2019-20 Roster Movement Thread

We're listing 3 DPs right now, and I'm very happy with all three. It's hard not to love Ruseell and Felipe G, and all hail Pulido, bringer of life and joy.
The website indicates all 8 international slots are full, So, unless we buy out Fontas, there's no possible movement there (unless there are green cards a-coming, maybe Russell and Felipe are near?).
I do think we've upgraded on every line over last season. I expect Pulido to just about double Nemeth's overall production (I think, given our -20+ goals versus xG in 2019 plus the 12 Nemeth scored mean a harder working, better 9 could score 20-25. Nemeth's 8 in MLS should be more than doubled).
Kinda, at the very least, looks to be a much faster version of Croizet. Frankly, a speedy Croizet would not be a bad thing. He also looks to be an upgrade on old Benny. I don't think expecting 5 goals and 4 assists from him is asking too much.
As for Roger, Ilie and the defense, I am going with a rose colored glasses view that having to cut short the 2019 preseason and get aging players to midseason form two months before they otherwise would have reached that point, the hyperbaric chamber naps, the intense early schedule, etc, destroyed our legs, led to the injuries and so over the long term slowed us way down.
It may be completely unreasonable to expect Ilie to return to his 2018 level, but I do expect that. Roger, I expect to be a spot starter.
I do not see Puncec as a first 11 sort of CB, but he should be a very solid MLS starter. Besler still has a couple years left at Besler levels. Barath is competant as a third option, 15 game starter. And who knows, maybe Fontas can give us a couple games at the Toluca level in 2020.
I do have some concern about Melia, but he's still a very good MLS starter and I really liked Sanchez a couple years ago when he started for Chicago.
Pulido will get goals when we don't deserve them, and he will draw attention away from Johnny, who will be more dangerous.
This roster should end up 3, 4 or 5 in the West. Only LAFC seems out of our reach.

 

We feel close, for sure! I'm still iffy on fullbacks, at least as far as depth goes. I'm excited to see Lindsey get his chance, but at the same time he's not exactly proven at this level. I wouldn't mind a utility backup fullback/midfielder with a few miles on him, but I don't know who of that description is available on the cheap in MLS right now.

But yep. Looking to be a pretty complete squad. Next year could be an even wilder offseason, so all these guys pretty much are playing for their jobs more than they have in the past.

 

Just looked in to the forum to see how things are going since our move to Arizona. It seems like there is a good chance for recovery from the disaster that was last season. Unfortunately, they close the training sessions to the public here in Scottsdale, so my wife and I will probably make the short drive down to Tucson to see first hand how the team is going to look.

 

Hopefully bang-on average... I feel like teams with terrific preseasons have weak seasons.

 

If we were working on buying out Fontas, would he be with us in training right now?

 

Maybe. I don't know that Pete has ever frozen anyone out of training, though he definitely stops talking at all to people who have permanently entered his doghouse.

I fully expect them to keep him at least this season. If they'd gotten offers they might have listened, but it sounds like none came along and, as is totally his right, he is not agreeing to a cheap buydown of his contract.

It's also possible that he was injured last season and not truly in the doghouse, and that Vermes fully intends for him to main the back line this year, but that chance is slim.

I expect he remains, gets some minutes while the team hopes he recovers some of the class that prompted us to sign him, and might try to ship him off this summer or next offseason if nothing improves. Sunk cost and all that. If he were going to be released before this season, I expect it would have happened by now.

 

Sunk cost, but also, if we can get 10 games out of him at the Toluca level, I'd be okay with that. I mean, pricey for 10 games, but if the option is paying him and getting nothing.

 

Also, as I keep watching Kinda viddies, a couple things: He's not just quick and fast, his feet are so far above the people he's playing against that it's difficult to say if he's quick footed, or playing against cloggers. And two, he's really tough and quite strong on the ball. He should adapt well to MLS in that regard.

 

Kevin Ellis and Yohan Croizet.

I've come to the conclusion that he'll be here this year, but I'm not sure where he's getting much time to play. I mean with Besler, Barath, and Puncec, is he expected to spell Besler?

I'd be thrilled if he gave us 10 games at the Toluca level because that'd be about 8 more games than he's shown that level the rest of the time he's been here. But I can't see that happening, the book is out on how you play against him in MLS, you go at him with speed.

 

These types are harder to find in an "expansion" year ... especially with 2 expansion teams.

 

With Smith, we have 5 CBs and Smith sucked a lot less than Fontas did last year. The only way Fontas gets minutes is as backup No.6. In our system, that is the position that requires the least athleticism. And he is definitely the least athletic.

For every Toluca game there were 5 Minnesota Open Cup games. He played well against Toluca because we had possession and he was never put under pressure. Remember, Ibrahimovic turned and burned him. As soon as he is made to turn his hips, he will lose every battle. He's useless as a CB because he has zero recovery ability and (obviously) no one is behind him. If he plays the 6, at least the CBs are behind to cover.

 

The problem with Fontas as a 6 is that our 6 last year got burned for the same exact thing Fontas lacks (athleticism/pace).

 

So a "like for like substitute"?

 

Not equivalently so, though. Ilie is much more athletic and quick on his feet than Fontas has ever shown. So just because he's "also slow" doesn't mean Fontas won't cause us to suffer by getting minutes in that position.

Also, despite the fact that we won our only modern MLS Cup with a CB playing as a substitute DM, I really hate that conversion. CBs are usually trained way too safe. I do want a more defensive minded 6 to get some minutes, but I've seen the CB-as-DM a number of times for different teams and it usually means a ton of dead passing around the back.

 

With a few exceptions, Keane is one, the best dmids were box to box or AMs, though Lothar was an CB and an AM, before making the switch.
I know there are problems, but I think we might see a bit of Roger, behind Felipe and Kinda. He is a ballwinner, tenacious D (though not as good as a singer), can move the ball around and is still quick enough to be an asset, while not having the legs to last a full season as a box to box. I know, reds and yellows, but maybe that's what Ilie is for this year?

 

The only question is if Roger can lock in positional discipline for that. Historically, he runs and wanders too much and leaves that whole zone unprotected, at least to my memory. Guys like Ilie are great because they have a much better sense of when to move out of or around that pocket.

You might be right, though. Might be a better rotation for our defense and might keep Roger's utility for the team high while his speed and engine starts to wind down a bit.

 

Agree, but we have two subs for two CB positions, plus Fontas. And we really have zero subs at the 6, without taking our best attacking mid out of that position and moving him to the 6.

So...we really need a second No.6 and the best position for Fontas is CB for another team.

 

The 6 at SKC has almost always been played as a pivot 6 (Julio Cesar, Claros, Rosell, Illie), not as a destroyer. The only exception was Mustivar.
Rogers worst attribute is his passing and he's a very one footed player. Him at the 6 breaks down the first time he has to open his hips and hit a switching ball with his right foot. That ball is as likely to hit PV as it is to hit his target. Not to mention his lack of positional discipline. He'd play that position like Jermaine Jones and that's a bit frightening for a possession team.

 

But that's with a midfield of roger as a sort of box to box and felipe or Benny as a sort of a-ish mid. If our midfield is going to operate as the triangle it looks like on a team sheet, with felipe and kinda giving us a crazy dynamic attack, while both have good legs and will hustle back and be effective on defense (we hope on Kinda, we know on felipe), don't we need a destroyer? If we lose Roger in the role that Felipe is probably now in, we gain quite a bit, but we lose quite a bit as well, esp in the sense of steel. Red steel, too often, but still.
Roger's passing isn't elite, but it isn't terrible. He can take the ball from the back line. He can turn. He can move the ball to the mids and wings as well as most. He can provide an outlet, etc.
His long ball percentage is not that different from anyone else on the roster. He won't be breaking lines with threaded passes, a la Ilie,, but IMO, our primary weakness in this roster is defensive and down the middle. Puncec, we hope, will help with that. If Ilie is back to what I always thought he was, wonderful, then he works in that role, as he provides both defensive stability and possession. But he wasn't that last year, at least by the end. If Ilie just had a bad spell last year, my point is pointless, so back to regular viewing. But if he's not, and this is our final roster, Roger is an option to be considered, isn't he?

 

I don’t think Roger is an option to play the 6 unless PV is going to go completely away from playing through his 6. PV’s teams, even in our high press days had a very strong passer in the 6. That’s not Roger’s role. If Ilie isn’t playing there I’d expect PV to drop Felipe to that role not Roger.

 

then we really need to be hoping that Ilie's slippage last year was a one off

 

100 percent agree. Roger cannot play as a pivot 6.

 

I got a first look at the team at their game against the Phoenix FC trialists yesterday morning. No big surprises, as you would imagine. Three 30 minute sessions were played with three different sets of players. The first session was a potential starting 11. Pullido at the 9 with Salloi and Shelton on the wings. Felipe, Roger and Ilie in the middle with Zusi, Puncic, Besler and Martins in back. Predictable outcome as Phoenix could hardly get the ball out of their own half. Shelton, with his speed, could be a fairly good winger and played that position well. Pullido is talented and skilled, but not really in sync with the rest of the team. That will obviously take some time. The back line really wasn’t tested and Melia barely touched the ball for 30 minutes. Salloi scored the only goal in the first period.
Second group was a mix of SKC 2 and the rest of the senior squad. Gerso looked rusty. Bucio was very good scoring a goal. Hurtado will probably spend a lot of time on the bench unless he learns how to score and how to contrl the ball under pressure. Yes he is very fast, but couldn’t score on two attempts, one on one with the keeper. The last session was a mix of SKC 2 and academy players.
I saw Johnny, but he never took the field. I looked for Kinda, but never saw him on or off the field. I chatted with one of the Phoenix FC coaches, Dave Rogers, a former player for Dundee United in the Scottish Premier League. He was very impressed with what he saw out of the first 30 minute group. More to come as they move on to play an MLS team in a couple of days down in Casa Grande.