Just thinking that Dos Santos might look good in Atl, and draw significantly. Also there was a lot of talk about Freddy Adu going to the 'backs... can you imagine those two on a roster together? Especially if you could get Adu for....less than DP salary. With plenty of first and second generation Africans in Atl, a few rising stars from the African leagues might be a good way to flesh out a roster.
I think the main thing we could do now is go ahead and develop our academy system. Moreover, I would attempt to affiliate with the Silverbacks similar or go ahead and create a Atlanta MLS II side in the USL pro. We could go ahead and get our foundation laid out. As far as DPs, obviously I want Messi, Ronaldo, and Bale. But who knows? I definitely want us to be able to play attacking soccer... So I wouldn't have a problem where we have two forward DPs and an attacking mid DP.
I would want a DP striker, DP attacking mid, DP box-to-box or holding mid. I also think one DP should be a mid 20 year old player from the Colombian or Argentine first division. MLS has great success with players from those leagues and they tend to have the DP value.
Would LOVE Zlatan, just done know how much I would love 35 year old Zlatan. But if he still wants to play and would take MLS seriously then why the heck not!
The youth academies are going to be key. Hopefully the team will be able to tap into great potential of Georgia's athletes. Let's face it, no matter what the sport ( football, baseball, basketball, yes even soccer) Georgia produces some great athletes. If the new team is a winner from the start and kids can see that they can make a career as a professional soccer player that will bode well for the future.
https://twitter.com/ajcsportseditor/status/456541498549346304 That tweet above just gave me the feeling, man. All 3 DP slots will be utilized. Damn, damn, damn.
After seeing Dikembe Mutombo at the event, I so want him as a goalkeeper. He's only 47 and has experience swatting round balls -- and other objects.
It seems the best goalkeepers are in their 40s. See: Pat Onstad and Kasey Keller. Well he certainly has the money for it. The question is, will he get the people that will make the smart decisions?
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I don't see Ibra doing well in MLS. He strikes me as the type of person that would treat MLS like a retirement league.
If we are going off the wall speculation for future DP's I would love to sign Paul Pogba. He would be 24 and still in his prime.
I think you can only affiliate officially with one team. And I saw an article about how a few of the big youth clubs in LA don't care much for the Galaxy because they get the best players most of the time and the clubs don't like that.
He's Mexican, he's a good striker, and he'd only be 28 in 2017. If I was the team, and the price was right, I'd seriously look at Chicharito. I am curious how the team will approach their DPs. Will they focus on going for a certain nationality (like getting a top Mexican, getting a top American), or will they just focus on getting the three best players they can, regardless of where they come from.
I'm guessing the latter. I'd love to have a Mexican National team player along with a couple of USMNTers, but you gotta take the best players.
... Unless it's a David Beckham. That's a unique circumstance, but in three years who knows. He had such a Tiger Woods/Michael Jordan aura that it's hard to think of anyone else similar. But otherwise, a crappy team with one star won't draw people for long.
It's hard to project that far into the future but the franchise should get a DP that the Latin community, as well as Atlanta as a whole, can get excited about. Whether it's from Liga MX or La Liga or other UEFA leagues, I think engaging that community needs to be a cornerstone of their marketing strategy. An aging Puyol or Iniesta or Ramos would be fantastic.
On second thought, I wonder if it would even be in the team's best interest to sign a DP in the first couple of seasons. The way the league is set up, a majority of the players on the team the first year are going to be fringe players at best. It's going to take a few years to build up the depth necessary to become competitive. If you know your chances of winning are going to be slim regardless, would it be worth it to spend the money to bring in a DP? Or wait until the team around the DP is good enough to make the expense worthwhile?