C'mon guys. If I was trying to entice a 22 year old Argentine that has lived 20 years in Buenos Aired and 2 years in Spain/Portugal, Pearland would be the last thing I would show him.
Maybe he's staying in Jordan's basement/spare room/whatever. Ramada costs $. Maybe this is our idea of covert.
He's listed as an attacking Mid. So where does this guy fit into our current lineup? Who loses their spot?
Under present formation and tactics he plays Alex's spot. Probably could also play wide. I think he would start out on the bench if the coach gets to kick the tires any at practices, because he's one footed and sloppy. I think he is being bought because he offers a more aggressive attacking mentality (albeit likely off the bench). Like Alex he will basically turn upfield and run full speed and take people on. Closest thing to him would be Holland. Frenetic, aggressive, looking to get downfield. I took the move as addressing the ageing starting mids and (at the time) lack of emergence of the next generation of mids. I wouldn't mind if he was free or cheap and was akin to a draft pick or loanee, but if he cost millions of Euros like some reports suggested then we're nuts. There are plentiful "iso" youtube videos of nothing but Tomas Martinez touches from Argentine games. You'll see he's high energy, takes people on, but also one footed (L), sloppy, and not all that involved in the ultimate production for a playmaker. Energy is nice but sometimes what you need is more "Davis," calm, composed, surgical, ball in the net.
Based on the really poor youtube videos of Martinez, it looked to me like he was in a deeper role as an AM. A lot of times he was behind the strikers and the wingers, but central of course. That could just be a product of playing with amazing teams though.
I don't know about that. Those players are super smart in the way they drop into space. He didn't look like that. I think the better comparison would be a more raw version of Almiron or a Bedoya (MLS comparisons just seem more reasonable). They drop in to get the ball and try to push the game, sometimes foolishly though.
So he was playing deep due to picking up the ball as a withdrawn striker, rather than a CM playmaker?
Not relevant to this thread but has there ever been discussion of COLD AIR TECHNOLOGY AT BBVA? Is it feaseable? Affordable?
The FO pooh-poohed the hell out of this but it's always a risk Late last night, Romell Quioto grimaced as he walked through mixed zone. He was holding his left hamstring & declined an interview request.— Corey Roepken (@RipSports) July 12, 2017
Talked with an Argentinian who follows River Plate closely and said Martinez wasn't ever going to be good enough to start for River and they were trying to reduce the burden of cost with him. He wasn't ever going to fill Mauro Diaz's shoes. So theres that, FWIW.
I prefer to write off the Front Office who sells everyone on getting a #10 that you can build your team around and then carts him out like that is him. They don't understand their own messaging is shooting themselves in the foot. He may turn out to be great - but they spent the last year (since Barnes departure) talking about bringing in a DP#10 to build your team around. They failed to do it last window and now it appears they are going to settle for someone that doesn't live up to their own standards.
There's a bit of a scent on this guy like the 5-star recruit who is on his 3rd Division school after having spent a year at junior college.
Who needs all those expensive Euro superstars, we have Hondurans and Portuguese league backups!!! http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-la-galaxy-20170513-story.html
I understand the sentiment but I'd take $7.7m worth of Elis' and Quioto's over a broke down 36 year old with a great pedigree. This looks like a foolish signing from an on field perspective.
It's not about this specific LA target's current talents, it's the ambition that the club shows. I would agree with you that high-dollar mostly is a 50/50 proposition (or less) but I'd also show you last year's final where two teams with heavy DP spend made it
Older player coming back from devastating knee injury is a massive risk for the investors. We will see if the MLS investors sign off on this for the LAG group.
Agreed. They'll sign a name that is past his prime for more than the Dynamo spend on their entire roster. Houston consumers were screwed for the last 3 years because of this. On the other hand, I like what our new kids are doing this year and I'd rather see more of that than a broke down old man that used to play in the EPL. Assuming that both models are building teams with championships in mind.