With the hiring of Mark as the Head Coach for next year and beyond, we know the Quakes picked the option to stick with the core of the team and make minor changes to improve on the season rather than changing the system and going into rebuild mode. I wanted to try to evaluate the player's performance during the 2013 Season and then determine whether I would keep them or dump them for next year (due to a combination of performance, pay, fit with the team, etc.). Long post warning... Jaime Alas He didn't play enough to perform a good evalution. Good on the ball and in tight spaces, but didn't have much speed or seemed to fit into the Quakes style. Nana He started off the season well and looked to be a great partner to Bernardez. Injury essentially ended his season. Concerns long term due to the length of his absence due to the concussion(s). Baca He turned a 2012 Baca Fan into a 2013 non-Baca Fan. He generally did his job as a holding midfielder, but was too tentative at times and didn't step at important times. Mehdi Ballouchy Injured. Bye. Beta After a poor start to the season where he seemed to take a step back (poor positioning, slow decisions on the ball, etc.), he finished the season strong. Still, his crossing was inconsistent and wasn't much of a threat in the offense as opposed to 2012. Bernardez One of the main reasons the Quakes won the Supports Shield, he made too many poor decisions and was too agreesive at the wrong times. Part of ShoeGate. Bingham Unfortunately, he didn't play enough to determine whether it's time to hand off the GK duties to him. He had a nice game against Dallas, but had some blah games earlier in US Open and CONACAF. Busch After a poor start to the season (sound familiar), he had an outstanding middle of the season and rode great defense into a Defender of the Year Award. Cato Next to Shea, he improved the most suring the season, especially defensively. He still struggled with shooting and ball on his left foot. Chavez Biggest disappointment of the season. He started off injuried and seemed to have lost a step. While he had a couple of highlight reel goals, he didn't do much in between. Corrales He should have retired last year. Cronin Hard to criticize our MVP of the season, but he started off well, but was pushing too much. Seemed to be often over matched compared to the other team. Can't create on the dribble. Slow on decisions. Too many long balls. Fucito We needed him at the beginning of the season and he didn't produce (see Garza). Gargan Let's see. He dresses nicely. That's all I got. Garza Not ready for the MLS. He looked like a young dog pissing on himself most of the time with excitement. Gordan Between ShoeGate and GayGate, he had the game against LA. Otherwise, he came back too early from injuries (got to love the effort). We scored less goals than every team except for Chivas, Toronto, and DC. Goodson It's no surprise that the defense started playing well when he arrived. Actually, I was hoping to see a little more on the offensive end. Harden Nice start of the season playing out of position. Looked to be a solid backup in central defense. Hernandez Ended the season playing better, but he still was Jason. He can't pass, can't cover fast players, and is average at best in the air. Jahn Great start for the season. Got lost in the numbers game. Biggest question is whether his pillow feet and passing offset his lack of speed. Good work rate. Lenhart Disappointing season. Lost focus too many times. Slow with the ball at his feet makes it difficult for him to be a target man. Martinez Sucks. Next Morrow Wow. Bad, bad season. Positioning. decisions, ball control, dribbling. All poor. Muller Who? Newton Fig? Salinas My MVP for the season. With out him creating, this team would have been really bad. Much inproved with his corners. Stewart Just a solid professionial who filled a huge hole in the team. Good vision, positioning. Tracy We saw him once or twice and then... Wondo Compared to the last three season, it was poor. Otherwise, it was decent season for a player who has raised the bar high. For the 2014 Season, I would categorize the players as follows: Starters Beta Busch Bernardez Goodson Lenhart Salinas Stewart Wondo Note: I want upgrades to Cato, Baca, and Cronin. Bench Nana Baca Cato Cronin Harden Jahn Morrow Muller Tracy All about the money Bingham Gordan Gone - Bye! Jaime Alas - I don't think his style fits with the Quakes. Mehdi Ballouchy - Too little value at the cost. Add the injuries and it's time to move on. Chavez - 2012 Marvin. Yes! 2013 Marvin. Hell, no. Still, if he still under contract, there is a lot of upside. Corralles - Retired. Fucito - Did a lot things decently, but the most important is finishing. Not so good. Gargan - Got be better backup defenders. Garza - He is not MLS calibar at the moment. Hernandez - Please. Nana and Harden are good backups, assuming they will be healthy. Martinez - Back to China. Newton - 3rd String. Try another. Tracy - Had a season to make a mark.
DC declines DeRo's option. Should the Quakes make a play? Does he have another year or two of vegan-fueled exploits on the field? He would definitely fit the bill for the need to have a guy who can move the attack forward on the ground.
I don't know about any of the youngsters, but I do know I want this: Hernandez - Gone. Baca - Gone/Upgraded Cato - Gone/Upgraded Either Lenny or Gordon or both will be gone as well, for a more versatile forward. I agree mostly with QuakeAttack's "Gone" list. I don't think Morrow was that bad this year (though definitely a drop from 2012), it's just that Stewart came in and was an absolute boss and we didn't see much of Morrow again. But then again, who the hell knows with this coach and FO. They can turn around and say "Hey, look how awesome we did!" and not change a damn thing other than shaving off salary costs. DeRo?? That would be amazing to have him back, but he's pushing 35, would it be worth it? Definitely would give us an upgrade in central midfield and send Baca to the bench for a CAM
DeRo? At what price? If we were moving into the new stadium, sure. But is there the budget for him with another season at Buck Shaw?
C'mon are we going to get a bunch of has-beens or are we going to actually scout for good promising talent?
Wondo - Down season, but still vitally important to the team. Top scorer on the team again by far. Lenhart - Inconsistent season, but still managed some crucial goals. Seemed to have cut back on some of the disciplinary issues late in the season. Gordon - Inconsistent season, but still managed some crucial goals. Jahn - Good start to the season. Got lost in the shuffle as Lenhart and Gordon returned to fitness. Tracy - Still struggling with injuries, hasn't been healthy since about 2009. Doesn't seem like a smart use of a roster spot. Fucito - Cheap backup who offers something different from our other forwards. May have made more of an impact if he didn't get injured. Martinez - Occasional flashes of talent, but overall doesn't seem cut out for MLS. Small, slow, and too casual on the ball at times. Look for upgrade. Chavez - Down season. Struggled with injury, form, and international absences. Perhaps distracted by Honduras's campaigns. Still made some important contributions. I hope the issues with him can be resolved and he'll still be here next season. Salinas - Another good year from Shea. Was consistently our most dangerous midfielder throughout the season. Cato - Benefited from Chavez's struggles. Had some dangerous moments, but looked like the inexperienced player he is. Improved with the playing time late in the season. Alas - Never really settled in. Probably best just to send him back to Rosenborg. Garza - Still has yet to really beak into the team. Has been passed by Cato, a guy three years younger than him. Ballouchy - Injured for most of his time here. High salary. History of unremarkable play. Move on if possible. Baca - Unimpressive season. Still, we tended to play better with him than without him. With strong play from both wingers we can do fine with two defensive/box-to-box CMs, but without the great performance from the wings we need more offense from the center, which neither Cronin nor Baca really provide. Since Cronin is seen as more of a true DM, Baca gets much of the criticism for the lack of offensive threat out of the center of midfield. Need to look for a true CAM. Cronin - A good CM, generally pretty solid at defending and keeping the ball moving. Also tends to be more of a threat offensively than Baca: 2g 4a to Baca's 0g 2a in 2013. Corrales - Seems about the right time to retire. Did okay early in the season when there were all the injuries and suspensions. Didn't really stand out one way or the other. Barely got time after that early stretch. Beitashour - Rough start to the season, but started to get back in form and back into fitness as the season progressed. Still hasn't been able to put in the dangerous crosses that he used to be able to put in consistently before the injuries. Morrow - Down year. Beaten out by Stewart, relegated to a role player. Stewart - One of the reasons for our turnaround. Very good player. Gargan - MLS journeyman. Good enough as a reserve as long as his salary isn't too high. Keep, but upgrade if the right player at the right price comes along. Bernardez - Good defender. Still prone to some bad decisions and a few mistakes, but also pulls off some uniquely great plays. Goodson - Good defender, helped greatly with our mid-season turnaround. Hernandez - Played well as a backup in the second half of the season, but his salary is too much for a backup. Keep if we can negotiate his salary down to reflect his new role. If not, look to trade. Attakora - Struggled with injuries. Has played well when available. Cheap, decent backup option. Harden - Played well early in the season, but has been out for most of the year. Good enough to be a backup, and his salary already corresponds to his role. Muller - Injured all season. Busch - Very strong season. Bingham - Played well enough in limited time. Keep, if he wants to stick around as a backup for another season or two, as Busch will probably still hold the spot for about that long. Newton - Third keeper. Keep or let go, doesn't matter much. Starting/first-off-the-bench caliber. Generally, keep (15): Wondolowski Lenhart Gordon Chavez Salinas Cato Baca Cronin Beitashour Morrow Stewart Bernardez Goodson Busch Bingham Fringe players. Could go either way (6): Gargan Harden Attakora Garza Fucito Newton Projects (2): Jahn Muller Upgrade/let go (4): Tracy ($45k) Ballouchy ($150k) Martinez ($90k) Alas ($90k) Renegotiate/trade (1): Hernandez ($200k) Retiring (1): Corrales ($60k) Overall, I would replace about 6-8 players. Corrales, Tracy, Ballouchy, Martinez, Alas (total = about $435k) and maybe a few others (Hernandez, any of the fringe players). I'm trying to be realistic here as well. Obviously I would like to see Gordon and Lenhart replaced by Ibrahimovic and Dzeko, but the fact is that we ended 2013 with 8 of the 11 that ended 2012, and two of those changes came in mid-season. We probably aren't going to replace half of our team, especially since we didn't have a DC/Toronto/Chivas sort of season. One or two big changes would be nice in order to bring in top quality players, but I don't know if we'll see that sort of approach until the new stadium (if ever). I would take DeRo here in San Jose. I think he can still provide some offense from midfield. He would definitely be better than Baca and Cronin in that area. His salary is an issue though. I wouldn't want him for more than maybe 250k, and he's currently on like 600k.
Yeah, but Martinez is staying. His salary is not THAT high, and he's always in the 18. If we kept Ballouchy as long as we have, we'll keep WalMart.
I don't think he'd be worth it at whatever he'd be asking. He's still a decent player and can contribute, but the return on investment wouldn't be enough.
I don't know - I think the question is "what he'd be asking". Demand for his services will be down, presumably, so his salary will likely go down. He's getting up there in years, but you could reduce wear and tear by playing him part-time, maybe platoon him and Baca depending on game situation. Look at it this way; when the Quakes wanted more offense when they needed a goal towards the end of the season, they would replace Baca with WalMart. Imagine if that was DeRo instead of WalMart. Or you start DeRo and drop in Baca after you go ahead 3-0. :--) I understand the call for younger players, and you could get maybe two promising young players for the price of one DeRo. But OTOH, you never know how those younger players are going to do in MLS (assuming they're coming into the league from elsewhere). The failure rate is high. DeRo is one of the best if not the best MLS player ever. In any case, I'm still on a theory that the English leagues are the place to go to mine players, based on what we've seen with Dawkins, Hucks, and Stewart. All 3 of those guys came in, and were really good MLS players right off the bat.
I agree with you 100% and I'm not necessarily calling for a younger player, although young players can be gems. For me, I just don't see DeRosario's salary being brought down to a reasonable level is all. I wouldn't want to tie up a bunch of cap space to play a guy for twenty or thirty minutes a game where he may nor may not contribute or where he might be unavailable a lot due to injury. We've seen that, too.
starters wondo, lenny chavez, david ferrera/cronin, salinas stewart, bernardez, goodson, beita busch bench/depth forwards; gordon, jahn, fucito, joao plata wingers; alas, cato, dawkins, garza, lee nguyen, steve zacawanne center mid; ampai, baca, defense; attakora, gargan, hernandez (@ a lesser salary), morrow goalie; bingham, newton gone ballaouchy corrales harden martinez muller tracy
I agree with those who say WalMart isn't going anywhere. He's been on the bench for the last few games. Someone sees something in him that I don't see. At least not in the position he's been asked to play. And I don't want Steve Zakuani anywhere near the Quakes. I am so tired of that Windows 8 ad that I have tried to avoid watching for at least 1000 times. I question his judgment.
Alas - I'd like to give the guy a full preseason and then see what he can do. He's so young that I assume his contract isn't guaranteed so if he doesn't perform in the first half of the season we could always cut him mid-season. Beitashour - I wouldn't assume he will be back. He has the resume to get a deal in scandinavia if he wants and he's a free agent right now. Getting him re-signed should be a priority. potential targets: DeRo and Ferreira are hella old and huge injury risks. We don't want to re-live another 2009 where our star player is injured the whole year. Zakuani may be worth a flyer... some players never come back from that injury though.
Hmmmmm. Some interesting ideas here. (Sorry for the long post.) I'm going to look at this positionally, with an eye to clearing some cap space (because I want to sign a big time player) and because I want to trade or cut guys before they go completely stale. Also, note that some decisions will hinge on who is healthy, and who is likely to get healthy. Strikers Wondo, Jahn - Keep 'em both. Lenny, Gordon, Fucito - See what we can get in trade. I'm willing to lose all three. Fucito doesn't finish well enough. Gordon has passed it. Lenny is great, but the refsw hates him my precious. Tracy is injured. We look to either trade or loan him to a lower division side. (Because their seasons start after ours.) Midfielders Shea, Cato - Keep 'em. Cronin, Baca - Keep 'em. Even if Baca is a backup, he's still very good. It's about how we use him, rather than an abject lack of skills. Garza - Loan to USLPro side. That way we retain his rights, and Sam gets soem meaningful playing time. Chavez, Alas, Martinez, Ballouchy - trade or cut them. None of these guys impressed, none of them were worth their salaries. Defenders Here's where health and recovery information not available to us is crucial. If we can count on everyone getting healthy, I'd do this: Stewart, Goodson, Bernardez, Beita - Keep, assume they all start. Nana, Gargan, Harden, Morrow - Keep, assume they sub, Morrow maybe subs in midfield too! Muller - Keep him, maybe loan him to a USLPro or NASL side, so that we retain his rights. Ramiro has retired. Hernandez we trade while the trading is good. I was thinking of trading Bernardez too. He's only been with us two years, so we could just cut him. He's a bit of a hot head. He's a bit pricy. He's getting long of tooth. Goodson with Harden or Nana starting next to him would be as good or better. BUT, I've already decided to ditch a lot of players, so we could keep Bernardez and not worry. But after next season, he's on guaranteed contracts. GK's Busch, Bings, Evan - keep 'em all. Bings needs to agree to a lower salary while he's a backup. These are guys who work well (I think) with our defenders. Don't mess with that chemistry. Coaches If possible, ditch Jason Batty for Joe Cannon. Give Ian more input in improving our offense, or get someone else to do that. Cut or Trade list: Lenny (sadly), Gordon, Fucito, Tracy, Alas, Martinez, Ballouchy, Chavez, Hernandez. Maybe trade or cut: Bernardez. Loan: Garza, Muller. That frees up a huge amount of cap space. We look into signing one of DeRo or David Ferreira. Failing that, we score an attacking mid from elsewhere. We don't mind spending $400K to $650K on such a player, because we just cleared a ton of cap space. (We would pay less for DeRo or David F.) This gives us room to sign a quality striker or two also. Draft: We don't need defenders. We do need strikers, outside middies, and a CAM. Players from overseas: CAM, Striker. I don't really care where the players from overseas come from. I'd look in these places, because I think we might find a bargain or three: England, lower divisions - Estonia (looking for a Lindpere) - Central America. I would not confine my hunt to these places, this is just my starting point. Central or Eastern Europe might have some affordable quality too. (Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece.) GO QUAKES!! - Mark
I agree with Mark on this one. Couple thoughts: The Lenny trade should probably happen, but won't. Also, I don't see Ian sticking around very long. He is a Frank guy, and Watty has his guy in Dasovic, so I suspect we'll see a new offensive coach... Alas needs to stay for at least 1 more year.
I like Mark's format: Forwards: Wondo (Keep), Lenhart (Keep), Fucito (Keep) Gordon (trade), Jahn (trade, while he still has value) Tracy (Keep and loan out to get him some playing time Midfielders: Salinas (Keep), Baca (Keep), Cronin (Keep), Cato (Keep), Martinez (Keep, he can also play forward) Alas (loan deal, don't extend), Chavez (head case, trade), Ballouchy (drop), Garza (trade rights, not MLS caliber) Defenders: Stewart (Keep), Bernardes (Keep), Goodson (Keep), Beta (Resign Priority), Hernandez (Resign at a lower salary), Attakora (Keep - if healthy), Gargan (keep), Harden (Drop), Muller (Keep, loan out if healthy), Corales (retired) Goalies: Busch (keep), Bingham (trade rights, too expensive as a back-up goalie), Newton (Keep) By my calculation that frees up eight roster spots out of 30, bringing in some new blood while retaining the core of the team. The vulnerability of this off season is if Beta doesn't stay, and the Quakes don't retain at least one of the Hernandez/Attakora backup pair, and I would suspect keeping both with the World Cup coming up and the likelohood that we will be short both Goodson and Bernardez to national team duty for three-to-four weeks). Also we do need to keep on true target forward, and the best of the three (particularly when his head is screwed on correctly) is Lenhart. That should give us some substantial cap room, to bring in 3 draft picks, a couple of Harden/Gargan type veteran MLS players, and three new players (Perhaps Stewart or Hucks can come up with a few Championship guys who would like to play in sunny California) and I am sure we can find another servicable Central American somewhere). Of the draft picks, I would think we should be able to pick up a good #2 or #3 goalie from the college ranks. What we really need is a few more good midfielders...
Wow, that's just about completely inline with what I'd do. Brilliant minds thinking alike and all... Only thing I might do differently is see if there is a way to keep Chavez and get him back on track (have a good talk, new start and all that), and I would not renew WalMart. OTOH my theory (just a guess) on Chavez is that he was laser focused on Honduran nats and WC and not so much on the Quakes. If so, it will be even more of a challenge to get him engaged next year with WC actually happening.
Agree on the forwards. Disagree with Jahn and Tracy. Jahn is young, and showed how he can be effective, keep him, see how he grows. Tracy at this point is probably a lost cause. Agree on midfielders for the most part. Garza, Im not sure what to do with. I think we might regret giving up on him, but I don't see how he reaches his potential in San Jose at this point with the way we play and our coaching staff. Generally agree on defenders. Hernandez might be worth trading. Busch/Bingham isnt that straight foward. A lot of factors come into play here that we arent privileged to. But we are going to have to replace Busch in the next couple of years if we keep him around, something to keep in mind. The thing to remember is that Watson isnt Yallop, and we dont know how much of our player acquisition has been shaped by Yallop. Watson was in make the best of what we have on hand mode, while we shouldnt expect a radical change of direction, that doesnt mean that given an offseason to make changes he wont implement things that he didnt feel like he could in mid season last year. The only thing I feel confident is with Watson and Doyle we will likely be a defense first club.
I think he does when he wants to. In 2012 he would often blow in from like 20 yards out in a flash and take the ball off of a guy's foot.
Keep (core team): - Wondo - Goodson - Stewart - Beitashour - Salinas - Cronin - Lenhart - Busch Keep For Upside: - Cato - Jahn - Muller - Bingham (maybe he'll stay at reduced salary if Busch agrees to retire after next season) Keep and Convert Position: - Baca (from CDM to winger/wide forward) - Morrow (from FB to winger) Keep for Depth/Bench: - Bernardez (probably starts until Nana/Muller ready) - Chavez (don't think Watson likes him so wouldn't be surprised he gets traded) - Nana - Gargan - Harden - Fucito Trade/Release/Loan/Upgrade: - Gordon (need speedy forward) - Hernandez (free up cap space) - Garza (loan?) - Ballouchy (he should accept a buyout and retire after second ACL tear in one year) - Martinez (we need a quality attacking mid instead) - Alas (loan from Rosenborg has ended) - Tracy (pending one final assessment on his knee rehab) - Newton (keep if Bingham bails) Acquire: - Young speedy forward (Foreign/DP?) - Young attacking midfielder (Draft?) - Young FB (Draft?) - Veteran creative midfielder (MLS/DP?) - Journeyman CDM (bench/depth) - Journeyman skilled forward (English second/third div?) - Goalkeeper if Bingham or Newton gone
i gotta disagree on defenders- we finished short-handed due to the serious injuries to Muller, McGlynn, Attakora, and Harden. we probably always would've staked or claim to Clarence and used him for trade bait even if Nana wasnt injured, but we dont know which/if any of those three guys (mcglynn should be ok) will ever be fit, and next year is a WC year. and we're still in the CCL. and there's a slim chance we dont flame out in the first round of the USOC. hah, just kidding on that last one...
Retired: Ramiro Corrales The foundations: Wondo: Still a boss, absolutely no question Buschy: Old man busch still gots it Goodson: Welcome midseason addition Bernardez: Muma does more good than harm Stewart: Fantastic acquisition, only good things to say about him Cronin: Has faults but overall a really good player for us who works hard Lenny: Gonna be a fixture for this team for a long......long time Salinas: Growing into his own, much better consistency as of late Cato: still young, still makes bonehead mistakes, but i hope we bring in some competition for him Valuable depth: Dan Gargan: absolutely floored to see this guy mentioned as getting dumped. He could very well be our only right back on the roster right now. Justin Morrow: how the mighty have fallen, but he has great utility at center and left back depth Mike Fucito: Gives us a look at forward we do not have Alan Gordon: Lenny softens em up, Gordon goes for the killer blow. He will get his minutes due to the nature of the position, i barely consider him depth given how often he is out there. Adam Jahn: Surprisinig rookie who overachieved last season in a big way Ty Harden: honestly was our best player early in the season, and a good price Nana Attakora: brings great bang for your buck at center back Evan Newton: could be second string next season if we arent able to pick up Kendall MacLintosh Hanging on.....by a thread: Jaime Alas: best defense is he didnt get enough time with the squad, maybe an offseason is what he needs to get more confident Walter Martinez: quite literally because we have no one else who can play the position Medhi Bellouchy: He has the injury bug in a bad way, but his chances are running nye financial departures: Jason Hernendez: great second half of the year; playing for his contractual life, but for depth he is too expensive David Bingham: he is not going to resign as a backup, he wants to start and that probably means overseas get the loan program up and kicking: Tommy Muller: favorite project on the team, needs games though. Sam Garza: not on the checkbook, get his confidence up in Sacramento Marcus Tracy: still on peanuts and counts nothing against the cap, I am willing to give him one last time, but not with the first team. He needs to show he can do the job on a loan Doghouse cuts: Martin Chavez:Ship has sailed with watson it seems possible trade bait: dangle Gordon, Jahn, Attakora, Hernendez, and Chavez in front of Yallop. We know that Yallop has no problem trading for what he wants and he can get some of his guys in. possible trade targets: Andrew Wenger, Corben Bone, Sal Zizzo, Andrew Wiedeman, Justin Braun, Anthony Wallace, Andre Akpan, Tyler Polak, Justin Meram, Jackson, Michel. George John, Chris Rolfe, Zach Lloyd I would trade a 2015 first rounder IN A HEARTBEAT for Andrew Wenger, that is so much untapped potential wasting away at Montreal OFFSEASON PRIORITIES: Resign free agents: Everyone is automatically assuming Beita and Baca will be back next season. I got a terrible feeling they both walk though . I think Baca wants to try Liga Mx, and Beita will probably try europe methinks. Busch is due an extension and will get one i think. He is the only for sure candidate i can think of for free agency resignings. Draft Well: Hope that Will Vitalis or Dylan Mares falls to us. If one makes the roster, good draft. If two make the roster, great draft. If three make the roster, wonderful draft Scout, scout, SCOUT!!!: scower the earth; find hard working english professionals in the mold of Stewart, Dawkins, and Hucks. South American talent, easternn europe, japan, south korea......it is there, and we have to find some. Cut with a scalpal not a machette: this team is not going to cut 10 people guys......id be extremely surprised it it cut any more than 7. I predict we lose between 4-7 bodies this offseason. and that is a healthy turnover rate. Cutting any more than that and you become TFC or Chivas USA. GET OUR FIRST HOMEGROWN!: Kendal MacLintosh as goalkeeper depth. letting go of bingham we will need him.