36 isn’t old for a goalkeeper tho.. He easily has another years left in his career and, based on what I saw, would be well worth the money.. But, if Meara is a solid replacement, it’s definitely understandable why they’d go with thr less expensive option.
It's not clear to me that Meara is a solid replacement. It's also not clear to me whether Meara could survive a day game in Dallas in August.
Robles has PLENTY left and is top notch. Nash/Miami would be insane not to at least try to get him to help groom who their first franchise keeper will be.
Drew Moor is apparently returning to Colorado https://www.denverpost.com/2019/11/...To6-NGfF_eRyK_SiEVl3wCk2xm-F3geFCduDViPkkBUbo
If the Loons are unable to resign Vito Mannone, they could do a lot worse than putting Luis Robles behind that backline for a couple of years until Dayne St. Clair is MLS-ready...
A - I really want Mannone back. LOVE that dude, as an Arsenal fan I wished he'd have gotten more of a shot. B - that would be phenomenal if they can't bring him back.
LAFC have apparently made a 12 million dollar offer to Santos Laguna for Uruguayan winger Brian Lozano. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5gRJa9JKH9/?igshid=1ni3al7u97j4p
How many wingers does one team need? Tune in next season and find out. You’d think the goats would sign a center forward DP or a midfield DP even if Rossi is sold.
I think what LAFC needs is a striker more than another winger. Lozano can play other positions but his main one is LW, same as Brian Rodriguez and Diego Rossi.
LAFC have Diomande who is on the right side of 30 and can pretty much do it all as a striker (hold up, tap in, link up, and play make). He is also a great dribbler. They need another Ramirez type player to alternate with Dio. Zelaya wasn’t it. Rossi seems to be moving this winter. Another winger makes sense if Rossi leaves and Vela plays deeper behind Dio with Lozano and Rodriguez alternating flanks. This allows Vela freedom to overlap with either winger. James
There is a rumor that LAFC is also after Juan Jose Macias, a 20 year old Mexican striker. LAFC is going to be like LAG and Atlanta have been (and New York was) and have every player linked to them. The I can see the Lozano rumor being sort of true because there have been rumors that some Euro teams are already sniffing around Rodriguez because of his international performances. Could be Lozano is being looked at as a plan for if they do sell Rodriguez and Rossi this winter.
I saw some MLS games this season and realized that teams are not investing in hiring defensive players. That is a big mistake.
Plenty of teams bring in defensive players. In 2019 Pogba, Marcelo, Deplange, Giancarlo Gonzalez, van der Werff, Palacios, Ciman, and Adnan all were starters in one of the top 10 leagues in Europe within the past 2 years. Struna, Jansson, and Barath weren't in one of the top 10 leagues in Europe but were all in their national team picture. Jara, Moreira, and Godoy were all brought in from Argentina. Bressan was brought in from Gremio in Brazil after playing in 21 games last year. Segura, Arreaga, Bizama, and Polenta were all brought in from other South American countries where they were considered starters. Now, you are correct that their is a bit of a divide between the top attacking players in the league and the top defenders. If you look at it like the Netherlands or Belgium then half the teams in the league chase attacking talent that typically on the top couple teams can afford. However, the defensive talent is typical for what a mid-table team brings in. At some point someone will go big on a defender. But to say they aren't investing in those positions is wrong. Teams are just finding out that players from a mid-table Belgian, Portuguese, or Dutch team (or non-starters on teams like Boca or River) aren't necessarily any better than what MLS teams already have domestically.
I was wrong. What I meant is that it is not only worth investing millions in attackers, but also investing in defenders. And especially, start working on the "young players" who play defense to get inspired, say, from the Italian school of defenders. It is a set of factors that wins the game.
Depends? While you have a point that defense is important part of winning games, games that are more attack oriented are more entertaining for more people. While there are certainly people that enjoy the defensive duels, the most talked about games every week tend to be the ones that were either high scoring, or at least involved a bunch of back and forth attacking. From a perspective of that MLS is trying to grow the league, it makes sense that they would focus on attackers over defenders. And since you mentioned Italian soccer.. There's a reason why it's called taking a Serie A nap.
It sure is good to see more attacks. But it's good to see attackers dueling against great defenders. (Maldini vs Ronaldo, for example) What is the fun of seeing a great striker (Ibra, Vela, etc.) playing as a bad defender? None. Well, it's just my opinion. And Serie A is still a great championship. I meant at the international level ... Italy, four World Cup titles, solid in attack and defense. That is what I meant.
That's why I said more people like the high scoring, or at least, high attack/back and forth games. There are certainly people like yourself that like the defending duels, but people like shots and goals. How'd Italy do in the last World Cup? Sorry, I couldn't pass it up, but again, valid point, just saying a good number of people find Italy's style of play boring. even if it does get results.
Well, your mistake. haha I am Brazilian, I like an attractive football, with dribbles, goals and players who have a will on the field. And obviously, I want my attacker to score, but have a big fight with a great defender, not a bad defender. I disagree. Italy is not just a defensive school, I did not say that. Totti, Del Piero, Montella, Pippo Inzaghi, Baggio, etc ... They are also great at offense, always thrown forward. But when they needed to defend themselves, they did it like no one else. They weren't at the last World Cup, but ... they are marked in history as wonderful football, probably the best in Europe, historically (not currently).
As Philly said, investments are being made on the defensive end. That said, I have no problems with the league spending more on the offensive side of the ball. At this stage in the league’s development I’d prefer MLS lean toward a more offensive, higher scoring product. Last year, the average MLS game produced around 3.10 goals per game making it one of the higher scoring first division leagues, which I view as a good thing. Yes, generally speaking teams need to also be able to play some defense to win, however, I’m not going to whine about a 3-3 or 5-3 barn burner featuring Zlatan and Vela. I’ll take that over a 0-0 or 1-0 game any day. Besides that, I doubt there is a top league of team that spends the same on the defensive side as the offensive side. You sure as heck don’t see defenders breaking transfer records.
Like I said, the offensive side is extremely important, everyone wants to see goals. But it's good to see good strikers fighting great defenders. MLS is growing, I have no doubt about that.
That scream of anguish you hear emanating from Seattle is Bryan Meredith seeing his chances of being a starter go up in smoke.
Looks like GM Zanotta at FCD is starting to use his Brazilian connections. [He used to hold the same position at Santos and Gremio.] Thiago is a #6. Two-time winner of the Campeonato Brasileiro at Palmeiras (2016 and 2018). Report: deal done for FC Dallas to transfer Thiago Santos from Palmeris https://t.co/sTqnPd2jJE— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) December 3, 2019
So Miami is off the board for free agents correct, that rule is still around limiting teams to signing two free agents a year?