Without disagreeing with the point that Pec is very left footed, I disagree about Nouhiu and your expectations about beating him to the end line and putting in a cross. I simply don't remember many wingers beating him very often whether they were a DP or not. Paintsil did when he had a running start, but I don't think that he did from a standstill. Look at Mo Salah's stats against Nouhou in the 2022 AFCON (from MLS.com): Mo Salah v. Cameroon (120 mins): • 0 successful dribbles • 0 key passes • 0 shots on target • 0 chances created • 0 accurate crosses • 0 accurate long balls • 5 fouls • 6x fouled • 60% passing (12/20)
Our home game win vs. Seattle was one of the few times it felt to me that a team (in that case Painstil primarily) got the better of Nouhiu. That guy is such a great player. Wasn't surprised at all to see him play much much better against us last weekend.
I wonder if Pec saw that match or is generally familiar with Nouhou's game? I get what you're saying. I meant hypothetically. He may not beat Nouhou specifically, but he can't even try because he can't play on his right.
I agree that if we are talking about the average MLS left fullback, then it's not unreasonable to expect a DP right winger to be able to beat the full back at least some of the time and put in an effective cross when he gets free. If he can't do that because he is too left-footed, then he shouldn't be playing right wing on more than an occasional spot basis. Per Transfermarkt Pec played right wing in for the majority of the starts he had with Vasco da Gama, so I am guessing that he came to the Galaxy wanting to be on the right.
MLS to continue global growth with league-wide TransferRoom access Fascinating article. Might be how we identified Pec given that he is mentioned as one of the largest MLS transfers on this platform.
These numbers In his 100th appearance across all competitions for the #LAGalaxy, @JoveljicDejan scored his 30th career goal. Joveljić has 42 goal contributions (30 goals, 12 assists) in 100 games played (46 starts). #Facts #Milestones #Brate 🇷🇸✨ pic.twitter.com/pc6urhllhk— Kevin Acevedo (@acevedokev) May 16, 2024
Think how many of those appearances were 5-15 minute late subs. Very impressive I bet if looked at on on a per minute basis.
The MLSPA salary guide for 2024 is out today https://mlsplayers.org/resources/salary-guide Garces counts as $200K (U22) Zavaleta ($89.716) makes only a little more than Bibout, Lepley, Vivi ($71,401) and the same as Brady Scott. Yamane is at $550K McCarthy is at $275K and Micovic is stealing money at $150K Neal is underpaid at $165K and Ferkranus is overpaid at $165K Berry is at $175,008, which sounds high until you realize Jonathan Perez and John Nelson are both making $275K
it really makes me think, what's going on with the organization and what exactly is the disconnect between the higher ups and the staff in the trenches. the salary discrepancies between player who are first team regulars and first team fringe players is surprising, are scouts finding players as instructed by the FO and not aligning with the coaches philosophy or is the FO mandate is to find the best possible talent and throw everything against the wall and see what sticks with the coaching staff, either way this is not a productive way of doing things and definitely not a way to build a winning cutlure. I do understand that scouting is a crap shoot but when you operate in such a restrictive league, you can't afford to make a lot of talent miscalculations or financial blunders.
Some of those discrepancies are the result of contracts signed under different front offices. Others are because they were signed to contracts at different ages and under different circumstances. For example, Neal and Ferkranus are both still operating under the contracts (plus options) they signed when they were in the Academy and were viewed at least nominally as on the same level. Perez was also signed while in the Academy, but he had options in Mexico and perhaps elsewhere that drove up his price. My guess is that they would have signed Neal to a new contract if he had pushed for one last year, but they would have likely required him to agree to an extension, which he might not have been willing to give up then.
Can you please give us an example of this salary discrepancy so I can understand your point more. I just don't see it on the current roster given both the weirdness that U22, DP and TAM contracts cause and given Benny's point above. Especially if you compare it on a class of position basis.
Yeah I've gotta say that our salaries line up much better now than they have in many many years. Still not perfect, but getting better. For those wondering, Boyd is on $775k at Nashville. So we would have had to pony up $500k to keep him here - or almost the entire salary of Miki Yamane. Boyd has 0g and 2a through 9 games this year, FYI...
got it! thank you for the explanation and for the clarification of things I wasn't too sure of, always appreciated
#LAGalaxy GM Will Kuntz has created arguably the biggest club turnaround in the league while dumping the most salary in the league. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/CKfRezV0w1— Justin Ruderman (@JustinRuderman_) May 16, 2024
He's spending more on transfer fees and less on salary - and also now has several players who have value on the international market that might actually turn a profit on those transfer fees. Very smart fella. (Puig, Pec, Neal, Garces -- could all possibly command big transfer fees relative to what it cost us to get them, in the years to come. I'd say Cerrillo, Paintsil and Dejan could also get decent transfer fees as well.)
While I agree with you, I hate the Galaxy being a feeder team as it is a continual rebuilding cycle. I am not sure that a team doing that can ever aspire to more than occasional success when the stars aline (as measured by silverware). LAFC and Atlanta (the first teams to really do this) and won only 2 MLS cups between them.
While I agree, I think at least for now, the only way MLS teams can afford to sign big players AND be a team that turns a decent profit is to make sure you sign players who you can sell if bigger clubs come with too big to turn down offers....
the reality of the situation is unless you're one of the big European leagues, you are going to be a feeder league and I know I keep harping on it but the way that MLS is structured, the MLS is fortunate to even be considered a feeder league and I think its quite an accomplishment for a league this young to go from an afterthought in the soccer/football world to a growing feeder league. I'm sure MLS will eventually grow to be a top tier league, competing with Euro leagues but it won't be during my lifetime.
While you are probably correct, given the current roster rules, I believe that teams that developed and kept their academy talent could have significant success. It would require a rule change to take homegrown players completely off of their rosters salary cap. Imagine FC Dallas with Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi, Chris Richards, Alex Zendejas and Reggie Cannon on their current squad. Imagine how much more attractive soccer would be if homegrown players could aspire to NFL like salaries.
I think you have to take advantage of being in a big market and having a history of signing globally-recognized names. We're the club that brought David Beckham to MLS. You can't let that kind of capital slip away, especially not when Miami and LAFC are proving that you can get globally-recognized players that can have an impact in the league. This is not at odds with developing and selling players. I want us to do that, too. I want us to do both. The Galaxy should literally be trailblazers in every aspect.
I was in agreement with that quoted post btw (it didn't seem that way when I read it back). I forgot to add the part that I agree, you have to balance being a selling club and a destination club.
Sources: LA Galaxy interested in Marco Reus as well.Charlotte has no interest in moving his discovery rights to LAG, especially as they continue to push to convince Reus.Dortmund have Champions League final in a few weeks. Nothing will be sorted on Rues' future for a while. https://t.co/rrgZm6Xd0a— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) May 19, 2024 Hard to fathom how we’d pull that off but Bogert is amongst the most reliable reporters so… SHRUG
Not sure if Reus is a need. Seems like he’d be a great locker room guy! I want to hear that we’re after Real Madrid’s soon to be free agent, and open to MLS, defender, Nacho. Nacho would make us instant contenders. Great defender, leader, and person. Maybe Puig can make a call?