Blanco's lack of speed and and stamina was the double edge sword that caused us not to be able to drive home the game winner last night.. He showed time and time again that he didnt have the juice to do anything without others doing the running for him.. Last night we could have used someone with the wheels as well as the brain.. a Nowak or Stotichkov in place of him and we would probably be booking flights to Seattle. Blanco was fun.. but hes like a Big Mac.. too many of them and its bad for your thighs.. Thanks for the good memories but Please dont come back..
Too bad we could not have made a loan for Freddy Adu, the kid is rotting away overseas and could have been a win win for both sides. Adu brings some interest and speed and he gets playing time without the expectations of staying in the MLS.
1. Coach: I can't say who cause i don't know the possibilities. Euro coaches might be weird about coming here. 2. DP's a. Go for the 2 big Frenchmen available, Viera & Henry b. Ronaldinho. If theres a rumor, MLS & Chicago must inquire at the right time. c. Riquelme 3. Leave Mapp unprotected in the expansion draft. Whatever happens happens. 4. Freddy Adu, Sal Zizzo. Only thing is, unless Adu is a loan, i think we have to make a trade with the new Mormon devil. 5. A new Defender, just in case. His ratings are good in Football Manager, maybe the new Fire boss should play it.
Yes, Justin Mapp has a contract. But 99% of MLS contracts are not guareenteed. I think we could still waive Mapp and dump his entire salary.
Isnt their a chance all this talk about roster changes might be a moot point because of some collective bargaining issues? Arent the players threatening strike? Goff is reporting that w teams besides Toronto have contacted Preki but refuse to say who Fire maybe?
Neither Blanco or McBride earned the money the Fire paid them this year. They weren't horrible,they just did not produce enough. That goes for Mapp also.Next year Blanco and McBride will be another year older and even slower, so both can be let go. I hope they keep Conde and CJ Brown has shown when healthy he can still play. Klopas has his hands full replacing all the players he has to.Rolfe was forced to play out of position and now will be gone.Hope they can somehow keep Pappa.They need a player in the midfield who can dribble,create openings and make that final great pass.
I asked Conde's agent, DG, that very question when our daughters used to play soccer together, and he said Conde is as good as gone come January. Granted, that was before he missed a chunk of the season due to injury, so he may have to spend another season here in the boondocks of the footie world.
Please get rid of Hamlett. Hope Blanco and McBride don't come back. Get rid of Mapp by any means possible. Don't know if Conde and Segares will be back, but hope they are. I love Busch, but he's too short and getting older. Pappa would be great to keep. Husidic may develop. Thorrington is a keeper. Pause too. We need speed and quickness and finishing. Think DP up top and in the midfield. I think a complete redo is needed. We looked slow and old this year. Should be money available, but until the CBA gets finished, no one will know what they can spend. Maybe they can get something in trade for Mapp. Team got somewhat boring in many games due to lack of offense. Did pretty well though considering they played a completely second string offense the second half of the season.
If Conde is gone we are now looking at another hole in the center of the defense. This will be Frank Klopas make or break year, they are losing a lot of players and hopefully or coach. I havent liked his moves in the past but I am willing to give him a chance to see what moves he makes this offseason.
So, this Tico we picked up right before the roster freeze and never played a second for the team. David Myrie Looks like one of Andy Herron's illegitimate (he sleeps around you know) kids. WTF. First we pull the same thing with that clown that Osorio wanted, and now this. Who's running the show? Won't someone think of the children?
It's fun to speculate, but honestly, step one is to get your coaching situation nailed down and then let that person be the primary voice in shaping the team. We actually have a good young nucleus with Banner, Nyarko, Husidic, Lowry, Ward etc. I too would like to keep Gonzalo (which maybe more likely with his injury problems) and Conde who is still under contract. To the main issue, most of the names thrown around here are completely underwhelming. Soehn, Preki, Jeffries? I'm at least intrigued by John Spencer because he was an intelligent player, but it would be something of a crap shoot. Trying to cherry pick from the staffs of the league's best coaches doesn't help much. You have Spencer. The top assistant in LA, I presume is not a part of the discussion. Don't know anything about Ziggy's right hand. As far as former coaches who are available, I just don't see much. I have always wondered why Octavio Zambrano hasn't gotten another shot in MLS. He did well here with two teams, including the Metro!!!! But, he seems to be completely off the radar. As for a French DP, I think Cantana is not under contract right now.
Don't we hold his rights for 1 more year? I don't think Conde can leave unless we let him. He's a class player, so if he really doesn't want to be here I guess sell him but the way MLS works we can't really do too much with the money we get for selling players.
During a season full of injuries and international call ups, this is the only field player signing we made during the transfer window, and Denis told us that he wasn't even going to play in 2009. Dykstra was the other signing when he became full-time after Noble played himself off the team after that CA friendly.
You'd think he would have seen some time given the barrage of injuries to our back line. He must really really suck or DH just trembles at the thought of putting in new blood.
Just sharing what DG told me, and being under contract didn't stop his other client from leaving mid-season.
Didn't I hear or read somewhere that Segares is his client as well? Don't know if anyone else is or not--maybe Pappa?
Does anyone know the extent to which Fire player contracts are performance based? It seems to me a monetary incentive per win and per trophy would go quite far towards motivating the younger players to play well, and would guard against "Mapp Syndrome" from our higher paid players.
For those ripping on Mapp, he wasn't given a chance to play this year so his not earning his paycheck was not really his fault. When he played really well in some games at the end of the year DH rewarded him with a spot on the bench. You know why we didn't beat RSL? Because we left talent on the bench. You can't win in a league like MLS and not utilize all of your talent.