i didn't say anything about number of appearances. let's also keep in mind that guys like lampard, gerrard, di natale or toni were playing in leagues they knew like the palm of their hand. now we're talking about players at an advanced age changing league and country (continent, actually). can we at least admit these guys are old? i guess you expect a standing ovation.
well, ciman and piatti are good, which means a defender and a playmaker. donadel isn't bad. oyongo is useful. romero is ok. but i wouldn't give you anything for toia or mallace or duka or oduro or mc inerney. and the key thing to me is that drogba wouldn't come in like at chelsea to be an extra guy on offense. you'd be asking him to win you a lot of games. color me skeptical, but we'll see.
Here is what you said: So, you were talking about appearances. I was pointing out that they were integral members of their teams. Gerrard rarely came off of the bench. Lampard started more games than not. Pirlo started most games. Yes, they are old, but it really should not matter much. That's the end of this part of the discussion. We see things differently; that is the beauty of a discussion. Have a nice afternoon.
i said they came off the bench, not that they never played. i don't see what's so hard to get... lampard played 32 epl games. he started 10, was subbed in 22 times, by the way. gerrard was an icon at liverpool. but they had a poor season and he didn't shine either. 9 epl goals, 1 assist in 29 appearances, and i don't know how many of those goals were pk's. pirlo might be your best example, if only because his team won. but even he didn't have a big year. played in just 20 league games (one more than half), scored a goal every 401 minutes and, stranger yet, only got 5 assists, one every four appearances. he missed 11 games to injury. (three years ago, for example, he assisted every 2.6 appearances). these are fine names to put on the marquee, not players who can be expected to perform anywhere near their best levels. but like i said earlier, if the alternative is to watch the mls rank and file who seem puzzled about executing a throw-in, i guess there's room.
People are forgetting Marco DiVaio bagged 20 goals as a 36-37 year old for MTL in 2013. A competitive old player, even at the striker position, can have have plenty of success if the team is the right fit. A year later, his final year, he had 9 - which is not horrible. Drogba is a better player than DiVaio, isn't he?
I can't seem to figure out the problem. He will either perform well and raise the overall level of the league, or he will perform poorly, not play, and the overall level of the league will remain the exact same. Who gives a shit if some kid in England is laughing hysterically between bites of hot pocket, as he mocks "the mls" in the comment section of yet another article disparaging the "retirement league." The long term quality of the league is going to be entirely dependent on the development of our academies, and not aging European stars anyway. They're nice to have, and certainly welcome if they are going to mentor the young and put bottoms in seats.
or he'll be the shell of what he used to be but he'll play anyway and the hype machine will keep on spinning. and although i couldn't care less what some fat kid in england thinks, i'll just say for myself that these signings feel like mls is popping pills. i don't think this is right. you have to bring in outside players. i mean, i'm taking your 'entirely dependent' literally...
Hard to know who is the better player. They are different players. Certainly will be a challenge for Drogba, imo, to match the kind of numbers at MTL that DiVaio was able to put up while there. Not that it matters necessarily, but DiVaio had the (slight) advantage of coming to MLS at age 36, while Drogba is arriving in the league at age 37. Will be interesting to see how it plays out. I certainly think Gilberto in Chicago could/will "out-produce" Drogba in MTL across the next 5-18 months. (But Drogba will certainly help sell more tickets and draw more attention, relative to Chicago's most recent DP signing.)
Not sure how this enters into it, but it should probably be noted that Drogba was a late-developing player. He didn't really have a full season of top flight play until he was 24 and didn't really blow up as a superstar until he was 26. He hasn't been around for as long as his age indicates. Again, not sure if that's good or bad.
First steps on Canadian soil, What a welcome @impactmontreal 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/L2B2Lpzf5g— Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) July 29, 2015
I read him as sarcastic, but anyway: you are posting with a fake name and an avatar with a gun, so ...
How did I know that as soon as I saw your name this broken record wouldn't be far behind? I'm old enough to remember when you used to post about more than one thing regarding the Fire. Regardless, the Fire as currently constructed would be a farce even if they had a stadium at State and Madison.
The only terrible part of the remaining MLS season is that the Fire and Impact play twice in Montreal. Our owner will definitely not see Drogba in person.