Here's what you have to play to get the most use out of Ruiz and Cooper: --------------Cooper------------Ruiz------------ ---------Nunez-----------------------------Oduro ----------------Toja-----------Ricchetti---------- Gbandi------------------------------------------- ----------------Goodson------Yi--------Moor---- A slightly tilted formation with speed on either flank, (Gbandi, Oduro), Nunez pinching in, always a threat to shoot, Toja and Gbandi making runs behind him, Moor a stay-at-home right back doing most of Oduro's dirty work for him. FCD has to get wide and cross it. Cooper and Ruiz both know how to knock the ball down for each other. They need to be closer together, in tandem, and stop this stupidity of having Cooper lunging at wing backs as they clear the ball on the sideline, or Ruiz with his back to goal 40 yards out.
He at least made the PK. But lets scratch that one okay. He forced the player to score an own goal. I say that counts towards Ruiz. And the assist is without question. So, considering that our midfield has done a poor job servicing our forwards and our formation is, lets say, unconventional, I think thats pretty good. Seasons still early folks.
Ah the voice of reason, but also the voice that stirred the pot with the "you reach your own conclusions". If the team can get better by trading ANY player including Kenny Cooper, I say do it. Ruiz has looked fat and lazy. To be honest, he has played as though he was injured, but I take you at your word saying that he is indeed healthy. I don't see obvious signs of pouting when he was subbed, but their seemed to be someone implying that he caused waves when he was subbed out of the NE game. Is their factual info behind that comment? I think that we can begin to break down this rumor/PR campaign into an obvious scenario. Under the current system.... Ruiz, Cooper, and Nunez are not producing. Perceived solution? Trade one of these guys for a playmaker. Catalyst? The Amado Guevara thread. Guys, it is way too early for panic and handwringing. Obviously, we can see that the current form will not get us where we should be. But, we are still relatively in the preseason. I doubt that the kids will win you a cup this year. I think that you will need a veteran or two, like the Fish to bring the cup home. If you are convinced that by season's end you will not be in the hunt, then a fish trade makes sense. Conversely, you'd best lock the other two punk asses to some long term deals that guarantee us a future return for parting ways with Ruiz. If you think that this thing will come together, then you have to consider the least painful trade to get Amado here. Unfortunately for Nunez, we set him up for failure when we stupidly defined his success or failure in Dallas by his ability to play the central creative role. We put him in a jet plane and told him to fly without training him. We failed him, not the other way around. So, I think it boils down to your optimism or pessimism on the year. My bet is that some knee jerk who roasted me for my criticism of the Morrow hire will start the new CC must go thread. I don't think that you start dismantling the foundation right now. With all the teams that quailify for playoffs, we can afford to be patient with players and coaches. But then again, Amado is very intriguing.
We need to move Guevara sounds like Ruiz is on the market. We give you an mid round pick next year everyones happy and I assume salaries are similar. I know Carlos loves LA Get R Dun
well what I might think is not the issue. It's what Morrow would think is huge. But it would have to be at least a full allocation. Ruiz came to Dallas for the top allocation, i.e. Landon. so thinking out loud something like an allocation and a player.
this isn't FIFA 07 where I always sell my most valuable player because I play identically without them and end up with a ton of money.
I know it sounds nuts, but does Columbus want its DP slot? They got Scheletto without using it. Even if FCD didn't use the slot, it could be traded elsewhere for a very nice player later on. And, if you take Ruiz off the the books, I think 2 DPs would at least be a salary cap possibility. If they do decide to take that approach, I hope they wait until the summer window is closer.
Could Columbus trade their near-DP (SI) for our grandfathered DP? Give us Schelleto and we'll give you Carlos. I think that would be worth doing, so long as Oduro gets to start with Kenny up top. This team does much better with Dominic's speed on the pitch.
Moreover, it's kinda dimwitted to sneer at the quality of the two goals that he's scored this season, as if they were the only goals he's ever scored in hoops. And I'm quite positive that he scored zero PK goals last season. BTW, if he trades Ruiz for anything short of a Super-Duper Massive Allocation, I will consider Steve Morrow to be mildly retarded.
No way should we get Ruiz. IF that happens then not only can this team not sell tickets like they were supposed to be able to do - but the people running this team have no clue how to put a good team together. Our problems so far this season have little to do with Ruiz's play. They have to do with shaky goalkeeping. A sloppy defense. And a midfield that seems to have no clue how to get the ball to Ruiz (and Cooper) in a way that gives them any options. Hopkins article also stated that only 10% of our crosses actually reach a target. 10%. The problem is not Ruiz and our forwards. The problem is our out-matched defense and a midfield that can't get the ball forward. Getting rid of Ruiz would be a huge mistake. Get rid of the 4-5-1 first. But luckily the MLS season isn't worth a bag of warm potting soil. Finishing 8th shouldn't be that hard given Toronto and Real Salt lake are in the league. Only 3 other teams we have to finish ahead of. Pure excitement.
That's right. What you want to do is make a gamble that you can either get Cooper's value now or more than Cooper's value. Cooper may be the Dirk Nowitski of the MLS. He's fabulous but I don't knowif he fits best here, and I want him to fit somewhere. Cooper needs to be the main strike force on an MLS team. Right now, I don't think we maxize things by having both Cooper and Ruiz on the field at the same time. I think Cooper/Oduro up top or Ruiz/Oduro up top might make sense, but then I don't really have room for the other guy.
There really is nothing stopping him from becoming that here in Dallas. He is taking himself out of the game, to some degree, with his instance on playing wide and his refusal to play as a target man. He feels he has really good feet, so he wants to beat people on the dribble and make the assist. I don't think you can simply remove Cooper from Dallas and he magically decides to start relying on his size the way most feel he should. Geography isn't going to change his mentality.
ditto what tex said, Cooper doesn't want to be up top, and we need to at least give him a try where he wants to be before cutting him loose. granted, that may just never happen if they decide to stick with #10 Nunez and if Richetti doesn't cause Toja to move. but even then, you have to have some strike power on the bench. if Oduro starts (an idea I do like, by the way) AND Cooper is gone, who is that?
Well, Cooper doesn't leave for free......you'd have to get something back for him. Clearly it would have to be a forward of some quality, or allocation money that allows you to get that forward. Keep in mind, we will be without Cooper for an entire month for either the Gold Cup or the Copa America (hopefully not both). So we'll be there whether we trade him or not.
Not meaning to sound too naive, but you guys make it sound like Cooper is dictating, or trying to dictate, what he wants to be. Who cares if he "thinks he has good feet"? We have two target forwards and we may only have room for one. One of them may be a luxery that is not good for the long haul. They either work together or they don't (I am really not convinced that it's not the midfielders who are making it hard for Cooper and Ruiz to work with each other.) I shouldn't just shift one to midfield just because he is a good forward. I personally think that Ruiz, despite his slump, is more valuable to this team. And that Cooper might have good, even phenomenal, trade value. But if someone comes along and offers something nice for Ruiz, let's go for it.
Columbus doesn't have an allocation, but they have a DP and plenty of cap room. I don't think Carlos would fetch a DP, but with Ricchetti coming on board, we have to eliminate a senior roster spot, so something is coming... As far as players are concerned, Grabavoy would take the Nunez spot, I don't think we are interested in him. If we move back to the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 concept, Gaven becomes very interesting. Columbus is loaded at defensive mid, and could push Grabavoy to attacking mid, thus making Gaven expendable because Herron, Ruiz and Schletto would run up top. Gaven is a nice fit because he has played the left wing before, so Cooper in the middle and Oduro gets a shot at the right. But Gaven for Fish isn't an even trade. There would have to be another player involved. Gaven and Marshall is probably too high a price for Columbus to pay, but FCD would jump on that pretty quick. The real need for Dallas is a right back, but Ward plays on the left. O'Rourke would be someone who can play right back or d-mid, but he is not a wingback type of player.