Interest continues: Valencia, Southampton, Crystal Palace and others are after USMNT CB Chris Richards, according to our @jamesbenge.The latest here:https://t.co/9TngQd0Uoh— Roger Gonzalez (@RGonzalezCBS) June 17, 2022
Probably a good sign that Bayern wants / is discussing a buy-back clause. I wonder who the other two La Liga clubs are because I'm not sure I'm thrilled about our guys going to Valencia at this point.
Yeah. It’s been bad for a decade. I think most fans finally realize the days of Top 4 are long gone. No reason the team can’t be a Euro League club. Valencia showed real interest last fall also. They clearly rate/want him. I think playing time would be in the cards immediately.
20 years ago we were rooting for guys to get playing time in the 3rd tier leagues in Europe & today we are complaining about our young guys being transferred to a mid-level team in la liga. ROFL
I do think there is a huge difference between defenders/keepers and the rest of the positions on the field in Big 5. It’s hard to get playing time in those leagues on D. People have posted the numbers in the past and it really bares it out. Getting reps IMO is the biggest thing before 23. Of course Chris would have gotten a lot more of those these last two years if he could stay freaking healthy. Sigh. He showed enough at Hoff to show he belongs at these levels, but has he shown enough to get real time at a top club? That is the question, Would 3 years at Valencia (under a D wizard like Gattuso) be a bad thing? If he is what we think he is he would be gone in two. I just want the kid to play. I think he will get a real shot at the 3 mentioned, but Valencia clearly rates him. The interest is long. Playing time in La Liga at a mid, and I believe an upper mid team in the coming years, is pretty damn good. Great place to live also. As long as he plays.
At a club like Valencia? No. At Valencia? Yes. That club is a dumpster fire. They've also only had one manager in the last decade who lasted 2 seasons, and have had 12 full-time managers in those 10 years, so Gattuso being the manager today shouldn't really have any impact on a player's decision-making.
Richards has to stay healthy wherever he goes, but I'm for rolling the dice on Valencia. I don't see the benefit of another stint at Hoffenheim.
I’m all to aware, however going where you are wanted is important. While the club has been a mess it is settling down financially and structurally. They are accepting their mid table place. Much of the first several years was about trying to reclaim top 4 status to destructive effect. It’s still a good size club, in an excellent league, in a beautiful city, that clearly has real plans for him. Is that really that bad? There is no perfect move. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, and I don’t know how Shampton and CP look at him, but you have to take the options in front of you. Seems to be working fairly well for Yunas. He is expected to take on a much bigger roll this fall, and will be given every chance. If Chris gets the same treatment I’m more than OK with that.
https://theathletic.com/3355012/2022/06/11/valencia-soler-lim-protest/ A club with a 10,000-strong protest on the last day of this season isn't one that a player should be targeting for a move. Among all the other details in that article.
All true. OTOH Gattuso is a bigger name and has a better track record than the usual Valencia hire in the last decade. If Chris joins and Gattuso plays him and improves him as a defender, who cares if Gattuso is fired after 20 months? All Chris has to do then is refuse to sign a contract extension and they'll sell him. If they sign him on a 4 or 5 year deal instead of the more normal 3 years, make sure there's a decent buyout clause with a not too high fee in the contract. In the meantime, Chris will improve as a player and be in the shop window in a better league. Personally, I'd prefer Palace but he's likely to be a rotator there. If it's starter at Valencia, he should take it.
Yeah. I left 4 years ago and it wasn’t good. I do think the underlying issues were being addressed, and hardcores have no patience. The worst is accepting they aren’t top tier anymore, and they aren’t gonna be any time soon. I am getting info from friends who are casual followers. A lot of the other stuff, sadly, can be applied to a lot of squads in Spain, but yeah, it isn’t great, but football isn’t going ot disappear their either. A poor owner is a poor owner. It’s a problem.
Just read the whole thing. Yeah. Doesn’t seem much different than the last decade. It’s just come to a head. Again, the biggest issue I felt from most was the loss of their status as top 4 team. The ownership has been an issue from day one. They just have to get through it. The owner isn’t going anywhere but they can hire better people. Most I know feel this will happen moving forward. Will it? This isn’t very different from many teams who could once play with the elite and are now mediocre. The old days die hard in minds. Even with solid ownership, better PR ad a plan the clubs days as top tier are pretty much done. For me, that is a lot that drives the anger.
Wouldn't a lot of that be as simple as hiring Monchi as Sporting Director? Edit: And letting him do the job without interference, obviously.
I wonder if Sevilla is one of the unnamed clubs as they will definitely need a center back after they sell Kounde.
Well, when you have a connection with something you always look for the best. I hope, maybe naively, that this latest episode will create a smarter, smoother path. Many fans were actually cautiously optimistic through most of this year. The cup final and poor finish to the season dampened things of course. They saw some hope when the last five years have been filled with none. Valencia use to be a destination for better foreign players. It was a B plus team for a long, long, long time. When that is all you know this dysfunction is crushing. Still, would it Really be a terrible place for a kid like CR to play? He would play. A lot. I can’t get past that. Hasn’t hurt Yunas.
they also sold diego carlos, so down two starting cbs there will almost certainly be incoming- but that doesnt necasarily mean interest in richards.
He'd be an upgrade at Fulham. There's no way FFC can think that Ream is going to keep them in the Premiership.
That would be a good move for Fulham actually. Richards has some of the same strengths as Ream. He is not left footed though, is he?
He's pretty good with both feet - I don't think playing as the LCB would be an issue. He'd be a very good signing for Fulham, but I don't trust that club to get their shit together enough to stay up, and Richards seems way too good to slum it in the Championship next season.