My guess is the 7pm starts are an attempt to motivate those of us who sit on the east side to pay more to sit in the shade on the west side.
Lee Nguyen wants out at Revs. Would it be worth it to trade our top allocation spot to bring a 31 year old Nguyen back to DFW? Last season, he played 31 games and had 11 goals and 15 assists. Diaz has never put up those numbers. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...olution-s-lee-nguyen-requests-offseason-trade
I'd take him for sure. Should have a few good seasons left in him. Also hearing some speculation on Twatter about Castillo being back in the picture but my gut tells me this is just wishful thinking.
This confirms what we'd heard in our own private conversations with the team. Clavijo is only now publicly admitting they'd take Fabi back if he was available and the right deal. What I will tell you he can rot in Turkey for all I care. Fabian Castillo 100% abandoned his team when it was convenient for him. Now, if Fabi had gone to Turkey and solved the numerous issues in his game, maybe that opportunity of convenience now would be on FCD's plate. But... Fabi is still the exact same player that drove your nuts. When the story started we made contact with a few media peeps who cover Tranz. Both of them report back while fans love Fabi they don't trust him as a player. His "final touch is bad" and you just never know what player is going to show from from game to game. Here's a quote I got that sounds awfully familiar: "everyone loves him and wants to see him play because he can create chances but his final touch is too bad but he has never improved his last touch. Also, most of the fans thinks that he is very talentful but he is not smart." So, in summation. Oh, Fabi wants to come home? "F-Off, you trader" #DTID
While I'm not as down on Fabi Castillo as Peet is, I will say that these "second time around" situations usually don't go as well as the first time. So my idea of the right deal would be a low base salary with lots of incentives. If he produces, FCD will pay him well. If not, it wouldn't be a terrible hit to the budget. But... I don't think Fabi's at a place in his career where he'd take that sort of deal. Assuming that that's the case, I'd pass.
Idiot or not. Traitor or not. Castillo would still be the best player on the FCD roster by far and one one the best players in the league. He would also make Diaz and Barrios super dangerous again (even if they can't stand Castillo). There's no telling how high Maxi's goal tally would go.
Fabian Castillo has the first touch of an elephant and would not even be a top 20 player in MLS in 2018. Speed does not make you great, ask Gerell Elliott. oh, AND HE QUIT ON YOU.
We have 3-4 players that have higher overal value than Castillo. However, in MLS he has a skill set that cannot be game planned nor accounted for on the pitch. He wreaks havoc. As for quitting, the Hunt family quit me years before Fabian Castillo’s head got turned. I have a hard time holding it against a player when they fall out with those skinflints.
So, I know it's early in January but pretty quiet besides our new Swiss defender. I was sure we wouldn't see Maxi in red again but now no news. Are we sticking with Colman another season? Lamah? Are we going picking up another striker?
Yes. Yes. No. The roster actually looks worse than last season. With Barrios, Colmán, Figueroa, Gruezo, Lamah, Nedyalkov, and Ziegler filling 7 of our 8 international slots, probably 1 or 2 from the draft and who knows who else. I'm still hoping that Kellyn will be sold during this window and get his shot in Europe. With the new rules on homegrowns, FCD can make probably $3-4 million and immediately invest that in the DP slot that Chalá filled. My hope is that we can lure Fabian Johnson from the bench in Gladbach and pay down his salary with GAM. Then we can sign another kid from South American and MLS cup is ours. Our first game in CCL is 5 weeks, so whoever we sign better adjust quickly or we will be bounced early by Tauro and that slick move to withhold our USMNT players will look like a bad call.
Now that he's back from his extended vacation, it will be interesting to see if Mauro Diaz puts as much effort into Instragram'ing his pre-season workouts, training, etc as he did his worldwide holiday.
Agree about Acosta. The HG's need to show their value and move on so the next HG can play. I don't think they would get nearly that much though. I don't think Fabian is a good pickup any more. Not sure what position he'd play and he's starting to be very injury prone. I do think the way forward is to play as many of your own HG's as possible and fill in with extremely talented younger players and an occasional veteran leader. FCD has too often picked marginal DP's when just one key guy would have led to championships and paid for the extra money need for that player (I think).
In theory, getting your players USMNT experience should improve them, but after last season's post-USMNT performances by Hedges, Acosta, and Zim, keeping guys away from USMNT might not be a bad idea.
As a person who has followed Trabzonspor since they acquired Castillo, I can tell you that Trabzonspor has never really been a fit for him. 1. No #10 on their roster, so Castillo early on, had little to no service to the wing. 2. Castillo was later tasked to play more on the inside, and assume some of the duties of a #10. A task he is not really suited for. Still his ability to veat defenders 1v1 and in traffic, allowed him to be serviceable in those duties. 3. Castillo is now normally played on the right wing. Again, not his strongest position. Even so, nobody other than Neymar, has averaged more successful 1v1 wins in Europe. Their effect us lessened because Castillo is often asked to initiate the attack, as opposed to being on the recieving end of the attack . Lastly, the Trabzonspor manager runs a system that focuses on atracking, to the detriment of the defense. This forces a poor defensive player like Castillo, off the pitch if Trabzonspor is attempting to maintain a lead, or keeps him on the bench for the same reason when he doesn't start.
I thought it was a good idea. But if it signals a seriousness towards CCL, I'm laughing at how un-serious this roster is. We have improved at LB and CB and that was major. Handing the keys to an unproven Reggie Cannon is risky, but what we're asking for. So, either it is starting 3 new guys in the backline, 2, or Figueroa and Hollingshead. Midfield and attack have not improved at all. The new guys may get up to speed soon, but I can't help but feel that the CCL is done and dusted.
Looking at 27 different variables on WhoScored over the past 3 seasons, a few things stuck out to me. Most of the stats are either highly variable across seasons, or not variable enough across teams so I'm not sure how much we can read from them. Also, stats don't reflect quality - Urruti can shoot weakly to the keeper a ton and boost shots on goal then score from impossible angles. Last, I don't know how accurate this website is. First, the positional statistics of the game are almost indistinguishable across the seasons. These include attack sides, shot directions, shot zones, and action zones. We did improve in a couple areas in 2017: - more short passes per game (356, but #13 in the league) - more play in the attacking 1/3 (we were #5 in the league) - shots per game (#5 in the league) Areas that declined in 2017: - conceding from open play. 32 goals, 5-7 more than in '15 and '16 - conceding set pieces. 4th worst team, although actually better than '15 - goals scored. 15 worst in the league. 31 goals behind the leader. Almost all of the other variables were not too informative, but the above really cements a lot of our discussions. Despite more advanced play and getting off more shots, the finishing wasn't there. Defensively, we conceded where we don't normally do so. I think most of it chalks up to the fact that so many teams improved their rosters last year and there was an influx of talent in the league everywhere else but FC Dallas. So many newcomers led the stats sheets last year. In order to succeed in the league *especially as the financial mechanisms continue to improve* you have to be in an upward roster trajectory to continue to compete.