On page 8 of the DMN sports page today Steve Hunt quotes SH saying three very good players have been identified and Hunt speculates that Kenny Cooper and Ramon Nunez are possibilities. Of greater interest is where he speculates on who will replace Brek naming obvious candidates Castillo and Benitez and then says another possibility is Hollingshead who is scheduled to begin training February 11.
Well, all three can help us. I don't know how Benitez would be a candidate to replace Brek. If we move Benitez up..........who's our left back?
this new brazilian trialist guy? i actually think that would be our best lineup... Perez-Castillo Ferreira Benitez-Luccin-Jax Brazilian Dude - Hedges - John - Loyd GK
I was interested in that Hollingshead would be reporting at all since as far as we all had heard he was going church planting. Would like confirmation on this.
wouldn't it be crazy if the church planting thing was just a negotiation tactic? Just the cynic in me. This is all good news though - having these three guys sign would be a big boost. Would love to see Cooper in hoops again. Hollingshead would provide some element of cover out wide, and Nunez would possibly give us some cover for Ferriera or at least give us a good option off the bench. On a side note, i don't know why you'd want to try to find cover for Ferreira - the dude is irreplacable. If he gets hurt then switch to a 4-4-2 because you're never going to have a back-up who can come into that role and fill it adequately - if you're going to build your attack around one guy, and that guy gets hurt, then why would you plug in a backup and expect the attack to work the same way? sorry, just a little Friday rambling.
I'd rather he didn't bring in creative players and then put the bit in their mouth. Schellas thinks he wants a creative team but he'd be happiest with a bunch of utility grinders.
i agree completely with this...villar, while a nice player, wasnt close to a replacement for DF. avila was my fave of those weve tried but he wasnt polished enough at that point. its either DF or a 4-4-2 imo.
I actually think about this differently for a couple of reasons. First, DF10, especially in the next few years, is built for a Hyndman 442. As he slows down a bit, he's going to be more of a Schelotto string puller than the more mobile player he is now, and having 2 forwards to draw attention and give him places to go will be critical, so there's that. I also think that whatever system you're playing, you try to find cover. Now, many players who have a DF10 skillset (only less) will already be playing some other position, but you bring them on and have them play whereever they're helpful, but you should definitely be looking for an upgrade from Avila, Leyva, or Villar and have that person play when DF10 can't. Maybe you adjust what you ask the other players to do because your backup isn't the same quality, but all the consistently good teams in MLS (LA, Houston [spit], the good revs teams of a few years ago) run their system and find players for it. They don't assume that one piece is irreplaceable and that the system will collapse without it. DF10 is a great talent and is easily our best player, but creative attacking midfielders are not impossible to find, and young ones are not impossible to develop. I will be extremely disappointed if we don't find a player that SH is comfortable slotting in for DF10 when there's USOC, a knock, or a suspension. When healthy (and the rareness of that is part of why he's gone), Villar was exactly that. He had a good dead ball, was capable of putting in a nice through ball, and did a reasonably good job keeping possession in the final third. He did none of those things anywhere near as well as DF10, but he did them well enough that we were not a complete mess those first few games of last season when Villar stepped in.
Consider also that Villar was relatively cheap. He made less in 2012 than Andrew Jacobson. Speaking of this type of player, I watched a lot of Daniel Garcia this past NCAA season. He's looking really good, and is practically a lock for the US U20 World Cup team this summer (along with Boyd Okwuono. Jonathan Top and Mikey Ambrose have a chance. And of course if healthy Walker Zimmerman is a lock for that squad too). So we know that we have Daniel Garcia in our holster, and he'll probably be ready to sign with FCD as a homegrown player next off-season. And he should fill this type of role your speaking about quite easily. We'll have a young, developing attacking central midfielder coming thru behind Ferreira. We thought that was going to be Avila and then Leyva, but neither of those guys worked out for us. I don't know who's out there for us to get right now. But Ramon Nunez would help us as a central attacking midfielder in a 4-4-2..............and he's available. That rumor in the DMN this morning makes perfect sense.
Hold up, if we're talking long term, do we see Schellas being in the picture? If this season isn't a success I imagine he has to be gone. Bottom-heavy roster we're facing right now, I would not bank on a great season. When does SH contract run-out? And how are we supposed to get goals?
It's hard to say right now. Goals have to come from Ferreira, Perez, Castillo, and Jackson. And all 4 of those guys are capable. Let's be honest. Our starting XI isnt' bad. In fact, one could argue that our backline is the best in the league. [I'm not a huge fan of Benitez, but every backline in MLS has at least one weaker link] We're just really thin in attacking positions. One reason to sell Shea is if you're really confident in Castillo..................just need a guy to back up Castillo now. If Hollingshead does end up in an FCD uniform, that could work nicely.
We get goals from Perez and Cooper. Nunez and Ferreira also know where the net is and Castillo is (slowly) getting better. A Cooper return would bring some problems (his style of play, mainly) but it would also bring a familiar "face of the franchise" that is missing now. Plus england66 hasn't posted here in a while .
I don't think this is worth a separate thread but I found these blog posts linking Ayoze García to FC Dallas. They're a bit old and probably not too reliable, but eh. http://www.deporpress.com/index.php...cia-ultima-el-salto-a-la-major-league-soccer/ http://www.deporpress.com/index.php/2012/11/20/ayoze-garcia-podria-jugar-fuera-de-espana/ He's a winger who most recently played for Sporting Gijon in La Liga last season. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayoze_García
Walking off track just a bit here, but how many more top 10(?) draft picks out of NCAA will the MLS let us take with the "Home Grown" rule before they modify the rule? Seems like the smartest way to get young talent into the club in my opinion. Let them move onto college and hope the progress, and then hope they opt for MLS rather than overseas, then own their rights since they were in the academy. See Woodberry.
Ah yes, just what we need, a Ramon Nunez coming off a knee issue. His work rate was so high before, I am sure it will be even better. Sigh. Is this club really so limited in searching out players? There is a whole damn world out there, and they have lots of money to play with, especially if Pipico is already gone.
This is the perfect way to transition towards the day when NCAA soccer is completely irrelevant. Parents still have their kids play club soccer with an eye towards a scholarship. This way clubs still have incentive to invest in their academies without having to effect a total change in American soccer culture. Lots of clubs are doing it, so I suspect it will continue to be an available option.
There's a big incentive for clubs to do it. Remember that when a club sells a player signed as a homegrown player.............they get more of the transfer money. I believe they get 3/4 of the money for a homegrown. DC just benefited from that by selling Andy Najar. FCD has two sure-thing homegrown signings from the NCAAs on the way: Daniel Garcia and Boyd Okwuono. And then they have a plethora of other guys to consider (Ambrose, Ibarra, Guillen, etc.)
I like Nunez' game but I get your point. There's a wide world of soccer talent out there and with Pipico gone FCD should have upwards of $1.2 million to play with to nab 3 or 4 quality players who could really flesh out this team and take it directly into the playoffs and beyond. I know Clavijo and SH see it the same way, I'm just not convinced they can go about fixing the problem the right way. But I'm hoping.
There are three scenarios where SH is not the coach. 1) He quits. 2) He dies. 3) HSG sells FCD. HSG does not judge SH by results. If he was evaluated based on his record, he would have been fired long ago. SH is coach for life. In the article cited by Pegasus, it was Hunt speculating on players who had played for FCD and seem to be availible. It does not mean that SH is looking at them. I highly doubt he is. Both would assets to the team. Cooper scores goals. Nunez is a schemer in five man midfield, and a wing with four. There is your cover for DF. Hollingshead is scheduled to arrive soon. I wonder who set the schedule. My guess is SH, and we will not see Hollingshead at all. Three talented players who would help the team. Three talented players who will not be wearing hoops. We all know SH prefers spares. Dead but dreaming, Scipio Diabolus, vox fatum. Contra. Forever in horns.
if it wasn't for his injury he'd still be at Leeds tbh. Scored some crucial goals, was very effective when he was on the field as that central attacking mid or on the left. I'm interested to see how he does back from his injury. Wouldn't mind him on the NT if he has a similar season like the one he had at Puebla.
Damn, now I am really getting my hopes up to see Nunez on the squad. I hope his dad doesn't mess up the deal.
BTW, big props to Steve Hunt. He nailed Hollingshead reporting and the interest in Cooper and Nunez. I thought he might get one out of three but all three is good work.
I realize these are just pre-season games but we really need someone like Nunez as a backup to DF. Other teams are going to take Ferriera out and we will be hosed. I've already resorted back to my old Kenny Cooper opinion. I think he may have been a good insurance policy but I am not sure when he is ever going to be a clear choice over our other forwards, including BB.
Agree 100% on the first. But I thought Cooper looked dangerous today. He missed some chances - which his skill helped create, btw - but actually used his size and gave their D fits. How he meshes with Blas or Hassli, I'm not so sure yet. I also liked the set pieces with inswingers coming from both sides. Michel provides some quality service and gives DF a bit of a break, which he obviously needs now.