ugh, Sapong is fairly useless on the wing would rather him be a super sub I know this is based on who is actually signed/committed, but Sapong on the wing is a waste
This is the roster at the very moment. He will hopefully be a super sub come opening day. I think he will be
It's going to depend on our midfield signing(s). Not sure what the plan would be with Djorjde, Medran, and Misic if we sign him. Not sure any of them can play the lone 6. Are we also signing Pizarro? That crowds things up more.
I know of lots of other players from the Polish Ekstraklasa teams that Chicago has spoken to that have not been bandied about on the Twitter's yet. It is exciting that they are leaving no stone unturned.
I don't think any of those belong in a double pivot at all, really. Between Matic and Gaston Gimenez it sounds like they're willing to use one of their more resource-intensive spots acquiring a proper 6, which I think is wise in a league getting more and more full of highly paid, creative 10's.
Which would point us to a 4-2-3-1 since Matic cannot play the lone 6. You need to sign a 10 in that instance too. I have no idea what kind of midfielder Gimenez is though, maybe he can be the 6 in a 4-3-3. FWIW I highly doubt Matic comes here.
Oh I think he could. Any proper defensive midfielder can work as the fulcrum of a 4-3-3. Matic under Mourinho was always in a double pivot with a Fabregas-type who wasn't doing any of the defensive work. That's what made him so good. Anyway, we're not getting him, but I think that's the profile of the player that works in that spot. You don't want to do a 4-2-3-1 with a couple of waifish "CM"s in the pivot, that's how you end up like late-Wenger Arsenal, at an MLS skill level. (Uh oh, I just remembered our braintrust is renowned for producing Granit Xhaka)
https://www.chicagofirefc.com/post/...becomes-official-sports-drink-chicago-fire-fc it’s ok, Body Armor is our official sports drink, far more important than a roster
You want a guy who recycles possession and always offers themselves as a passing outlet. That's the profile of a guy I'd spend DP money on.
Downside: It's made with coconut water (eww) Upside: At least it's not, to my knowledge, sold as an MLM.
That is a 5 game-winning team at best. That rivals the 2015 team as the worst team (on paper) I have seen for the Fire. I hope Beric actually signs and I hope he is good, I really do. Herbers in a starting attacking midfield role is a bad sign (he has "okay" and played the position, but we must be able to do better). Sapong on the wing is stupid. He is not David Accam. We know nothing about Medran, other than he has never scored more than 3 goals in a season above a "B" team (admittedly, Real Madrid's "B" team is way better than the starting-11 listed above ) Djorde in some sort of defensive midfielder role is insane (it pains me to say this, but in this set up, I would prefer Brandt Bronico or Azira starting). Calvo is not AS bad as Marcelo, but I was really unimpressed with him. Frankly, the only two players listed in the first-11 who should likely actually be starters for a decent MLS team are Kappelhoff and Frankowski, maybe Sapong. No, Beric and "Slovakian Guy" are not on the roster as of "the very moment." Perhaps, one or both will be as of tomorrow, but I just checked the official roster and neither are on it. I hope they are signed and I hope they both do well. However, I remain extremely skeptical about any move until it is completed and announced. Then, I am just skeptical.
The MLM thing is what struck me. When I saw the ad, I was going to post that Body Armour is less horrific than "AdvoCare" or whateverthef*ck that was. I looked into it and 1) it was sketch as hell and 2) it was really expensive. Totally agree about the coconut water! It is gross.
Oh man, I didn't even realize that Advocare are no longer technically an MLM after the FTC fined them 150 million dollars last October for operating as a pyramid scheme. At least the shirt sponsors that Hauptman/Nelson made deals with were (mostly) reputable companies.
Fire are slow with official announcements. They've signed. I think Beric is announced this week, but I've seen the Fire wait 2-3 weeks on signings and contract extension announcements where the ink was long dry.
They've got a month and a half. Everyone needs to chill. I know that doesn't seem like a long time, but the season starts the weekend of my next vacation, and believe me, it feels like an eternity between now and then in that context.
Training camp starts Monday I think. What's the rush in officially announcing them today versus Monday morning?
And teams are going to be slinging trades all throughout camp. We picked up Sapong on Feb 23rd last season.
For a settled roster in year 4 with the same coach. This is an expansion team. And again, this isn't just any early season period for the franchise. Being sanguine about the idea of laughable uncompetitiveness with a "we'll figure it out in July" roster in front of dozens of our closest friends all spring is just pure agenda driving.