I'm a bit surprised. Maybe they're giving him a chance to catch on with another team before they've all finalized things. Seems like he could contribute somewhere. Maybe GII it is.
Makes sense. I think he's good enough to attach himself to another team but the problem is the salary cap is he good for for a team to want to take a risk/spot for him
I think he's a minimum salary player so the cap isn't so much the issue as is the number of roster spots. Is he better than the #30 player on your roster? Cochrane was ahead of him last year at left back - Cochrane got playing time and Gaul went out on loan. Also, things may be getting crowded at the wide midfield position. I think Mendiola, Jamieson and Jaime Villareal all can play wide. Bruce seems very willing to play right-footed players at left mid.
Because he's under contract with the league still? Remember players rights are technically owned by MLS, so before he's really let go, any other team has the option to pick up that contract. Afterwards, he could presumably be picked up by G2 on a USL Pro contract (which could in theory be worth more, but seems unlikely).
Do you know if there is an order for selection of a player like this? In other words, is it something like worst record gets first shot, and if passes second worst gets the next shot, etc?
This is from the 2013 rules, so it may be out of date - (H) WAIVERS A team may place a player on waivers at any time during the regular season at which point he is made available to all other teams. The waiver claiming period shall commence on the first business day after the League delivers notice to teams and shall expire at 5 p.m. EST on the second business day after the Waiver Period Commencement Date. The claiming period is 48 hours. The Waiver Draft order is determined via points per game once all teams have played at least three MLS League games. If the waiver takes place prior to all teams playing in at least three League games, priority shall be granted based upon the prior year’s performance, taking playoff performance first, with teams eliminated from playoff contention at the same stage separated according to their point totals through the end of the regular season. New expansion teams shall be at the bottom of the waiver order. Once a team selects a player off waivers, that club is automatically moved to the bottom of the priority list for subsequent waiver selections in a given season, regardless of its points-per-game total. Players who may be placed on the MLS waiver wire are as follows: (i) A player waived by an MLS team in the current season; (ii) A player who completed his college eligibility within the past season, who was not made available in the SuperDraft or Supplemental Draft; (iii) A player who has remaining college eligibility (and was not made available in the SuperDraft or Supplemental Draft), but the League at its discretion and after taking into account exceptional circumstances determines the player may be offered an MLS contract; (iv) A player who has played in MLS previously where his last MLS team does not wish to exercise their right of first refusal, except in the case of returning U.S. National Team players as stated above. (v) A player who was drafted in the SuperDraft or supplemental draft, and who after a trial with the club is not offered a contract by the first Monday of June. http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/roster-rules-and-regulations
After watching him get skinned alive at LB by Real Madrid, I didn't see much of future for him at the Galaxy. So, not surprised at all.
I don't agree. I would definitely keep Cochrane over Gaul. Cochrane showed lots of promise as a rookie, I thought.
Real Madrid? That's the gauge? Edit - although that is probably a hint at the problem. Not mobile enough for outside back, and not good enough at the other positions he has been tried at.
Yes, that's all it was, a big hint for me... certainly not the only thing he should be (or was) judged on. He was definitely exposed... Moreso than any other Galaxy player I can recall in any of those games.
The only game I've seen this pre-season (the game on TV against the Armenian team) Gaul was a real bright spot at left midfield. Looked better at that position than any appearance Rogers had last season. But based on his entire playing history, it's not terribly surprising that he was waived.
You may well be right. Coaching staff obviously agrees with you. Honestly, I didn't bother to watch the RM game so I didn't see what you are talking about. I never saw that mobility issue during his few playing minutes with LAG. But maybe I wasn't really focusing on him so much.
Well, when one person looks at how Gaul did against Real Madrid, he might be accused of setting the bar unrealistically high. You, on the other hand, have set the bar unrealistically low.
Gaul might be caught in that he's really a left-footed utility player who really has no one position he excels at. Would be nice to have, but with MLS tight roster rules, maybe needed to be sacrificed. Another possibility is that the Galaxy told him he wouldn't be in their plans this year and he requested to be waived in order to either pick up on another team or sign with G2 if he clears waivers...
You're right. It wasn't that he wasn't good enough to play against Real Madrid, it was that he was skinned alive by Real Madrid, Seattle saw that, and the next match they were able to do the same thing against him and we lost 4-0 to Seattle. After that he didn't start again that season. I thought after we drafted Cochrane, Gaul should of been moved to LM since he's left footed and played FW for a season in College and made All-Conference that season at FW. Not sure if he played at all with Carolina last season, or where he played on the field. But he played a lot of minutes at LM this preseason. Actually quite a bit a minutes for a player just to be waived (only LD played more at LM this preseason). I'm sure they told him that his season would be a G2 season, and probably not a guaranteed starter there either. Which I'm speculating lead him to ask for his release so he could catch on with another MLS or NASL team before season's start.
They were probably giving him an extended trial. I expected him to be a bit further in the depth chart at the G1/G2 game. But instead the left back minutes went to James Riley, who we can assume is the one beating him out for a place on the team. Best wishes to Brian, anyway.
Lalas and Twellman preview the 2014 Galaxy season... Twellman says he breaks into a sweat when he hears the word Galaxy haha http://espnfc.com/video/espnfc/video/_/id/1734822/league/usa.1?cc=5901
i have to disagree with their projected lineup. Twellman/Lalas Projected XI: --------------Friend-----Keane---------- Donovan--Juninho---Sarvas---Zardez Dunivant--Gonzalez--Leonardo----AJ --------------------Penedo--------------- by the way bruce has been using us in preseason (as we have discussed here) it seems that Landon might finally be moving into a central playmaker role which he is best suited for imo. My Projected XI (for majority of season): -Keane----------Samuel---------Zardes- ------------------Donovan---------------- ----------Juninho--------Sarvas--------- Riley---Gonzalez------Leonardo-----AJ --------------------Penedo---------------- *perhaps im being a bit wishfull here but I do believe that Samuel is starting above Friend when we round out midseason form and Zardes over Rogers and Ishikazi
^ I like that lineup! There may be a conditioning issue with Samuel that drops him below Friend on the depth chart right now, but he should see more minutes down the road. Or maybe Bruce has just been screwing with our heads during pre-season.
preseason is to give the fringer players a fair shot and to try new things. but it is also to get a team used to playing with eachother and playing in a system. so i can see bruce f*ing with us or actually rolling that out. Keane cutting in from the left plays immensely to his strengths. he played there at Villa and he was sublime. Zardes playing as an attacking wing will be interesting since he is right footed. he will have to learn to be patient and pass back to the midfield or fullback if no options exist. in a 4-3-3 the most important thing to do is keep possession since you can be exposed to some nasty counter attacks. stupidly crossing the ball when there is no one in the box will do that... in the perfect world the key to the Galaxy if Landon is used centrally is ERTL! (everything runs through landon )
LA Galaxy The #LAGalaxy have traded Greg Cochrane to the Chicago Fire in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2016 SuperDraft. READ: http://laglxy.com/MJbKnA OK, not this I do not get. If he needed work, why not with the USL team? Huh. I know he wasn't the world's best, but he had potential and needed experience to work on positioning.