vote of confidence of morris too. Its was USMNT/MLS fans want to see, Morris is gonna be getting a lot of PT.
Actually Pablo is playing him deeper, either DM or Pivot take your pick. Several stories out on it now too.
Idk if it's as much a vote of confidence as it is smart business. Martins is a 31 year old often injured ST. His value wasn't getting any better. They spjust brought in 2 strikers. It makes too much sense business wise to recoup his original transfer fee.
It is smart business. I'm not so sure that it's smart soccer, though. He was their best and most influential player (including Honey Badger). They haven't been any good without him.
They're definitely gambling a little. But they signed a younger DP striker and brought in Morris. That's too many players up top and China made an offer they couldn't pass up. It doesn't seem like they were offering him up either. Sounds like they got a call and it was just too much to pass up. It also frees up another DP spot for them as they currently have more than 3. I think they'll be ok.
Dempsey was their highest rated player last year. I think they'd be in great shape, and it would allow them to upgrade a position of greater need, but I don't know if Morris fits their more possession-oriented style right now. Morris can get lost in the tight spaces. Maybe they'll still be more than fine with Dempsey and Valdez starting, Morris off the bench. I actually really like what Earnie has done this offseason, and it appears they're not done. They're still actively looking to add to their striker core. I think there's mutual interest between them and Bjorn Maars. They somehow got Ilsinho from Shakhtar to trial with them. Picked up Alberg, Pontius, a few promising high draft picks. Bring back Barnetta, Edu, Nogueira, Marquez, Blake, Fabinho, Sapong, etc. I think they have more talent than most teams. Just depends how quickly it develops and Curtin utilizes it. I don't think he's a good coach. In the first friendly he employed a 4-2-3-1 that was a total mismatch to the personnel. Definitely can't argue with Chicago. Hauptman is a slumlord. Probably not with Colorado either, but they made a great move with the addition of Gashi, and have done a lot of little things which may add up like drop Powers deeper, bring in Pappa at his best position, and add Pfeffer. I also have really liked Kevin Doyle. Have solid defensive personnel too. Wouldn't shock me if they were decent. I'd add that: RSL is oldish at a lot of key spot and under-talented Houston is oldish, slow, and not skilled enough to make up for it DCU looks to be in some trouble w/out Hamid and Kitchen
That would be according to rating system that I would have little trust in. For as long as he's been there, Martins has been the single biggest key to their success, and Alonso the other (until last year), with Dempsey following after those two.
It's proven reliable enough for starters. No rating is gospel. They are both strikers, and from the more classical statistical standpoint to measure their performance: Dempsey had a combined 20 goals + assists (excluding a pk) in 2,042 minutes. That's 1 per 102 minutes. Martins had 19 in 2,105. That's 1 per 111 minutes. Dempsey and Martins were out and they couldn't win, then Martins came back first, and they turned things around somewhat, before a couple games later Dempsey returned. The turnaround also coincided with adding Valdez and Torres. We didn't see how they'd fare with Dempsey, Valdez, Torres and no Martins. That record without just Martins cited skewed perception. They seemed to play it up a lot on ESPN. You yourself cited how they fared without him as an indicator. Beware of the correlation without looking at all the variables involved.
That was but one period without Martins. If you followed what had happened in Seattle over the last few years, losing Martins was generally the difference between success and failure. Dempsey, less so. It passes the eye test, as well. Dempsey didn't create as much nor open the space nearly as much as Martins did, though he scored as prolifically, and both could score all different kinds of goals. In any case, Seattle's success has had an awful lot to do with the fact that generally Sigi could rely on sitting back behind to rather conservative banks of four and allow the two guys up front to do one hell of a lot of damage almost on their own, and the guy who really made that work was Martins. Morris will be unlikely to be able to fill out those shoes soon. Valdez is a different sort and getting older. Seattle will either have to get a lot more creative in the midfield than they have been, or else they'll need to search the world market for a Martins replacement. (The only guys in the league that were clearly better than Martins last year were Sebastian Giovinco and healthy, in-form Drogba. Over the time that he's been here, you could make less clear-cut arguments in favor of Robbie Keane and Thierry Henry, but that's it. His impact has been huge. Top 5 player in the league, certainly. And he was the younger of the pairing.)
I think the sample with Dempsey and without Martins, since Dempsey has been there, has been quite small (10 or less?). And they were heavily that first half season when players are known to struggle coming in midseason. Those results were mixed. This year it was a split vs. Vancouver and draw vs. SKC. That doesn't tell us anything. They were both about as important as the other. Martins the better movement, Dempsey the better passer. Indeed, they blended well. They could still sit deeper to allow Morris to have some space to be played into. If they are going to have Dempsey and Valdez up top, they need to play to them more precisely in tighter spaces. So that's where I think you spend the DP. Not on yet another fw. Already had a surplus there. Should have plenty of cash from China and with their ability to generate revenue at CenturyLink to find an attacking mid. Fun to imagine the possibilities for them.
In terms of impact, Martins has been far more important than Dempsey. Seattle's scheme is based on Martins' movement, which is why they break down when he is not there. Sigi is betting Morris can be a cheaper version of Martins. Great off the ball movement that opens up lanes for people behind him. I hope Morris comes through.
Martins had the greater impact of the two because Seattle's midfield was pretty sub-par. He provided the engine that would have been provided by a good midfield which can be had if Seattle were to add a major piece there.
Making massive upgrades to the midfield is more important than retaining Martin who could only paper over so many cracks. At some point, the cracks need to be mended.
Martins was by far the best in MLS over the last few years at hold-up play. It wasn't really even close when compared to other MLS forwards. I haven't seen as much hold-up play from Morris, but he does have good size to at least attempt similar things. If he could ever reach that level of hold-up play, that'll be a HUGE asset for the national team. Agreed.
The Dynamo have taken in a lot of younger guys this season. Beasley and Clark are the only guys I would consider as getting old at this point but were probably 2 of their best players last year. They are still rebuilding and refitting, but I don't think they'd be classified as old anymore.
more 2017 flavor stuff, but hey, league news is fun for all. We knew Atlanta was in for 2017, but it looks like their expansion buddies will be Minnesota for the 2017 season. LA2 presumably to get another year to get ready. https://www.minnpost.com/glean/2016/02/minnesota-soccer-team-play-mls-2017-under-new-name one year in a temporary stadium; one of the following "in September that the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium and the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field were the best options and Northern Pitch claimed last week that United was leaning toward the former."
Watching the sounders / galaxy preseason game. The sounders look really sharp, I think Joevin Jones will be a great pickup for them. Morris looked good, although he seriously needs to at least attempt to be a bit more 2-footed. The galaxy look disorganized and lazy. Their midfield just keeps getting overrun. Stevie G gets some blame, but Dos Santos has not been particularly great for the Galaxy since signing with them either, he looks a little bit out of shape to me as well. I hope Lletget gets full starting time this season. Dempsey looked sharp as well - showed a lot of usual creativity and was a big catalyst behind the Galaxy's success.
This is why Dempsey and Altidore together didn't work. Drunk and lamppost good/ 2 lampposts or 2 drunks bad.
Roldan was brutal when I saw him last year, but he looked like a different player in this game, destroying and being tidy also. Learning a lot from Alonso. Apparently not a one game transformation because he's been impressing all camp. One to watch at #6 position going forward when we aren't very solidified at it.