The only thing I can think of is that we have very little cap and Sapong has a decent salary. It’s not like they think Collier is better, but he does cost 15% of the salary (or whatever). Stolen from Guillermo on Twitter: “Off-season starting early. Hearing Fire have interest in 20 year old Nigerian striker Chinonso Offor Nnamdi. Currently at FK RFS in Latvia.” EDIT: Also stolen from Twitter: “Chinonso Nnamdi Offor 2020 stats in the Latvian Virsliga 18 appearances 1140 mins ⚽ 9 goals 6 assists goal involvement every 76 mins Keep an eye on this lad. The next Nigerian big thing from the Virsliga after Tolu Arokodare.”
What an odd statement. Not sure a 19 year old playing in the Latvian league (admittedly now on loan from FC Koln) and having a market value of 248k is "a big thing," nor I do not believe a slightly older and equally less heralded player would be the "next" big thing. Chinonso Nnamdi Offor bounced around in Cyprus for a couple of years, was without a club for almost a year and had a market value of 55k in June when he joined the Latvian club. Sometimes soccer writers, like soccer managers and scouts, are just full of themselves.
This guy is the reason CJ didn’t get an offer. If this move blows up in our face Garber better offer us a do-over on this whole offseason
This is all very sad, if true. There is quite a bit of dead weight that could be excised from the Fire. CJ Sapong was not part of that. While we do not have 2020 salary figures, I imagine that Sapong was not in the top 5 in salary. I think: Beric Gimenez Calvo (2019 he made way more than Sapong) Kappelhoff (2019 he made more than Sapong) Frankowski (2019 he made more in "guaranteed" compensation than Sapong) Possibly: Sekulic Stojanovic are probably making more. The players with a higher market value than Sapong are: Beric Gimenez Aliseda Djordie Frankowski Medran
Calm down. I’m trying to be realistic and here you are shooting for the moon. Can we try and keep our expectations in check, please?
“Chicago Fire CSO Georg Heitz said Fire have seven players in the final stage of getting their green card, which gives some real flexibility on international spots.” As @Jiggly_333 said on Twitter, when you have ownership willing to pay for an expedited Green Card process....
So this is what it's like to have an owner who's willing to spend to make the team better, even in the smallest of ways. Chicago Fire CSO Georg Heitz said Fire have seven players in the final stage of getting their green card, which gives some real flexibility on international spots. #cf97 #CFFC— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) November 13, 2020
Well that was quick. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020...ffseason-sign-nigerian-forward-chinonso-offor
Get em in early. I think the biggest problem with this team is lack of consistency. Think of how good SKC were for so long with Graham Zusi as their best player. It's because those players played together forever. Hopefully that will be us in 2-3 years with a lot of the players being Sloninas/homegrowns.
I was concerned about the Chinoso Offor signing because of INTL slot reasons, but if we have the room I'm cool with him coming in.
Yeah, “carryover minutes”. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many players would be stable year over year.
Don't forget about nearly standing up to the vicious Chicken of Bristol! Ahh, sweet are those memories of that which never happened. - Martininho (in a white wine sauce)
I suspect he has "personally wet himself" several times in front of goal (as well as at the Battle of Badon Hill). -xtomx (aka Lefty Goldblatt, manager of dead monkeys)
Collier repeatedly came off the bench against players who had had already clocked 60 minutes on their legs. His only attributes were size and raw speed, and even with that and an hour advantage of fresh legs, he produced fkuc all. Collier can't read the game at all, so has a "route one" mentality that is easily exploited by even below-average defenders. He also can't strike the ball with the appropriate touch for the situation, so even when his speed and [undeniable] effort create an opening to beat a defender to the ball, all that has to happen is: (a) Press him into a run to the end line too fast for his skill (goal kick, easy keeper pickup or shot into the stratosphere), or (b) cut down his attacking angle where his size can be easily used against him (driven to corner for a strip, harmless back pass, or low percentage pass or shot). His footwork if fkucing terrible, so neither can he be a target forward, as he lacks any ability to hold up play. The consistent result is that he manages...at best...to place the ball in the generally correct direction, but always a bit off the mark. at the wrong angle/pace/spin/height for the receiver to finish. At worst, he gets easily run into blind alleys and then dispossessed, or miss-hits the pass or shot, having forced his teammates to make a long supporting run for a ball that is never properly delivered. MLS is simply a half second beyond Collier's capacity...and he's never going to close that gap.
a little bit of an awkward gait, but looks to have some playmaking ability as much as I loved CJ, he couldn't create much for himself
Edit: @juicecrewallstar beat me to it. So I will post the OTHER video: The inevitable Youtube video: Reading up a bit of the Latvian league, Offor should fit in well. He is used to playing in front of literally hundreds of people.
If true, that is a dumb reason. Plucking a 20 year from the Latvian league (and probably paying waaaaay too much for him, his market value is $274k, despite being $55 in July, 2020) is no reason not to keep a seasoned veteran on the team. As for "reason CJ didn't get an offer," is it because they are both black? We can only have 1 black striker on the team. We should be looking towards upgrading our team, not replacing parts with younger, but lesser parts. This should be a reason why Collier didn't get an offer. Well, one of about 131,000 reasons. If this move blows up in our face, which is, technically, called an "Arshakyan" round these parts, we have nobody but ourselves to blame. Personally, assuming we did not pay waaaay too much for him, I have hope he works out for us.
I find this hard to believe. The Fire currently have nine players listed as Internationals; Aliseda Beric Frankowski Gimenez Medran Navarro Sekulic Stojanovic Teran and, now, Offor I am not sure which would qualify for a green card at this point. Only Frankowski has more than a year in the United States. Players who are full internationals (Beric, Frankowski, Gimenez and Navarro, Sekulic has two caps) may have a chance. Aliseda, Navarro, Teran, Stojanovic are not even full starters starters for the team. Amongst the criteria; ATHLETES OF EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY: PERMANENT RESIDENCE For athletes to be eligible for permanent residence (green card), they must meet a similar bar of eligibility than required for the O-1 visa; they must be persons of “extraordinary ability.” This means demonstrating “sustained national or international acclaim” and that his or her achievements have been recognized in his or her field of expertise. In brief, a person can qualify by either showing proof of receipt of a major, internationally recognized award such as the Nobel Prize or three of the following criteria: • Receipt of nationally or internationally recognized award for excellence in field • Membership in organizations that require outstanding achievement as judged by national or international experts • Publications in professional or major trade or media ABOUT the alien and his/her work • Judging the work of others • Original contributions internationally recognized as of major significance • Articles written by you published in journals of international circulation • Performance in a leading role for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation • High salary or other remuneration in relation to others in the field • Other comparable evidence • Discerning the strength and weaknesses of an athlete’s extraordinary ability application and developing key evidence for support is critical for success, based on the criteria provided. Please note that the success of a previous O-1 Application is no guarantee of success for Permanent Residence.