Off-season 2019-2020

Discussion in 'New England Revolution' started by Jon Martin, Oct 19, 2019.

  1. Jon Martin

    Jon Martin Member+

    Apr 25, 2000
    SE Mass
    BA wanted to know what his team core was, and now he knows.

    GK - Turner. It's hard to believe he'll stay off the USMNT radar indefinitely. Knighton or Cropper in reserve.
    D - Farrell, Jones, Delamea, Bye, Anibaba seems worth keeping. Super curious to know what the plans are for Büttner, and wonder if he might not be a dmid. Bye-bye to Mancienne, Castillo
    Dmid - Caldwell, Caicedo seem worth keeping, but not as starters. Zahibo is surplus.
    Amid/wing - Gil! Fagundez coming off the bench. Penilla and Agudelo (at his cost) are surplus.
    Forward - Bou. Bunbury off the bench. JFC is surplus.

    It's hard to know where the kids fit: Angking, Buchanan, Herivaux, Firmino, Rennicks. Hopefully they get a chance to play week in, week out on the new USL team.

    Priorities: 1. DP scorer, particularly a #9, 2. Dominant Dmid who can play both ways, 3. and 4. right and left wings, 5. understudy for Gil
     
  2. rkupp

    rkupp Member+

    Jan 3, 2001
    #2 rkupp, Oct 21, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2019
    It feels to me like we have a bunch of players that are 1/2 or 3/4's of a good player. Seems like Penilla is a good player half the time. Ditto with Bunbury; Agudelo more like %25, Fagundez - something less than %50.

    And, I like Bye and Jones, but they aren't adding enough to the attack. They are young and improving, so for Arena it's probably a case of how patient he wants to be with them.

    Our dmid combined have all the elements, but individually only pieces. Zahibo has Shalrie Joseph size (and at times, presence) and is good with the transition pass. Caicedo has the desire, effort, defensive skill. Caldwell has the steadiness and coachability, but lacks the physical presence or the insightfulness to trouble defenses.

    I think Zahibo came a long way under Arena - it remains to be seen if Arena thinks that's the best he can get from him, or if he can bring out more consistency.

    I feel like we need a right wing who can get behind a defense, but it's hard to say exactly what we need because our top two players, Gil and Bou, play non-traditional roles positionally. So, I think it takes some real creative thinking to figure out who can mesh with them. Bunbury's presence seemed to make them more effective, by stretching the defense and creating space behind, so maybe a better version of Bunbury - or, a more effective wide player who could stretch defenses horizontally, creating wider gaps for Gil and Bou to exploit ...?
     
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  3. tsb11

    tsb11 Member+

    United States
    May 31, 2018
    "Penilla is only good half the time"

    Well yeah, he can only use half his feet!
     
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  4. Doublecard

    Doublecard Guest

    For the first time in a long time, I'm actually excited for the off-season. Seriously, we signed someone before the season ended. No more Burns' "we tried," or "signing players is hard," or "maintaining the same group of core players is a good thing, and not because I don't know how to scout and convince good players to come here!"

    Off-season was crickets during the Burns era; I look forward to what buzz Arena will bring.
     
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  5. ToMhIlL

    ToMhIlL Member+

    Feb 18, 1999
    Boxborough, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And I'm not crazy thinking that we could have a significant new player or two signed and ready to play at the start of training camp, instead of waiting until mid-May.
     
  6. Minutemanii

    Minutemanii Member+

    Dec 29, 2005
    Abington MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I hear ya. I used to get downright enraged at Burn's apathy, dismissiveness, low energy and pathetic excuses. I can't believe it was allowed to exist for as long as it did. Arena is like cool, fresh oxygen being pumped into a coal mine.
     
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  7. A Casual Fan

    A Casual Fan Member+

    Mar 22, 2000
    This level of expectation is such a departure from the norm that it almost sounds like a "Nonsense!" reply is warranted
     
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  8. tsb11

    tsb11 Member+

    United States
    May 31, 2018
    TIL Delamea has a green card

    That makes him a lot more attractive as an option along the backline, because he does not occupy an International roster spot
     
  9. Minutemanii

    Minutemanii Member+

    Dec 29, 2005
    Abington MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I dunno. I liked Tony in his first year. Almost bought his shirt. Lately he's been inconsistent and a red card liability. Is the pace of the league passing him by?
     
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  10. rkupp

    rkupp Member+

    Jan 3, 2001
    The team apparently holds a $1M option on Mancienne for next season. Anyone know a good real estate broker?
     
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  11. BERich

    BERich Member+

    Feb 3, 2012
    New England
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ask Tom Brady! :laugh:
     
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  12. firstshirt

    firstshirt Member+

    Bayern München
    United States
    Mar 1, 2000
    Ellington, CT / NK, RI
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I can foresee a revamped back line for 2020. I don't think Bruce has confidence in the defenders on this roster. over 1.5 million spent on Mancienne, Castro and Delemea. the addition of Buttner is the first step and may mean Castro is done in NE. Jones is a capable back up and certainly could be the LB of the future. I would not be surprised if another defender or two are in the works I believe that with Somi gone that frees up an additional 425k. Zahibo's days are numbered due to his inconsistency and at 580k he is not worth it.
    I would not be surprised if the following are not on the roster next year:
    Mancienne - 995 salary - injury plagued and just not that good
    Castro - 250k - upgraded already
    Delemea - 425k - not worth the cap space. Is he better than Anibaba?
    Zahibo - 583k - inconsistent and a card waiting to happen
    JF Caciedo 500k - Not sure if he is what Bruce is looking for
    Agudelo - 605k - only Burns would pay this guy that much money! lots of talent but lacks the desire to be a top player.
    Zach Heriveaux may get a good look by Bruce in preseason but he should probably be asking for his release. pretty obvious Heaps killed his future if he had one
    Brian Wright - yep he is still on the books but not for long. USL player at best
     
  13. ToMhIlL

    ToMhIlL Member+

    Feb 18, 1999
    Boxborough, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Is Buttner a done deal? I hadn't heard anything official.

    Shouldn't we have an Expansion draft" thread where we'd say who we'd protect, who we wouldn't and why?
     
  14. firstshirt

    firstshirt Member+

    Bayern München
    United States
    Mar 1, 2000
    Ellington, CT / NK, RI
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  15. ToMhIlL

    ToMhIlL Member+

    Feb 18, 1999
    Boxborough, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wow, that's insane! Signing a starter-quality player before training camp has been a pipe-dream, but getting him inked before the previous season ends is just surreal!

    I bet Burns is scratching his bald scalp, wondering when they changed the rules so you can do that now....
     
  16. NFLPatriot

    NFLPatriot Member+

    Jun 25, 2002
    Foxboro, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I expect that the Buttner signing won't be announced/become official until after the expansion draft.
     
  17. ToMhIlL

    ToMhIlL Member+

    Feb 18, 1999
    Boxborough, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, at least they can protect one of the border-line guys instead of him in the expansion draft.
     
  18. rkupp

    rkupp Member+

    Jan 3, 2001
    I'm sure you mean 'Castillo', not 'Castro', but it took me a minute (we had a Castro once, didn't we?).

    I think we/Arena has to be realistic about replacing/upgrading players. I know we all expect he can do much better than Burns in that regard (and even Friedel, though he did have some success there), but there are still limits to how many players he can find/sign in one off-season.

    Given that, I think players like Zahibo and Delemea will be back - and they'll probably see if they can renegotiate some players lower.

    With some, I'm guessing that they will be exposed in the expansion draft and the team won't be too devastated if they are claimed, but wouldn't mind having them back either.

    I'm not sure that Arena's given up on Castillo - he's got skills - but I guess we'll get a good idea in November.
     
  19. Argyle

    Argyle Member

    Jan 31, 2002
    Plymouth, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agreed. I think. I don't see a massive housecleaning. From everything he's said, Arena sounds pleasantly surprised by the talent on this team. I'm sure there will be upgrades at some positions, but I don't see the whole thing getting blown up.
    One thing I wonder a bit is how the USL team effects the roster. With a bunch of players "on loan" will they need to fill the end of the roster with affordable bench players?
     
  20. Crooked

    Crooked Member+

    May 1, 2005
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Yes, Mauricio. I think I'm one of the few people out there with one of his customized jerseys laying around.
     
  21. Crooked

    Crooked Member+

    May 1, 2005
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    The real question is, how many Mauricios have we had? By my count it's three.
     
  22. firstshirt

    firstshirt Member+

    Bayern München
    United States
    Mar 1, 2000
    Ellington, CT / NK, RI
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Castillo is correct. and i believe we did have a outside mid/forward named Castro
     
  23. firstshirt

    firstshirt Member+

    Bayern München
    United States
    Mar 1, 2000
    Ellington, CT / NK, RI
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    if positions are upgraded some players will have to be let go. it may be veteran players on the senior roster or players on the reserve end
     
  24. ToMhIlL

    ToMhIlL Member+

    Feb 18, 1999
    Boxborough, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That was always a problem with Rev teams of the past. We had guys who were serviceable to good, yet flawed. So we would let them go and roll the dice thinking that we could do better. Problem is, more often than not we didn't. I'm not going to bring up the other He Who Shan't Be Named, but he was our first-ever DP and was making $54,000. Nicol somehow thought he could do better, but alas, that never happened either.

    I say we keep the border-line guys (if they don't get picked up by Miami/Nashville, and only ditch them when we actually do sign someone significantly better.
     
  25. Argyle

    Argyle Member

    Jan 31, 2002
    Plymouth, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Of course. And some current starters may find themselves on the bench. And perhaps getting paid less money. I just think that we shouldn't be surprised if the roster next year looks a lot like the roster this year.
     

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