https://www.hottimeinoldtown.com/pl...ector-georg-heitzs-postseason-news-conference Sounds like a “be happy with what you got” situation to me. Hope to be proven dead wrong, but I have zero expectations or excitement for this new signing and expect the Fire to miss the playoffs again next year without some major signings.
He sees "a lot of potential in Elliot" Collier. So do I. I see a potential insurance salesman or sporting goods store assistant manager, but not much in the way of a world class or even MLS class striker.
"Every team has one or two or three outstanding players." Really, Georg, who are out "outstanding" player(s)? Beric? Very good Medran? Potential to be very good. Frankowski? Shown flashes of being above average. None are outstanding.
Shore up the defense and we give those players a better chance to shine. It may not work but it’s the path forward as far as I see it.
I am assuming this article accurately expresses the flow of the press conference. He moves to Sapong and they let him go due to his age and salary. Pivots to our new Offor. "He is a young striker. He is a tall striker. Nevertheless, he has a certain speed....He is a very interesting option." Not exactly a ringing endorsement. At least he stopped short of being completely racist about it. I want Offor to succeed. I want him to tear up the league for two or three years and Euro scouts come knocking. However, he is in Europe and has been for 3 years or more. If he had that much potential, he would have been snapped up already.
I tend to agree that the defense needs a serious upgrade Start with Bornstein (too old) And Calvo (too expensive and error prone)
What baffles me is that Bronico is told he is too old (I don't buy this, feels like a cheap excuse to avoid telling him they think he sucks), as well as Sapong (31 isn't young, but it isn't old either). Then you have Bornstein being the backup LB (or fringe starter) making over $250k at age 36. For what it's worth, I am not against keeping Bornstein at all, but I certainly would keep Sapong over an aging Bornstein at that number. They probably could have renegotiated that price lower too but instead picked up the option early. I'm going to be optimistic on Offor. I think Heitz and Pelzer know how to spot talent. Not perfect but this isn't Nelson with his signing of Del Grecco (well I hope) among many other duds. My concerns are with their ability to manage a MLS salary cap. I was concerned with their overload on internationals while kicking domestic players to the curb, but if we do get 7 players their green card soon then it is no issue. Nonetheless, Djordje was told they will actively shop him since they cannot fit him in the budget. Why can you not fit him in the budget? Surely offloading Aliseda instead if necessary would be the right move instead. Or maybe don't pay Calvo and Bornstein all that money? There are two other guys on their wish list that I was told about in addition to Offor. A winger and a right back, both internationals. One from Europe, the other from South America. Will we add more or is that it? Heitz mentions adding 2 to 3 players, so hopefully he is lying because we need a few more. Are we done with centerback? Is Teran suppose to be the solution or is Pineda expected to make a big leap this off-season to cover for Calvo's deficiencies? Are we not targeting stud DP anymore then? I don't think the young Brazilian we were targeting will happen, plus they would have moved Beric elsewhere. I think with how Beric got out of his cold spell, they will not pursue it any longer. Also, where is our leadership going to come from with all these young guys here? Bornstein is solid but he's not keeping the locker room together alone. Calvo will be ignored when shit hits the fan, because of all the mental lapses he has. Gimenez and Medran are too passive. Beric is too emotional. Sapong isn't going to keep it together either, but we need a few guys as well as a undisputed starter in that locker room. So I remain worried about this team going forward. I don't think it's an impossible task by any means, but there are some important things that need to be addressed.
If Bronico is too old at age 25, that means he is simply not good enough. And that's okay, not everybody makes it as a professional athlete. I don't think Bronico flat out sucks, but I do not think he is going to ever be good enough to be a regular contributor to the Fire or any MLS team, likely. If they are having an expansion draft, he might be good fodder for that. Collier, by the way is five months older than Bronico and more than a bit suckier.
I think Bronico is an okay role player. He started a good chunk of games last season and was fine. Team wasn't great but it was fighting for a playoff spot without an expanded playoff field and averaged more PPG than this years team. What he isn't is a RB. As CM he's an okay backup for when injuries hit and then Gaston goes on international duty. 20th man type of player. Cheap contract too. He was pretty terrible against SKC but it was also his first time playing CM is what, a year? At the end of the day, losing him isn't drastic by any means and he is easily replaceable, but you already had your 20th ish man on your roster, what's the point in shuffling that? Same reason I'm fine with bringing back Collier. As the last man on your roster, he's one of the better guys. As a guy in your 18 man roster, he absolutely is not good enough.
As a side note, teams better than the Fire right now are looking to acquire both Sapong and Bronico, so to me that says something. Letting go of players who have some value in this league.
We’re just going to get another Bronico so moving him is almost wasted energy. Now, if they have a homegrown player that’s already at his level then sure, make room. That said, if SEVEN players get Green Cards, there may be a long list of cheap foreign players to backfill as well.
I'm not sure if we'll get another Bronico. I think we will go with one of those young home growns in that position and frankly, I'll take a guy with a fair number of appearances over someone who has yet to even play in USL (Madison is USL1 right?). I'd make the same case for Azira except he's older and more expensive than Bronico, but same role. 7 green cards is a big game changer, for not just this season but beyond. We'd essentially be opening up all internationals slots every off-season if we can do this yearly.
If Heitz wasn't exaggerating, this is essentially a cheat code and I'm all for finally using dumb MLS rules to our advantage.
Yep and a big WTF to Nelson and Hauptman for not doing this in the past. 3 years later and Basti never got his green card nor do I think Nikolic every did. A lot of these guys came in March and are getting green cards around the end of the year? Sheesh
I am not overly pleased with losing Sapong and I would completely push to keep CJ over Collier. Bronico is a decent backup depth piece. Nothing special but not horrid. I actually love Sekulic at RB though more for his forward play then defense. As much as I have always liked Calvo...I think it is time to move him either to LB or bench as a good defensive sub. He might even be able to backup cdm. I am..guardedly hopeful about this new guy...I am not overly sure I would not keep Mihailovic over Aliseda to be honest and keep one more dp spot open then.
Got a new young RB. Neat. Young 🇪🇨 international on the come up, coming soon to Chicago. pic.twitter.com/X7nhMN3cbI— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) November 23, 2020 Young international on the come up, coming soon to Chicago. pic.twitter.com/X7nhMN3cbI — Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) November 23, 2020
I like this move! Although I know nothing of this player, never even seen him. Still, a young defender from a soccer country with international capsways
As much as I would like to see Calvo replaced with a stud defend first center back, we forget that Kappelhof is still around and is close to the level of player we could bring in. With the new RB (who will be gone often with callups) I believe we have to stand pat in the back and focus on that #10/enganche/trequartista we really need.
feels like the Fire are playing the long-term game more than any moment under the previous regime and that is a very good thing
Oh come now, we had about four 3-year "plans" (or were they "processes"?) in a row. If that is not long term, what is? Oh, wait.
Finding a “#10” can take years. I may be alone in this opinion, but if I’m building a team I assume I’m never going to find one and if you do, you move hell or high water to sign them. But you absolutely have to be prepared to not have one. With ~30 teams in MLS, we’d be lucky to see 10 truly quality attacking #10s. Shipping off quality players to make cap space for a #10 is going to make you more successful than holding cap space open in hopes of finding one.
Agreed. That said, he would probably be considered a second tier #10. We also had Schweinsteiger who could have been a great MLS #10.
But what about the South American #10 tree? Can't we just go to Argentina and pluck one? There are probably a delicious pot full of 18 year old #10's sitting on the bench waiting to get time at the top level of the Argentine Primera División that would come here to get exposure.