Half Day Trade Window

I could have sworn I read somewhere that Kenwyne was hanging up the boots. Guess not.

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...referral&utm_content=news&utm_campaign=unpaid

Who would you pick if you were LAFC? If it were me...

Josh Williams (Crew) or Jonathan Mensah (Crew)

Eric Alexander (Houston) or Jalil Anibaba (Houston)

Luis Gil (Rapids)

Jack McInerney (Galaxy)

Miguel Ibarra (Minnesota)

Chris Tierney (Revolution)

Khiry Shelton (NYCFC)

Mike Grella (NYRB), Sal Zizzo (NYRB) or Dilly Duka (NYRB)

Chris Seitz (FC Dallas)

Dillon Powers (Orlando)

Raymon Gaddis (Union), or Chris Pontius (Union)

Amobi Okugo (Portland)

Yura Movisyan (RSL)

Marco Urena (San Jose)

Drew Moor (Toronto)

Sheanon Williams (Whitecaps)

....and our most endangered players, IMO

Kevin Kratz
Chris McCann
Jacob Peterson

....if I was LAFC, my 5

#1 Miguel Ibarra *Should be a starter*
#2 Yura Movsisyan *Potential Star or bust*
#3 Eric Alexander *would be an impact utility mid*
#4 Drew Moor *Break up TFC and add experience*
#5 Josh Williams *back up; could start anywhere on back line*

Note, McCann might not go because of his hefty salary hit. Kratz is in real jeopardy, in my eyes, but if I were LAFC, I’d go with Alexander, as he brings life experience.

 

Steve Beitashour and Eric Alexander are two free agents, I would like to sign. Neither are “star” quality, but they will offer us some depth.

 

What does everyone think of the Nagbe rumors? I love him as a player, just not sure where he plays if we are also bringing in Barco, though maybe this puts a halt on the Barco stuff. Also bringing him in means less minutes for Carleton since they likely will play the same position.

 

There's a lot of chatter about Nagbe playing the #8 holding midfielder role while Carmona slides over to the #6. Thus the silence on any contract movement with Larentowicz who is 34. With the moves that are being made, AUFC will have speed and ball-handling all over the pitch, with the exception of Parky who's there to be a coach on the field.

As for Carlton, he's an attacking midfielder, so if Nagbe plays more of a holding midfielder role, it won't affect Carlton. That said, he's still only 17. Look for him to get most of his minutes with the reserve USL team this year, while making a few appearances with the senior club here and there, especially in Open Cup games.

Also, I would not assume this means the Barco deal is off. Still waiting until the 2nd leg of the Sudamericana final takes place on Wednesday. After that, we'll probably hear something one way or the other. For now, no news is good news.

 

If the rumor is correct, that's ALOT of (funny) money for him.

http://www.espn.com/soccer/major-le...ar-trade-for-timbers-darlington-nagbe-sources

Sources told ESPN FC's Jeff Carlisle that in exchange for Nagbe, Portland will receive $750,000 in general allocation money, $300,000 in targeted allocation money, and an additional $500,000-$600,000 in incentive-based compensation.According to the data from the MLS Players Union, Nagbe made $565,000 in guaranteed compensation in 2017, but sources confirmed to ESPN FC that he recently asked for a raise that would see his salary top $1 million. Portland balked, and that was the catalyst for exploring a deal.
Arokoyo ruptured his Achilles tendon in preseason last year and has yet to recover, and Atlanta is expected to buy out the remainder of his contract, which paid him $155,600 in guaranteed compensation in 2017.

2,370,600-2,805,600

 

But Nagbe isn't a holding midfielder so it doesn't make sense. Nagbe only tracks back when forced to and he is too small to be a ball winner. I'd much rather take another year of JL at his salary than buy Nagbe to play defense. It makes more sense to have Nagbe in the #8 and put Carmona in the #6.

All that said, I don't rate Nagbe in either role (6 or 8). Anytime he has played in the middle for the US (I admittedly don't watch much of the Timbers), he gets lost in the wash and isn't effective. I'd rather have him high up on the wing taking on defenders with less defensive responsibilities.

But I still don't think it's a good buy. It is a lot of "funny money" plus he supposedly wants $1 million a year which puts him in DP territory thus possibly hindering the Barco deal.

 

Too small is probably the wrong term especially if we are just talking height which is not what I meant. By small, from what I have seen, he plays like a gnat as a defensive mid, he gets in and irritates, but ultimately, gets swatted away and is ineffective. The guys listed above are more like door stoppers that are jammed between the door and the floor, they are diminutive in size, but do the job and block the door.

Btw, I believe the average defensive mid is much larger than 5'9". Busquets is 6'2", Matic is 6'4", Wanyama is 6', Casemiro is 6'1", etc. That said, I am not smart enough to know if it really matters how tall a defensive mid is. Basically, are Kante and Makalele (though arguably the best ever) the exceptions to the rule or are they the ideal?

 

I could go either away.

In theory, he makes sense for our system. A ball circulator who can connect the defense to offense.

That said, Nagbe has some possible personality issues, that I’m cautious of investing that much in him. He’s often very timid and inconsistent. Now, when he’s on, he’s capable of being the best player on the field. But the problem is he’ll go missing...a lot. Plus, he’s not strong defensively.

This makes me hate the salary cap though.

 

Now that we have resigned Larentowitcz, I don't see where Nagbe fits in unless the Barco deal falls through (which after reading the Goal.com story, I don't see how we get Barco). Resigning Larry and bringing Nagbe for either the 6 or 8 means we are filling up spaces that could be/should be used to groom Gressel and Goslin.

 

Atlanta United officially acquires Darlington Nagbe in record-breaking deal

 

I hope we haven't made a mistake not getting Barco instead.

 

The announcers of the Sudamericana final tonight said that it was Barco's last game with Indepeniente and he has been sold to Atlanta United for $12 million. After Barco scored on a penalty shot, he laid on the ground crying, a clear indication that he knew this was his last game. Unless a big European club steals him away at the last minute, all signs point to him heading to ATL.

Meanwhile, AUFC re-signed Larentowicz and rebuffed inquiries from the Chilean club about Carmona.

But I don't think people are understanding the Nagbe deal. It's a good thing, not a bad one, that we now have a ton of options at all three levels. Nagbe can play either wing or holding midfielder whereas Larentowicz can slide between midfield and center-back. Nagbe, Carmona, and Big Red will all see a ton of minutes simply so we can rest players, sub for injuries, yellow cards, etc. Plus, you may see one lineup in the first half when we are trying to grab the lead and a different lineup in the second half when we are trying to protect that lead, or visa versa.

Plus, keep in mind that Larentowicz is 34 (will turn 35 mid-season), Carmona's contract expires next December, and Almiron could be sold by next summer, forcing a wing to slide over to the #10 spot (Barco perhaps?). Point being, we could have vacancies at 3 positions in the starting 11 by this time next year. Nagbe can play 2 of those 3 positions and will be around for several years to come. But if we waited a year, Nagbe wouldn't have been available to us. If we wanted him, the time to make the deal was now. This is also why we put down a $1.7 million deposit on Lucas Rodriquez as we'll need him too.

 

It's not a matter of one vs. the other. We used allocation money to acquire Nagbe whereas Barco would be a young DP where only $150K would count towards the cap. His massive transfer fee and salary would be funded by AUFC, not the league.

Nothing official yet, but several media outlets in both the US and Argentina continue to claim that Barco has been sold to AUFC for $12 million, plus a percentage of his future transfer fee (est. $14-16 million total). Hopefully, the deal gets finalized tomorrow without some big European club stealing him away at the last minute.

Since I don't think he'd be a starting 11 player in Europe just yet, my guess is no European club will spend $16 million, plus a $multi-million annual salary, in the winter transfer window on an 18-year old player that would need a few years of development before he saw the field with them. His suitors will be content to let AUFC make the big investment and assume the risk on him now, while European teams could bid on him later, when he enters the prime years of his career, if he proves to be a star.

Keep in mind that what AUFC is paying for Barco would be a record transfer fee for about half the teams in Europe. Insanely expensive deals like the ones both Barca and PSG made for Neymar cause people to forget that.

 

Still nothing. The last thing I read (couple days ago) was that Independiente was trying to get Barco to stay. They can't keep him!
These minnow SA clubs and their pie/sky aspirations...

 

One more minor thing... are Gressel and Larentowicz the only non-defenders we have over 5'10"? For all our awesomeness with the ball on the floor, we haven't been much to look at on set pieces or corners.

 

Latest news isn't great, but he's still in-play.

Barco's coach and the administration at Independiente are trying to convince him to stay and not come to MLS. He's under contract until June 2019 and they are trying to convince him that bigger offers will eventually come from Europe. There were even rumors that Atletico Madrid was interested, but that turned out to be false.

Since ATL UTD is willing to pay his $12 million release clause, Independiente can't force him to stay, but they are making their pitch, trying to convince him to wait on bigger offers so they can retain him for another season.

That said, the credible reports that I can find still make it sound more likely than not that he'll come to ATL as Independiente can't come close to matching the salary Barco would command in ATL and he can just as easily be sold to Europe later-on from ATL. Here's an article on it...

http://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-t...el-barco-stay-amid-atlanta-united-speculation

 

Yeah, that's the article I read.

I'm making myself sick about this.

We need Barco. I don't want next season to even be competitive. I want the other 22 franchises to feel like they have no shot. I want us so far out in front that there won't be a chance of a Columbus coming in and stealing a lose-and-out match against a tired AUFC.

 

That and we need a right back.

 

Do we still have Walkes, or has he gone back to Spurs? That would answer a lot of questions for me.

Tata appears to be building depth in defense without regard for whether SB or CB- if I may guess, he's more concerned about their ability to go forward on the right. Garza stays home more often, and opponents won't be able to get behind the RB unless they have the ball. Our speed and possession (and anticipation; see Larentowicz and Gressel. As much as I thought JL was reckless in the first third of the season, that recklessness intimidated a lot of opposing midfielders) keep a lot of potential disasters from happening.

Walkes was not a defensive liability, but while he wasn't greatgreatgreat going forward, he improved a lot over the season in attack, and I don't recall him getting caught up front trailing a counter or being dispossessed a lot. He's 20. He'll be a solid attacking RB by June if he stays in this system and plays regularly. I don't even know that Tata intends to even try to start Hernandez (young). Maybe is plan is for Escobar to step in at RB if we don't have Walkes, or maybe he's better going forward, I don't know.

But you're right- ATM, we don't have a dedicated RB. But think about it this way... we didn't have one for most of last season and it turned out to be either a strength or a wash. Hell, he'd probably try going forward on both sides if Garza weren't so great in the back.