DC gets a LOT of allocation money. If they put it to good use, this is a good deal for DC. Because even MLS' best RB isn't the key to winning championships. Having MLS' best attacking players or even central defenders is. I hope they bring in a stud central defender in the mold of the 2010 version of Olave, or Bermudez, etc.
I'm going to have to find a new favorite player on the team now. I'm leaning towards Kitchen at this point
So there's a correlation between a player being your favorite and that player leaving United? I really think Pajoy should be your new favorite.
Exactly. As I said, I'm not upset about selling Najar. I think it's great. And I won't be upset about selling Hamid some day, or Pontius, or whoever. We are a feeder league-- hell we've worked hard to become a feeder league. And I applaud our club's goal of grooming our own talent and leading the way in the academy system, and in trying to use younger players rather than older ones. None of this is a problem for me. Until I hear the FO people talking about how they are happy with our squad when it's not clear at all that the team has improved enough to take a step forward from last season. We have no recent demonstrated successful record of acquiring key players, so when I see a really good mix, almost a perfect storm of young players that can take this team somewhere meaningful, I am aghast at the idea that we are going to lose them before we can really make any use of them, and that we have an announced contentment with the squad as is. If our time is not 2013, how is it going to be 2014, or 2015? I said in another thread that I'm not all doom and gloom about our prospects for the 2013 season, and without Najar I'm still not. But without Najar, and a depth-strengthened roster over last year, I'm not very hopeful about our prospects for achieving the same level of success or better, than 2012. And that's disappointing. Now I guess we know why the ticket reps made calls this week trying to lock in season ticket packages.
There goes 2013. I just knew this season was going to suck. As I said in another thread, I think Najar was a lynchpin on this team and losing him is going to make United very predictable in attack. The transfer window is effectively closed and DC is now looking significantly worse than last season. I am of the belief that a summer signing is almost always too late. Najar for $2 million? Not worth it. Not even close.
$3 Million plus a sell-on fee? That's a good bit of business. $650k in allocation money to bring in transfers or make trades, and another $1.6 million to spend on the academy or to buy out Salihi. And then, when Najar gets sold again, we get another allocation plus money to spend on the academy. Najar's sale could cover academy costs for quite a while.
You're right that Gomez fellow really bombed in 2004. Sales are a way of life, as others pointed out, MLS is a developmental feeder league for "better" leagues around the world. Will be for at least another one or two decades (after that I probably will be real worm food and it won't matter to me). I read in SBI that Kamara is going overseas so KC has now lost two valuable players as well. Dallas without Shea is in trouble as well. Notice that no one ever wants Houston's players and all that team does is win? Doesn't mean you shouldn't go for good players, but it does mean you can win without "game changers" and I do believe that DeRo, Pontius and Deleon are game changing players. What is funny is the last two "14s" we've had ended their DCU careers with a red card ejection. Olsen in 2009 and Najar in 2012. As for the FO "standing pat", what is Olsen supposed to say, "the rest of the roster now that Najar is gone isn't capable of being mid-table in USL-Pro." I would assume the FO is always looking for new talent and I believe having Morsink scout in CA will begin to pay dividends. Just will take time.
Goff mentioned it in his initial post, and other reporters (well, Stouffer) have mentioned it as well.
Seeing the Forest throught the Trees is a rare ability my friend. Well stated. I'm upset I won't get to see Andy develop further here in DC, but I'd much rather reap the benefits of this deal. This deal has a knock-on effect of good things within the club (aside from losing the player obviously). Think about this, when Bill Hamid get's sold someday, United will most likely have two Homegrown Players sold before any other MLS club even get's one sold. That is good business.
Sale coming up on land in Baltimore. Maybe just getting an extra bit of capital for an eventual move?
Well, I believed Najar was gone the moment he went on loan. Everything until today was just posturing by the club, and I would include the lack of acquisitions with that statement. Now Ben has the funds to go and get who he wants, and we can see what his scouting skills can reel in.
Houston has been a steady feeder team for awhile now with Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron and Andre Hainault. I I agree with your overall point though. I think Houston is a great model for Ben to follow. But even Houston loses about a player per year to Europe. I think that's a good sign though. It means you're getting good players. It means that you're investing in youth that blossoms under your watch. Those are all good signs. In our good years we fed plenty of players to Europe like Nelsen, Perkins, Convey, Arguez, Jacobson ... By 2009 nobody in Europe was looking at our roster for talent. Now maybe they're starting again ...
I am right with you here on virtually every line.... except for the part where you actually listen to what the FO says. "Frankly, our squad is one injury away from a coaching search." is apparently gauche to say even when it's true. Haven't we accumulated approximately 1.5 assloads of acqusitional goodness, with more on the way? It seems like we've gone out of our way to not spend money, so the pessimist in me is optimistic. With that in mind, the last three paragraphs, while I agree, are only conditionally true for me.
I can't believe anyone says our attack will be predictable attacking this upcoming year. He was so predictable coming down the flank this past season.
Steven Goff @SoccerInsider Yes. Sell-on clause RT @bearderic: Good business by both clubs. Wonder if DCU get a % if/when Anderlecht sell him in a couple of years
I hadn't seen percentages in terms of what we could use on allocation and what we could use elsewhere. Where did you see these #s or general percentages (from which you're calculating the exact #s). The sell-on fee is the huge assuming its more than a couple percent.