From our beloved Dispatch this morning: He's sticking with the Monza story. I'd love to know the details because I have at least three emails from people connected with the club who say they never heard of him, and his name doesn't appear anywhere on either the official club website or any of the three supporter's sites. http://www.dispatch.com/crew/crew.php?story=dispatch/news/sports02/aug02/1420029.html And Greg says it appears unlikely that we're going to get a defender in before the deadline. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they've been supposedly looking for a defender since last October. You can't tell me there isn't SOMEBODY out there.
I liked Greg's comment about it being less than fifty-fifty that Columbus will sign a defender by Thursday's deadline. Meanwhile, MetroStars win yet another weighted lottery and grab U-23 defender Nelson Akwari. Not to imply that things are rigged, but just to show that somebody is grabbing defenders.
Does anybody know how the Metros won this lottery and got their hands on Akwari? I suppose it's that nonsense again about how the team has player over the last couple of seasons or something? Teams with current poor records get better players before teams with better records if the league is going for this whole parity thing?
Has anyone seen any reports as to what other teams were in that "weighted" lottery. I saw the soccer365 report and they didn't mention it. You would hope at elst the crew made an effort to get this guy if he was on our youth national teams. You would think it'd be worth a shot. As for Matteo, does anyone expect this guy to see time for the Crew in the next month. Given their history of having Torres sit the final month for all but 10 minutes, and Garcia only seeing garbage time until injuries forced him in I would not be suprised if Matteo didn't see time for a while. The positive I guess is taht he trained with the Crew after the draft so maybe he knows at least some of the ins and outs of Andrulis' complicated schemes. I remember freezing my ass off cursing the kid when he scored against IU in college cup, but I was too cold to remember more. If he is teh real deal as Bill sugegsted before it can't be too bad of a signing at all. The only thing that worries me is the thought that we have Martino, Mais, Pelusa, Matteo, Oughton, Denton, Harkes, and West in the midfield all rotating. Not one of these guys is a big Vierra type or a bulldog type who would just take out your leg if you messed with him. We just seem a bit undersized out in midfield. I know its not EPL or basketball, but God do we look small out there.
At this stage of the game I wouldn't even want a defender signed "for this year". This season will be decided with players currently on the roster. Even Akwani may have trouble getting into the lineup for the MetroScum this late in the season. And for those worried about the signing, Akwani plays for the U23 Nationals. So did Dunseth and McCarty, plus they were co-captains of that team. Only time on the MLS pitch will tell how good or bad this kid is when compared to his peers in the league.
Boy, now THERE'S a shock. MLS held a secret lottery and GOLLY GEE WHIZ The Metros won it. What is this now, 20 in a row. Forget soccer, these guys need to move to Vegas or start buying Powerball tickets or something. What an unbelieveable crock of crap.
Don't forget that Garcia is intended to be on the left side of the midfield formation (whatever the hell that is supposed to be). I think in the offseason, we need to do some housekeeping. Here is our current roster... we have 1 open roster spot. We need to sort things out, get a firm 11 and firm subs... stop this rotation crap! Buddle, Edson (P-40) Busch, Jon Clark, Mike Cunningham, Jeff Denton, Eric Dunseth, Brian Garcia, Freddy (GC) Harkes, John Leitch, Chris (Dev) Maisonneuve, Brian Martino, Kyle (P-40) Matteo, Jeff (Dev) McBride, Brian McCarty, Chad Oughton, Duncan (SI) Perez, John Wilmar (SI) Presthus, Tom Torres, Daniel (SI) Warzycha, Robert (GC) Washington, Dante West, Brian Can we get Warzycha to become just a coach and not a player? Can we get some better defenders and make some of the current starters definsive subs, rather than using the Polish Peeshooter? Can we assume that MLS is never going to let McBride go and trade a forward away? Where will Matteo fit in and who's spot will he take?
I certainly don't have answers to all of your posits, but I'll take a shot in the dark at these here: - I think this is it for Bobby Rifle. They kept him on the roster at least partly because they were able to finagle his salary and he was very easy on the cap. It didn't take Bruce Arena to see that he was pretty ineffective this season. (BTW, I don't think it's really at all classy the way everybody heaps on the guy. He was a major contributor in the past and he wants to make this area his home. Is he over the hill? Of course he is; but in sports, as a rule, when solid contributors stick around past their time you try not to crucify them the way some of you have. That's New York style, not ours) If your criticism is that he has been used when somebody else should have been, possibly you have a point, but dumping on the guy is, as I said, just classless. Let's give him a fond farewell, without all the shameful hysterics some of you heaped on strong, respected contibutors like Lapper. - Apparently, KK, we CAN'T in fact get "some better defenders." In the time since we bombed out of the playoffs to SJ last year because we couldn't defend against U 12 girls let alone those guys, we have come up with nothing but the dregs of the leftovers from the reentry draft. Not one, NOT ONE defender has been brought in. Nobody. Nada. Zilch. Unless you count Leitch, but while I respect the hell out of what he's done, Carlos Llamosa he ain't. I'm not sure a trade is the way to go. There is a real paucity of high quality defenders you could get for anything much we could offer. I think we've got to go the discovery route. Just my opinion. - I think Matteo is a year away at least. Whatever it is he's been doing, it AIN'T playing highly competitive soccer in a strong league. Martino, despite the howls around here, has probably been used about right. He's a kid for God's sake, who's not really ready for prime time. Break 'em in slow is the only sensible way to go. Yes, he shows some brilliance sometimes, but he also gets embarassed sometimes. Greg has protected him, as he should. Garcia is a different issue. If he can't play, then we dump him and move on. He's been a pro, has played at the top levels internationally. If he needs to get broken in slowly, then he isn't what we were told he was.
We did not need to sign Akwari. I've been wanting our front office to get an older defender that can direct the play on the back line better. The older defender would be someone like Llamosa, or even a Pope or (God forbid) Agoos. We NEED someone that was alive when "Different Strokes" wasn't only seen in re-runs. We play better with Clark in the game. We have youth, now we need some direction. There has to be an older defender we can use for 2-3 years until our "Little Rascals" can grow up a little. We do have that Discovery pick...
I was a fan of his until last season. It was then that I realized he needs to do something else other than play. He is a smart man and was an excellent ball player, but I will continue to bash him until he resigns as a player and becomes more productive either to the Crew's cause, or in his own life.
I bash him only for the fact I can't stand player/coachs. It's not fair to everybody else. I've had to deal with a player/coach before in a summer league, and it isn't good. I'm not saying Bob does any of this, but you end up with problems of biased decisions, one perspective views of players (including self), and the fact that a lot of players won't be critical or try to correct a player/coach... they'll just grumble about him behind his back. Yes, I think Bob is past his prime and doesn't contribute much. Is he due some respect for his career, yes. Does he do his team justice in his current role, no. I have no personal problems with the guy, but I can't stand the kind of situation we're in with him. I hope he has the honor to retire as a player after this season and help us through coaching, using his knowledge and experiences to help out our numerous youngsters.
FWIW: I saw Matteo play in last year's NCCA semi's against SMU in Dallas, and he was clearly the class of both teams. Great ball control, speed, very very good vision in finding the open man, and the touch to get the ball there. Whether this translates to an MLS career, I don't know, but he was the guy I noticed that night.
so you're telling me we can't even fill an 18 man roster?!?!?! We can't find 18 decent players?Fuuuuuuuuuuck that!
Jeff has been busier than we thought; somehow, according to uslsoccer.com, he apparently played most of the D3 season with the Westchester (NY) Flames (No comment). The commute back and forth to Italy must have been a bitch. But soccer365 quotes him as being "really delighted" to "finally" be part of the Crew. (Despite, of course, doing everything in his power to avoid being an MLS coolie) Of course, as a "developmental player" he can be paid no more than $1000 a month, but money isn't everything, right? BTW, does COTA run out to Obetz? And can somebody give Jeff a lift to the stadium? Still, it's hard to blame a college graduate (St Johns) for wanting to out-earn the guys who stock shelves overnight at Big Bear. As for the size issue, check him out yourself; he will supposedly be in uniform on Wednesday in CBus, wearimg #23.
In this morning's Dispatch there's an article about Chris Leitch. The article mentions that developmental players can earn up to half the MLS minimum of $25,000 (I think that's what they listed) and, perhaps even more terrifying, developmental contracts are month-to-month. So, not only do these guys have to work bake sales before the match just to earn some extra cash they have the added benefit of not knowing if they'll stick through two consecutive months. Perhaps the Crew should lease/buy a big passenger van to haul their developmental guys around town.
Bergin over at ussocceruk.com has him as wearing # 24 tonight. http://www.ussocceruk.com/modules.p...le=article&sid=45&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Check out what the Richmond Kickers have now... http://www.richmondkickers.com/sleeperbus.htm Now that's travel. ------------ BWG Richmond, VA
this may be optimistic, but: Leitch-Dunseth-Torres-? Oughton Matteo Denton Martino Cunny-Buddle I'm still particularly interested in what JB Nusum is doing, a friend of mine that has seen him play in the A, says that he's been doing pretty well. I think the major question is though, in two years time, is this a championship caliber team? I think it could be close.
It's amazing to me that two starters have a combined salary of 38,000 (martino and matteo). Then you throw in Dunc, and that total only jumps to around 70k, throw in buddle, and we're now at around 100k. I don't know about any of you out there but I don't ever want to hear about us being close to the salary cap. Not only that but if I'm not mistaken P40 and Dev contracts don't count towards the salary cap, so that 100k is lower than that.
I cannot believe I'm about to say this.... But a GM that can get 4 starters for $25K a piece must be doing something right. Now, if he'd just dump the Columbian
I would agree with you but I think the league is the one dolling out the contracts, but I'm sure he does have some influence, so I'm really not trying to discount what you've said. You know what else is great, the bulk of the team that is contributing, weren't first round picks. Martino, Buddle, Matteo (if he works out), Leitch. I think if I were those guys I'd be asking for a little raise this offseason, and I can't blame them. Nothing extreme, just a couple of extra thousand.