With the international transfer window opening up in a couple weeks we'll more than likely be the subject of rumors. Currently we appear to have Pity Martinez on the road in and Miguel, my belle, on the way out. MP3 is rumored to be wanted elsewhere as a free agent so this may be another hole that will need to be patched. Do we promote Robinson and call it a day? Go out for veteran to pair with LGP? What of the captaincy? Who takes on the armband for the five stripes. Parkhurst's shoes will be very difficult to fill in my humble. He was awesome with the press and clearly effective on the field and in the locker room. What of the coaching situation? What impact on moves will this have? Should be plenty entertaining.
Home openers are out. We get DC United at Audi for week 1 First home game the following week vs Cincinnati
New coach is....Carles Puyol? Via google translator from a Turkish article in "Sporun Didi" Ending his football career in 2014, Carles Puyol is expected to step into his first coach position. Carles Puyol, one of the best defenders of Spanish football, will start his career in MLS. In 2019, he was the winner of the MLS championships at Atlanta United. US media reports Tata Martino'nın after the formalization of the separation of the break at the last moment if the team does not suffer a Carles Puyol will pass. Tata Martino, who made Atlanta United a champion in MLS, is expected to leave the team in January with the end of his contract.
Frank DeBoer now rumored to be the next skipper: http://www.espn.com/soccer/atlanta-...r-ajax-manager-frank-de-boer-as-coach-sources One hell of a player and managed Ajax for quite some time. Apparently fluent in english and spanish. Quite an interesting choice if true
And FdB would open up another pipeline... this one to young Dutch players. I think this is a good fit.
The Dutch seem to think Frank de Boer is ready to sign a 2 year contract: https://www.football-oranje.com/atlanta-united-hoping-to-appoint-de-boer/
If they do this I do want it to be more than a 2 year contract. Stability is a good thing when building on something.
Feeling your pain here but I've decided to be a Pollyanna. I've convinced myself that ol' Frank is better suited for the smaller pond. Teaching and developing. He succeeded in the Netherlands which has considerably less talent and resources than Serie A and the EPL. He did well playing his kids. Worked well in growing an academy. I'm selling myself on his style working well with smaller egos and players hungry to learn and grow so they can make the big bucks in days ahead. Going outside the lines here for a comparable but I'm thinking of Glen Sather in hockey. He was a whiz in finding unknown talent in Edmonton and developing them in to a juggernaut. When he left for New York and had all the resources in the world he couldnt do squat. New York wasnt a patient market that would allow him to build a system from the ground (much like Inter and Palace). We're young enough as a franchise where we can be more malleable
Off the cuff I know he's a more than capable coach MLS and developing talent. My biggest concern will be his ability to attract talent. MLS' pecking order in the global scene and the relatively infancy of the development academies means that like college the on field results greatly hinge on recruitment of talent. If he can sustain our ability to draw and hold good players then I'm all on board.
I know kids today don't know anything about anything but if you're a footballer with world ambition and dont know Frank DeBoer? I question your chops
I believe I'm in the minority, but now that we know we have Parky back I'd really like to see him get the CCL games and Robinson get MLS to start the season. I know people don't seem to be that high on Miles, but I was really impressed with him stepping up at the end of the season. I think he's got a lot of potential, and with Parky's guidance could be his long-term replacement with LGP inheriting the armband. I know there's a lot of clamor to bring in a high-end import to pair with LGP, but I think to be the club we want to be, and not just a Galaxy clone, we need to start integrating our academy and draft talent into the first team. There's a ton of talent and potential there, they just need to get some run. I don't want to be one of those teams whose most talented young players get picked off by Europe on a free because there wasn't a path forward for them here.
I think Miles has great potential but a lot will be down to his chemistry with the side. Parky is a leader and able to mind how to cover when LGP goes forward. Can Miles be The Man on moments when left alone? Against the likes of Colorado, sure. Against DCU?
I'm sure many players (and more importantly their agents) know about FdB, but will a south American starlet make the move to an unknown country and league for him with the same zeal as they would for Tata or someone with direct SA connections? Mind you I'm not saying that's our only pipeline but it's arguably the one with the most available talent at prices MLS can afford.
What I want: Figure out a way to keep Miggy... unfortunately not going to happen. Anyways, position by position analysis: Goalkeeper: Big Brad is good for another few years, and I still like Kann as a back up. Left back: Ambrose, Bello, McCann, Hernandez... I’d keep McCann for his versatility and Bello for his projected stardom - but I question giving him that much responsibility so soon. I’d say dump Ambrose and Hernandez and buy a starting quality left back. An experimental option may be to see if Escobar can play LB. Center back: I’m glad we kept Parky, but I’m worried his legs won’t hold up. I’m ready for Miles to get more minutes. That said, I might try to snag a CB in the draft whose reliable depth and wait and see in the summer if we need another starting quality CB. Right back: we’re almost too good with Gressel and Escobar. Center Mid: feel confident with Nagbe and Remedi, and i hope Big Red still has some juice in the tank. I hope Goslin is ready for a bigger role this year, if not helllooo Chris McCann and Kevin Kratz; maybe even Gressel. Wingers/AM: Either Gressel is going to play RM or RB, but if Escobar is in his preferred position that puts Gressel at RW. That means Tito needs to learn to play LW. Barco is first option off the bench. I got Pity in the hole. On Carleton, I might sell given he doesn’t seem to fit in. I would try to get another replacement. Forward: Obviously, Josef but neither Romario or Brandon are ready for prime time if he goes down. I’d sell Romario and try to pick up a reliable goal scorer for his back up. Overall: we need some help at defensive help and another reliable striker.
Appears as if the cat we put on layaway is moving to DC United. Lucas Rodriguez, who we put a $1.7M first refusal payment on, is reported going to DC on loan with an option to buy. The silver lining is that we still have his MLS signing rights so we'd be due compensation if they do indeed sign him. A reminder of his story: https://www.dirtysouthsoccer.com/20...7-million-for-a-player-they-might-not-acquire
Excuse my ignorance, but I find these transfer rules more difficult to understand than Chinese arithmetic. According to the article that accompanied your post, our rights to Lucas Rodrigeuz have expired. If I have that wrong (and I probably do) what would our compensation be? With Pity Martinez on deck we obviously won't be matching any offer DC makes for Rodriguez.
It is confusing. Our deal with his club has expired but MLS also has something called "discovery rights". Apparently its a dibs system where you can list a player your scouts find with the league. Preventing another team from signing your discovery without compensation. There is mention of it on the official site in their Rodriguez article: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/12/26/report-argentine-attacker-lucas-rodriguez-sign-dc-united
Putting the 'silly' in silly season: Atlanta United reportedly set to sign Brek Shea I am...not sure what to think about this. We've got McCann, Ambrose and Bello at LB/LWB. Almiron/Pity, Tito and Barco at LW. Where would Shea fit?
Didn't take very long after Tata left for the decline to start. The first of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse is surely Brek Shea. That is as bad a first signing as there could possibly be for De Boer.
Call off the panic hounds, everyone. Even if this comes to pass one odd signing does not a bad trend make, as it were. Having him on the roster is one thing. Trying to force him into a critical role would be something else entirely. AU still has its fair share of dross on the bench so let's see how this plays out first. It's not like Ambrose and Zizzo were lighting it up.