NWR: MLS 2009 Non-Wizards Discussion V09.0 [R]

Abracadabra · Jan 3, 2010

So Freddie Adu this morning tweeted that he's deciding between Hull and Aris, so clearly somehow he has engineered that his next club will have a familiar face on it. Of the two, I think Altidore's positive attitude will be much better for him to be around, but worst case scenario for him would be Hull managing to stay up, because if they do he will be loaned out and end up where he started--on the pine. Come to that, if they go down, Brown will be fired and all bets are off anyway. Yeah, his percentage play is to go to Greece with EJ, where he has a fair chance of playing at least.

KC Wizzle · Jan 5, 2010

KC Wizzle said: ↑

Kelderman has been offered the assistant position under him again, but is also considering college coaching positions.
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Kelderman announced as DCU assistant tonight at Onalfo's meet-and-greet. On an unrelated note, Onalfo bought a round for all the United supporters there. Don't recall him making that gesture here.

KC Wizzle · Jan 6, 2010

Gotta love the first sentence of Goff's story on Onalfo today...

Some D.C. United supporters are undoubtedly going to look at Curt Onalfo's mediocre record with the Kansas City Wizards the past three seasons and wonder why United has entrusted him with rejuvenating a club that was once the jewel of MLS.
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Some other quotes:

On the comparison to what he faced when he took over in Kansas City: "It’s an identical situation. I took over a team that hadn’t made the playoffs and immediately brought them to the playoffs. There’s a lot to be said from practical experience. It’s a tough league to succeed in, and I’ve had success. I got let go by Kansas City. I’m not letting them define my success. I walk away with my head high."
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On his biggest lesson from the Wizards: "First and foremost, that it’s a very difficult job, and any sort of challenges that are put in front of me, I face head-on. I’ve been through adversity as a person, and I’m good at dealing with those things. I would say the biggest thing that I learned is it can be taken away from you in a split second. So there won't be a day that I’m not giving every single bit of my energy."
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Felixx219 · Jan 6, 2010

KC Wizzle said: ↑

Gotta love the first sentence of Goff's story on Onalfo today...
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Those are my thoughts exactly. I think they were desperate and they settled.

cjgwizard · Jan 6, 2010

KC Wizzle said: ↑

On an unrelated note, Onalfo bought a round for all the United supporters there. Don't recall him making that gesture here.
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Felixx219 said: ↑

I think they were desperate and they settled.
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Buying the fans a round......seems like some major sucking up by Mr. Not First Choice to me.

KC Wizzle · Jan 7, 2010

kuhnscoot said: ↑

CBA update, I'm not really liking the way this sounds. The players union is being really smart with what they're saying in the press. They're not using the s word, instead they're using lock out. Using lock out makes it sound like it's the owners fault in this process.
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Some comments from Conrad and Hartman yesterday along these lines...

"At the present moment, we're being threatened with a lockout," Kansas City Wizards player representative Jimmy Conrad said at U.S. national team practice in Carson, Calif. "Obviously, they're putting pressure on us to agree to some terms we don't want to agree to."
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Conrad doesn't expect the dispute will reach the point of players going on strike. "I don't think they'll let us play that card; I think they'll beat us to the punch," Conrad said. "From what I understand, a lockout would be in their best interests if we can't come to terms. That way, they don't have to pay us."
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"It's disconcerting. To talk about a work stoppage or a strike is a little bit presumptive," Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman said. "We're all hoping it doesn't come to that. At the same time, we want to see things happen so that further growth can occur."
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KC Wizzle · Jan 8, 2010

Goff reporting that Luciano Emilio has signed in Brazil 2nd division. Good news for now heading into our opener with them I suppose -- will they find a replacement DP?

Buzz Killington · Jan 8, 2010

KC Wizzle said: ↑

Goff reporting that Luciano Emilio has signed in Brazil 2nd division. Good news for now heading into our opener with them I suppose -- will they find a replacement DP?
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The way he was playing last year, I'm a little in different, most DC fans seemed to want him gone.

KC Wizzle · Jan 10, 2010

Onalfo was on World Football Daily on Friday and naturally was asked about his tenure here. Notice the lack of denials...

Let me ask you this. Do you feel that you were treated poorly?

I will just say this. Let me just phrase it this way. One is I’m very, very proud of what I accomplished in Kansas City. I inherited a team that hadn’t made the playoffs in two years, made it to the conference final my first season; second season we finished the season real strong and lost to the eventual winner Columbus. Actually, both years we lost to the eventual MLS winner. So I felt like I did some great work there. And then, you know, there was a lot of different things that happened. I was offered a new contract going into the 2009 season, we didn’t come to terms, and I think that had a lot to do with it. At the end of the day, that’s football, that’s soccer, that’s the way it is. I don’t have any hard feelings. I love actually the owners in Kansas City. I love the fans. I’ve had great moments there and that’s where I started my career so for me, it’s a great place. It will always be fun to me and I really look forward to going back and playing the first game against them. That makes for a nice little rivalry.

(Steven Goff) said you had philosophical differences with the management there, can you elaborate…

Listen, I’ll let you guys try to figure that one out a little bit. And that’s for the rest. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Like I said, it was a great first job for me and my family. We love Kansas City. And now we just move on and come back to a place we are very familiar with.
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Audio of the interview is on DCU's blog, with this excerpt beginning at the 22:15 mark.

vividox · Jan 10, 2010

KC Wizzle said: ↑

Onalfo was on World Football Daily on Friday and naturally was asked about his tenure here. Notice the lack of denials...

Audio of the interview is on DCU's blog, with this excerpt beginning at the 22:15 mark.
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Hmmm, interesting.

Kasmatsu · Jan 11, 2010

Chicago has a new coach.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/story/011110-chicago-hires-cobos-as-new-coach

His resume looks fairly impressive for someone coming to MLS.

Buzz Killington · Jan 11, 2010

Kasmatsu said: ↑

Chicago has a new coach.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/story/011110-chicago-hires-cobos-as-new-coach

His resume looks fairly impressive for someone coming to MLS.
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Guillit's coaching career coming into MLS was fairly impressive as well....

kopiteinkc · Jan 12, 2010

Not a thread limit closure, but time to start a new thread for a new year.

New thread here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?p=19668817#post19668817

Thread closed.