As a former Atlanta resident and someone who has season tickets (and has greatly profited on resale of said tickets), it's a bit of a surprise to them as well. The scary thing is once they get into the new stadium to see how many tickets they sell. They want to keep up demand for tickets so won't open up the whole stadium all the time but there will be a handful of games where they will look to sell out the place.
From what I've read, Benfica rejected our offer. He impressed while he was on loan but it hasn't been decided whether he'll be with the main team this season, sent back on loan or whatever.... I wonder if well come back with a better offer or walk away. I would imagine were looking at other people too though.
Plus it sounds like the roster spot from DC was for Martinez and move may have been made with knowledge of Higuain's health
Per league source, SKC is in talks with Columbus Crew about top spot in allocation order as they try to bring Krisztian Nemeth back to #MLS.— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) July 25, 2017 Selling away the top allocation spot to SKC? Gimme that sweet, sweet TAM (or is it GAM?)!!!!
We need to sign a DP and stop kidding ourselves and if we sell this top spot than we accept mediocrity
What does having the top spot in the allocation order necessarily have to do with our ability to sign a DP?
Just need the dough. I agree that if we don't sign anyone, Berhalter is blinded by his own incompetence.
I'm fine with selling the allocation spot. There's not many players on the list that would fill a need that we have....that would be any kind of sure upgrade over our existing guys....that would actually come play for us or who we would be willing to pay enough. I do like several of the players on the list but the one I feel could be a good buy is Poku. He would be a good backup for Higuain or maybe Artur. But like Kyle said....if we can get some solid allocation money out of it, which we then use to buy down Murillo (or a similar player)....and maybe snag a useful depth player as well.....id be satisfied with that.
Yeah, other than Poku, I don't see any must have signings that are realistic on the allocation list. GB seems to prefer cash anyway.
I would love to see us sign a legit USMNT "star". We need someone like a McBride. Regardless of position. Someone who is constantly in the main rotation of the national team that we can take some pride in. We haven't had that since Frankie who, correct me if I'm wrong, was retired from national team duty by the time he got here.
Problem is that the list is slim pickings now that so many US internationals are back in MLS. Take a look for yourself. There is no one here who 1) I'm dying to have and 2) is realistic. https://www.mlssoccer.com/allocation
Frankie was still a national teamer when he got here. He went to 1 WC as a member of the Crew and was on track for a second when he got hurt. Heck, I remember in 98 when the Crew sent 5 players to the WC.
Looking at the allocation list, there are a lot of attractive players on there. Considering our leakage of goals the past 3 years, getting Cameron or Miazga seems attractive. Considering our whole system depends on the quality of the outside backs, Villafana or Yedlin would be interesting. Or even getting Martins back from China to be a clinical finisher would be good. Unfortunately, being allowed to get those players is not the same as actually being able to sign them. I suspect we won't sign any of them.......
Dooley was here in 98? I thought he left after the first season. I was like 11 years old in 98 so my memory is a bit fuzzy.
I don't see why any of those 5 would come back to MLS, so those are all pipe dreams. Cameron will want to stick around in England for at least another year. Miazga and Yedlin have done just fine in Europe and didn't leave that long ago. Martins isn't leaving China, or at least for a fee that would be worth it for us to bring him here (he turns 33 in October and is making $6.6m/yr). I like Poku, but Miami paid $700k for him, so he'd be a rather pricey addition. I'd love to have Nemeth, but it seems like he has his sights set on KC if he returns. Only other name on the list that interests me is Rubin. I'd rather have Rubin than $150k allocation from KC (so they can sign Nemeth), but I don't know if we have any serious interest in Rubin.
Submitted for your consideration: UPDATED #MLS $/Point shows zero correlation between spending big and performing well. pic.twitter.com/p2kgYzAlJH— Mark Fishkin #🟦 (@MarkFishkin) July 26, 2017
No one you mentioned is realistic, except maybe Villafana. But honestly, who would want to sign Villafana as our major marketing piece of a DP?