.
Bone and Videria are cheap I believe. Kinney yes, feel bad for the dude but he probably needs to go. McDonald is probably gone so that would be 2 extra open spots. I still think we need an upgrade at RB to move Anibaba back to CB (as the 3rd option perhaps). We also need more minutes for guys like King, Pineda, Bone, Atouba to see what the have. Maybe when we are out of the playoff race we will see those guys.
Take a day off and go see practice, or a reserves game. They're both fun. Play the best players you have to win league games.
If they are not in the playoff hunt, why not play the kids to see what they have on the big stage. I am not saying play them all at once but let's see what Atouba can do in a league game. Reserve games like where Amarikwa went through 8 guys and scored after the kick off?
We are still in the playoff hunt, and will be for the foreseeable future. It's really hard to not be in the hunt when half the teams make it. As for Atouba, by all accounts, he's looked terrible in reserve games lately, Amarikwa on the other hand, did look way better than the opposition, and therefore earned a spot in gameday 18s, and is getting pretty significant minutes for a player making league minimum. If kids want to play, they are going to have to earn it, just like anybody else.
You would have thought that this would be an obvious one for the brain trust, but here we sit a few years out from having Brandon Prideaux. No, no, no. I love Magee. We all do. But the idea is not for him to be the best of our team. LA didn't build around Mike Magee. He was an important part of a really talented team. We should aspire to have a team where Mike Magee is the spiritual leader and perhaps the fourth or fifth most talented soccer player. And the league is only moving farther away from us in talent. If you think Dempsey was a big move, just wait until the Man City boys unleash their purse strings. Yes we probably do. We have needed one since Blanco. Grazzini was passable in the role, but we were never winning with him. Andy should have made job one be a replacement for Blanco, and again, here we sit with Alex kind of filling that role.
What? I've been to three of them and he looked good in the one against F*C* Dallas and average in the other two. Not terrible.