"Fioranelli doesn’t expect many transactions in or out of San Jose for the remainder of the window"

Maybe in 2016 they're among the leagues best players but not anymore.
Neither of them are top 15 in their positions

Wondo: J.Martinez, Zlatan, Rooney, BWP, Giovinco, Ruidiaz, Manotas, Nikolic, Hoesen, Altidore, Zardes, Rubio, Diomande, Dwyer, O.Kamara
Godoy: Chara, Adams, Schweinsteiger, Bradley, Kaye, Taider, Ring, Sanchez, Espinoza, Roldan, Artur, Trapp, Remedi, Gressel, Nagbe, Canouse, McCarty, KAcosta, Gruezo, Cabezas, Bedoya, Alonso

But I agree a good coach can utilize them effectively

 

Yeah, the Vega signing is interesting and potentially fills a hole for us, but it really doesn’t move the seismometer that much...

 

If you think about Almeyda watching last year’s team, what were the biggest issues he would have noticed?

Goal keeper with poor confidence who can’t organize the defense in front of him and who is a disaster in distribution.

Terrible defense at left back.

Soft defense in front of the back four (#6 position)

Poor team speed in key positions.

The Quakes have addressed all 4 of those issues with a limited amount of roster turnover. Maybe Almeyda thinks that’s good enough with what he has to work with.

 

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I am most defintely welcomed to believe how good Vako is. I actually think he's quite good, and I actually think he's quite better than your idol Salinas. How about that? And about him winning 4 lousy games, how about the other DP, Wondo? How many games did he won for us? Exactly, 4 lousy games. You do know that Wondo and Vako are low-end DPs right? Do you have any idea how the league has progressed? DPs under $2M are good players, but they are not game changers anymore.

If your opinion is that the WHOLE team suck, then you need to stick to that, instead of dragging out Vako every damn single time.

Wondo is a bright star? He has less goals in the run of play than Vako and Hoesen, and barely one more assist than Hoesen and the same assist number as Vako. Vako and Hoesen are better players than Wondo this season, period.

And maybe old age has eluded you, but Wondo did win an MLS Cup

 

I believe our team is too hard-working and blue-collar for Dario Benedetto, for anyone that is higher than $1.6M salary, in fact.

 

Yeah I remember that Salinas game winner. Loved it.

But you may have forgotten 2018's Clasico then? You know, the one where we were getting pasted 3-1 by the Gals before Vako bangs in the 2nd goal to cut our deficit to 3-2 before the half.

And then Wondo puts in the PK to tie the game, enabling our team to save face in front of 50k fans. Did you remember how the PK was awarded? That's right! Vako slashed through 4 defenders to approach the box and passed to Hoesen, who got clipped in the box, and the PK was awarded. Without Vako's Herculean effort that game, we would have been embarassed by the Gals.

Yes, he didn't win us the game. But as far as I'm concerned, the loss of a sure 2 points gain is what eventually knocked the Gals from getting that last playoff spot. And it wouldn't have happened without Vako's heroics.
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Not happening. I recommend whiskey, in quantity.

Go Quakes!!
2019 will be crap too!!

- Mark

 

Those were definitely not the only issues.

One of the biggest issues was a lack of a consistent, high-quality chance creator.
Team,Player with most Key Passes on Team,Key Passes Per Game
SKC,Zusi,1.84
SEA,Lodeiro,3.62
LAFC,Vela,3
DAL,Diaz,3.5
POR,Valeri,3.18
RSL,Rusnak,2.42
---
LA,Alessandrini,1.77
VAN,Felipe,1.9
HOU,Martinez,1.78
MIN,Quintero,3
COL,Castillo,1.39
SJ,Eriksson,1.84* Vako had 1.67

Almost all of the Western conference teams to make the playoffs had a player with >2 key passes per game and SKC, the exception, had multiple players around Zusi's numbers(Russel, Espinoza, Felipe Gutierrez). And all of the teams below the playoff line have <2 key passes per game with the outlier being Quintero. This effect is much less noticeable in the East, because ALL teams except Chicago had a player with >2 key passes per game. Some would prefer a #9 but we had 3 players with 10+ goals. This might be Wondo's last season with 1000+ minutes, I would have loved to see what he can do with a true chance creator behind him.

Keep in mind I'm not trying to criticize Vako, I see him as more of a second forward than an attacking midfielder, like Giovinco. Toronto won the MLS Cup and cemented a place as one of the best MLS teams only after adding a deep-lying playmaker, Victor Vazquez, to help take the load off Giovinco.

Additionally we could have really used a center back like Atlanta's Gonzalez Pirez that is fast, good at passing, and good at aerials for set-pieces or at least two of them. I'm still unsold about the Kashia/Cummings pairing or the Kashia/Cummings/Jungwirth pairing if we go 3 ATB. You even were commenting on how Montgomery would help us move to a 3 CB formation.

 

Yeah, there were more issues but I suspect the big problems at center back were mostly due to poor defense right in front of them and poor communication from the keeper behind them. They got easily isolated on players when they shouldn’t have. Some guys with less speed in the midfield (looking at you Magnus!) did not get back to help on counter attacks. I would have drafted Montgomery over Haji but maybe Almeyda thinks Haji can make the key passes you referenced the Quakes were missing.

The Quakes were never in good enough positions to make key passes because their build up was TOO SLOW. Magnus was a major cause of this because he preferred to draw fouls instead of working with quick passing combinations. I suspect that Almeyda will have the ball cycling MUCH FASTER than Stahre did.

 

Jesse has too many bad contracts on the books for players that are not MLS starting quality and that is limiting MA’s roster ...

Magnus
Quiberg
Afolter
Godoy
Marie
Vako
Kashia
Tarbell
Flo

And probably too many young players that won’t see first team minutes for 2 or 3 seasons...

Which all combines to bad news for MA’s first season, unfortunately.

 

This first season will or maybe should most likely be about changing the culture. So if any of these players are not amenable to the culture change they will, hopefully, end up as bench warmers.

 

ahh yes, the rebuilding years. that's gonna fire the good folks up and get them season tix flying off the shelves.

 

Many of the folks on that list are a waste of a roster spot. I think that Vako could be really good, under the right circumstances. Kashia is too slow. Affolter has only ever had one good game for us, and he ought to be out of contract by now, but I guess not. Godoy was dreadful last season, and even an improved Godoy isn't going to save us.

Godoy signed a multi-year contract after the 2017 season, so two years at least? Maybe three? Don't know.

I said earlier in this thread that I don't think we can compete this coming season, and I still don't. The Vega signing is an important move in the right direction, but unless he's a top five GK in the league, he won't be good enough. (Because our defense is horrible.)

We need more than just a mentality reset. We need for our guys to be more fit. How can you show to pre-season camp in less that peak fitness? And we need new strategies and tactics. We need a sea change in culture and performance, and I don't see that happening with four or five new players. If Vega, Lopez, Espinosa, and Judson all start, that's four new guys out of eleven, and then if we have to sub one of them ... we're back to the old stable.

I want to see our younger players get a lot of minutes because we'll need for them to be good in 2020, and 2019 is not likely to be a hugely successful season in any case.

Go Quakes!!
We're going to suck, again!

- Mark

 

almost 90% of folks in here agree, the current roster is not acceptable. that’s a lot. I wonder if such things even matter to Fisher and his cohorts?

 

When it is your money that paid for them, the investment caries more weight than the fans'. Ownership consider fans to be PT Barnum's fools.

 

just seems so self-defeating and short-sighted to me...seems obvious you have to make some big player moves, even if you're coming at this from a purely business point of view and really don't care about winning anything. I mean bringing in big time players is the best way to signal intent, boost your marketability and sell season tix which is the life blood of any healthy MLS team. anyway...maybe Matias is the motivational guru everyone thinks and we can make some progress with a few minor roster tweaks...I doubt it but we will soon see.

 

Our team ownership and leadership live in a constant state of belief that the guys they have signed will be good enough. That this Vako dude will be a great player in our league and that they have found a great player for cheap. (Substitute for Vako the player of the year, whoever he is or was.)

We make too many high risk signings without ever investing in a blue chip player.

Oh and the life blood of the league is TV contracts. Sure, butts in the seats are a very big help, but it's the sponsorships and merchandise and TV contracts that make the big bucks, and there is some level of profit sharing. So it's possible to run a team on the cheap and still do well financially.

And I don't really blame Vako for us sucking. He's not really good enough to carry our team and that's what we need from him. Florian was great when we first got him, but like everyone else, he had a bad year last year.

Yes, we need to sign better players, but I don't think we have to make "big player" moves, we just need to increase the quality on the field and good coaching should make us competitive. Right now, I doubt that we are competitive.

Go Quakes!!
Have I mentioned this terrible pain in all the diodes on my left side?

- Mark

 

You were on a roll until you put Vako on your list. Not starting quality? LOL. Kashia could be solid on a good team, but we aren't a good team.

Ignoring your mistake with Vako and possibly Kashia, your message is correct. We have too many players who are either average MLS starters or can't contribute off the bench.

It just means that MA's task is harder and he needs to develop a team which is greater than the sum of it's parts.

 

Are people taking into consideration that the team might be hamstrung with guaranteed contracts? You can’t really bring players in if your roster is already full and you are up against the salary cap.

Speaking of the salary cap, because the cost of living is so high in this area, I noticed that many of the Quakes average players are making more than other teams. In other words, the Quake’s cap is skewed and that hurts their ability to bring in the higher end guys.

And what would we expect Almeyda to say? “Yeah, these really aren’t the players I want”. Of course he’s going to try and pump everyone up.

 

don't you think Fisher could find a way to bring in an impact DP if he wanted? Maybe Wondo could vacate his DP slot without losing pay? Magnus at $400k, is he locked into a DP slot if he stays? DP salaries are not related to salary cap. I'm sure there's plenty of room for financial creativity if we were really looking to substantially upgrade our roster even though, as you point out, many of these guys are locked in. I have a feeling we're going to learn that spending on players stayed flat despite last season and all these years of futility.

 

A fraction - I think the first $500K or so? - counts against the cap, after that it doesn't, and the owner has to eat that cost.

So there is a hit. Also, the salary cap can only be manipulated so much. We could buy down Wondo's salary using GAM (or is it TAM?) to free up a DP spot. That's easily within reach. Magnus is a different issue. If his transfer fee has to count, then he's a DP no matter what. Vako's salary is so high that we probably can't buy down his salary with our play money ducats.

Fisher could have just spent way more on a better DP instead of getting Vako or Magnus. At this juncture, we might be in a bind.

Incidentally, Chris Leitch is alleged to be an expert and using the MLS rules to maximize our spending. (Presumably, he doesn't get much say in who we sign.)

In any case, we're pretty well screwed for this season, UNLESS we manage to trade or sell Magnus. )And that assumes that we can jettison his salary along with his cleats.)

GO Quakes!!
We're going to lick!

- Mark

 

I agree with you 100%.

 

I also read somewhere, most likely in BS, that the MLS rules make it very hard to have a large turnover. Your examples are pretty much spot on if I am remembering the info correctly.

 

Just want to reiterate what Mark said. DP salaries are absolutely related to the salary cap, and in a very significant way. It was originally a 500k hit, but I think it's been dropped down to somewhere between 300 and 400, since they added the number of DP slots allowed per team over time. While that cost is insignificant to Fisher, and he could spend tens of millions of dollars outside of that for a DP player if he wanted to, that first several hundred thousand dollars is the most significant since it impacts what can be done with the rest of the roster.

And you can't just buy down a player's salary if you don't have allocation money to do it with. There is a finite amount of it spread among the teams in order to obtain or retain. The true spending on rosters has gone up quite a bit while the salary "cap" per team has not gone up all that much in the last ten years relatively. I think we're reaching the point where MLS will finally raise the actual cap substantially, but MLS prefers mechanisms like allocation money because a few individual players can make a bit more money (and thus satisfy the players enough to agree to the bargaining agreement) while keeping overall costs on players quite suppressed.

This is why I've advocated for the Quakes using their ability to buy out Eriksson's contract (assuming they had another player they wanted to and could sign in his place) since the cost of buying out the contract is pretty small for Fisher, but has a huge impact on the construction of the team. Honestly, teams should be using their ability to buy out contracts whenever they get the opportunity (which is only once per season right now, unfortunately).

We're nearing February, and Eriksson isn't gone, which means there's now far less time to move him somewhere else and even less time to sign a player in his place. While I haven't been particularly impressed with any of the team's signings this offseason so far, the commitment to Eriksson is by far the biggest disappointment.