Re: Striker signed (Chris Rolfe is back!) I'm a big fan of this move. I love Chris, the player. It might fire up those old debates, however, that I thought his best potential position is behind the strikers as a No. 10, but we clearly have one of those now (just like we had Blanco). Let's see what Frank does with him. He could work very well with Oduro because he is great at distributing the ball when playing up high.
Interested to see who goes to the bench. I'm guessing Nyarko, but I think I'd rather see him on the wing with Pappa on the bench. I hope he's still the player we remember.
Maybe Pardo goes to the bench with Pause in his place. I noticed that there were a couple of occasions where Pause dropped deep while Pardo pushed forward. Pardo has looked slow out there and is not exactly young anymore. I wouldn't mind this lineup: [LINEUP-4-4-2]Oduro, Rolfe, Pappa, Grazzini, Pause, Nyarko, Segares, Friedrich, Anibaba, Gargan, Johnson[/LINEUP-4-4-2]
i'd be surprised if Rolfe starts right away. this is a completely different Fire team than the one he left 3 yrs ago, both in players and match strategy
He's 29. I remember reading a great article (one that I wish I would have kept) that hypothesized that all athletes reach their absolute prime at 28. It is the combination of brains together with retained physical attributes that are not yet on the decline that produce the optimal performance at that age. It really was uncanny if you look at virtually every career. Jordan was 28 in 1991, spanning the first two championships. He was at a point where he was still devastating driving to the rim but had started to develop a jump shot (right Craig Ehlo?) Joe Montana was the NFL's highest rated passer in 1984 and 1985 and was super bowl MVP in 1985 at the age of 28. Tiger Woods held the Tiger Slam at 27 and into 28. It goes on and on. Guess how old Clint Dempsey was for the first seven months of this season. Now, many of these and others maintain a level very close to their peak for 2-3 or even 5-6 years. Montana, for example, was at his best at 28 but was still winning mvps and super bowls in the late 80s. Michael went on to lead the Bulls to 4 more championships. So, at 29, Rolfe should still be at his absolute peak or close to it. Of course, he has had some injury problems that can be the wild card here, but if healthy, I don't think we need to worry if he can be what he was before.
And in success. We need better players playing. He is better than many we currently have playing. He should play. He's a smart guy. He can step in and play. For one thing, he won't have to deal with a roving center mid like Blanco. Playing with Grazini might not be quite as effective, but certainly easier. Edit -- to simply add that I am really tired of the excuses we always fire up for why our signings can't play. They need fitness. They need to learn their teammates. The truth is that players sign all over the world, and many of them jump right in and play very well with new teammates and a new system. Chris Rolfe is a professional. He has played with Pappa, Segares and Pause. He can play right away. No more excuses. I was so frickin high on the Robayo signing and so disappointed that he rides the bench. I'm tired of this. Other teams actually sign players who play. I thought we were getting away from the excuses when Pardo and Grazini both stepped into their roles pretty quickly.
Excited. Rolfe will find a place on the field because he's technical and dangerous. He can contribute either in the hole or from the wing.
Awesome! I love this. Was always sad to see Rolfe go. I like this a lot. This might be our best line-up. I'm still hoping that Pardo is just shaking off the off-season rust, but he has looked really old so far.
This is better..... [LINEUP-4-4-2]Oduro,Rolfe,Pappa,Grazzini,Pardo,Nyarko,Segares,Friedrich,Anibaba,Gargan,Johnson[/LINEUP-4-4-2]
I was trying not to explicitly bring up Segares, but he's been something of a disappointment since he re-joined the team. You can argue that injuries had something to do with it in his case, so I'm hoping for the best with Rolfe.
So, when Europe breaks them, we take them! Nice signing policy. A healthy Rolfe would be great thing for this club. I was sad to see him go years ago. Did he learn anything in Denmark beyond how to score at the bar in broken Danish?
Re: Striker signed That would require us to actually spend some serious money, which despite Hauptman saying he would, is highly unlikely.
Love the new signing. I wonder how long it will take him to re-adapt to the league. Hopefully, we don't have to wait too long. Kenny Cooper had a crap season last year, but is kicking ass this year.
I think Chris will hit the ground running - I've watched a couple of his appearances with Aalborg in the last year, and he's been very good. He always combined well, but it's at another level now. I think we'll be seeing him playing some of Grazzini's trequartista role when we're pushing for a goal. And his shot is still that heavy, dipping, quick-trigger thing that always gets the ladies lathered up, heh. It's the injuries, man - he seems to very seldom drop form while playing. Instead, he'll gradually gain steam over a run of games, then little problems start to niggle at him, and you can see the difference right away. His body just isn't crazy durable like modern football demands, so I doubt these problems are going to disappear. He'll get hurt, and we'll agonize over it. But he's awesome, so it'll be less "when is he ever gonna play" and more "damn I wish we had us some Chris Rolfe in here today." I said over and over, during Rolfe I, that the dude is a striker, not a winger, and that he needs to play up top. It goes without saying that Chris has spent three injury-plagued but productive seasons in Denmark playing on the friggin' wing. Does that cause me to re-evaluate? Hell no! If I've learned one thing arguing on the internet, it's the value of a timely double-down. Chris Rolfe is a striker! I hope I'm proved right.
I hope you're right too. I'm getting tired of seeing our gameplan consist of hoping our forward outruns the other teams defense lol
Rolfe had a great season last season and a solid first half of this season. He's currently on a bit of a poor form. There was talk of AaB having to get rid of him after last season, i want to say due to financial reasons but they ended up keeping him. Either way, i'm not concerned. He was hardly broken in Europe. When healthy, his stint in Europe was a mild success. He had a great year last season and a solid start to this season. At AaB he was utilized as a LM. Became quite serviceable too. Scored goals and assisted as well. Solid post Ion. AaB used Rolfe as a LM, so we'll have to wait and see what Klopas does.
Is Denis coaching AaB? I thought he was the only idiot who would play Chris in a wide midfield role. Seriously though, one of my concerns of playing him at striker is his size and durability. I also think he is at his best taking shots from the top of the box or making runs from deeper. I've always thought his game could develop into a similar style to Nowak. It will be interesting. He will probably be listed up top with Oduro but will he play withdrawn and centrally or more of a guy who attacks from the wide spots like Patrick. I have some concerns that he and Grazini will get crossed up a bit if Rolfe naturally drops a little deeper like he often does. Snarkiness aside, I think Denis played him wide because he ( like AaB) didn't see him as an outright striker and because we had Blanco in the middle of the park. Frank will face a similar issue. Can't wait to see him out there and how it all shakes out.
Rolfe ended his time here as a RM. I'm assuming most of the time he's been playing ST for AaB? Still, he's a lot better winger than Nyarko since he possesses the ability to cross the ball proper and he always had some tricks up his socks.