none of them play with consistency. so I would say that there is no one who is core? There is no one who shouldn't be moved. I say the Union go to the open transfer market, get the best player they can who is not a GK and start to upgrade across the board for all 10 slots or until the money runs out (which is probably just one player).
I'd put Blake instead of Williams - assuming his potential is realized. Even Nogs and Maidana are frustrating me recently... we understand their skills are at a different level to most of the team, but there are not the pieces around them to be effective. Imagine if we had a quick forward that could break out of defense quickly - get the ball to Nogs and have him deliver a pinpoint pass to the speedster. Imagine if we had other skilful forwards who could interchange one-touch passes with Maidana on the edge of the box to carve out chances. The whole team needs to be built as a unit. Skilful individuals need others to play off.
I agree with this. Both Nogueira and Maidana have been pretty invisible and, at worst, poor for most of this season. I'd be fine moving either of them on. In a rebuild, Maidana should be a non-DP bench option. As for Noggy, his issue is that his limited skill set forces us to stick with a 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 regardless of how well it works.
That's why I said "high salary" in my final sentence, but I see I was being unclear. My bad. See, I think that's exactly the wrong way to think about it, and the major problem with how the Union have been operating. I wasn't at all 'hating' Nogueira or Maidana, just saying that they haven't been as consistently engaged as Edu, but receive less criticism on here. More broadly, I'm not convinced that the Union's primary problem has been talent, so I don't think listing the 'core' five players is really productive. Sure, the Union are less talented than Seattle or LA, but you look at rosters like Houston or Montreal this season--you can't tell me that they are just a cut above, man for man. I don't think the Union's roster is wooden spoon worthy, in other words. We have systemic & infrastructure issues here. You drop these same 35 players into almost any other organizational structure in the league (maybe not Colorado or Chicago), and they'd be in the playoff spaces, imo. Put it another way - the best thing we can probably do isn't blow up the roster, it's a version of DC 2013--mix in vets and young guys (like the Edu-Marquez pairing), set up a consistent approach (results be damned), and try to build a foundation for the next few years.
It is a fair point that Maidana and Nogueira have not received fair criticism. Their performances have left much to be desired.
PSP goes to town, on Edu especially. http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2015/06/22/analysis-player-ratings-union-1-5-galaxy/
And I wasn't saying you were. In fact, those were originally two posts that were (helpfully?) merged, cause they were separate thoughts. However, don't go telling me how to rip this team. I'm perfectly capable of ripping them w/o anyone's help. Also everyone else, before the Nogueira sucks narrative train leaves the station, yeah, he sucked the other night. Let's not get carried away that he should go. Arguably the best Union player to ever pull on the kit/jersey/shirt with name and number thingy (it's "arguably" cause I'm arguing it).
He is certainly one of if not the most technically gifted player the Union has ever had. He's been inconsistent this season, though he has been injured for a good portion of it as well (not to mention played out of position due to necessity). Definitely one of the most underrated players in MLS, although that likely has more to do with the fact that the Union as a team are awful. If the Union were higher up the table he'd be getting more recognition.
I'll just come out and say it, he's my favorite player, but he has not had a good season at all. I could try to make excuses, but that's not the point at the moment.
Absolutely worthless evaluation. Yeah the team sucked but just giving the whole team bad ratings is lazy garbage. For example, CJ was good through-out, worked hard even when others quit and scored with almost no service. His hold up play was solid even if there were no runners for him. No way that gets a 4. Nogs is a complementary player. He'll never be one to carry the load. He needs good players around him to excel. Put him on a good team and he's All-league.
This is true, but he had a much better season in 2014, and the Union weren't significantly better last year.
I can really only name 3. Nogueira Chaco Aristeguieta And if I had to pick two more, I go with promising youth. Marquez Pfeffer Edu is too expensive for what he brings. Gaddis has gone downhill this year. Blake is always injured. Le Toux/Casey/Carroll are getting old. Wenger is useless. Sheanon and Fabinho will regress towards the mean. Maybe Ayuk and Jimmy. But...really...a giant pile of "meh."