2020-21 Roster Movement Thread

"Technically" Kinda's loan expires though there have been reports since we signed him on loan that the loan was just a roster mechanism this year and he was always joining permanently. And there have been reports since both in August and in November that we'd agreed to the purchase option.

 

Opinion dump on contracts:

Keep Gerso and Hurtado, I think those are both no-brainers. I'm not sure Gerso is even on TAM, so both are financially smart--if he does cost more, maybe reevaluate. Honestly, unless we really are gonna shift a major player up front, I don't know that we need any attacking adjustments at all.

Matt and Roger are a tougher question. Are they valuable experience and some old quality? Yeah. Their wages are gonna have to plummet to not negatively impact our roster though. I'm still shocked by Besler's decline on the field, honestly. He has really struggled this year.

Reid and Sanchez can walk. Winston did pretty alright for us, but he's old and injury prone and not gonna be as financially simple going forward.

Grab the option for Johnny (no ********ing duh), Gutierrez (even a mostly-healthy season from him is one of the best upgrades our midfield can see), Busio (no really ********ing duh), and Hernandez, Dia, and Wan Kuzain for sure (cheap and effective players). What happened to Smith? In a year of such backline chaos and he only gets four games? Doesn't bode well for him if he can't get on the field with defensive issues like we're seeing. Salloi and Dick I don't really care about.

ALL THAT SAID

We need to trim some fat, and the salaries we have tied up in players like Fontas, Zusi, Ilie, etc. aren't going anywhere. So we may see SKC trying to trade or sell players like Gerso or Gutierrez, either of which would break my heart. Letting some of our aging core walk to other teams might be a really big boon, but I'm just not sure if the transfer window this year will have the mobility required to do big changes.

We need, and I feel like I've been saying this for goddamn years, to upgrade at d-mid. Ilie is decent and a likeable figure too, but his lack of athleticism has been punished so, so many times in the last couple of years. If we're rolling with the single-pivot midfield three, we absolutely need some gangbusters there. Busio was a nice stopgap but I still don't think he's what we need either (though his capacity to play anywhere in the midfield makes him wildly terrific depth). Bring in a serious TAM player for there, behind Kinda and Gutierrez, would be a really slick new-look engine.

I'm not sold on our fullbacks though Dia/Lindsay has really panned out to be better than I thought. I don't hate Martins like some but I do think he's best served as depth and not the starter. We definitely need more options at RB depth as Zusi's lack of pace becomes more and more exploitable.

We need a real, decent backup keeper. Why have we seen so many duds? I see these other teams fielding two, three keepers over the course of the season and all of them looking passable, while as soon as Melia is off the pitch we are a shambling catastrophe. Timmy needs a high-quality understudy. Pronto.

And of course, the now-endless questions of center back. I said above, I hope we don't take Reid's option. He's good, but not for the price/gamble/limited duration he would provide. Smith is starting to look like he'll never quite pan out, sadly. Fontas exists. I think Puncec is okay but he's nothing striking. SKC need to TAM-sign a solid CB who's under 32 and get this ship righted. I also think they need to find one or two very promising young CBs to moonlight as depth and prepare us for a reasonable transition. Athleticism is vital here. Teams are just not playing at the casual pace we got used to stopping half a decade ago.

Other than that, I like what we have. Lots of youth waiting in the wings, and while the front line has some aging operators (where slowing down can be a much bigger disadvantage than elsewhere on the field), I don't think we're anywhere near a crisis point with that.

tl;dr I ramble and field some very safe opinions.

 

As for the players out of contract and on options:

Out of contract bring back:
Espinoza, Gerso, Hurtado all if the price is right.

I'm not sure that Hernandez is ready to be a regular contributor/starter and we have no clue how Gutierrez will return so you bring Espinoza back on a 1+1 deal and you can hopefully manage his minutes with a midfield rotation as Gutierrez gets back up to speed.

Gerso and Hurtado I'm indifferent on. Shelton isn't going anywhere and he can play both the wing and the 9 so he plays both players spots. Gerso off the books would free up some money ($550K last year per players union) to sign a winger to replace him.

Let go
Besler, Reid, Sanchez

Unless you're dumping Fontas' contract I don't think you bring back Besler unless it's a super friendly "home town discount" contract and even then I'm not sure you do it.

Reid: I still think the CBs are a work in progress, Reid was good, but I don't think he was TAM level good, which is likely where his contract falls if he purchase from West Ham.

Sanchez: Lost his back up spot to Pulskamp, didn't impress in his limited minutes for SKC and SKCII.

Option year players

Pick up: Russell, Gutierrez, Busio, Hernandez, Dia

Russell and Busio are absolute no brainers. Gutierrez is close, but if his rehab isn't going well then maybe you do consider not picking it up.

Hernandez is good depth and very club friendly as a HGP.

Dia I think you pick up b/c he's cheap and I think he's better than Martins, but I'm fine getting rid of one of them and bringing in another starter in Vermes continued rotation to find a replacement for Sinovic.

Let walk: Salloi, Smith, Dick, Kuzain

Salloi and Kuzain are friendly contracts as HGP, but Kuzain only made the bench because everyone else was hurt and Salloi's form is so deep in the hole it's on the other side of the world at this point. Maybe he can recover his form elsewhere.

Smith had some flashes but those flashes were like the flashes with Kevin Ellis, came in short lengths of time starting. Once he started more he was exposed. I'm fine moving on.

Dick I could be convinced to bring back to back up Melia was Pulskamp plays regularly for SKCII, but I'm also fine moving on, he played just twice on loan to Phoenix.

 

It's a decent bit of salary cap out of contract. I think, can't find the 2020 numbers but assuming 2019 will work for most out of contract this year.
Besler $674,000
Espinoza $800,000
Gerso $550,000.
Reid's loan is ending, meaning picking him up will be a lot more expensive than borrowing him has been. I'd guess his salary demands would be into the 7 figures, which is a lot.
On the options:
Busio (basically free) and Johnny ($1.5million) are no brainers, But I'd want to renegotiate to add at least one more year for both, and I'm not sure that will happen. I'd excercise Busio's just to get a transfer fee if he won't renegotiate.
I'm not at all sure Felipe G will be healthy enough to play again, does anyone know on this? His 2019 salary is $1.6 million. after a year out, he might be willing to take a serious pay cut, because his options will be limited.
One of Salloi, $139,000 or Hurtado $181,000 make a ton of sense, but as cheap as they are, both are a decent option, though i'm not sure what Salloi's upside is these days. He probably should ask to leave.

 

He's had a long and strong career with us.Always a legend. Even without back problems, he would be at best in the twilight years of his football and unlikely to earn a new contract, at least one longer than a year. I assume we're going to find a spot for him somewhere in the organization, but as part of this roster guessing game, that makes him very unlikely to be re-signed as a player.

 

That sucks but that would explain it a bit. We as fans have mostly just blamed the chaos around him but if his health is not keeping up with his ambitions, that helps me understand too.

I really, really always have liked Besler. Like, to the point of being annoyed that he got passed by Zusi in that all-time appearances board. Really wanted to see him setting some big records. 350+ in all comps is pretty good though, haha. I was hoping he'd retire on his own terms and not because of injury, but that's probably a lot to hope for.

If he fits in the salary, I wouldn't be upset to see him return for another season, assuming that you are correct and that he is able to recover from or work around his back issues.

 

Because dumping him means the ownership paying out of pocket. Best case scenario is a lower-division Spanish team makes a tiny offer for him and SKC accept, far as I know.

 

I mean you would hope we'd dump him but ownership would have to eat the rest of his contract (two more years guaranteed) and I just can't see that happening. If it was I would have figured they would have done it last year after how poorly it went. I want it to happen, I just don't expect it to at all. He'll be back on the bench next year earning TAM level money and making maybe 10 appearances. Maybe there will be a better chance of buying him out when he just has a year left on his deal.

 

Age and the "pedigree"

 

Minus Melia and Puncec, the entire defense needs gutted. That includes defensive mid. None of it matters because I have lost faith in Peter's ability to identify defensive talent and cultivate a defensive mentality.

The CB position has been a comedy of errors over the past 3 to 4 years. Coheolo, Fontas, the kid from Rwanda, Barath, Smith, Reid, the Opara trade....Jesus that is some serious incompetency.

Same for left back. Sinovic would still be the best left back on this roster if he weren't let go. Really, both outside back positions are bad. I haven't seen outside back play as bad as I did this since Harrington and Igor. Can Dia even make a tackle?

Defensive mid. Its fine to play a pivot 6 if you have the CBs to back him up. We don't. When you have consistently awful CB play, you need the 6 to provide defensive cover and Illie just can't.

Philosophy - for ****s sake, can we please get Peter a tactical assistant? Unitl you get back to having a dominant CB pairing, stop pushing your outside backs to the touchline and defending in three, stop playing a slow defensive mid who provides defensive cover similar to a traffic cone.

Getting back to having good CB play is critical for how Peter wants to play. That has to be priority 1 during the offseason.

 

I think it's obvious to everyone where we need change. Besides the fluke game against Vancouver with 1494 shots and no goal the game against Minnesota was the only time we got shut out on. (I'm refusing to count the game against Dallas - that disallowed goal was bs).

I think you can pick pretty much all the options up (though there are some that I've just haven't seen play enough so don't know much about them), and offer new contract to Gerso and Hurtado, as long as he's comfortable playing the sub role. The rest of the contracts you should probably let expire.

Up front, the only problem I'm seeing is that imo both Johnny as well as Shelton are just not very versatile. Their position is right winger and they are much much less effective anywhere else on the pitch. I cannot find Shelton's contract details so don't know how expensive he is, but imo he just has to play a sub role to Johnny and I'm not sure whether he's happy with that or not. If he's not, we might need 1-2 backup wingers (depending on one's opinion on salloi)

Midfield also looks pretty good (assuming that Gutierrez will be able to play as well as he did pre injury), with Kinda and Gutierrez for 10 and 8 respectively and Busio and Hernandez as great HG depth.
Only problem is the 6. Now I remain a fan of Ilie and think he's undervalued these days among SKC fans (we are 10-4-3 with and 2-4-2 without him this season, counting the vancouver and san jose playoff games as ties), but I agree that defensively he is a liability. It's not just his speed, it's also his lack of mobility which causes him to get turned so easily. I do think an in form Gutierrez would help with shoring up the space in front of the defensive line as well, but at the very least we need some destroyer type we can sub in to close games off.

As many here have mentioned the defense is where the big issues are at. I almost feel like we might end up needing every position replaced. Depending on how Zusi ends up returning from his injury we need a new right back as I don't feel like Lindsey is MLS starter quality.
Puncec I'm less sold on than some others here - at the very least he's not someone we can anchor our defense around as we've done this season. His 'defending' before the first goal against Minnesota was ridiculous.
Reid will probably be too expensive too hold, at least in terms of a cost-benefit ratio. Besler is probably done, Smith does not seem to be ready yet. Unless we find someone to sell Fontas to what might be the least worst option is to play him and get someone athletic for the second cb spot with the money freed up from Besler and Espinoza.
Finally, I think we should try and find someone to sell Martins to. Dia is fine but probably in the bottom third of starting left backs in MLS, so an upgrade would be great here too.

 

I keep reading people's opinions posted here and nodding along. Funny, I can't think of a time when the fanbase was as pretty generally united in our assessment of the team. Well, by fanbase I do mean the BigSoccer community. There are some real nutters on reddit and I'm sure on other platforms too.

 

Most difficult decision of this off season: Do we pick up Felipe G's option for $1.6 million. At his 2018/19 level, yes. At his 2020 level, clearly no. What we would need from him in 2021 is the ability to be back to his best, and almost certainly playing from the 6 (he has been effective in la liga there). He can control the game from the 6. He would spend a ton of time on the ball. He's got the skill set. And, coming back from an entire year off, I'm not sure the 8 is still possible.
I very much like the idea of a midfield triangle of Kinda, Busio and FelipeG.
But, moving that from idea to reality, should we expect Felipe to return to his previous level? Is it time to move on? It's a really tough call.

 

Also, while Zusi is under contract, I don't expect him to play again. This was a serious injury, and he's turning 35 next season. Players his age with serious injuries don't fully bounce back. If he returns, it will be a stop slower, and we won't ever really be able to count on 90 from him.

 

Agree completely, but the Club needs to take a chance on his option year and go after CBs this offseason. Busio can be his backup at 6 and if Felipe never gets back to full form, we try and upgrade the following year.

 

Besler should not be back at basically any price above league minimum. That's not an insult but a transition phase into some front office position. And if that transition is not in play, then it just ends. He just can't really play any more. Someone mentioned back problems, so maybe that is just how this ends. But consider that Besler was on the field for most of 2019, which was the worst SKC defense in recent history. And the defense looked worse with him on the field in 2020.

Espinoza...that's too much cap. I get that Fernandez might not be ready to replace Espinoza entirely at this point, but it's not like Roger offered that much. His third runner to the box is always going to end up with a shot to row zed. He got on the end of some corner kick scrums recently that I think have elevated him a bit recently. But he's slow now, and not really able to chew up all the grass like five years ago. And that was like 98% of his on field value.

(BTW, I really did not enjoy writing those paragraphs).

Gerso probably costs more than he's worth. But we need offense and maybe that $ can fit without some other large contracts.

If only PV hadn't completely fluffed on Fontas for both years and cost.

 

We won't know whether Felipe can play until he's out on the field or not picked up. That will be a closely guarded secret. The 1.6M is too much, but maybe we don't have too much choice here. If he can be close to what he was then we need that; badly.

In your midfield above, did you see Felipe as the 8 or 6? I like Busio as a 6. It probably is his future...Pirlo style. Too many people who know more about soccer than me simply don't rate him as a career attacking mid...and he just got pantsed on national TV, so maybe I'm just smarting from that. Anyway, my question was more about who plays the overall midfield space chewer, a la Espinoza. Maybe with a more mobile DM we can live more with the two 8 concept without that Roger role.

 

I've been thinking of Felipe as the 6, just because I don't think we can ask him to put in the mileage the 8 requires. That said, maybe without it being a full system change, we should be looking at a dual DMs, or a double pivot like what Barca and Chelsea are running this season. It gives Kinda free range in front of two very strong on the ball players, it protects the Center backs a bit more, and it allows us to continue to send outside backs bombing upfield, though I really think we need to see a bit less of this until we get a lot faster.
But we won't do that, so I suspect Felipe's engine will be slightly reduced when he returns, meaning the crazy running falls on Kinda and Busio.

 

With limited ticket sales and minimalistic game-day stadium revenue as well as a real likelihood of attendance constraints continuing to next fall, the economics for the club to create a front-office fluff job for Besler in 2021 are not favorable. I agree that it's not a terrible idea for him to get a bargain basement player contract this year, filling in as depth and player-coach support. Then if the economic picture improves in 2022, move him to staff.