Dear Mr Kraft, At this point you have really only two moral choices. You can either: 1. Get started on fixing this team RIGHT NOW. New FO. New coaches. New positive direction, with a firm plan for future success. or 2. Let this kid go somewhere else where his talent and enthusiasm can prosper. It would border on criminal reglect of a minor to expose this exceptional kid to the cesspool of ineptitude that exists today in the Rev's situation for any longer. Do the right thing, Bob. Give this kid a chance. He's got his heart set on being a pro footballer. He's shown, (me, at least) that he has the potential to be very special. You owe it to him, and his family to see that he gets the chance to succeed, here or elsewhere. It does NOT appear to me that it's going to happen here. You've already destroyed any chance that Shalrie might have had by forcing him to stay here when you had no intention of producing a decent side. He could've had that chance with Celtic. It might even be that Taylor, had he been allowed to go to Preston North End, might still be playing, and enjoying the success that he earned busting his hump for you here. Let him go, Bob. It would be too cruel to stifle him here.
I agree. Diego will not grow to his full potential if he stays here. He will always be surrounded by incompetent players that won't be able to get him the ball. Unfortunately, I believe he is stuck here until he's 18.
When I wrote of moral choices I was not trying to be sarcastic, or smartass-y. And I know too well that there is often a wide gap between moral choices, and business decisions. Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I don't think that gap needs to apply in this instance. We're talking about a child here. Everyone saw the joy on that kids face when he came onto the pitch. He's young. He loves the game. He's very gifted. Everything he does radiates with the passion that seldom rears it's head in professional sport. He deserves the very best in his development environment. I believe that Mr. Kraft is a good man. I pray that he'll do the right thing by this kid. Let him go.
I know nothing, but I doubt a kid under 18 can enter or be entered into a legally binding contract. Doesn't FIFA have rules about this as well?
I'm more worried about SN. He seems to have a thing about not playing younger players. The kid showed a lot last night and I bet it does NOTHING when it comes to getting him back on the field again. SN's the problem... not the organization in this case
Fagundez has had incredible success at every level he's played, and had incredible success in his first half hour with the big team. There's no reason at all not to play him for the rest of the season. He wants to play, we want to see him play, he'll put fans in the seats, he'll give us more goals -- really, it seems like a no-brainer to me. Let Lekic rot on the bench nursing his toe, and put Fagundez out there with Caraglio. We're playing for the next year at this point anyway.
Agree with this. We've been playing for next year since May when it was clear our signings were busts and this team wasn't going to make the playoffs. Time to bring out the kids. If it were me, I'd play Fagundez + my reserves to see if there was any quality in the system because there's really not much at the big team level.
Listen, I liked what I saw from him last night, but the kid is NOWHERE NEAR ready to play significant MLS minutes.
I'll take Diego over Caraglio....what did he do for 61 minutes....walked, waited for the ball to be played to him, never worked to get himself open, rarely fought for the ball...he's the one we've been waiting for?
I agree. The kid is small and still growing (the size of a HS sophomore). No way he has the musculature (or closed growth plates for that matter) to safely compete against grown men for extended time. Each time he is out there he runs a risk of injury that is higher than average. That is undoubtedly a risk he and his father are happy to take, but not one Nicol should exploit. He should see moderate time (20-30") in games over the rest of the season. He will get stronger and probably bigger over the next two years. Next season he will be better equipped to tolerate the physical tests he will need to pass.....if he does not trial somewhere else first and end up on a youth team in a better league, which is what would likely be better for him.
Bingo. The kid is 125 pounds. Chivas wasn't sure how to handle him, but the next team will actually have video and will learn that it will be pretty easy to physically get him off the ball. Even Feldman made that comment last night.
After Adu's first season he added a significant amount of muscle as he couldn't compete otherwise. I think Diego will likely have to do the same.
I know Chivas sucks, but it can't be *that* hard to figure out that you can muscle a 125 pound player off of the ball. A lot of our recent forwards will back me up on that one.
This. I actually don't want to see him play even that much. Some 16 y.o.'s are ready physically to play a good chunk of minutes, but he's just not there yet. Tough situation for him and the club - I hope they do the right thing and he and his parents understand it.
Watching Deigoal on Saturday was a welcomed breath of fresh air. There was a point where Chivas were moving the ball up the field from their own box and all of the Revs were moving lock-step, in formation. Deigoal was making this amazing off the ball run, moving from left to right through defenders. The Revs are an easy team to defend against, man-mark the 2-3 playmakers and then just zone everyone else and wait for the turnover. We need more brilliant off-the-ball runs if we're going to consistently score from the run of play.
The Uruguayan press has picked up on Diego, and so it's official ... the talk about who will play for has now begun. FWIW, it's in Spanish...
If I bought him a custom Fagundez #9 US Jersey, is there any way the SGs can get it in his hands? Does anyone have a guess at what size he takes?