Doh! To be fair, I was down on Vincent from early on not because he was completely terrible but because lots of people decided to believe the hype and it was very, very clear he wasn’t all that from early on. I had hopes he could be nurtured into a good player but our organization certainly wasn’t the place to see that happen. He wasn’t a good defender (he sucked) but he was a good crosser of the ball and he was certainly a step up from Harrington.
Agreed. The biggest problem with him in there was the increased defensive responsibilities on the wide midfield player on that side. When that player was David Accam (who gave you the best opportunity to win on a decent team), there was an obvious weakness and side of the field to attack. It was amazing how many chances/goals came from attacks from the right against the Fire's left side. On balance, he was an okay MLS quality player. The most maddening thing was that you had one of the best left backs in the league and let him run off for next to nothing to an eventual champion. That isn't Brandon's fault, but it was pretty obvious that he was a down grade from Joevin Jones. The Fire seem to be pretty good at making changes to their strengths while ignoring their weaknesses.
By "making changes to their strengths," I presume you to mean: "Oh, we are tied and really need a goal to allow the team and the fans to end the miserable season with a win, so we should take out our top goal scorer (39 goals in 69 games) and put in Alan f'n Gordon. Alan should have a run out before he plods and trundles off into the sunset" "Oh, we have an incredible, World Cup-winning, Champions League-winning and versatile attacking midfielder, so we will play him in central defense to make room for the 'creative' Brandt Bronico." "Oh, we have another double digit goal scorer and our most aggressive attacking player (second on the team in goals and assists), so we should criticize him at every turn. We had better make sure that the front office's pudgy myna bird Danhole Kelly does it as well." "Oh, we really need an attacking midfielder, since our $6,000,000 attacking midfielder is playing central defense, so we will sign Yura Movsisyan and pay him close to $2,000,000 to be on the field for 58 minutes over 4 games." "Oh, we have one of the fastest wingers in the league, a guy who is a consistent double digit goal scorer, averaging 11 goals and 5 assists a season (but who does not track back on defense all that much), so we should dump him for funny money, but we will keep Luis Solignac, a 'striker' who has scored more than 3 goals in a season exactly one time in his career." Etc.
How can you tell? Was even on the team? Edit: He was. He played two games this season, on 3/10 and 3/31. Last season, he made three appearances in 10 days (8/16, 8/19, 8/26) and that was it. Apparently, he was injured. We paid $100,000 for him and he managed five appearances. We paid him $93,000 in salary this season. Money, well spent, Nelson Rodriguez Official Announcement: https://www.chicago-fire.com/post/2...er-christian-dean-retires-professional-soccer Chicago Fire Defender Christian Dean Retires from Professional Soccer A "professional" in that he was paid, that's about it. For his "career," he managed to play in 17 games over 5 years, for a total of 1,051 minutes. 2014-$161,000 2015-$176,000 2016-$191,000 2017-$93,000 2018-$93,000 He "earned" $714,000 in his career of 17 games. He "earned" $42,000 for every game he played. He "earned" $679.35 every minute he was on the field. He was the number three pick in the 2014 "Super Draft". He was the very definition of the term "Crap Shoot" for the Super Draft. By the way, Chicago Fire's first round draft pick in 2014? Marco "don't call me Generalissimo Francisco" Franco! Yep, a fine pick there.
Three this week: Alan f'n Gordon Christian Dean Brandon Vincent Interesting that the No. 3 draft pick from 2014 and the No. 4 draft pick from 2016 both retired this week, at ages 25 and 24 respectively.
This is what happens when you draft soccer player based on their physique, rather than their football skills. Dean i 6'3" 200lbs ... big strong dude ... that can't play for shit.
From today's Tribune, John Kass' column: "Here's how pathetic the Fire were this season. At one game, I could hear frustrated coach Veljko Paunoovic yell at a sad young Brandon Vincent: "Brandon, stop the bull(deleted)! Stop the bull(deleted), Brandon! Paunovic's frustration echoed in the near-empty Toyota Park. Vincent retired from soccer just days ago."
Aloof athlete. Nothing out of the ordinary but also not exactly the humble Chicago attitude I would prefer to see around town. I mean, I expect that from athletes, especially second string MLS players. No one’s beating down his door asking for autographs. Don’t act like being recognized is a headache.