He's always hurt. Can't play for us consistently. Trade him now while we can still get something for him.
I don't know. I've lost count of how many times Hamid has gotten injured midweek between games. I understand if he comes out mid game after a tough collision or something. But the midweek injuries just point to a more chronic underlying physical problem. Highly unusual for a goalkeeper. Personally, I say sell him. Sell anyone that's worth a bag of peanuts. Might as well cash in what we can and deposit the checks in Thohir's bank account. Fill the roster out with squad players that can't find a better team since the league pays their salaries anyway ...
Given the price of peanuts lately, from what I've seen aside from Hamid, there are no other players that would get that much in trade. Just the blowback from Bennyball-scamper around aimlessly like squirrels, get paid like squirrels
If you look around the world and observe the way modest clubs deal with surviving against bigger clubs it almost always revolves around youth. Very rarely does it involve stockpiling veterans. If you can't afford stars then you focus on younger players and teaching him how to play the game and giving them the chances that maybe they're not getting in the bigger clubs. That way you create a culture where players actually want to play for you because they see the club as a legitimate stepping stone. It might never lead to glory but what we're doing now just leads to low morale. While teaching young players how to become better won't win titles, it'll give us the satisfaction of being a club that makes players better.
How is it that the US has never produced a world class striker? Or #10? I don't have an answer but I think it puts things in perspective when thinking about any expectations with young American players. The next team that sells a player that startson a Real Madrid will be the first. Ever. Apropos of nothing.
Tottenham is a good example. Harry Kane came up through their academy - there is no way they could have bought him on the transfer market once he had proven how good he is.
I've never understood why people believe that the US should have produced a world class striker. You might as well ask why China hasn't produced one.
I mean, he's not Messi or Ronaldo, but at his peak (before Injury in 2014) he was the leading scorer in Serie A, and scored a hat trick against Juventus. He's played for Italy at every level. I'd call that world class-ish.
along these same lines...why do we still have 5 goalkeepers taking up roster space? I think Hamid is one the few bright spots. It sucks that he's been frequently missing, but even for half a season it's better to have him than not have him.
And in MLS right now, you actually have the potential to do both (develop youth and win titles). In fact, the MLS roster rules with the homegrown mean investing in youth is one of the best returns on investment you can get. Too bad our owners are a bunch of cheap b@stards. Here's a nice article on FC Dallas's powerhouse academy: http://www.soccerwire.com/news/club...ctor-luchi-gonzalez-on-clubs-ussda-supremacy/
Hard to disagree, but as we've seen with math and science in our schools, you need teachers who know math and science as a starting point. I suggest that DCU has a paucity of soccer teachers who can actually teach the game beyond scampering around cones.
Sure it's pretty much a no brainer to go to http://www.dcunited.com/academy/coaches-and-staff and after 5 inutes of reading some very weak resumes conclude that only Thornton and Cerritos had a pro player career at a reasonable level. Reminds me of the old gag about the man who prays every night to win the lottery. Finally God appears and says meet me half way Izzy, buy a ticket. They need to up the ante if they're going to build a train em and then sell em enterprise as quietside suggests is possible
I don't know that pro player experience is really all that necessary for academy level coaches (or frankly at many other levels). You can be a student of the game and have advanced coaching credentials and be a good tactician. There are plenty of ex-pro players among the failed coaching ranks. But I understand that the owners have slashed the academy budget which doesn't bode well.
There is a thread on the academy that I've commented on, but the academy seems to have gone down hill since Sonny Silooy left. It's a shame he did leave, but I don't think the team ever demonstrated they were going to give him the resources to make a good academy. I had two players join them at U15 level and they told me the coach told them to just play long balls to the big fast kids. That was sad to hear. One of the kids is one of the most skilled players I've ever seen in youth soccer and he can't get much playing time. It's really depressing. They valued speed and physicality just like the other clubs/high school and colleges. Glad for Dallas but we're a very very long way from producing top players as a country.
That's what I saw in youth soccer as well. Put your best player (usually the fastest and maybe the biggest) up front and tell the other players to ping the ball to him. It's like the Tour de France bike teams - one superstar and six or eight "domestiques."
You can't trade away all your assets. Birbaum is consistently good and getting better. Hamid is a beast. But only when healthy, which he is not consistently.
Bill is THE player on the roster that by himself earns us points. We've all seen him make plays other keepers just can't. He's probably worth 1/2 point for every game he plays in. Even if he only plays 50% of the time, that's 9 points on the season. At that rate, he's worth keeping around for 1 M of our entire roster's salary, just on the margin of how much better he is than most other keepers in the league. When he's healthy for half the season, no less. So, no, we don't trade him, we make him a DP, and anyone offering less than 2 M should be turned away at the door.
This is the post that made me return to BigSoccer after a 4 year absence... Are you effin' kidding me? TRADE Bill Hamid? For what? What player, within MLS, would be as valuable to United as Bill Hamid? Not just on the field, but with an almost certain future sale for several million dollars.