I, for one, won't miss Zlatan. Enjoyed his occasional great goals and performances, but the team balance just never seemed good. And at his age, he would just get more and more stationary.
As far as Gonzalez - I'm not sure what happened. He was good at times but also made some costly errors for us. He certainly has the resume - he was a regular starter in Serie A and for Costa Rica through 2018. He was a key player of a stellar defense in the 2014 WC when CR beat Uruguay 3-1 and Italy 1-0 in the group stages and then shut out England 0-0. He also made the 23 man 2018 WC roster but didn't play. He should be reaching his peak as a centerback at age 31 but he clearly isn't. I just don't know what his problem is now. Maybe there was an injury along the way that never fully healed and hurt his level of play? For whatever reason he just hasn't been able to sync into a good rhythm with our back line and hasn't lived up to what you would expect given his stellar pedigree.
Given that DTK and GBS appear to have screwed up with Gonzalez and didn't hit a home run with Polenta ( more a solid double), I don't agree. On the other hand, Bruce did a great job with Vanney, Omar, Dunivant, AJDLG, and with Jelle and Ashley Cole in 2016.
Until it's made official, I got to think of Pavon as being on loan again in 2020. So that's 2 potential slots as Ibra is gone and Romain is out of contract. If I were DTK, I convince Romain to resign with a paycut due to the fact that his market value has dropped (and since Drini has also suggested that he'd like to stay in LA), then I say you can just keep Pavon on loan going into the next season. Then bring in 2 more guys and basically go into 2020 with 5 DP class players on the roster(Pavon, Drini, JDS and 2 mystery DP's). Just make one of those new DP signings a one year deal and then at the end of the 2020 season you can make a choice between one of the 2 players to keep. Pavon or the mystery DP who was on the 1 year deal. No matter what comes out of the CBA, LA is in an awesome position thanks to DTK's deal with Pavon and Boca. Regardless, I think we'll still need those 5 other roles filled with real quality asap. I don't know if this was posted earlier, but I just looked up who on the roster will for sure be out of contract and it goes as such,... Sebastian Lletget $1.14m (Need to Keep) Justin vom Steeg(Likely Gone) David Bingham $684k (Need to Go) Daniel Steres $912k (Need to Keep) Tomas Hilliard-Arce Hugo Arellano Diédié Traoré $228k (Need to Keep) Rolf Feltscher(Need to Go) Servando Carrasco(Likely Gone) Favio Álvarez --(Already Gone) Efrain Álvarez$684k (Need to Keep) Emil Cuello Chris Pontius--(Already Gone) Romain Alessandrini $2.28m (Need to Keep) Uriel Antuna $741k (Need to Keep But Likely Gone) Zlatan Ibrahimovic--(Already Gone) Ethan Zubak Here are some guys around the league that will be out of contract that we could use based on position as well as how much they currently make,... GK - Bill Hamid $969k GK - Steve Clark $456k GK - David Ousted $570k GK - Vito Mannone $1.43m RB - Chris Odoi-Atsem $143k RB - Tommy Thompson $684k RB - A. J. Delagarza $684k LB - Marco Farfan $285k LB - Seth Sinovic $684k LB - Wilfried Moimbé $456k RW - Kelyn Rowe $855k RW - Marvin Loría $570k RW - Florian Valot $570k RM - Miguel Ibarra $998k CM - Felipe Martins $912k AM - Luciano Acosta $6.84m AM - Federico Higuaín $684k CF - Quincy Amarikwa $570k CF - C.J. Sapong $1.43m CF - Brandon Vázquez $570k
Now that Zlatan is officially gone and I believe that Alessandrini (he is on his way to Series A) is also gone. That will leave 2 DP spots for 2020. One for sure will be Pavon and other will most likely be Mauro Zarate a striker from Boca Juniors. It looks like that Guillermo Barros Schelotto will attempt to put together his Boca championship club here with the Galaxy. With this in mind the priorities are: #1 - Keep Pavon #2 - sign a scoring striker #3 - built a new back line. #4 - sign a franchise Goalkeeper. (Hint: It's not Bingham).
He can be on loan and count as a DP, and I guess it will be the case in 2020. GBS has shut down the Zarate rumors last week. Argentinian medias will always link Guillermo and Boca players very easily. I don't think it will be Zarate. As for Alessandrini, I see more and more him staying. First of all, he loves LA and I guess he could stay at a lower salary. And with Zlatan, Pontius, and likely Antuna departures, we have an entire frontline to build. As others have said after Romney's departure, it's hard to build chemistry (and also fans passion) when players change every year or so.
Another former Boca player linked with the Galaxy According to @CLMerlo, 26-year-old Argentine winger Ricardo Centurión is headed to #LAGalaxy. He’s currently playing in Liga MX, but played for GBS at Boca. pic.twitter.com/EznOoVOpTV— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) November 14, 2019
Just for the record, the player numbers shown look to be their market value from Transfermarkt and not their salaries which are a fraction of their market value. Some examples, based the salary data on the MLS Player Association site: - Lletget got paid $312,666.67 - Efrain got $75,605.80. These numbers are close to their salary cap charge which neither the Players Assoc or the league reports.
Umm no, you miss the entire point behind my post. I want Galaxy players who care about the team, about the city, and about giving 100% all the time. Not a bunch of hired guns whose ego overrides everything. Who you are matters.
Not gonna miss Zlatan. Also not gonna start watching baseball. Or accept that the definiton for “conquered” extends to “lost to our crosstown rivals early in the playoffs.”
I'm relieved and extremely happy that Zlatan is gone. My enthusiasm for this team tanked significantly this year and he was a large reason why. I don't care how many goals he scores, I loathe his attitude and persona. Give me less talented but hungry, hard working, professional, respectful players every day of the week. I'd rather the Galaxy play 2020 with 30 Bryan Jordan or Rafael Garcia clones than bring back Zlatan.
I know I campaigned for moving on from Zlatan, but I'm of course bummed to see him go. Delivered some truly all-time great moments in my Galaxy fandom. One of the most amazing athletes I've ever seen live. Wish we could've won something with you, Lion. I will drop more laments in the Zlatan thread. I am very optimistic about this decision from the FO, however. I was prepared to gear myself up for another season of Zlatan. In Ibra, they got everything they wanted but never got from Gerrard and Gio, so I could see there being pressure to keep him around, especially with the shenanigans of the last administration. Seems like the FO is really focused on what's best for the team.
No. I'll take a bunch of could-care-less hired guns that compete to win championships over a bunch of honest, hardworking lunch-pail guys that don't, any day. When it comes down to it, winning is the only thing that really matters.
I guess we will agree to disagree. Robbie Keane bled for this team, Beckham eventually did as well, they made those around them better. I enjoyed watching Zlatan, but I'm not sure he was in that category. Antuna and Favio look like they are gone, are we now a team of one year kids on loan? It's like a one-night stand, fun, but with no emotional attachment.
This is actually showing me that Bingham is good value for money. None of those keeps imo are an upgrade over Bingham. Also not really interested in any of those players. Maybe Sinovic, but he is pricey. Farfan is young, but I don't think he is a huge upgrade over Traore.
I deleted a post of mine where I quoted something unrelated. I just wanted to point out that, unless I missed it, none of Zlatan's Galaxy teammates have gone out of their way to wish him well. Lleget was asked about it at USMNT practice today and he gave a rather awkward response and wished him well. Might be a clue as to how the locker room was.
Rumors that Alessandrini is going to Montreal. I really want to give him another year as a TAM player. I know he was injured, but he is a good player.
For better or worse, I’m looking forward to a team built by te Klose and Schelotto if that team is unshackled from the last vestiges of the Vagenas/Klein/Onalfo/Schmid/Beckerman
I just don't think of Bingham as a franchise goal keeper. They had one in the past with Jaime Penedo. It would be nice to bring him back.
If the rumors are correct, Ricardo Centurión would make for a nice replacement for Antuna using TAM money. Along with siging Edinson Cavani as a DP to replace Zlatan. Add making a deal to buy Pavon's contact from Boca Juniors then signing him as a DP to replace Alessandrini. Then they need to find a franchise goalkeeper and built the back line, making it a very interesting 2020.