I've always advocated that any flight over 4 hours should be at least business class if not outright charter. Anything else is just plain silly. 10 of the 11 most traveled teams are west conf teams. Only Orlando joins the top 11 from the east. It will go away when they fully separate the conferences and have 2 leagues (MLS East & West). Only meet in the playoffs.
I think you are wrong. Last year I was foolishly allowing myself "hope" that we would at least compete for a playoff spot. This year I'm not false hopeful like last year because I see some signs of serious building. Yes we need a pair of mids who can run the show. Is Yaya Toure still going to China? Corona or Vancouver? Hmmm. That could work out in our favor. LOL.
I hope you are right and I am wrong-- the other factor to remember is that our best MF, In-boem, wants to go to Europe by this summer- and he wont want any serious injury or be tired- will he play like he really wants to be here ?? think 2021-2022 and I doubt MDS will be here - ownership will have to tie the can to somebody if 2020 goes south by june-july really, outside of cava, what have the Caps - on the field- done for you to be inspired? neither Owusu or dajome, while probably better than what we had in 2019, will be major game changers IMO the Caps have MLS money for salaries of $3. 25 mill and about $800 K of the davies transfer money left, unless MLS helped the Caps land cava we will get 2-3 average players, at least 1 being in MF, by march it wouldn't surprise me to see the Caps make a trade in MLS, maybe reyna - I was hoping for gressel, but DC jumped on him
The big ones for me were Adnan & Godoy. Especially with Henry leaving they had to re-sign Godoy or I would have done a complete WTF type meltdown. They paid for them and they are solid. They are willing to spend this year compared to the last 2 of Robbo's era. Raposo, Gutierrez & Bair are excellent signings as coverage for Adnan, Inbeom & Cavalini. All 3 have shown well in camp and are good tier2. That leaves a serious box to box / DM type. I think we are closer to having a bona fide starting 11 and our coverage players are looking strong. This bodes well.
while there does appear to be more stability in the Club- on and off the field- I just don't think enough has been done-- most MLS Clubs have also upgraded and with new money being allotted by MLS, we can expect the quality of new players to improve across the league, and the quality of play to also improve- the day of a team having USL-quality players on the bench is coming to an end- right now, the Caps have too many of those the opening month will tell us a lot
https://www.whitecapsfc.com/post/2020/02/09/wfc-acquire-veselinovic Young prospect, becomes the fourth CB (for now). Probably means that Didic's trial will soon end (unless they have some plan to purchase him then loan him elsewhere, having him on some quick recall arrangement should Khmiri still have rehab setbacks, but I doubt that).
About to turn 21, 6'2" and a CB from the 3rd place team in Serbia's Super Liga. Hmmm. Looks interesting. He's been getting 1500-1800 minutes a year playing time for the last 3 years so he shouldn't be rusty. I wonder why they are moving him? Maybe they have a lot of defenders coming up? Who knows. Now about that box to box DM ........
Maybe he wanted and forced a move. Serbian Super Liga has been notorious in past for paying late or not at all. Also, low salaries.
its strange to see GC's top 11 pick for the Caps- an obvious mistake is leaving out Cornelius from a starting CB- surely with Khimiri still injured and not as experienced with the team as derek, one would think that Cornelius would be the natural pick I am predicting that godoy and cornelius CB pair in the opening game... barring injury-- they have partnered before- nerwinski will be the starting RB... for the time being- the new Serbian CB will be filtered into the starting CB position as MLS is a new breed of a league, and he has a foot injury; then perhaps we will see godoy at the RB, although I think he is too slow for pacey wingers; unless owusu comes in soon, we might see rose at the DMF position unless there is a MLS trade (Montero plus $500K for MAK- how sweet that would be !!), our MF is weak, weak, weak- kaye would definitely make a difference MY STARTING 11 PICKS (but it could change if there is a trade) (you can play with the formation- I am going with a 4-3-3, but a 4-1-3-2) crepeau nerwinski godoy cornelius adnan hwang rose teibert reyna cavallini dajome bench- Montero, owusu, Meredith, Milinkovic, ricketts, Gutierrez, raposo
this probably kills the MAK rumors for Montero + $500K as reported on GC: LAFC acquires up to $1.25 million in allocation money from @NashvilleSC in exchange for Walker Zimmerman.
That is true. Several players from east europe and central america have commented on how nice it is to "get paid on time". MLS has its advantages, LOL.
By the way they are looking for writers over at eightysixforever.com and several of you here see to be good at analyzing things so maybe something to think about.
as reported on GC: Lucas Ontivero- It’s being reported that the Whitecaps are interested in former Impact winger Lucas Ontivero. Apparently Brazilian clubs Cruzeiro, Goias, Ponte Preta and Juventude de Caxias have also shown interest in the twenty-five year old Argentine. (Calciomercato) another low hanging fruit-- over 15 clubs since 2011-- played last year in the USL-- if MDS signs him, its another example of him using poor judgement- we don't need anymore US-quality players - the Club would do better to give the Caps youth more playing time ahead of lucas https://www.transfermarkt.com/lucas-ontivero/profil/spieler/265916 GROAN!!
[QUOTE="hot potato, post: 38495008, member: 237362"former Impact winger Lucas Ontivero. Apparently Brazilian clubs Cruzeiro, Goias, Ponte Preta and Juventude de Caxias have also shown interest in the twenty-five year old Argentine. GROAN!![/QUOTE] Love your ending, LOL. If it is as cover and doesn't cost us anything then it's just another coverage signing. I agree we don't need USL level players but if he provides cover and a Nico like utility then I'm okay with it. 2 of the Brazilian teams looking at him are bottom half of the first division so not a ringing endorsement but not chopped liver either.
over 15 teams in 9 years- its bad chop liver- I think his agent is trying to drum up some interest and has balloons floating around if the Club and MDS brings lucas aboard, then IMHO, they have lost credibility that they were trying to build after the disasterous 2019 season basically, after 4 months of recruiting for a world class city, all that has resulted has been cavallini (excellent) , dajome (good) and godoy (quite good)- the rest are fodder signings on the cheap
True. Agents do stoke the rumour mill to try and place their players so they get their cut. That is probably it and we won't (hopefully) see any more of this level.
Lee Dong-gyeong- a #8 or 10, possibly a winger, playing in s korea- transfermarkt have him at about $600K according to GC, the Caps and him want a deal to be made and should know soon- obviously our MF hwang inbeom has had a hand in this possibility, so hopefully there is already a good connection for playing together- will he be a super upgrade- NOPE- but he will be better than what we already have and he is young at 22
according to some soccer pundits like GC, Montero has taken the place of dajome in the starting line-up are we seeing another venuto and bangoura disaster of a new signing who isn't going to make an impact ?? knowing that the other winger, Milinkovic, moves like molasses (but he does have some ball and passing skills), we have a slow team on the outside- defenders will have nothing to fear- outside of cava- YIKES!!
Dajome is 26 and will split time with Freddy is my guess. It is obvious that they couldn't move Freddy so they have to use him for another year. He is 32 so not over the hill and brings a wealth of experience and with better players around him I think he will be a solid contributor especially in assists. It is also obvious that we are back to the 4-5-1 (aka 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1) which could mean they both are on the field. Although I don't like that formation as being way too bunkerish it does suit the players we have. The 4-5-1 is a great equalizer for weaker teams (like us) against stronger teams. -------------------Cavalini Milinkovic--Hwang--Montero--Reyna -------------------Owusu/Godoy Adnan--Cornelius--Khmiri--Nerwinski -------------------MadMax Depending on injuries etc I think Godoy will be our DM or a starting CB if Owusu works out.
Just my SWAG. We need a DM more than a RB where Nerwinski is adequate so I think he will fill in there. Him or one of our CBs will play there as an advanced, third CB We don't have a DM except for Owusu who is young and inexperienced. Godoy is flexible and plays CB or RB. He is from Argentina and aside from Ghana they produce a lot of DMs so he would be familiar with the role.
Got it. I don't think the d-mid thing will happen. I do think that he might be a back up choice ahead of Mukumbilwa as a replacement for Nerwinski at RB as needed. I predict that once he gets up to speed in training, he will be one of the first choice CBs.
I wouldn't mind seeing the CB pair of Cornelius and Godoy, with khmiri playing the DMF- jasser is a good passer of the ball, has grit, is good at positional play and has better pace than godoy if Owusu does come, he will need a month to get up to playing it depends when erik is ready to play- a calf injury isn't serious but can be difficult to get 100% in a few weeks- not taken care of properly, it can irritate the achilles and upper tendons around the knee- so rest is what it takes- running and kicking needs to be slowly taken. so his fitness level will have suffered- he will need another 2-3 weeks - its a niggling injury so for now, DMF will not be an obvious choice and MDS will stick with a 4-2-3-1; I can see that in some games, MDS will go with a 4-1- 2- 2-1 or a traditional 4- 3- 3 when a suitable DMF is found and teibert, for the time being, is a regular MF... and didn't he play well vs Minnie? I think its the best I have ever seen him play
The Caps bought another int spot from Portland. That is 2 unfilled now. Hmmmm. MDS says he plans to use them and yes it makes no sense to buy one for $165k when you already have one free unless you don't really have one free.