We got a bunch of 'em. Adu. Eskandarian. Cerritos. Quaranta. Martins. Part-timers too like Stewart, Kovalenko, and Quintanilla. So gaze into your crystal balls to the beginning of the season...who's gonna still be on the team and who's gonna be cut? Are we gonna get a new forward by trade or signing? Which forwards are gonna play in the midfield? Most importantly who's gonna be our starting forward tandem? Since we have no idea what Nowak is gonna do, now is the perfect time to engage in wild speculation not in what we want, but in what Nowak's gonna do. Here are my totally random guesses: - For the first game, we'll see Quaranta and Eskandarian start at forward. Adu will sub in. Stewart will be in the central midfield somehow, though I have no feeling of the formation. - I also have no feeling for Cerritos who could very well start for either Esky or Tino or he could be traded. I do expect him to be trade bait. - I have Esky starting, but he may well get traded depending on how he does vs. Adu and Cerritos. I don't think we'll keep him if he's only to ride the end of the bench as he has trade value. I guess I'm saying that I expect to see us keep either Eskandarian OR cerritos, not both. -Quintanilla, well, I have a bad feeling for him. Either he's gone or at the end of the bench. Gone most likely. he has some trade value, though not much. - Adu might start at left wing depending on what happens to various other players with Convey, Reyes, Olsen, and Namoff being the main factors regulating Fred's time in midfield. Adu is already ahead of Q2 there. - Q1, BTW won't see much time on the wing. He'll sink or swim at forward. - Martins of course is injured and his opportunity will come if and only if we are still a mess at forward when he gets healthy. - I'm leaning towards us not getting a new forward. rather I think Nowak will see our offensive problems as deriving from the midfield and he'll figure that once the mids get straightened out, the forwards will follow.
I don't see Quntanilla ever playing forward, unless he drifts up there because he's too lazy to get back on defense as a midfielder. I think Cerritos is the most on the bubble. Part of it is salary, I think part is just a gut feeling he doesn't fit into what will become the Nowak style.
I really wouldn't be surprised to see one of these guys, and my hunch is on one of those guys with a name that starts with Q, to be traded on draft day to try and give us another relatively early pick.
I agree with both statements. I also think that Adu is likely the one to play midfield from that forward group. I also belive that because of Martins injury, we are going to see more or Quaranta up front to help with our size deficiency. And yes, Esky will get more minutes.
But Quaranta doesn't play to match his size. He seems to shy away from much physical play and I would never count on him to play that role. I wouldn't be shocked to see Cerritos moved partly because of his salary but also he is just like the other forwards we have in that he is not espically fast, and isn't that big, and seems to have some trouble finishing. Stewart needs to be given a position that he plays game in and game out. I would like that to be a withdrawn forward, like the position Scholes plays for Manchester United. I think Esky needs to be significant playing time so we can see what he can really do. He could learn alot from Stewart and Nowak, but he also has the most to lose with Adu joining the team since they are competing for the same playing time and the fans and owners will want Adu to win that battle. Adu is the wildcard here. If he adapts to the MLS as quickly as he did to other levels of play, he could be that 70' sub when we need a goal. If he needs more time, he could not see much action until July or August if at all this season. There will be immense pressure from the fans, owners, and media for Adu to get on the field as much as possible, so his progress will determine the fate of Cerritos and Esky IMHO. I think Martins would have been a starter had he not gotten hurt. He is scrappy and physical, his style of play is nothing like any of our other forwards. I hope he is same player when he gets back to form.
I think we have a lot of guys (except for Martin) who are fine withdrawn forwards. We also have a crowd of young forwards--who need PT if they're going to develop. But we don't have a target man and someone who's shown he can score goals (heck, I don't mean a Taylor Twellman, just someone we can reasonably expect to get us 10-12 goals, be a threat in the air and play decently with his back to goal). I think we'll see players moved (partially b/c they don't fit what Nowak wants, partially b/c we have a crowd on the frontline but mostly to create cap room). I think we may use an existing player at D-mid but can probably also get Peter Vagenas to compete at that spot. I think we'll spend the bulk of our cap space with a discovery used to acquire a foreign striker. It may not necessarily be a start but someone like Molnar--a good role player so that the withdrawn forward (Quaranta, Quintanilla, Eskandarian, Stewart, Kovalenko, Cerritos, Adu) can play off him.
I think the only way Cerritos or Q2 are gone is if they retire or go back to play in El Salvador..I think management will be afraid of another ethnic backlash if they were to be traded within MLS.
Correct me if I am wrong, but Q1, and Esky are project 40 and don't count against the cap. Q2 is an under 23 international and does not count against the cap. So why trade any of them?
Quaranta is no longer P-40, he lost that status in 2003. I believe our current P-40 players are: Eskandarian, Stokes, Barclay, Carroll, and Adu (well, in a month anyway). Perea is developmental. I had thought we'd signed Baumstark from the league pool--if so I'd think he'd either be developmental or P-40. Additionally, even though Barclay doesn't appear to be a candidate to realistically start, I thought that after a certain period of time you "graduated" from the P-40 program and I'd think his time is just about up.
I think Cerritos and Quaranta are at the head of the chopping block because Cerritos is expensive and we have a much younger, cheaper glut there, and Quaranta same thing except for the younger part. Although I think Cerritos is the mostly likely to go. I wonder what teams have a good left-sided player, d-mid or target forward and are in need of a center-forward type of player?
Six Steps to figuring out who our two starters should be: 1) Make them all run 7 miles then race them immediately in 100 yard dash. Take the top four finishers, rank them in order of speed and condition and trade the others. 2) Then of these rank them in height with the tallest being 1, and shortest being 4. 3) Run them through some shooting drills and rank them in first touch and accuracy. Some what subjective but tell them this is like a clutch game situation. There literally is no tomorrow for them as a starter if they don't excell. Put pressure on them and be obnoxious about it. Most accurate and hardest shot gets the 1 on through 4. 4) Rank them in order of their hunger and tenacity, and team chemistry. 1 for the "dema" award, 4 for the "barclay" award. 5) Then factor in salary to determine who the best value is. 1 for perceived best value, etc. 6) Use the following Sheon Patented formula for determining your striker: Add up each ranking point from all five categories. Lowest two numbers are your starters openning day.
You forget one key element about Cerritos and Quintanilla One of them has to be on the team and one of them has to get significant playing time or else most of the Salvadorans stay home and attendance suffers, except for when the Galaxy is in town. Personally I feel that they are both good players and both should be on the team, but their talent has nothing to do with why DCU acquired them. Their sole purpose is to fill the stands.
Re: You forget one key element about Cerritos and Quintanilla I hope you are wrong that DCU's management is so short-sighted as to do something like that. I think they are both good players and could prove to be valuable members of the team if used properly. (Where have we heard that before? ) Cerritos has good ball skills and can be the target/holding/distributing forward until Martins is healthy. He has a good work ethic, pressuring defenders & challenging for the ball, and I never saw him "dog-it" on the pitch, last year. Q2 would be a good holding/distributing midfielder, who has in the past played good defense while in midfield. He needs to be more consistent, however. I think a lot of the problem last year was that a lot of players were either played out of position or not to their greatest strengths. Hopefully, with Novak, that will change for the better. We'll see, said the blind man.
Obviously this is just a shot in the dark (since we don't know what Nowak wants, what offers we'll get, and what injuries will come up), but my guess as of now is Eskandarian and Quaranta. Martins would be first choice if not for his injury, while throwing Freddy to the wolves wouldn't be the best of decisions. Adu will come on as a sub, but not start. Cerritos, as has been said, doesn't seem to fit Nowak's perceived style of play, though I also think he's the best natural finisher out of our healthy candidates (doesn't say much, does it?). On the other hand, Nowak may want to play Stewart in a floating role behind one lead striker. Quintanilla will only feature if one or two starters are out, and it won't be as a forward. Similarly, Kovalenko will not play as a forward, since he'll be back in midfield (and I do hope this idea dies off because it will never happen). This role would be perfect for Martins, but he won't be around at first. If this is the case, it'll be Quaranta since, somehow, Esky plays like an even smaller person than Tino does.
Cerritos & Q2 I like both Cerritos and Q2. Granted, Q2 was inconsistent last season but to me that was more a function of undefined roles and sporadic playing time than talent and drive. FWIW, I think Q2 should play in midfield on the left eventhough most think he is too slow. As for Cerritos, he ran himself into the ground those first few games. If memory serves, he was paired with Stewart and the tandem worked but RH changed his tactics(or whatever he called it) and he disapeared. Unless Cerritos has someone to work with I say trade him and get a better forward. Q1 has disapointed me for years now. He doesn't run or really challenge 50/50 balls. I say trade him.
Re: You forget one key element about Cerritos and Quintanilla Do the Galaxy have any Salvodoran players anymore?
Re: You forget one key element about Cerritos and Quintanilla Even with Cerritos and Q2 on the team it doesn't seem like droves of ES are coming to the games anyway.
Cerritos and Stewart were our best combination for several games, probably because, as veterans, they knew where they should be relative to one another and to the rest of the team. Nowak can be expected to appreciate this, as it is the kink of disciplined play he favors. That said, these two come at a high cost, some $435,000 of cap space, so there will always be a temptation to shop one or both. I hope Stewart stays, because I think he can be the mature, on-field leader that Piotr was in his playing days. A concern I have is that Nowak really only knows the DCU players he has seen on the pitch. He'll have to rely on Kasper and perhaps youth coaches (Rongen) to get an appreciation for such as Carroll, Stokes, and perhaps Barclay. I hope he isn't tempted to deal them before he really knows them. I'm hoping this is the year Carroll impresses. Shorly after Stewart arrived he was asked which of his new teammates had impressed him. Carroll and Nelsen, he said, because of their athleticism. Carroll later "won" a training contest that tested fitness and agility. Let's hope Nowak puts him out there and gives him a chance to be this season's Namoff.
Cerritos is our #1 forward at this point and has the most experience/skill so I doubt he would be trade bait despite the high salary and his trade value. He also holds the ball well and has good foot skills. I see him starting on opening day. Q1 is in jeopardy. With his salary and attitude questions, I don't see him fitting in with Nowak very well. He may also have some trade value. Q2 & Esky do not count against the cap as I understand it so they could very well be safe if they show up and give the effort. Martins is practically the only target forward we have but it's not clear if he is going to be effective in the role at the MLS-level (once he recovers).