Channeling the EPL commentators, "tidy" and "composed" come to mind watching Cisse in that video. Not terms that tend to be used when describing the Revs as a team or individually. Granted, it's a highlight reel, but (1) the signing happened before the new season started, (2) he looks like an upgrade rather than someone found dumpster diving and (3) it suggests that the Revs FO wasn't put on furlough until after the Super Bowl. What's not to like?
The expectations for Cisse have been set. Coming flat out and saying the Revs expect a lot from a player will make it hard for rkupp to justify that they weren't a bust.
Cisse played in the EPL for a year and the Portuguese top division for a year, so he has highest level experience, and I'd say the Championship is a tougher league than MLS in terms of physicality and speed, so I feel pretty good about this signing overall. No one is going to come to MLS straight from the Big Four unless they're 32+.
He is a relatively unknown. When you hear Cisse you don't think of this guy right away do you? He had a stint for a bottom half of the league team in Portugal that was relegated the next year. Reading was no power house either. Don't get me wrong, I like this signing and will like it even better if the guy can play. Is this a Great signing? Maybe as far as past Revs signing go. When I think of a Great I will reserve that for a name player, a DP.
Thank you, that's exactly where I stand. It's "great" for a bottom 4 MLS club hoping to get back to playoff contention in that Cisse on paper addresses a dire need. Even if he's from a small club like Bristol City, I'll share the cautious optimism of others. Whether that tidiness with the ball translates to the field in MLS remains to be seen, lest we forget Dabo, Domi, EJ, Lozano and numerous others that have been considered "great" signings only to be unmitigated busts. I will give the FO credit for getting their shit together in November, rather than March, for once. I'm actually amazed, it's as if there's actual management creeping into the process of getting better.
According to who, Soccer Doc and rkupp? Dabo, Domi, and Jankauskas were all terrible signings and that was clear from the beginning. The only signing thats that are applicable are Lozano and Cardenas. Lozano was an obvious bust and Cardenas hasn't been much better, while both were good signings IMO. The others you listed were clearly doomed from the get go.
This team does not have a gluttony of central midfielders at all. In fact, I think it is the area they should focus on first in improving...and that's what it looks like they are doing with Cisse and Dorman. As RevsLiverpool pointed out above, the best thing to take out of this is that they have made actual signings, that don't appear to be shady, before MLS Cup has even happened. This has to be the most forward thinking and positive they've been at this time of year, in years...maybe ever? People mistake wingers and attackers for actual central players. Sure this team is "loaded" with a number of wide and forward thinking "midfielders" but they lack true presence in the middle of the field...where it matters most.
Yeah, I think flexibility of formation and tactics will be important, as well as squad rotation. Simms had to play far too many games this year, and their options centrally were far too thin.
I love when people watch/post youtube clips, which are essentially career highlight reels, and try to derive anything out of a player. Ok, so he looked "tidy" in a few short stints. He looked "good in the air" a couple of times. WOWWWWWW!!!! haha Honestly, I know we are all starved for actual news, good players and a team we can rally around. But trying to gauge anything out of a youtube clip is just as inane as someone who rails against this signing for no apparent reason at all.
Lozano was an "obvious bust" AND a "good signing"!? Really? Forget the fact hindsight is 20-20, even from the beginning I was skeptical he'd pan out based on the fact no foreign defender (apart from Osei) has stuck around with the revs since...Avery John? Badilla's tenure aka "Mass General Operating Table Regular" doesn't count as sticking around. By sheer luck I ended up being right for once. I saw Lozano in the same way as Coria the year before - a project, not a "good" signing. For example, Nguyen was a project that turned into a good domestic signing. Outside Sene and Perovic there hasn't been a "good" foreign signing in a long time.
Contradict yourself much? I'm talking about prior to seeing him on the field, just as you were in the above post. He was a good signing. He appeared to be far less of a project than Coria who had never played at a particularly high level. Obviously he was a huge bust, as I said in my post. However, I didn't anticipate him being such a failure, while I did expect all of the other players you mentioned to have little to no success in MLS.
I also thought Lozano was a good signing. Doesn't mean he didn't wind up being a bust, as far as the Revs are concerned. And before rkupp responds, yes, I know you're going to say he wasn't a bust, he was hurt and McCarthy took his spot and all that. To me, still a bust.
This is the definition of a contradiction: So, you can be both a good signing and a bust? I always thought those were mutually exclusive. We'll just agree to disagree on Lozano then. I didn't see anything about him that screamed "lock starter" when he was signed a year ago, hence why I didn't think he was a good signing initially and he ended up not being one. To be clear - anyone who takes up a SI spot and isn't a lock starter from a known league is a project, to me. My definition of "good" is strict, as in, you come in, adapt, earn a starting spot, and produce early and often. You positively impact results. Osei won a starting spot in 2009 and combined well with Barnes to put up clean sheets fairly consistently. Perovic did it when he was the only guy scoring any goals for us during a stretch mid-2010. Sene did it this past season when he came in and started scoring, as he was brought here to do. As a domestic project Nguyen is a good example, earning himself a starting job. That's what I'm looking for out of a veteran guy taking up a SI spot like Lozano, not a defender who can't beat out a converted DM. Maybe you and others saw something in Lozano I didn't, which is fair. Tomato, tomahto I guess.
Christ you are thick. He was a good signing at the time. As in, Cisse is also currently a good signing. However, you can't truly evaluate a signing until after the guy steps on the field. Obviously Lozano didn't turn out to be a good signing like many thought he would be, that's why he was a bust. I don't understand why what's so hard to comprehend here. Evaluating a signing prior to seeing the player step on the field is very different that evaluating a signing way after the fact when the player has finally joined the team. That being said, Lozano was a good (or right, justified, correct, proper, etc.) signing; however he never met those expecations.
Hey, remember when a certain poster said I was the only one who lobbed insults and personally attacked people. LMAO
Wow, I must be writing in some weird alien language. I'll say it again, really slowly, a good signing to you is a project to me. Got it? Cool. A good signing is a guy people know. Thierry Henry. David Beckham. Rafa Marquez. Robbie Keane. Not Kalifa Cisse. A good signing convinces people to go check out the revs because they've heard of one of the players. He impacts the bottom line, not just performance on the field. See the difference?
By your rationale there have been only 20 or so good signings in the history of MLS, and all the rest are just "projects." Interesting.
Yes - why do you think the league is forever trying to convert soccer fans in general to become MLS soccer fans? Names like I provided add credibility to the league, elevating it in the view of the general soccer public. Hence, they're good signings. We, as a league, need more high profile signings to convert more of that population into solid, active fans. I guess my point is every SI with any type of experience in foreign leagues that signs for every MLS team, every year, can't be considered "good" from the beginning. Most players start as an unproven MLS project and either become good (so, they earn minutes and contribute), average (add depth but contribute when called upon), or are busts (suck).
You're really frustrating. I'm going to drop this, but you're not really understanding why people thought Lozano was a good signing. He was a player in his prime, who was playing in a league that many successful MLS SI signings had come from, and fitted a position of need for the Revs. This looked like a good signing compared to Dabo, Domi, and Jankauskas who had played at a higher level and were closer to household names, but were clearly passed their primes. I think my point was proven when you called Marquez a "good signing."
When any player is signed all opinions as to how they will do is HYPOTHETICAL When a player has been on the roster his observed performance is ANALIZABLE All analysis of players by poster is OPINION and a VANITY