Early report on offseason acquisitions: Overall grade: F Colman: F The much ballyhooed #9 has turned in a 0. His flub-per-chance rate is off the charts. Not a single goal; many embarrassing flubs. Lamah: C The Belgian winger has contributed in moments, but where his predecessors Castillo and Shea were explosive chance creators and scorers, Lamah seems more like a meandering ball-stopper at this stage. Graña: B- He adds a crossing element and on-the-ball poise. He helps possess the ball in the defensive third. He lacks speed but makes up for it with guile. Chala: ? Got loaned out because he couldn't contribute. Morales: F Cant find the game. Seems lost on the field. Is rarely not a net negative. This team needs to make moves for a creative player and more wing speed. This team is not physical enough through the midfield to play the slow soccer they have produced thus far.
I'll give Colman a D because he is not actively making the team worse like Morales is. He's getting into dangerous positions, he's getting good shots, but he's flubbed some and been unlucky on others. Besides, he's new to the league and the style and pace of play. But still... a D, which at most colleges still ain't good enough. But Morales? Absolutely an F. Like I said, his presence on the field makes the team worse. And at this point, he's been in the league forever, so Clavijo and Pareja should've known better and understood why RSL was letting him go.
I'd personally grade Colman higher than an F, and Grana lower than a B. Colman does require defenders to track him, he makes useful runs, he looks like his head is in the game. Once his feet catch up to his positioning and instincts, he'll be alright. Grana, on the other hand, has a lot of fancy footwork. But more often than not, the next person to control the ball after Grana is a member of the other team. Lamah has been a mixed bag, and I've had my complaints about him, but I think he's been a net positive. He'd get a C+ or B- for me so far. I'd rate the Grana and Lamah acquisitions about the same. Morales is a warm body, but the game FC Dallas plays is faster and more upbeat than Morales is capable of. I'll take his intelligence in a substitute role, but I don't think he's a starter anymore.
One positive for me is so far none of these guys have done enough to not make me think a couple of the super young HG guys deserve a chance to show what they have. Diaz not ready and Morales not exciting you? Let's see what Pax has. Lamah not explosive enough or impacting the game enough for you? How about a dose of Ferreira to see what he's got. Grana's empty trickery bothering you? Let's see what Cannon can do. Finally if Colman can't score in another month or so there's no reason why the extremely young but promising Reynolds shouldn't get a glance. These young one's are realistically at least a year away but if the vets don't start picking it up then a dab here and there may do the trick.
Agreed. I know that Pareja is probably holding off on the youngsters to try to give the veterans a chance to come together. At some point the midfielders and forwards (other than Urruti) are actually going to have to produce. If they are not producing then you have to remind them that you'll give someone else a shot to produce. That results in 3 possible scenarios, none of which are worse than the status quo. Scenario 1: the replacement player outperforms the original. Scenario 2: the replacement player does not outperform the original, but the original becomes motivated to perform better. Scenario 3: the replacement player does not outperform the original player and the original player becomes disgruntled. Even with scenario 3 you can begin moving on from the player who does not work with your team.
I'm sure you know this, but Pax just underwent knee surgery, so I have tried to push him out of my mind while he recuperates. Sucks. He was ready to have a breakout season. I am really hoping that he recovers well and ahead of schedule, but we will have to see how he reacts physically and mentally to injury. Meniscus tears are very painful, and the rehab is testing.
That sounds about right - although, he will probably have pain injections for a while after that. It remains to be seen how he responds. Hopefully it is not all that bad.
Word around FCD academy is pomykol will be back in another 3-4 weeks. Surgery last week. Question is will they use him and others in academy playoffs
Didn't know where else to put this... FCD has been reportedly in talks with Memo Ochoa and William Yarborough.
Colman seems to be able to create his own chances - something that FC Dallas requires. This is why so many are reluctant to write him off. That ability earns the respect of the defenders, which allows him to pry at the opponent's defensive shape. Yet, with 10 games and 0 goals in MLS, it is hard to see him turn into a consistent goal scorer. He is already 23, and didn't exactly light it up back in Paraguay. He could be the next Wondo, but I'll not be holding my breath.
Is he a midfielder or a forward? If true this means they may be giving up on Colman (at least for this year) and working to bring in a replacement at either forward or attacking mid. With Diaz back or if this player can also play central attacking mid it could reflect a return to the 4-2-3-1 and makes having Colman "get it" less necessary with only one forward starting. Having another starting quality attacking mid can only help the stale offense and give more options. It would take away minutes from the kids but they may be better helped by a summer loan to OKC to fight for a starting spot and get more minutes. Come back once school starts and try and beat out a FCD veteran.
Well reading his wiki page he is 32 and not at all what I was expecting. I thought he'd be a young up and comer. 3 million seems to way too much so it makes me wonder about the accuracy of the whole article.
He's a current member of the Colombian national team, and worth every penny. Add to that this: Report: FC Dallas chasing after Colombian playmaker out of Turkey https://t.co/ywF8i47Lxv— Jose Antonio Carmona (@ElChicoCarmona) June 17, 2017 And you can see that FCD means business.
I give Colman a C+. He creates problems for defenders, works hard and makes good quality passes. I asked myself if another Hoop can do the same job and I immediately answered yes. Ryan Hollingshead could do the exact same job Colman does. That makes Colman expendable. Heck, Ryan is a better option than Tesho too.
No!!!! Rodallega sucked in the Premier league. Kenwyne Jones had 10x the number goals in the prem and what has he done for Atlanta? Not enough for what they're paying him. Atlanta pays Jones 400k but I bet we'd have to pay Rodallega more than that.
Congrats to Adonijah Reid on joining Canadian club Ottawa Fury FC. #BramptonYouth https://t.co/aFrq1IKkpn pic.twitter.com/L5wd2Hfqq8— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) July 7, 2017
It's likely a loan. We're trying to get confirmation from FCD. Reid doesn't turn 18 until August, and FCD was unable to get a waiver allowing him to play in the US.