Good stuff, and yeah, on second thought inserting such a clause probably wouldn't yield much since he's only just in his second year. Now, if he moved somewhere else in the league, signed a new deal, and then transferred out, you might get a decent cut. But too many if's in that scenario. To your other point, generally, I'd be opposed to trading for someone else's DP (there are exceptions of course), as it likely means something has gone wrong and he isn't working out and as such, you're kinda doing that club a solid taking him off of their hands. Much better to just go and sign your own DP, or get a bargain TAM player instead.
With Santos, Grella, Martinez, Hansen, Opoku, and Argudo on the roster....I just cant see us picking up another winger. Obviously if we brought one in they would be starting quality to shore up the goal scoring "problem". Theres no way as a DP that Santos loses his starting spot, and I have to think Gregg will let Grella have a decent opportunity to prove himself capable...seeing as hes done well this far. I think I would probably try to find a guy who can play on the wing or up top to give Gyasi a break. I think one of the guys were reportedly interested in like Abass or Munoz would've possibly been good for that. They're both forwards who've spent time on both the wing and up top.
Here's my take on the whole Piatti/Lalas thing. It's unlikely to happen mainly because Precourt is unlikely to pay that salary. Leaving that aside and looking at it strictly from a soccer point of view, if TAM/GAM and Lalas gets you Piatti you would be nuts not to make that move. I understand Lalas has a bright future. He's also played under 1400 minutes in the league. We're holding Piatti has been a top 10 player in this league at worst, more likely top 5 for a few years now. He addresses our most glaring weaknesses on the wing and in terms of finishing. He also creates chances galore. He would absolutely thrive in Gregg's system. He has 5 goals and 6 assists for a bad Montreal team this year. He's averaging 14 goals and 7 assists the past three seasons. These are numbers that made us want to put Justin Meram in the MVP conversation last year. Piatti does it consistently and doesn't show signs of slowing down. He's a proven MLS commodity. If you look at the DP's that Gregg has brought in (Mensah and Santos) they have underwhelmed. If Gregg can acquire a proven MLS contributor on DP wages, I trust that more than his talent evaluation, track record of bringing in DPs. As I said, it's unlikely to happen for money reasons. But, sentimentality over what Abubukar might become is not a reason to not make this deal. Last year after the same number of minutes Crognale had the same hype as Abubukar. I'm repeatedly reminded of how great of a coach Gregg is because we were one goal away from MLS Cup with Josh freakin Williams manning central defense. Piatti instantly makes this team better, by a large margin. If somehow you could land him, it's insanity to not do it.
Besides coming up with the TAM/GAM to include in the trade, we'd also need to buydown 1 of our 3 current DPs, Mensah, Santos, and Valenzuela in order to make that deal.
Pipa, Santos and Valenzuela are our 3 DPs. We had to buy Mensah down already to acquire Valenzuela. He's obviously the cheapest, but I'm not sure about the rules for buying down a young DP salary. I just don't see this being anything other than a fantasy sports type thing. No way Precourt pays for us to have a $4M player, even at a half season prorated number.
I think Valenzuela's status may actually change with the new Young Transfer Fund that Tenorio wrote about last week. Current players on loan (which I believe Valenzuela is, with an option to buy) are eligible to be part of the program, those purchased outright (like Josué Colman) are not. At least that was my understanding of it. Even if he didn't have DP status removed, as a YDP I believe his cap # is $150k, which is still smart business.
They have to make it too complicated to understand so they can bend rules to make sure LA and NY have 27 DP level players
I do give GB credit for getting loans with options to buy. Such a great way to hedge bets and see what you have before committing.
Maloney out on loany. NEWS: #CrewSC defender Connor Maloney set to join @USL side @RiverhoundsSC on loan on game-by-game basis. ➡️ https://t.co/6R6fYs0mAl pic.twitter.com/VHCLCyxWYI— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) May 25, 2018
Makes sense as he's from PA--my only surprise is that they didn't go with Penn FC, as they are in his home town of Harrisburg.
They lost 3-1 to FCC in the Open Cup. That's all I know about them this year. Whatever happened to Ricky Irrabaren?
I don't follow Pitt much, beyond Crew players on loan there, but their team, and maybe even organization, seems like a total shitshow. I know there is a Pitt fan who posts here sometime, perhaps he can fill in. Let me try and find him... EDIT: @Vesty @catfish9 @msilverstein47
One note on the winger situation. For all the shortcomings finding the net, I think they all get back on D really well. Something that J9 was not exactly known for. Offensive production is down, and we have the best D in the league. I would not be in a hurry to mess with things dealing Lalas. Or upsetting the apple cart before Grella & Santos play together some. I would see how we do through this next stretch vs the top teams & then evaluate. My preference would be to buy a Fwd/wing type with our Garber bucks. Someone to give Zardes a rest and provide us with the legit option of 2 forwards sometimes.
As for 3G and talent evaluation. He is not 100%, but Steffen, Afful, Valenzuela, Abubakar, Artur, Kei, Ola, & Zardes, + hosting MLS Cup & almost a 2nd should give him some benefit of the doubt. Clark seems a good pickup. We do have the #1 D in the league. Mensah is at the heart of it. And 3G brought in the entire back 5 + Sauro, Crognale, Williams, and Jimenez. I mean, save for Pipa & Trapp, the whole team is 3Gs.