John Brooks ends this half of the season with 4 starts, none since early March, and 459 minutes. Clearly moved into a backup role. What I saw of Brendo today they were in their usual 532 on D but instead of being in CM Brendo was on the FW line. He has finished the season playing well. Involved in a lot of moves today. Union and Leeds don’t have an agreed fee and what Union would pay would be much less than what Brendo was bought for. I doubt there are many who would pay more than Union. If Leeds stays in the Champo, presumably, Brendo can just do another loan to Union. If Leeds goes up I wonder what they will do.
I mean, Ream got moved into a backup role...so it's a good thing we have so many other CBs who are starters in the Top-4.
Ream is obviously towards the end of his career and unclear if he’ll make it to 2026. Richards is are only top four centerback who plays regularly for now. I suppose McKenzie has the best shot of making a move to the top 4 this summer and I assume Miles Robinson will give it a shot again (but I don’t know that it will be successful). Pickings are fairly slim otherwise unless Neal takes a leap as I don’t think CCV is going to be making a top 4 move and Trusty is back to the Championship. Our best hope is maybe someone like Noahkai Banks establishing himself.
MLS Flavors has been really talking up M-Rob this early season. I would think he still constitutes a pretty good option for us.
he had a solid first half, but its a case of a guy sorta crossing that line in real time- frankly we saw the same thing with ream. the difference being (big picture and "lately) reams success with the national team- and the last window bought him more time. in my opinion, at least. i think they are in similar positions going forward- a promoted team/top promotion candidate could possibly take them on, chicago/st louis could offer enough to make it a tough decision but im not sure how much that would be. im curious if brooks feels compelled to finish out his career here at all. i think he could very understandably feel a little bitter over his nt career. just going by my own dumbass opinion based on almost nothing id say brooks is more likely to finish out in germany while ream may go for like a three year deal from st louis- but i could also see him transition into a coaching track with fulham. i guess how much time ream has left on his deal is a pretty important piece im not aware of, too.
I agree I just don’t know if a European move is in the cards for him. It’s going to be hard for him to find a club who will match his MLS salary and at the age of 27 he’s not likely to get a club wanting to pay a ton of money in a transfer fee. With the team option his rights are held by Cincinnati until January 2026 (which may not be the best time to move as it is with it being right before the World Cup).
Richards starting and Crystal Palace already up 1-0. What a hell of a turnaround for Palace this season. THey looked hopeless there at the end of Hodgson's tenure. COME ON YOU PALACE 💪#CPFC | #CRYAVL— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 19, 2024
watch out yall- after about 40, 50 more chances teams might start to figure out these septuagenarian british managers arent quite getting it done in the modern era...
Why, when Union are traditionally such light spenders and now they don't have additional UCL revenue? Some clubs who are bigger spenders would look at how he performed the last couple months - 4 goal contributions, ball progression, possession retention, pestering d - while aiding Union in staying up, + having a positive history in UCL, and think they could use that. I could see Wolfsburg, Stuttgart, Monaco, Lyon, Bologna, Lazio, etc.; putting in significantly higher bids than a Union. But the most upside is Brenden returning to Leeds if they get promoted, and duplicating what he did the first few months, but without the loss of confidence post WC, while adding more physicality (which he showed at Union) + production (momentum & luck).
The new Wolfsburg manager would very likely want Brenden but it's a matter of money. From Brenden's point of view, I'd say his familiarity with Bundesliga now would really help him in a sophomore campaign. Trying to convince people at Leeds all over again with Farke as a manager would be a reach, imo. Union Berlin is a big question mark. They need a "9 in his prime" type of player to start with. Look at what Stuttgart did this year as an example of how important that is.
Egads......................Richards and Palace now 4-0 up on Villa. With Bournemouth losing, they're a ManU goal against Brighton away from finishing top half.
🇺🇸 Rokas Pukštas GOAL to put Hajduk Split up 2-1! It’s the 8th goal of the season for the 19 year old, who could be in for a transfer to a higher level this summer 🇺🇸 https://t.co/a5H53lWeVC— American Ultras Talk (@ameriultrastalk) May 19, 2024
In Spain, both De la Torre and Johnny start. Stay healthy boys! 💚🤍💚¡Nuestro once inicial para el #RealBetisRealSociedad!#DíaDeBetis pic.twitter.com/1oikeDwpYB— Real Betis Balompié 🌴💚 (@RealBetis) May 19, 2024 📋✅ O noso 𝗫𝗜 🆚 @GranadaCF!#GranadaCelta ⋄ #LALIGAEASPORTS pic.twitter.com/AmXP4vdslR— RC Celta (@RCCelta) May 19, 2024
Richy Ledezma Sighting!!! Got 5 minutes in another PSV win (Tillman went the 1st '70 and Pepi the last 20' as well)
Reasonably big game for Betis and Johnny. Going up against Real Sociedad in a jostle for Europa and Europa Conference positioning. They need to beat Sociedad to maintain pace for Europa proper, but are currently down 1-0 LDLT and Celta would ice survival beating Granada today.
And so it came to pass. What an incredible turnaround. Chris Richards and Palace have finished top half in the Premier League for only the 2nd time in their history. In the end, Chris played in 30 games and ~2500 minutes across all competitions. It is Chris Richards who finishes highest up in the table amongst all USMNTers. 2023/24 @premierleague season 🤝That's a wrap 👀#CPFC | #CRYAVL pic.twitter.com/bc25F1xizl— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 19, 2024
Even more impressive, their equal highest finish in their 119 year history or 163 year history depending on who you believe.