I tend to agree. He's low-risk (he could start or play first backup striker for a reasonable salary), and both teams already have a marquee guy playing underneath that they probably want to pair with a piano mover. In other news, Michael Stephens is back from Norway and signed with Chicago. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...phens-returns-mls-signs-hometown-chicago-fire
If Fagundez was the prize of those not protected, why not give allocation so they don't choose any of your players? Thus Mullin and Nueman will not get selected.
Well, either that's an as-yet-unpublicized part of the deal, or the asking price to leave ALL Revs players untouched was more than NE wanted to pay.
Mullins has the potential to be a good MLS striker with a goood midfield behind him. He won't be the number one at Orlando or NY, but he still might be able to make a Zardes or Wenger type leap next season.
MLS 3.0 next season is going to be much more fun with Kaka and Villa/Lampard playing with American guys like Okugo next to them. Pretty cool. And hopefully a less crappy Fire team. Other headlines like which young rookie/HG will have a break through year like Shipp or Serna. Can't wait
Hopefully Mullims and Mark Sherrod land in good spots next season. Both are talented strikers. Is Jorge Villafana out of contract? I see his name on the List. Can Okugo take that next step?
I don't know Villafana's contract status, but in my estimation, he's one of the best true left-sided players on the unprotected list, and both teams are going to need a couple of those, which means that I'll be surprised if he's not selected. He stood out to my eye as being a notable potential mistake on Portland's part. I'm HUGELY curious if anybody's going to take a bite at either EJ's or Cahill's DP salaries. Both DC and NY I'm sure would be tickled if someone did.
He could move an hour south to Philly and fit right in with Connor done and Ribeiro still green. I wonder if he doesn't prefer to hook up for big bucks in the Gulf before retiring.
Solid leftback options on The List: Remnick, Villafana, Ashe Outstanding CB options: Opare, Soares, Horst, Berry Proven GK options: MacMath, Attinella Decent RB picks: Barnes, Wynne(would rather see him get run at rm though) No excuses for not having a solid backline to start '14.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...-new-york-city-fc-orlando-city-sc-build-out-r The picks for each team in order: Orlando SC: Donovan Ricketts (Portland) Tony Cascio (Colorado) Jalil Anibaba (Seattle) Pedro Ribeiro (Philadelphia) Lewis Neal (DC) Jairo Arrieta (Columbus) Heath Pearce (Montreal) Danny Mwanga (Colorado) Mark Sherrod (Houston) Eric Gehrig (Columbus) NYCFC: Ned Grabavoy (RSL) Patrick Mullins (New England) Jason Hernandez (SJ) Daniel Lovitz (Toronto) Tony Taylor (New England) Mehdi Ballouchy (Vancouver) George John (Dallas) Thomas McNamara (DC) Sal Zizzo (SKC) Chris Wingert (RSL) Not at all surprised to see Jason Kreis pick up his former "glue guy" Ned Grabavoy, which is the pick of the draft, IMO. Not surprised that Mullins and Sherrod both got selected, either. What puzzles me is that not one of those LB's that we'd talked about got selected (Pearce and Wingert were both selected, however), and that Orlando used their first pick, first overall on Donovan Ricketts right after trading for Tally Hall. I'm guessing that Heath Pearce is their new LB, a former USMNTer now on his third MLS side in 3 seasons, even after consistently starting for the other two.
Re: George John, I'm told he had arthroscopic right knee surgery in Oct. Out until April. Full recovery expected. #NYCFC— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) December 10, 2014 Last bit re: George John. Dr. Bert Mandelbaum (#lagalaxy doc, ex-#usmnt doc) perf surgery suggesting big diff of opinion w/#fcdallas staff.— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) December 10, 2014 Found this really interesting on an old forgotten flavor
He could be a really great find off the scrap pile (near the bottom of the draft order, too). Or, he could continue to be a piece of glass. Either way, it's a good low-risk, potential high-reward pick, IMO.
Pearce is in his 30s and played overwhelmingly at CB this year. Perhaps he'll move outside again, but that's not a guarantee. Will they be able to bring down John's salary? If not, then his cap hit is a potential problem.
Perhaps notably, they grabbed three players with local ties. Lovitz isn't from far away, either (north of Philly).
Collin is one CB starter, guaranteed. The other is in the air. It could be Pearce, or Pearce could be their LB. From listening to OCSC fans, one of their key guys is their LB, but I have a feeling they're going to be disappointed if they expect any of their USL guys to be anything more than fill-in. A couple players have managed to stick around in MLS after club "promotion" but off the top of my head I can think of only one that has managed regular playing time.
Me too. Nevertheless, Matt Doyle makes a good case for him here: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...iker-system-and-shot-new-york-red-bulls-nycfc "Man without a spot, right? In most formations, the answer is yes. In the diamond, however, Ballouchy should be an excellent shuttler, a guy who does a little of everything I listed above, but whose first job is to keep possession. Ballouchy has always done that extraordinarily well, and will continue to do so for the next few years." He makes the case that Kreis is looking to play the diamond with NYCFC just as he did at RSL.