CLS: Quakes still looking for midfield help

Interesting options, but who knows how serious Yallop/Doyle are about these players? They look at a lot of players during the season (in addition to pre-season).

I'd say we're in more urgent need of a creative-type (if Convey isn't the answer), but you have to factor in several things like skill, salary demands, etc...

 

Ronnie O'Brien anyone?...

Actually, that boat has unfortunately sailed. Doyle and Alioto did such a hack job on him I doubt he would return for any amount what so ever.

It is telling however, that with the addition of Elliot and Convey and moving Alvarez to midfield, we are now once again looking for more midfield help.

 

Wow, a young Brazilian who has actually played professionally in Brazil (vs. the Faria/Campos dad-told-them-he'll-send-them-to-America-to-get-an-education-just-don't-become-a-pro-soccer-player types). (Actually I don't know if that's the case with Campos, but it apparently was with Faria. But he became a soccer player anyway - for a while at least.

 

Love to have a creative player, but MLS is a physical league. He needs to be able to take and give some professional and unprofessional fouls. That is a part of MLS I really hate. It was fine years ago when we had no creative players, but now MLS Refs need to do a better job of protecting players and penalizing negative play especially in midfield. ( Getting off my soapbox... )

I don't watch too much Brazilian football other than World Cup and Brazilians playing for foreign leagues so I don't know how physical they are? If perhaps his nickname was "Hulk", like the Porto player, perhaps the name would translate to some physical play.

 

Players like Dema, Goldthwaite, and Danny O'Rourke need to GTFO of the league and that will get rid of 90% of the hacking. Those three always seem to complain when they're penalized for clearly hacking somebody too.

 

Yup. I say "Sign the Brazilian". As you mentioned we have plenty of coverage for D-Mid and have depth on the backline.

I know 3 games don't make a season but I have not seen a glimpse of creativity or vision from Convey so far. The fact that we had to move him to LB so he could get into the game does not bode well for him being the answer for our A-Mid need. I say sign the Brazilian and if Convey really doesn't develop into the A-Mid that we need AND the Brazilian performs well, then we move Convey to LB permanently and keep the Brazilian at A-Mid. Though that would make Convey a very expensive LB but he would be a vast improvement over Denton's horrible crosses.

 

Might be intriguing if he turned out to be just what Campos needs, ie somebody who will have a certain understanding of the trickery and so an expectation-based chemistry develops. But such things are a gamble.

I don't think being a LB precludes having him being productive and worth and money at that position even if it seems odd. There is the issue of moving him forward next year. But even this year, a player that would give Hucks a lot of service, good overlapping runs to give Hucks options that make him less predictable, and who can put a good cross in from the left could be incredibly productive.
People have seemed pretty disappointed with Weaver, but I think it's a given Weaver will fail without service. If Convey gets him more service from LB than he does from CM, then that's where he should play, no matter the salary. We have to find ways to get Weaver lots of service or he won't score because he won't create.
Although, Convey at LB would have to for that salary, be a damn reliable LB defensively too.

 

yeah we need 3 mids but who??

 

i am glad to hear we are still looking for help as well. for this year, i guess we have to live with the high-priced Convey at left back. but next year he can go to Philly and we can can get a big name DP.?

just a thought

 

The thing to remember about moving Convey to LB is that we lose Hucks at the end of this season. So then, we could move Convey to LM.

The cost of signing the Brazillian though is that it uses up our last roster spot, so we cannot sign another forward, should we need one. (Of course, if we need another forward, we can just cut one of the guys that aren't getting it done.)

GOOOOOOO QUAAAAAAAAAAAKES!!!!!!!!

- Mark

 

On the Brazillian, if he can play, right now, sign him. At 18 if the guy is already MLS quality we would be beyond retarded not to sign him.

But chances are he isnt of that calibre just yet, so it makes it hard to justify it at this point, unless hes close.

The Croatian is a bit harder to read. If he looks like a solid backup type or better, then you could see him fitting into our roster well.

 

We don't know though do we that he's here on trial because he's been released and is available on a free transfer vs whether his club is trying to find a loan deal for him so some other club will pick up his wages for a few years until he's ready?

 

I like your first idea better than the second.

The Croatian is 32. How many good years does he have left? The Brasilian is 18, he has his whole career in front of him. Also, we have Corrales, Elliott, and McDonald on the roster now. Those guys are primarily defensive mids. Our only offensive mids are Convey and Somma. So I think we should be looking at the Brasilian very seriously.

GOOOOOOO QUAAAAAAAKES!!!!!!!!!

- Mark

 

We are talking about filling a roster spot, not marrying them. Right now we may be a bit thin at CM if Convey is done there, so a backup is a need. Id figure both players are a bit of longshots to be signed at this point though.

 

Why can't they get them both? The Brazilian and the Croatian? Realease 4-5 bench warmers.....I doubt they would really be missed...

 

Checking the current MFC roster Batista is NOT listed. So that might answer the free transfer question. Considering his not being listed on the roster, and the quality of MFC, I don't think we should at once be very optimistic about him.

Something tells me if an 18 year old Brazilian kid can't keep his job with a lower tier Brazilian team, he probably hasn't shown much promise or potential.

We might all be surprised of course. We know that Sanna Nyassi trialed with the Quakes last summer and was not signed. He latched on with Seattle and seems to be a pretty good pick up for them. So much of this depends on the coaches vision of the team.

 

I don't want convey for another season, hell, I didn't want his sorry ass this season! He is an expensive albatross hanging around our necks and the sooner we unload him, the better.

 

My gut tells me that the young player, especially if he is as creative as they say, would be a good move. We can look at this in a very real way historically.

Let's go back to the first championship year and think about the young player who brought a lot of excitement to the team. While he has since gone to the dark side, we cannot overlook what Landon Donovan did for that team. He was fun to watch and was excited to be able to play everyday, rather than bide his time on some reserve squad in Germany. Perhaps the young Brazilian is that type of player. Plus, it could open up a situation to better utilize Convey.

On the other hand, we also had a very steady leader in the back on that 2001 team, Jeff Agoos. Again, we do not know if the Croatian player has the needed leadership ability, but that is something that can't be overlooked. Leadership from a steady, solid player may be something we lack right now.

The obvious difference between now and 2001 is that we had both players on the squad.

 

Faria obviously had some personal issues that needed to be dealt with. Also, with his [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnrxEavqyWI"]goal scoring record[/ame], I'm not really sure how any of us are in a position to say ANYTHING negative about him.

 

I know I've said it a number of times...what about Andy Dorman?...I liked his play with the revs and per the wikipedia he's having some success in the SPL

"While Dorman wanted to re-sign with the Revs in MLS, contract negotiations fell through and Dorman agreed to sign with SPL outfit St. Mirren.[1] He played in his first Scottish Premier League game on 19 January 2008, and provided an early assist in a 3–1 victory. Dorman then scored a winning goal in a Scottish Cup replay against Dundee United.

His performances for St Mirren has many other clubs watching including Rangers,Celtic, Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers.[citation needed] Dorman's contract with St. Mirren included a club option of an extra year, which was exercised in March 2009 after he was voted Scottish Premier League player of the month for February 2009.[2]"

 

Hey...at least the players and fans won't have to deal with the stress and pressure of having to finish a season undefeated.

 

Thanks for looking at up. I tried a little bit even with both spellings and couldn't really tell.

Jeff C seemed to like him at practice and he's no slouch on player judgement so they're might something to develop, although our dev spots are full. It might have been more optimistic though if it were a loan thing, ie a player they still thought might come good for their squad or eventual sale if he proved he could cut it in a physical league.

Isn't MFC a midtable team?

I think I personally would rather hold out till June and get a proven goal scorer from a Euro squad on a free transfer even if DP.

 

Me too. I feel like we've been burned by Brazilians that randomly show up.

 

Yeah, he gets a permanent free pass from me for that. I think the personal issues were just that he wasn't sure he wanted to be a soccer player in the U.S., and family stuff, with his dad passing away, etc.