Midfield? We don need no stinkin Midfield We have lost our only #10. Who is left to fill that spot? Will we get somebody in trade? We have almost no attacking midfield at all on the roster. Are we shaping ourselves in the mold of the old Arsenal teams? I'm so depressed. Somebody look in the cyrstal ball and tell me why it's going to be ok. Please.
Re: Re: Midfield? We don need no stinkin Midfield That's awful darl for the bright side, but it is what it is.
Doesn't Columbus have two possible #10s? We still have Armas and Beasley. Those two alone are better than half the midfields in the league.
Armas To me he's next in line. when Peter is out the only replacement captains were, Armas, and when he was out, March. Armas should take up the title
Armas captained the national team b4 he captained the FIRE. While you can't retire the #10 jersey in soccer (like you can #41) out of respect to Piotr I don't think anyone should wear it this season.
I heard this from a friend The friend of mine that tipped me on McBride going to Everton, also said that Brian mentioned Andy Williams being moved, possibly to Chicago, and that it had a lot to do with what Nowak and Stoichkov do. So Assuming that Hristo is settling in with the Fire, could we even afford Williams with moving Wolff or Razov...I think not. So if it's Wolff that is moving, bringing Williams in at or below Wolff's salary makes sense as a replacement for an attacking mid.
Re: I heard this from a friend I riffed on that a bit earlier this week, and while Williams has some decent numbers, I've heard lots and lots of people slag him as not at all worth it. The other guy I've mentioned a bunch of times is Alex Pineda Chacon, who I *think* was just waived by New England. Either one is more a band-aid than a replacement, until one of the young guys (Capano, Gray, Mapp) is ready. Later, COZ
If this was a question of captaincy, Armas no doubt. However, a #10 is the player who organizes and helps create the attack. Chris is the best at breaking up the attack and his work with the MNT began to show him as a starter of the attack, but I don't see him getting up past the midfield stripe like a #10 should.
I said at the end of last season that things couldn't get any worse than last season. Depending on what ELSE happens this offseason, I very well may have spoken too soon. Aside from the rage at seeing the injustice of Nowak, of all people, traded to New England of all places (do we ALWAYS have to make our division rivals stronger?) that has caused me to think hard about reducing my season ticket package from VIP to Section 8, this trade really hurts us from a strictly perfomance perspective. Yeah, Nowak sat out a lot with injuries (but not nearly as much as Stoichkov) but while he played he made everynoe arund him better and served our forwards well. The possible band-aids at the midfield general position that have been named don't seem to have the quality of making the players around them better. I just dont' see any players ut there that the Fire can afford who'd come close to giving us the playmaking ability and sheer leadership that Nowak gave us. So our goal production will probably suffer because while Razov is a great poacher and will still probably be the Fire's top scorer this year, he's not the kind of forward who usually makes his own goals. He generally needs them handed to him by the midfield. From what I hear, Faria is basically the same kind of forward as Razov - a great poacher but not a creative threat on his own. Wolff can make his own goals but even if he stays (and that still seems bloody unlikely) he'll only play half the season for us due to his constant injuries. It does help that our defensive core remains intact (for now, that is) but while championships may be built on defense, a great defense doesn't help you if you can't score. The only bright spot from all this is that we'll still probably dump the franchise-destroying albatross that has been Hristo. If I see the Fire voluntarily keep Hristo for next year, my respect for Peter Wilt and Dave Sarachan will drop dramatically.
If we keep Hristo, then I will NOT be renewing my flex plan or Section 8 tickets. I want to support the Fire, but I will not support that lazy old man and his 270K salary.
Question... If we have Razov, and (maybe) Wolff, and Dipsy, and youngsters we're trying to develop, and stay at or under cap level, why do we need Hristo? I keep reading people's thoughts that he's coming back, and it STILL doesn't make sense.
Paging Mr. Wilt. Mr. Wilt to the white courtesy phone. We'll see if we keep Hristo. The deals aren't done yet. As of now, though, it seems like someone somewhere decided that keeping Hristo was better than keeping Nowak. If this is true and that person is a member of the Chicago Fire, that person needs to have his head examined. If that person is from AEG and wants to cripple the Fire in favor of LA or, more likely, NY, then it makes sense from their perspective.
How 'bout Perez... i propose a trade between Columbus and Chicago... we'll give you John Wilmar Perez for a couple of practice goals, a few cones, some pinnies, and a couple of Cubs season tickets... ok, ok... we'll throw in Dante Washington as well just to make it an even trade... how 'bout it???
I doubt with all things being equal, our management would choose Hristo over Piotr. Maybe no one wanted Hristo. Maybe details of his new contract are still getting ironed out. My best bet is Hristo won't be back with the FIRE. It's just plain wrong to call him a lazy old man though. He came back at the end of last season at less than 100% fitness because the team needed him. He played with a couple of injuries that could and would have sidelined a lot of players. Does Stoitchkov mean as much to the FIRE as Nowak? Certainly not, but he need not apologize to anyone here for his commitment to the club.
I could see John Wilmar Perez suiting up for the Fire. He's lost his starting position in Columbus. Not sure if he is a maximum player or not, but perhaps this could be negogiated. On our roster I think Kelly Gray is the first player to see more time in midfield without Peter. Obviously not the same role. Pineda Chacon is worth taking a chance on if his salary is not at the max. I see him more of a forward than a playmaker, but it might be something to look at. If we keep Hristo, I don't think he has enough to play midfield. He is out of contract and there is no way the Fire will sign him at maximum. He first needs to renogiate and then the Fire can decide if it wants to take a chance of him playing next year or unload him to DC.
Re: APC APC has taken unending flak on these boards since his poor year last year, but just as he was overvalued after his Miami year, he is undervalued now. The player closest to his situation is Wynalda, who blossomed with Chicago rather than NE, because Fire was then, and probably still is way ahead of NE in the tactical sophistication of its attack. What neither APC or Wynalda will do is win or hold the ball. What they will do is show up for the cross and find the lose ball in the area. Remember that the Nichol system starts with all hands on the defensive deck; Twellman spent much of his time coming back to midfield to collect the ball, and hold it for Hernandez and Cullen as they lumbered up the field. How could APC hope to succeed? With your midfield, which I assume will be DMB, Marsch, Gray, and Armas, you have the ability to both win the ball and attack. APC might do very well opposite NE's favorite forward, Razov.
I was under the impression Wilmar Perez was waived. And I'd certainly take APC, if we could afoord him. Anyone thinking we're getting Andy Williams is on hasish... And may very well be Andy Williams.
Look for Chicago to try and draft IU's back-up U20 mid who still plays a lot--Ned Grabavoy. He's a very good potential MLS #10. Capano still isn't ready---just 17 IIRC.
Peter mentioned in his SoccerShow interview that the Fire are literally $1 under the salary and specifically mentioned Alex Pineda Chacon as someone who the Fire would not be able to obtain. Said the Fire would likely play a 442 with no true #10 playermaker, with Armas and Marsch in the middle.