The Offseason Thread: What does FCD have to do to bounce back in 2013/Someone please beat Houston[R]

To go along with my other thread about no one posting here. I know those that are still around have ideas about who this team needs to cut and who we need to pick up to be legitimate next season.


I'll start:

We need another striker badly, someone like Cunny. We need Shea to get healthy and we need Castillo to sharpen his skills. We need to replace Ugo and throw lots of money at John in hopes that he'll stay. We need depth in defense and maybe need to get rid of Benitez. Rodriguez definitely needs to go.

Oh yeah, MLS Cup playoffs are still going on and we're on our way to another LA/Houston final (barf) unless DC and Seattle have something to say about it (not much better).

Trade Shea to RSL for Johnson and Espindola. RSL adds wing play they sorely need, and we bolster our mid field with a Johnson/DF pairing and add one of the better MLS strikers.

And since many here are "over" Shea, they should be willing to trade him, right? Don't get to say you want Shea around and to just get healthy after many of the comments I saw around here all season.

Are that many people over Shea? I'd like him to stick around. I think the fact that he had surgery pretty quickly after the season ended indicates that he was playing on a serious injury far longer than he should have. I don't think he's quite "plateaued" like a lot of people do (at least short of sending him to the Arsenal bench or Serie B or wherever).

I think Ugo is probably done. The concussion symptoms never ended and we never got any word when or if he would be coming back.

I'm happy with a lot of our players though (Loyd, Jackson, DF10 come to mind). I only got to see our games when they were televised. I would say the one area for improvement is national anthem talent... But I digress....

I was glad, and surprised, that Castillo was having so much success towards the end of the season. If he can keep it up, that means we may only need one additional striker rather than two. I think we also need West Conference-quality "backups" (they need to be starting quality and should in fact start a lot) at Hernandez's position (is Jacobson enough?) and at Ferreira's (without Leyva, do we have anything here anymore?) I think at least one of those positions should be filled through a trade within the league, so we know for sure (or at least be more confident than we could be with an acquisition from down south) what we're getting.

Well, since I just posted in the other thread it's probably worth me putting my 2 cents here:

GK: Bring Hartman back for year + option around the same he's getting paid now and pick up Seitz's option as backup with Sanchez.

Defense: We need to get rid of Jair. Carlos Rodriguez isn't the answer here. Not sure about the potential improvements of Moises Hernandez, but if he's not the answer (at least as a starter which would be very unlikely) we need to go out and find a solid LB. Hopefully we can offer John enough for him to stay and if Ugo is good to go next year, he should push a pay cut due to his injury potential. Hedges has been great and Pertuz is a solid backup. Would also like to see us pick up Woodberry. Lloyd still needs improvements, but he should continue to be a mainstay for us.

Midfield: We need a pure box-to-box midfielder to command the middle of the field and feed DF10 and wingers. We need to put some money out for this one. I liked guzman and wouldn't mind seeing him next year for the right price. AJ is good, but questionable as a full-time starter. Hopefully Warshaw and/or Ulloa step up next year and can contribute/push the starters. I don't mind Marcelin for 40K again if he's far down the depth charts. Hernandez needs to retire or go to the NASL. DF10 needs a backup. Right now, that's villar but I haven't seen him enough and when I have he has been played out of position. Due to the number of injuries he had last year, I think we should look for someone else to possible fill DF spot if he gets knocks or fatigued when we have matches hard and fast.

Wingers: Shea, Castillo, Jackson, Rodriguez. I think we have a good group of wingers. Rodriguez is solid cover as a winger (not as a LB) and is a good deal for what we're paying. Wouldn't mind seeing him next year in this capacity. Shea and Castillo can both be game changers and if they can both be healthy and improve mentally, they can really be the offensive firepower of this side. Jackson lacks a bit of quality, but has one of the best engines on the team and should be the first in line behind 3-4 different spots.

Striker: Perez was a good aquisition and could easily pass 15-18 goals next year if most of our attacking force stays healthy. I agree that we need another forward, but we don't need to break the bank for a top quality guy since they'd only see limited minutes in a 1 striker system. In general, I look around the league and see team's 3rd or 4th ST better than what we have after Perez. Not a big Sealy fan, but I wouldn't be mad if he was our 3rd or 4th ST for 40-50 K. And we never know, Clavijo and Shellas might see enough in Top that he could be the number 2 next year. Have heard more positives about him than I did about Luna a year or two ago.

Time to go dormant for another few months now lol

I will back up Benitez. He certainly gets petulant and has occasions where he doesn't track but he has the best first touch on the team and sends in pretty good crosses from the left. Shea also sends in good crosses from the left whereas on the right who does that? Answer no one. Certainly not Loyd who I would like to see moved to Dmid. Does that mean I wouldn't be for another left back? Only if definitely better. I think keeping John and de Guzman are keys. Move de Guzman up to Jacobson's spot and Loyd to Dmid. Add a real attacking right back that sends in crosses and gets assists to help balance the attack. Find a real backup to Ferreira. Find a real backup to Perez. If Ugo's gone then another CD backup is John also then a starter is needed.

Dynamic speedy forward who can finish more often than not would be nice..(I guess what Sealey is supposed to provide) Juan Agudelo comes to mind, maybe if there is someone coming out of college with good credentials would work if we're looking for something affordable.

Before last week, shipping Shea along to the highest bidder and use the spot & allocation money for someone like Humberto Suazo or Esteban Paredes & let Jackson/Leyva fight it out for the left side. Disappointed to see Leyva gone (for now?), love Shea and always happy to have him here tho if his head is right. But I'd like to see more of our HGP and incorporated faster so we can spend less on those positions and more where we need it.

I think I agree with you on ol' Three-Lungs-Loyd there...

I'm watching the ACC title game right now, otherwise known as the FC Dallas Homegrown Bowl.

London Woodberry looks great. I don't think there's any question we're going to see him signed as a homegrown. He looks MLS ready right now. He'd be drafted into MLS if we didn't pick him up.........so we should. That means we don't need to draft a centerback/fullback. And it also means that Moises Hernandez should be worried.

John is gone. So we'll go into next year with Hedges, Pertuz, Ihemelu, and Woodberry as our CB group. And that's fine.

Ambrose looks good, Okwuono looks good, and Daniel Garcia looks good...................however I don't see any of those three getting signed this off-season.

Frankly, I may be watching 3/4 of FC Dallas' 2015 starting defense here

Ugo's not going anywhere. He'll be back and healthy. It is worrisome that a player in his position does have to use his head a lot...

Interesting, you sound very confident when we've all been given no reason to feel that way. Do you know something that we don't?

I'm more optimistic than anything, but there's some rumblings.

We all knew he was injured. We also knew he wasn't used correctly, even a long stretch as a lone striker. Yet despite injuries, despite being played as a striker and despite our mid field not being able to string multiple passes together and even hit him in space when on the wing, with few if any options going forward in support most of the time, I regularly came here and saw people saying we don't need Brek, he's a petulant, self absorbed kid, he's lost it, I don't want him here, we need to move on without him, and generally a bunch of crap like that.

There were some who backed him, but that wasn't most of what i saw around here. But I also don't think FCD is a good place for him given SH's tactics and enjoyment of stacking defensive minded players everywhere. Wingers rely on creative mids and options in the box. Thats the opposite of what we have. There's also the aspect that once he's healthy, shows it and decent offers come in, he'll try to bolt, leaving FCD with little in return except for $ they can't spend due to the salary cap limitations. So why not try to get two legit starters for him and improve depth? I have a feeling after Brek does bolt for Europe at some point, people will wish we traded him prior to that and had received players which help under the salary cap. You won't replace a Brek Shea in the transfer market with current MLS rules.

Even if he's a question mark....................I'll be happy with Pertuz and Hedges as the starting CB tandem. Then we'll have Ihemelu and presumably Woodberry in the rotation. If Ugo proves he's healthy, then we'll be in better shape at CB than most MLS teams.

I may be the only one, but I'm much more worried about where the goals are going to come from. I hear people say "if Perez could have stayed healthy, he would have scored so ~15 goals." Well, yes, but the problem is Perez doesn't stay healthy. There's a reason he's been on 15 clubs since 2000. He's passed around world football like an STD.

I don't trust anybody after Perez right now to get the job done. Top may be an "up and comer" but I don't yet trust him to be the starter. So we desperately need to find a reasonably priced #2 forward as a backup to Blas.

Also, I see people moving Zach Loyd up to DMid. There's no chance of that happening. We have a USMNT-caliber right back there. The staff isn't going to create a gaping hole at right back to fix a problem that doesn't exist. We have DeGuzman to play DMid.

Ok, first off he did act like a petulant, self absorbed, kid. He undermined the team and the coach (say what you want about SH, you just don't do it) with his nonsense articles in local papers airing out FCD laundry. If you're referring to his stint in defense, yes he was "used incorrectly" but that was just for a very short time. I'll give him a pass for 2012 because he was in pain/frustrated from the Olympic debacle/tired as hell. That'll make anyone go nuts, let alone a child just starting to get use to stardom. Watching him run at Inter relentlessly back in 2010 was a joy and I know he has that side of him in his game. I don't want him out of FCD, I just want him to be a team player and bring his best to every game. Hope the surgery and time off do him a world of good and he pulls his head out.

Hmm, yeah ok, fair enough.

Buy low, sell high. It would be bad business to get rid of Shea now while his value is low. Let him come back from surgery and see what happens.
Rodriguez cannot be put in a position where he must defend. He can't defend. But he doesn't seem to do much for us in attack. Seems like a good candidate to go away.
I think Perez exceeded all our expectations, even as he was out for so long. That said, we can't depend on him to deliver goals. And he's already suspended for the first two games next season!
http://www.fcdallas.com/blog/post/2012/11/09/blas-perez-suspended-first-two-matches-2013
We need a striker, but so do more than half the teams in MLS. Sealy is not the answer. I believe in Top way more than Sealy.
Thanks, Danny Hernandez for all the great years, but it's time to go. DeGuzman is a good replacement. Can we meet his $ demands? Marcelin is not the answer here. Maybe Jacobson could grow into this role.
I look for Warshaw to be a utility defensive guy.
A centerback pairing of Pertuz and Hedges scares me. I think Hedges needs another season before he can boss the back. Pertuz is OK if he has an experienced back to guide him. Hope Ugo or John or both return to provide experience at the back. Without those two, I'd pick up an experienced back (hopefully cheap).
I think Castillo's decision making will improve. He's the type of exciting player MLS needs more of.
Not sure if DF10 is ramping up gradually after his injuries, or heading downward. Maybe he ramps up more if the rest of the team do more to help him carry the offensive load.
Man, Benitez is frustrating. I'd look to replace him if possible, but wouldn't be disappointed if he's still here next season.
Loyd, Jackson, goalkeepers =

Well, we a couple of avenues to address some of these player needs outside of international pickups.

We have the potential homegrown players. After watching London Woodberry against UNC, I'd pick him up in a heartbeat. So there's a developing centerback/rightback there.

We then have two of the first 20 picks in the MLS draft, including a relatively high one at number 6!

I've been starting to peruse the draft possibilities already (boredom) to see what's out there.

http://wvhooligan.com/2012/10/15/14840/early-look-at-2013-superdraft-prospects/

Here's what this site says about Woodberry

London Woodberry – D – Maryland – He’s tied to FC Dallas and Schellas Hyndman will be getting a real stud next year with him. He’s helped lead the Terps to the top of the rankings in college soccer this season.

In the draft I'd look for help on the wings and in the center of midfield. We'll address the forward issue with an international signing. We need experience, not youth there.

You know, who's projected to go in the area of #6 in the draft? Plano native Dillon Powers. He's a 2-way midfielder type. For people who aren't satisfied with Andrew Jacobsen, perhaps they'd be interested in Dillon.

We need a superstar. Someone that makes the crowd stand up on their feet.

Well Tatu is busy with the Sidekicks, so who do you have in mind?

Messi or Ronaldo. The Hunt kids can afford them, yeah?

It's and oldie, but... well it's an oldie. Still surprisingly appropriate, though.

I think Messi is set, although Ronaldo sounded interested in MLS in a few years... Or SCHWEINSTEIGER!

Pertuz is a good backup but Pertuz and Hedges as a first team pairing won't cut it. Eastwood has me intrigued about this Woodberry kid. I was under the impression John was out of here though if they could coax him to return that would be fantastic.

Getting De Guzman back would be a great thing, but I thought I read an article implying he was hoping to head back to Europe where his family (children?) is. How are they going to deal with the situation of Hernandez as assistant coach if he's not a player/coach anymore?

I'm a big fan of Jacobsen. I consider him overall a big plus. Sealy has to go. Make Top your 3rd striker and find someone of decent-enough quality to back up Perez. I know even average forwards don't grow on trees but that's why they pay Clavijo the big bucks.

Villar's actually not a bad backup to DF10 but he's a terrible winger and seems injury prone. I imagine they won't bring him back.

I'm a huge fan of watching Jair play and at any given moment he's the best left back in the league, but those moments are unfortunately too brief, and though I've come to hate this phrase, he lacks a certain amount of emotional intelligence, which can make it infuriating watching him play. I wonder if the FO and Hyndman have got tired of his act.

I thought Loyd regressed last year but it may have just been the team around him. He's a good RB.

With his injury, I don't see how it'd be possible to trade Shea, even if you wanted to. Give him a chance to bounce back. If he's even 75% the player of 2010 and 2011, that would be a huge bonus.

I'd do cartwheels if we could get Humberto Suazo. He's been at Monterrey since 2007 and he's 31, so I assume he's near the end of his current contract. Lethal striker, has good speed & strength.. Plus he seems to have a great attitude & work ethic, which I think shouldn't be overlooked when searching for international stars to come to MLS.