Chris Durkin at Sint-Truidense V.V. (Belgium)

In Italy it's completely common to do so.

 

Ok, I retract my previous statement. Apparently, it's only uncommon in the circles I find myself in.

 

i dont understand at all. do you start from the idea that each player is sui generis? seems like a huge mental hassle

 

You can look at each player as an individual, just like you look at each person as an individual. I don't know why that's unusual.

 

every person isnt involved in an 11 v 11 game of soccer with reams of data about formations and roles and positions

 

When analyzing a player, how does comparing them to another player ease the strain of analyzing statistics and data? Or how they are viewed on film? I'm not a scout, or anyone that works in a high-level of the game, but I don't see how comparing player A to player B has any impact on how effectively player A is analyzed. Again, I'm not an expert by any stretch, I just don't hear the player comparisons at the pubs or cafes I frequent. I could very well be wrong in my initial comment, and that's why I retracted that statement.

 

I think player comparisons are generally made/used in the context of fan A explaining to fan B what kind of player that player is like if fan B has never seen the player before.

Fan B will most likely have familiarity with many stars of the game from the last decade or two.

 

Alternatively, they can be used to describe the missing gap a team might have.

For example, Arsenal needed someone like Patrick Viera the last decade Arsene coached the Gunners.

 

YA is truly the frontier, where posters are constantly finding new things about which to argue.

 

Read my signature line

 

He was bad today.

 

While I don’t think the Adams transfer is a fair comparison since it was essentially an internal transfer DC is seemingly handling this as bad as possible.

 

What do people think is a fair valuation for Durkin? I wonder what clubs are offering. I am assuming that if DC United requested 3 million and the German clubs made a counter officer that led to a breakdown in negotiations, than the amounts have some significant distance between them

 

After how he played at the U-20s, $8 and a handshake.

But actually, $1-$1.5 million plus a 30% sell-on fee or something like that. $3 million is way too much.

 

A) I don't think his U20 World Cup was as bad as the narrative that has grown up around it, and

B) $3 million seems more than reasonable for Durkin. There is some value to DCU from having him on the team and if they foresee any growth in his game whatsoever it is a reasonable price.

 

I'm sure you've watched Durkin more than most. I thought he looked slow and lacked top level lateral quickness/athletic ability. I didn't think it looked all that promising his game would translate very well to the highest level where the game is the fastest and where the quickest, fastest and most athletics players play.

 

I can see DC's side. He is a useful player for them right now, even if he's not a starter when everyone is there and healthy. And DC is somewhat in "win now" mode while they have Rooney and Acosta. If they're going to give up a useful piece, the price must make it worth their while.

Looking down the road a bit, I see Durkin as Trapp 2.0, which means he'll still be a useful MLS player, but not the sort of guy who will have serious Euro interest in another couple years. And again, DC could think he'd be an above average MLS CM for them for the next decade or so, and they'd need a pretty decent transfer price to give that up, even while they recognize that they won't be able to get any money for him in another year or two.

I think that's kind of the difficult spot a lot of B-level prospects fall into. Valuable enough to their MLS teams to not sell for low offers, but not with enough potential for Euro sides to offer more than $1-2 million. It will be interesting to see what Bassett gets, if that deal to Freiburg indeed goes through.

 

I watched every U20 game. His World Cup was exactly as bad as the narrative.

The list of players who have been sold out of MLS for $3 million-plus is pretty short. The list of teenagers to have been sold for that much is two: Altidore and Davies.

If DC thinks he's worth that much, great! Keep him around, play him, let him develop, add some value. MLS clubs (despite what a lot of YA posters think) are under no obligation at all to sell young players to the first club that comes in with a decent offer.

The issue is that the track record of young pros leaving MLS for Europe isn't...great, so there isn't any incentive for European clubs to pay all that much based on club performance. Add Durkin's uninspired U20 performance to that equation*, and there's no way he's worth $3 million on the transfer market. Until MLS exports play well in Europe on a broad scale, the sale model is going to be a relatively low up-front fee with sell-on and performance clauses.

* - even if the narrative is overstated, it's a long journey from there to it actually being good

 

good to see dcu sticking to the skc circa epb playbook

 

Good for you, should we keep this up pretending like one of us will eventually convince the other?

 

Impressive number of three letter abbreviations here.

 

felt so good tbh

 

D.C. United loaning U-20 intl MF Chris Durkin to Sint-Truiden in Belgium through May. Option to buy. Durkin, 19, wanted the opportunity to go overseas. He will arrive there today. #dcu #mls

— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) August 30, 2019

new three letters: wtf

suddenly i guess dc cares a bit more about durkins professional career now that he perhaps doesnt have the upside they once thought he did?