The 2016/2017 off season thread

The more I think about it, the more I think what we need most is a giant, crazy backup striker to come in an wreak havoc at the end of games. For all the talk about not having a plan B, I think it comes down more to personnel than tactics. You can throw as many 5'8" guys in the box as you want in whatever formation you want, if the other team has big CBs you're gonna lose that battle. Marsch was clearly hoping that would be Abang this season but no such luck.

 

Brandon Allen?

I kid. I kid. Sort of.

 

Why not? If Veron is going to stick around, he seems like he'll be used as one of the wingers, so we don't really have a backup striker. I'd be happy for Allen to have a chance.

 

Allen is so, so slow. Not sure he'll be able to overcome that at the MLS level.

 

Maybe Brandon Allen can be our Alan Gordon. Maybe spend a DP on Drogba.

 

Ugh.

 

So here was our usual starting lineup for most of the season:
Robles -- Lawrence, Collin, Perinelle, Duvall -- McCarty, Martins -- Grella, Kljestan, Muyl -- B. Wright-Phillps

For 2017, my lineup:
Starters: Robles -- Lawrence, Collin, Baah, Duvall -- McCarty, Davis -- Veron, Kljestan, Royer -- B. Wright-Phillps
Reserves: ????? -- Lade, Perinelle, Long, Zizzo -- Martins, Adams -- Grella, Metzger, Muyl -- Allen

Defense: I think our defense is pretty solid. Collin, Perinelle, and Baah (if he can stay healthy) is a pretty good central defense trio, and I'd add Aaron Long, who won USL Defender of the Year.

Defensive Midfield: I've never been a huge Filipe fan, so he can either be a backup or can move on for me. We didn't really get to see the McCarty-Davis combination much, but if that can work, I say give it a shot.

Attacking Midfield: Gonzalo Veron has never really gotten a sustained run, I still think he can do good things if he is. I want to see a full season from Daniel Royer. Alex Muyl isn't a MLS starter for me, but he's still young and works hard, so I want him around.

Forward: We went through 2016 without a real backup striker, so whomever it is likely won't play much anyway, so I'm happy to give USL ROTY Brandon Allen the job.

Curious what others think, especially on who should be promoted from the NYRBII side.

 

Great write up there. I would be shocked if Etienne would not get more first team looks given how he showed out for RBNY II.

 

Hopefully Etienne improves his defensive game, similar to Veron I think that's about the only thing that would stop Marsch from giving him minutes.

 

2016-17 MLS Offseason Calendar
Sunday, Dec. 11 Half-Day Trade Window (9 am - 12 pm ET)
No trades involving players will be permitted after 12 pm ET up until the conclusion of the Expansion Draft

Monday, Dec. 12 Expansion Draft Protected Player list and eligible Free Agents list released
Tuesday, Dec. 13 Expansion Draft (2 pm ET)
Beginning at 5 pm ET, Free Agents may engage in negotiations with all MLS clubs

Wednesday, Dec. 14 List of players eligible for selection in the Waiver Draft released
Thursday, Dec. 15 Waiver Draft (2 pm ET)
Beginning at 5 pm ET, clubs may no longer sign or trade their own Re-Entry Draft eligible players (player-trade blackout window)
List of players available in Stage 1 of the Re-Entry Draft released

Friday, Dec. 16 Re-Entry Draft - Stage 1 (3 pm ET)
Wednesday, Dec. 21 Starting at 11 am ET, clubs may no longer sign or trade their own Re-Entry Draft eligible players (player-trade blackout window)
List of available players in Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Draft released

Thursday, Dec. 22 Re-Entry Draft - Stage 2 (3 pm ET)
Jan. 7-12, 2017 2017 adidas MLS Player Combine
Friday, Jan. 13, 2017 2017 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas
Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 2017 MLS preseason begins

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NYRB Roster

Bradley Wright-Phillips	F	$650,000.00	715,000.00
Sacha Kljestan	M	$550,000.00	687,500.00
Aurelien Collin	D	$500,000.00	525,000.00
Gonzalo Veron	M-F	$500,000.00	500,000.00
Dax McCarty	M	$400,000.00	500,000.00
Daniel Royer	M	$375,000.00	375,000.00
Luis Robles	GK	$265,000.00	267,500.00
Felipe Martins	M	$250,000.00	280,000.00
Ronald Zubar	D	$240,000.00	320,000.00
Gideon Baah	D	$230,000.00	315,500.00
Omer Damari	F	$228,499.92	228,499.92
Mike Grella	F	$155,000.00	157,250.00
Damien Perrinelle	D	$140,000.00	140,000.00
Sal Zizzo	M	$105,000.00	105,000.00
Kemar Lawrence	D	$100,000.00	205,600.00
Shaun Wright-Phillips	M	$100,000.00	125,500.00
Sean Davis	M	$90,000.00	107,500.00
Ryan Meara	GK	$75,246.15	76,496.15
Tyler Adams	M	$65,000.00	81,041.67
Chris Duvall	D	$63,000.00	63,000.00
Karl Ouimette	D	$63,000.00	63,000.00
Anatole Abang	F	$62,500.00	62,500.00
Brandon Allen	F	$62,500.00	62,500.00
Connor Lade	D	$62,500.00	65,312.50
Alex Muyl	F	$62,500.00	66,500.00
Kyle Reynish	GK	$62,500.00	62,500.00
Aaron Long {D	$51,504.00	51,504.00
Justin Bilyeu	D	$51,500.00	51,500.00
Derrick Etienne	M	$51,500.00	56,500.00

We know Damari is out. Tough to see Abang or Ouimette back. SWP should probably retire.
Not a lot of empty slots for additions.

We could definitely lose someone in the Expansion draft - we're a fairly deep team.

 

But.... still need something.

 

While slightly OT, I wonder how much of a candidate JM will be when Arena is done with the USMNT. There is a part of me that thinks he has "it" for that.

 

He, Pareja, and Vermes come up as the MLS candidates every single time its brought up, gotta imagine its a possibility. Apparently after he left Montreal he applied for the Canadian head coaching position with a pretty impressive outline of how he thought the program as a whole needed to be improved.

 

From a USMNT perspective, one cannot help but wonder wtf to expect going forward.

 

An interesting opinion: Sean Davis needs more minutes

I wouldn’t want to see this continue as a pattern, but I might, on a one-time basis, forgive Marsch that the Red Bulls were pretty well under the gun most of the year and he didn’t want to take too many unnecessary risks on young players. OTOH, he really screwed up by not immediately sitting Sascha when he sustained a broken nose. The injury came at a time when Montreal was on their heels a bit and NY lost that momentum first due to his sustained absence, followed by his flagging performance as the game wore on. Marsch himself was an iron man, and I’m sure that is a characteristic he wants in his veterans. But he can’t do that at the expense of squad rotation. The program should be to give all central midfielders at least one early departure every two or three games. Not only would that give younger players like Davis and Adams the proper experience, it would also mean fresher vets down the stretch, less chance of injury to key players and youngsters who are ready to contribute in key moments. They have the talent, and maybe one way to stop being so predictable is to throw a few more players into the mix.

 

BWP, Davis, Duvall to return; Zubar, Ouimette out

 

Pretty tame contract option day, apparently they're talking to Zubar about coming back for what I can only assume is a massive pay cut. Dude's too pricey to only play a dozen games a year, I'd rather they just look for someone younger/cheaper and keep Perrinelle as first off the bench.

 

They need another young guy to groom as well. Having a viable 4th CD who can be one for the future would be nice and clearly Ouimette is not the answer.

 

If Ouimette is the answer, you are asking the wrong question. Can we send him to the expansion draft and promote a RB2 player?

 

The latter is my hope

 

Ouimette's contract option was not picked up by the club so he cannot be exposed to the expansion draft without a contract.

As for your promotion from RB2 question.....With Carroll no longer with the club, your only option for a RB2 promotion at CD is Schmoll -- assuming Long is already in the 1st team plans. Not the best option.

 

To be honest even Long isn't the most enticing long-term prospect despite what a great year he had for RB2. He's already 24 and after a few years bouncing around reserve teams he only just settled into the CB position last year. Not a bad guy to have around in a pinch if guys start dropping like they did last year, but I dunno if he's the kinda guy you groom to be the starter in a few year's time.

Do we even have another potential Miazga in the academy ranks right now? Might need to look outside the system for that sorta young player.

 

I don't think there is a CB in the academy ranks close to being a factor or we would have seen them at some point during the USL season.

Would really like to know why Carroll is no longer with the club. Looked to have a solid USL season after being waived by NYRB and settling in with RBII. He seemed to have the necessary tools.