Waibel has to make the case with another club to take him appealing. He has the most difficult job. The chances are slim, but that doesn't mean he should just sit back and wait for those two to play their game of chicken.
Or he has to make a convincing case to DLH to buy out Yura's contract. If they scout out someone well and have good initial talks, it could be all that's needed for DLH to see it's worth the buyout. I'll stick with not tolerating him, even if he's on the roster.
Yura's ~$2 million owed is enough to pay the salaries of 6 of the 10 NWSL rosters for the 2018 season. There is some perspective for you.
Well, news is coming, soon: Monday 27 November is contract deadline day, so we will announce whose options we're picking up/declining and who is otherwise out of contract.
Surprised by Sunny and Van Oekel. The rest are what I expected. Also, pleasantly surprised they declined Holness' option. It's what I would have done, but I didn't think they'd do it.
Sunny? The others make sense, but I don't understand this unless there's a very high chance KB is not coming back.
I'm not terribly surprised about Sunny. As much as I'd like us to replace 5-6 players, it's unlikely that we'd be able to. Sunny isn't the worst player ever, so if we can focus on getting ~3 really good players, having guys like Sunny and Luke off the bench wouldn't be terrible. It's probably better than spreading ourselves thin by trying to fill up 6+ spots and not being able to properly scout, negotiate, etc with those players.
That's fair. He's overpaid by $50-100K, I think, but he's proven serviceable as one of the team's weaker starters or regular subs. If CW is adding several other pieces, I can see the argument for stability at least through next year. I'd rather find someone with more potential to replace Beckerman long term, but I want a lot of things.
I certainly hope that they don't think that Sunny is a suitable replacement for Kyle. The only thing he does as well as Kyle is get red cards.
No surprises for me. Without knowing the finances of the option, I assumed Sunny would be retained. He had a great stretch this season, and if he could stay healthy could have that kind of influence over a large stretch of the season.That's a big if, but a risk worth the club taking. Luke actually had a fantastic stretch run last year which kept Sunny on the bench. I also expected the team to re-sign either Wingert or Phillips (but not both). Glad to see it's Phillips. Dunk, Schmidt and Van Oekel were all awful. Those were no brainers.
I'm surprised about keeping both Mulholland and Sunny. I like both just fine, but I didn't think we'd bring back both. So how many starters are we returning from last year? Looks to me like 10. The only place it seems likely we upgrade is central midfield, with Jorquera (or whatever central mid). Unless we pull a rabbit out of a hat and move Yura, which I'm not counting on.
Maybe DLH can claim Yura's value has decreased 50% (or more) and simply re-invest the savings in NWSL player checks?
The think about Mulholland is that he has versatility. That's very very helpful when you have a salary capped league.
...and an above average skill (midfielder getting into the area and finding goals) while only paying him an average salary. The risk of keeping him is that you play him too much which accentuates his below average athleticism and skill level. I think Luke also gets bonus points for his on and off field effort levels. He's gotten himself incredibly fit to try and minimize his shortcomings. Always good to have a vet like this on the team to be an example for the younger players. (Counterpoint - Yura).
remember, RSL not picking up an option on a player does NOT mean we have officially parted ways. We can always renegotiate at a different price
I like Mulholland. Just doesn't seem like we have a lot of room to upgrade with Luke AND Sunny around. That's Mulholland, Sunny, and Besler on the roster. Presumably we try to keep Beckerman, and sign a new CM - probably Jorquera, maybe someone else. That's probably the group then, unless we're expecting Luke, Sunny, and Kyle to all come off the bench. Basically there's rumors of a ton of TAM coming, and I don't know where it's supposed to go.