Haha, in the mention of the Quakes DP past, they mention Geo, who actually wasn't that bad (a goal and 3 assists in 777 minutes projects to about 3g, 9a), and MPG, who wasn't actually a DP I don't think, at least in terms of salary. They fail to mention the most "checkered" of them all, Innocent, and also Dawkins, who was maybe sorta OK last year but, whether it's injuries or whatever, a non-entity this year. At least Lepper doesn't bring up this 4-3-3 nonsense when describing how the Quakes have been playing (as Matt Doyle as been doing).
For what it's worth, a friend of mine who follows the Quakes religiously (but doesn't post here) along with other leagues around the world was familiar with Vako and, in an unsolicited text to me, rated him an excellent signing.
I don't care who it is, or how much we pay. Just fcking win...Please, for the love of God and my thinning hair, just FVCKING WIN. FVCK FVCK FVCK!!!
I am trying to recall...was there a Innocent highlight video available before he played any games wearing a Quakes kit?
Who's judging? For my part, I refuted the notion that no one's ever heard of the guy, because at least one Quakes fan says he has, and indeed has also seen Vako play and think's he's quality. Albeit, I prefaced my point with the phrase, "for what's it's worth," which was an acknowledgment that my Quakes fan friend is anonymous to you, his take is hearsay, and entirely subjective, as well. Yet, if Grant Wahl tweeted what I wrote, likely everyone would be celebrating. I'm merely asking that you give my reports the same due consideration you do those from the mainstream media. If therefore your answer is, "I'll give it no credence, whatsoever," that would be perfectly fine with me.
Nothing on my part was a personal attack on your veracity, Don my friend, rather a general blanket statement.
Big difference between "at least one person has heard of this guy and likes him" and "he's going to be a draw." Vako is not going to be a draw, and having been burned (more than once) we can only hope he's not Innocent 2.0. Who, as I recall, did have a decent highlight reel. Edit: The Quakes website has been sanitized, but I found this from roughly the same era
Yeah there was, and of course it looked impressive like highlight videos always do. So we are right to be skeptical until we see the guy play. And usually you can tell right away if the guy has it. Hucks - could tell right away. Godoy - could tell right away. If he looks "meh", and we start rationalizing it - "Well, he needs to get used to the league!" Or, "Well, he's not used to the inferior level of his teammates; he's making passes for runs they're not making!" then we've got a problem. Or, this like 9 months after Innocent was injured, "Well, he's coming off of an injury; he's not 100% yet!", then we've got a problem.
It took 19 games before Peter Crouch scored for Liverpool after a big money move from Southampton. Now holds the Premier League record for headed goals, and 100 overall Premier League goals. Urena has shown a lot of industry on the field, with little to show for it-yet, and Hoesen reportedly just kills it in practice, yet it hasn't translated to games so far.
You are talking about goal scoring, which is somewhat subject to chance. What I'm talking about is how the guy is playing. Is Ureña creating a lot of chances and just getting unlucky via great saves and near misses? Is he causing the defense a lot of trouble? Meh, not so much. Hoesen I think fares a little better in that regard. He has maybe a few more near misses and more shots at least. But still, I would not call either of them slam dunks in the way that Hucks was or Godoy was. But of course neither is a DP. I'll be watching Vako's first handful of possessions very carefully to see what he does. Does he try to take on the defender, does he lose it, does he make a bad pass, how is his work rate / off-the-ball-movement, does he look like he is strong on the ball. Those are the kinds of things I'll be looking at. I'm not going to go into "goal accounting" mode right away.
Yes, I don't necessarily see Vako as a goal scorer, but, more as someone who helps us unlock the defense and gives us more opportunities to score goals. The point I was making with my examples was that good players can have statistically unproductive spells.
maybe I missed it, but anyone know what the Quakes are paying him per season and how long the terms of the contract are for?
I think he's going to have to score goals too, but agreed about the statistically unproductive spells. I have to agree to that one or I have no leg to stand on regarding TT (although the assists are finally starting to come).
I haven't heard anything about the terms of the contract. Sometimes guys like Robert Jonas or Elliott Almond have a little more info to tweet but the former only really calls out the signing with no new info and the latter has nothing at all on the signing.
You didn't miss it. MLS teams don't release salary info, and none of the news stories have mentioned it. Unless some journalist gets that info, we'll find out on September 15 when the MLS players union releases it: http://www.mlsplayers.org/salary_info.html
With Godoy, we were all able to tell right away that he's quality stuff. A lot of us immediately ate our crows after his first 3-4 games. He's good. This guy needs to work out for us. He needs to unlock the defense, and he needs to score goals. Anything less than 10 goals a season and it's a failure. The much-maligned Dawkins scored 5 goals last year, so this guy is going to need to at least double that.
season ticket renewal deadline for 2018 is July 7th (I think).... won't see this guy play until maybe the 14th against Frankfurt and not a league game until maybe the 19th against NYRB...... how much do I trust Jesse? (or should I say how much does my money trust Jesse?) decisions decisions......
It's an affront that the Quakes raised ticket prices after failing to qualify for the playoffs in four consecutive seasons and are on course to fail for a fifth consecutive season. In a properly functioning marketplace, prices would go down to reflect the inferiority of the goods/services. Indeed, and ironically for Silicon Valley, if the Quakes were a technology product, prices would go down even if the offering was of superior quality. I'll renew, because results are merely a bonus to me, and it's still a Club. But I very much respect the decision of those who choose not to do so.
I was kinda surprised my husband renewed right away without asking me despite the what is it 10% STH price increase? We were on the 5-year contract, so in a sense this was the first price increase. (Not really, since they took away the pre-game meal and now charge for parking). The only thing that made it easier for him was because we had a lot of credits from selling our tickets, and we have such great seats. If he had asked me, I would have not been able to decide. I am very conflicted because I complain about the front office and the coaching so much. I almost don't know what I would do if we became a top team in MLS.