Seems like we got good value if it ends up being true. I really hope Zardes plays well for Columbus. He's pure hustle, zero diva and gets way more shit than he deserves, even though his 2017 was poor. I'll certainly miss him.
GK (2) : Bingham, Sylvestre. RB (2) : Feltscher (INTL), Klimenta. CB (6) : Ciani (INTL), Skjelvik (INTL), Hilliard-Arce, Romney, Steres, Arellano. LB (1) : Cole (INTL). DM (2) : Kitchen, Carrasco. CM (3) : Jona (INTL), Joao Pedro (INTL), Husidic. RW (1) : Alessandrini (INTL). LW (2) : Lletget, Boateng. FW (5) : Gio (INTL), Kamara (INTL), Pontius, Jamieson, Lassiter. That's 24 players, 25 if Skundrich is signed. We currently have 9 international slots occupied for only 8 available. Biggest remaining questions of the offseason : - what to do with the international spots? - related to the question above : is it time to move Ciani? - if we move Ciani, who will we gonna pair with Skjelvik? Hilliard-Arce? Romney? Steres? Friendlies will allow us to try a few pairings. - still needed IMO : a third keeper (Vom Steeg or Lopez?), a cheap LB, maybe depth on the wings (Nyarko? Evans? Neagle?), maybe a CB if Ciani is leaving. - will Skundrich sign? He's a DM and we already have a lot of players capable of playing here, and even at RB (he's right-footed) we already have some guys. - if Lassiter departs, I would add another forward. What I would do : move Ciani, sign a GK, a cheap LB (I hope we'll bring some trialists at the training camp), a CB (Payeras?) and Lamar Neagle, and keep Lassiter. It makes 27 players. Sign Skundrich if he's worth it and I count 28. We still have the number 2 in the allocation order and maybe an international slot this summer if Gio gets his green card. That said, maybe there will not be a lot of players available through the allocation order this summer, so sign Rubio Rubin right now and we can move Lassiter. That would be a great forward corp.
I just came in to check and see if we paid a fair price for Kamara and it seems the consensus is yes. So okay. But I'm gonna miss Gyasi. I appreciated his hustle and intense desire to do better. He listened to his "elders" and played his heart out. I wish him well in his career. So I'm ready to get this season started already!
I think we got a good deal. Hate seeing Gyasi go, but getting a striker whose probably good for 15-20 goals a season for Gyasi Zardes and 400K TAM. Seems pretty favorable on our end. If Kamara opens space Gio to actually to the stuff we pay however many millions him to do, we looking pretty good going into 2018.
Big Sig, Dom, and Kurt did a great job re-building this team in this off season, despite the idiots working above them, Klein and Vagenes. They both still need to go. Now if we could just un load Ciani with minimal financial damage and free up that international spot, it would be awesome. I'm looking forward to our preseason, to see how it will best work. Go Galaxy !!!
Great deal. Also want to applaud Sigi for the changes. He had a mission, and he also completed that mission well ahead of the season's start. This team will hopefully have some time together as a unit in pre-season. Looking forward to seeing Kamara play, and hopefully he puts some pressure on Gio. Gyasi, we will miss you. I'm sad to see you go as a player who legitimately cared about his club, his community and his teammates. It's such a bummer because it's always hard to let go of player who is just fundamentally a good person in addition to being an athlete. All the best to you in Columbus and here's to seeing the inevitable goal you score against us. Wishing you all the best for the benefit of our national team too. As a note, it's a great place for Gyasi to land. Berhalter seems to be a coach that will be able to work with him mentally in a safe environment, and it's a fanbase that will be happy to have him. He's in the other conference which will keep him away from us from the standpoint of being able to keep things separate. One would think he would leave US camp early to join his new team. Very curious as to what role Greg will give him.
We need an international spot. Ciani is expensive, not very good and an international. We can buy out one player per season. Not exactly rocket science. Two seasons in a row LA has made massive top-to-bottom changes. The difference between those changes being made by an experienced and competent GM/coach and the laughable state of last season’s brain trust is refreshing. I wouldn’t say I’m expecting much from this season, but this time last season I was expecting the worst and got less than that. The league is much harder than 2009 and I don’t think we have the game changing players we did that season to make it to MLS Cup, but a similar amount of progress/success as that ‘09 team will suit me fine. And finishing ahead of LA2
Quite remarkable what a competent GM can accomplish. Maybe we can trade Chris Thomas and some TAM to Columbus for their Marketing lead?
Well hello my LAG peeps, been gone for a while, but I'm back. This off season really began when that idiot Onalfo was hired by the other two idiots. But now it feels like our club is turning the tide and it will get better. I'm ecstatic that they got rid of Zardes, I was done with him and his awful first touch and poor positioning and even worse finishing. I won't miss him, I wish I could uber him myself to LAX. I'm not crazy on the kitchen sink acquisition but will hope he provides some quality. I think we should not go after pontius (heard he was a possibility) but we should go after gk depth and get the Honduran national team keeper, his name escapes me right now but he is quality. So it's great to be back hope all of you had a wonderful new years and let's get on with our football.
This move suits both players really well. Zardes clearly needed a change, and I really do hope he revives his career. He is a good guy on an off the pitch and I will be rooting for him every time I see him in a USA shirt.
Kevin Baxter's latest story http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-zardes-kamara-20180119-story.html I'm starting to be positive about this season. It's like we're not stupid anymore.
BJIV and Husidic were both signed in 2014. Steres, Romney, Lleget, and Gio were signed in 2015 (all of them but Steres were signed mid season).
Actually, the guys we really need to unload to be successful (really successful, like winning championships again) are the Dos Santos brothers. Or at least Gio. We're just treading water until then.
Wonder what we will be paying Kamara? It was reported that he wanted to leave CLB to get a better contract than the $482K they were paying him. So this implies we are paying him 500k+? (Hell, 500k would be a pay cut if you factor in the cost of living. ) How are we doing salary cap wise? Where is GalaxyKoa when you need him?
I think Zardes was on something like 570k and Ciani is on 600k so we should have the money pay Kamara assuming we dump Ciani. We also dropped Jermaine Jones and his salary this offseason. Van Damme was making more than Ciani so we also gained some room there. We should have no issues find the room in the salary cap to pay Kamara.
I think the $2.8m of discretionary TAM new this year will cover it. I don't think 800k would be out of line.
If we buy out Ciani's contract which seems extremely likely, we now have 1 million freed up in wages for Kamara. I can imagine him getting a 650k salary here. Still very good wages for a top goal scorer in this league.