I'm interested to see people's thoughts on players the Caps should look at during the transfer window. Let's try to make this realistic. I'll start off with Pedro Mendes. On the verge of being released by Sporting Lisbon so would be a free transfer but would require a DP slot. Has history with Paul Barber, having played for Tottenham. Has played in physical leagues for Tottenham, Portsmouth and Rangers. Would bring stability and control to the midfield and is capable of scoring from long range.
I'm familiar with Mendes. He'd be a solid midfield destroyer, regrettably he's injury-prone in his old age. Not worth a DP slot if he can't play every game. I want a CB, RB/LB, CM and depending on whether we're going 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 now, an CAM. Demerit is a great coverage CB. Let's get someone strong and physical. A player like Oguchi (who just signed for Sporting) RB/LB, either or, just give me a player who is quick, can dribble and gets forward in the attack, a Fabio Coentrao type player. A CDM/CM, someone who will sit above the defence and destroy the opposing teams midfield play. A Gattuso/Sissoko type player. A CAM to feed Hassli, if Camilo and Chum~ are playing on the wings. Someone who can pick out passes and score when needed, think Gourcuff.
does anyone still think owen hargreaves would sign for vancouver whitecaps? he is free, but not sure if he would command high wage. somehow i wish robbie savage would have joined us, he would be entertaining to watch
You really want a guy that has played less soccer at the pro level than most of us on these boards in the last couple of years ? (sarcasm, but honestly Hargreaves has played like 10s of soccer in two years)
Hargreaves is even more of an injury liability than Mendes. Furthermore, and no offense to anyone here. I think the way he turned his back on Canada for England is pathetic. I don't give a damn where his fathers mother was from (or whatever was the relation). You were born in a country, they raised you, taught you how to play and you gave them the middle finger just so you could spot-start for England in one WC.
There is a place and a time to debate Hargreaves, and although it's been done to death at other forums and here in another thread, let's leave the merits of hargreaves out of this conversation for now other than his playing characteristics. As for Mendes, i think he'd be a brilliant player for WFC. What we really need is a guy to get on the ball and cause problems for the opposition out of the central positions on the park. He is a dead cert of a fit for us in the middle. he is getting on, but has played in the WC for Portugal, has played in many massive games in European football and is really hard on the ball and skillfull and graceful with it glued to his foot and is an excellent passer of the ball. I would then like to think another wide player would be usefull, an out and out winger. Perhaps a Demarcus Beasely type of player...not him specifically, but an all out attacking winger type who can dribble etc. We have lost of guys that can run (Salinas, Khalfan, Teibert) but we don't have the "It" guy on a wing position. I'd like to see the Caps spend the $$$ now in the now dead MLS Season, and get 2 DP's or good calibre guys in and acclimatize them to the league and to our team and then get on with it for next season with aims for the NCC and MLS Playoffs as achievable goals. TFC is going in a positive direction, Portland is staying respectable, and Montreal is coming in next year with an aim to become the third big league team in MLS in Canada... we need to start differentiating ourselves somehow. TFC bringing in Torsten Frings is an example of an MLS franchise doing something worth doing, not just a splashy name.
Fair enough. From a strictly playing perspective, he is too much of an injury liability to pay DP-type money. Wholeheartedly agree on everything you mentioned, however being a Sportinguista, I know he regularly pulled hamstrings or needed weeks of time off, to the point that Zapater/Andre Santos took his spot in the line-up. He played 13 games for Sporting last year...13. Agreed. Of our wingers, Teibert is the only one worth developing. It would be nice to grab two DP's now, because it's the Euro transfer window and more and better players are available now either for sale or free transfer than in our off-season and europes winter transfer market (where prices are higher and no frees are available). A MF and CB would be ideal. However, I wouldn't mind seeing how a DP GK would work out. Cannon is a howler waiting to happen, I can't imagine how this guy starts over Nolly.
I don't think a DP keeper makes sense unless he is FROM north america. Too many guys can play well into their mid-late 30's in the EU and will make more money there... There's no draw to North America imho, unless someone is looking to live in NYC or LA... which Vancouver is not. Contrary to many posters opinions, I think we're fine at the back, just need to get Boxall playing a bit more consistently and get JD back to full health. I'd agree with your sentiments about Pedro Mendes, I think we should be after that type of player more than specifically Pedro Mendes himself.
Apparently Sporting is buying out more than just Pedro Mendes. Grimi (LB), Vukcevic (Winger), Zapater (DM), Maniche (CM) are also on the chopping block. Maniche would probably be the only one of mutual interest. The rest are young and likely have much more European playing time ahead of them.
The Pedro Mendes type player that jumps out at me is OWEN HARGREAVES. I know the rumours have been swirling for a while and if he can stay healthy he would be a great addition to the caps. I know from a good source the caps approached him before the season started.
i just realize Eidur Gudjohnsen is a free agent now do you think he would be useful for the Whitecaps? my concern is we might not have a space for him in our attacking department, and Gudjohnsen is known for asking for high wages.
Re: Owen Hargreaves Not sure its a good sign when one is releasing training videos on Youtube......... http://www.youtube.com/user/owenhargreavescb
If Owen Hargreaves wants to play for us he can be on an incentive laden pay-per-game played contract. If not, gtfo. $5k/game.
Comparing Owen Hargeaves to Pedro Mendes is like comparing apples and giraffes. (With all due respect ) Owen Hargreaves is an excellent (when fit) player that sits deep in the midfield cleaning up 50/50 balls, holding space and distributing passes to link up players. Pedro Mendes is a creator, he is a link up guy that would get the ball from a Dunfield or Koffie, or from the defense and do something with it. Pedro Mendes is an attacking Central Midfielder. Owen Hargreaves is a holding central midfielder. **edit here** I will however say that both Mendes and Hargreaves share one important attribute in that both have been VERY good at dead ball setpieces over their careers. /end edit Saying the two are the same is like saying that Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney are the same type of player, or Defoe and Crouch, or...you get the point. The Caps need upgrading at the CMF position in BOTH Roles. Currently (my opinion anyways) the Caps have a few guys capable of playing that holding role- Koffie and Dunfield. Both have their challenges, like Dunfield being a bit of a turnover machine and Koffie being a bit like an overzealous puppy dog who is prone to constant fouling or hard fouling yellow cards. Neither are very good in the air, but both are scrappy at winning challenges and coming out of 50/50 challenges with the ball. What the caps lack MOST is a guy to get the ball to the wide players or forwards without having to resort to hump and hope balls sprayed 40-50+ yards. The "glaring" weaknesses throughout the park for the Caps will be shored up immensely by adding one or two top quality (for this league) Central Midfielders as they alleviate the pressure put on wingers, forwards, and fullbacks, as when you have a brilliant player in the middle he can get and give and even hold the ball better which frees up the other players to do THEIR job only, tactically, which means that they aren't "chasing" Demerit, Rochat, Hassli, Dede, etc all get better if their is a good quality player in the heart of the side that can hold the ball, give the ball, and create chances all while not being a defensive liability... which is precisely why Dede is not the choice for this role, as he is too diminutive to be good in the air or in tackles that happen between the boxes. My $0.02.
Mendes didn't become a creative attacking mid until he went to rangers. I've been watching him for about 10 years since he was at guimaraes. At guimaraes he played deep behind nuno assis, at Porto he played deep behind Deco, at Portsmouth he played deep behind Krancjar. For portugal he played deep alongside Meireles.
I follow Sporting. Mendes played as a holding midfield the entire year until he was injured, Andre Santos/Zapater then took his spot, when Mendes was fit, he spot started at CM and DMC depending whether Santos was at CM or Zapater was at DMC. I would be reluctant to pay DP money to Mendes given his penchant for injuries and the fact that some games will be played on turf, not grass, which does a number on older players knees.
BTW, apparently Sebastien Frey is available on a knock-down or even free (after contract termination) transfer. There is minimal interest in Europe.
Re: Jordan Harvey to Vancouver Whitecaps just what the Whitecaps needed-- another player who plays with passion, athleticism, but little high quality skill!! -- as if they dont already have enough of those type of players unless the Caps release a defender and still sign 3 higher quality players, this goes down as a cheap move to give the appearance they are upgrading as a long-term STH, i want some splash for my cash, not continuing the trend of signing players who will not make the team significantly better... which is what the Caps need expecting the hard-working, passionate-playing terry dunfield to be your best mid-fielder who will bring creativity and scoring punch to your team is 1 of the most ill-conceived beliefs that the Caps have the next week will determine if the Caps are serious about making the team significantly better, or still going with the ill-conceived belief that this team is competitive for MLS and will soon turn the corner-- aint going to happen with what they have and, in fact, i expect the game results to get worse! the owners need to apply pressure on the FO to bring some higher quality players in and not make excuses that its too difficult to find those players-- other teams are signing them- the Caps should also-- its a world market and vancouver is a great soccer and living environment! it begins when the club admits they overvalued the existing players-- the fans already know this and how the heck professional soccer administrators like lenarduzzi, soehn and barber ever thought this is beyond me! their best mid-fielder comes from the 4th tier of the english league! pleassssssssssse dont make the same mistakes as TFC !
and to make a point about dunfield, he grabs the ball, pushes every1 aside and takes the penalty kick against columbus... right into the arms of the goalie-- what the hell was he doing and thinking??? the caps have camilo with far more skill to do it and somehow soehn allows this to happen because he fails to appoint a penalty kick player even i as an amateur player, but astute judge of soccer ability, know this was a lack of competence and poor judgement on both soehn and dunfield's parts
Agreed, even my FVSL D2 team has 5 players that know they are allowed to take the PK's. They only fight amongst each other to take the PK's. We used to have a rule that you couldn't take a PK if you were the one that drew the foul call... as emotions always get in the way of good decision making.
Hassli should be taking the PK's. If he is not on the field, it should be Camilo. Hassli is a striker, is composed and takes pk's with the ease that most European Internationals have. You all know what I'm talking about. A player steps up and calmly slots it away, no intensity and no emotion.
When Dunfield stepped up to take the kick I immediately told my brother that he wasn't going to score. Not a very hard prediction to get right.
Krammerhead, I'm not kidding - I did the exact same thing. We got the penalty, I got excited, Dunfield stepped up and I said to my buddy Kevin (Bronniman - go ahead and ask him!) that I didn't have a good feeling about this... =P
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_...o-make-major-player-announcement-tuesday.html Went from thinking last night that you signed Drogba, Niang, or Eto'o because the hints were a DP, captains his country, and an African striker... Then this morning the hints change and he captained his u-17 side which is much different from captaining his current country which it said. People are saying Mustapha Jarju or Peter Utaka now...
