Doyle was excited about him at the event. He's cheap, around 90k. The only thing they need to see is if he has the motor to keep up at MLS level.
True, though the guy did have some time at Liverpool, so there was something there at one point. Hopefully here he can recapture whatever that was.
So we brought in four trialists, one of whom was only 22, and we've tossed three of them already. I'm not saying that we shouldn't have, just that it seems like maybe we could find better places to look? I would expect trialists to last at least through some pre-season games, so we can see what they've got in game situations. But if they aren't good enough in our practices? Maybe we should stop looking in PDL? Compost was the most highly touted dude to come out of PDL and he's down in NASL now. I can't say that I have much hope for any of the trialists we've brought in, but maybe one or two of them will surprise us. I do think that we need to bring on another veteran player or three. go quakes! - Mark
You're not quite getting what is happening here: Agent: "Hey, I have some young promising players that you might be interested in." JD: "Sure we need players to fill out our pre-season practices, maybe something could stick." as opposed to... JD: "You know those PDL players you represent? We like them, have them come out to training, so we can see how they stack up." Agent: "GREAT!" Your issue needs to be that they aren't looking. Though, JD was just in Portugal looking, but he's not looking for trialists, he's looking for signings (or new vacation spots).
Well, I hope you're right. And that may well be the case for PDL, USL, and NASL guys. It could have been true of Abu Tommy last season too. I mean, how did we hear about a young player in the Moldovan leagues? That said, we should be looking in Moldova, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Poland, Belarus, Czechia and so on. And we should be looking in Central and South America. I'm just not convinced that we do a very good job of scouting players. I think more of these just fall into our laps. I think we talk to shady agents who try to sell us the next Zura. go quakes!! - Mark
I would agree with this. My thoughts on the subject: When the new stadium comes online, I want to see an expansion of FO personnel...from marketing to scouting to ticket reps to team cooks to whatever else you can think of. If this happens, I'll know we're serious about existing in MLS 2.0/3.0 (whatever it is now). This is the Sporting KC model, this model works...we should be trying to emulate it. Look at their staff directory! 74 employees! http://www.sportingkc.com/staff-directory By comparison, the Quakes have 44 non-technical staff employees. That said, Lew Wolff is still the owner, so we'll see.
Case in point: http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2014/02/stewart-finds-firm-footing-club-renews-contract
First, I can think of a lot. We need some scouts, and some one in charge of working with overseas scouts, maybe three or four someone's. More ticket reps, of course. Some serious pro who can schmooze the media for us. The media are disinclined to love us, so we need a seducer. We can all think of many more. Nutrition expert (someone here is into that, yes?). We need some language experts on call, so that if we sign someone from say, Bulgaria, we can have a translator who can help with his relocation, and his family's as well. The list goes on and on. I think that Lew really wants to do well with our team, but right now, we don't really have the revenues to support that sort of spending. So you're right, we'll have to wait and see. I sure don't want to be a pauper team forever. go quakes!! - Mark
What sounds bad? Is Stewart not a great player? I certainly think that he is, and I was pre-disposed to think not. He still has wheels, and he has great touch. He sees the game well, and he's a crafty veteran. What's not to like? OK, he's 31, which is starting to push it, but as long as his foot speed remains decent, I'm OK with him. He might not still be a starter in '15, but that's alright. He's a good guy to have on the squad. As long as JD didn't agree to give him a huge wage increase, because he is after all on the downside of his career. go quakes! - Mark
i think we're doing plenty of scouting, but are in a constant state of sticker shock. they've had buyer's remorse before, so are very cautious and thats why you hear everyone talking about 'character' when we draft out of the blue or pick up guys on free transfers. its been a pretty good strategy when you consider the fight from guys like Gordon, Lenny, Cronin, Busch and Wondo. i think Barklage, JBP, Koval, and TT are going to be the same type of guys. Goonies, right? and yes, I know you still want an upgrade at attacking midfielder and right mid.
"Eight invited back after Earthquakes Open Tryout" (SJEarthquakes.com - Tuesday, 2/4/14) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I don't mind us looking for undervalued players. I think that we should. My concern is that we don't scout very well. We brought in Zura for Pete's sake! And Donatelli, and a whole host of other guys. Fabio! Andre Luiz! We need to do a better job of scouting. Mostly, we scout by watching tapes. That's ridiculous. It's one thing to find a guy that way, but then you have to go see him, or at least talk to independent scouts wherever he's playing. And bring the guy in as a trialist, or go see him play! We aren't doing much of that. I keep coming back to Central America because it's close enough for us to go have a look in person, and we can afford players from there. I do hope that we are being a bit cautious. I'm good with that! BUT, we need to look harder, look in less expensive leagues. Look for younger players that we can snag before they get too expensive. If we were doing a better job of scouting, we'd have some Argentines, like Portland, and we'd be spending less than we do. go quakes!! - Mark
I see Gurlitz was involved in the Quakes goal, maybe he will end up being our Stewart of the right side?
Thats what im thinking. I wanna see Barklage play tho. Doyle told me Gurlitz wants $80k.. not bad at all.
An Englishman on the left, a German on the right, a Frenchman in front of them, and a Portuguese in front of him? Maybe? If someone is over there scouting, hopefully they're not spending all their time sitting in cafes listening to fado and eating bacalhau.
The English guy didnt look very good. Not bad, but not good. I'd take him at LB for cheap over Francis any day tho.
I'm interested in learning more about this German trialist Andreas Gorlitz. Playing in the Bundesliga I'm sure he has tons of experience, more so than most MLS players. I hope he ends up being a good one.
I agree that he has a ton of experience. So does Walmart. My concern with signing older players from other leagues is that OUR league, for better or worse, depends on a lot of foot speed. We tend to play high pressure defense all over the field. Whereas many other leagues (better leagues) do not. Because every player on every squad can make a quality 30 to 40 yard pass. But in MLS, many players cannot. So the high pressure pays off, because you're likely to force a mistake. So my concern with older players is that they may not be fast enough any more to manage in a high pressure situation. However, we can see that Jordan Stewart is really good, and still plenty fast. Blanco when he played here was slower than most traffic cones, but he did well too. So it's not just about foot speed, Of course I hope that Gorlitz is great! We need another two or three good players. I just worry about his foot speed. I hope that this is an unnecessary worry. go quakes!! - Mark
I think the Bundesliga is a lot better league than any level Martinez ever played in. At least 32 is better than signing 36/37 year old Nesta & DiVaio. I mean I love them and all but they don't have much time left and Nesta lasted maybe 2 years , if that. Don't know how much longer can DiVaio last , MVP notwithstanding.
He played in the Second Bundesliga the last few years but that's still a decent level ... probably where the average MLS club would fall. If Gorlitz continues to show well in preseason my guess is that he gets signed. Barklage can play left back in an emergency for Stewart ... things don't look very good for Francis after his dismal turn against the Sounders.
After watching the first 45 of the Dynamo/Tucson game, I think Gorlitz just took the RB position. The dude was causing trouble for the Dynamo everywhere.