Oh God yeah. Signing Javier Hernandez now would be like signing Landon Donovan. The dude is on the legend level of Blanco. They will more than make back his salary in no time flat.
Do you have evidence of this? Argentina is a top heavy league and teams like Boca have superior talent across the board so their defenses aren't tested as much. In any case I don't think Steres, Feltscher, Araujo, Traore, Skjelkk would make their team, much less start. Which is my point about needing to upgrade our back 4. I imagine the Galaxy's defense would be ok if you gave us Boca's 2018 back line and probably their keeper.
I think he meant ridiculously *bad* depth. Good, cheap depth is hard to build which is why our development program is such a disappointment.
On a more positive note I’m excited about the prospect of seeing Pavon and Chicharito working together. I think their playing styles complement each other nicely. Pavon likes coming in from the left and passing into the box which should be a good fit for the type of runs Chich likes to make.
I’m also not certain we could afford to wait until June to get a good striker. Of course that is a 2020 season perspective. For the long game you might be right that we should have waited. I don’t know - there will be forwards better than Chicharito out there but getting one of them wouldn’t be guaranteed. As far as the marketing - Chicharito vs Vela could be a bonanza for both the Galaxy and MLS. Especially if both players and teams have a good season.
That's what I meant. I've always stated I don't trust Zubak. A US player with potential who could be relatively easy to sign is Rubio Rubin. He's currently on loan in Mexican second division (he belongs to Tijuana) and can play up top.
Can we please stop saying this? AFAIK, Chicharito has never had issues with serious partying, poor attitude and laziness. The only thing they have in common is that they're Mexican. It would be more fitting to say "Please don't be JPA 2.0".
I think he will be fine. Gio isn't fit to hold Chicharito's jock. The only thing that would bother me is if he really doesn't want to be in MLS. I do think that if he does say yes and comes, that he will bring the same level he has brought everybody else and we will all be singing his praises.
Even before Gio got here there were a lot of reports of off the field issues. I don’t think Hernandez comes with the same baggage. But then again I don’t closely follow either of their careers.
I hoping this is more of a Robbie Keane type situation. Similar in playing style and at the same parts of their careers. Although the league has gotten a lot better since Robbie was crushes defense with his great runs.
Atlanta announce that Escobar (signed Dec. '17), Barco (Jan. '18) and Remedi (June '18) have all received green cards, meaning they'll no longer take up international slots.Being able to quickly get players green cards is an incredibly underrated competitive advantage in MLS.— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) January 14, 2020 Based on this, the Galaxy could get green cards for Jona, Feltscher, Traore and Katai, who have been in the US for at least two years.
Yeah, Gio’s failures at LA weren’t at all a surprise to those of us who saw him play for a different club. The only surprise was the 2016(?) season where he was pretty great.
We have no track record of doing this though. It's the weirdest thing but we seem to absolutely suck at getting players green cards. I wish a journalist would ask team officials why that is. It really is critical to be competitive in MLS.
Other than spending money for big name signings Klein and his business minions do nothing useful as far as I can tell, much less being intelligently proactive. Competition-wise we are a poorly run organization now except for what DTK and GBS bring to the table.
Hmmm not sure I agree there. We were actually pretty good at navigating work permits, visas and green cards. Not green cards, but I know on at least two occasions we started a recently signed DP against opponents who weren’t able to register their players in time despite signing on the same day. I’m pretty sure one was Robbie, the opponent was San Jose and they were doing they’re usual MLS and the feds favor the Galaxy. I do believe these players obtained green cards while with the Galaxy. - Juninho - Kamara - Ricketts I think maybe Keane as well.
I'm not against upgrading the backline; my point is just that the defensive problems extended beyond the problems with individual defenders last year. Yes, our defenders were individually poor, but they were also put under pressure more than any other team in MLS. Even with better defenders, we will be a bad team if they are exposed as often as we were last season.
Another Chicharito myth is that he’s only good for a tap in. There’s a special skill to learning what run to make in the box. I also remember he was fast. Is that still the case? I’d be nice to have a mobile and speedy forward.
I don't feel good about this deal. Chicharito seems like he's past his prime and we are overpaying. I would sooner just re-sign Alessandrini, who I think would be our best player, as a DP than Chicharito. Feels like we're doing desperation moves again. I mean, we sign 3 bland or past their prime players in Dos Santos, Zlatan and now Chicharito, while LAFC signs freaking Vela??? I'm not a world football expert at all, but I could easily see that Vela was by far the best signing of those options. I don't mean to suggest that Chicharito is no good. He's good, but not that in-his prime star that is going to put us back in contention. I hope I'm wrong.
Chicha is, what, 30? I think he has some good years left. He still features regularly for Mexico’s A team doesn’t he? I’d rather start the season with him then hold the DP spot for the summer transfer window when season is 65% finished already.
Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself that it's better than doing nothing, rather than being excited we got a star that can lead the team to glory. I guess it's not a bad thing to see the glass as half full. I'm just getting tired of the ho-hum deals when we used to be more on the cutting edge in star player acquisitions. Maybe that's not completely realistic in today's MLS. And maybe Chicharito will surpass my expectations. I do like him. Just seems like his best years were long ago.
I’m putting a lot of faith in the ability of Pavon, Katai, Lleget and JDS to feed him. I don’t think he’ll be alone on an island in the way Zlatan seemed to be. I think we will look better going forward then we have since 2014. Zlatan was a miracle worker. I don’t think Hernandez will need to be.