Fellow fans- Llamosa will NOT be returning to MLS. He wanted 200,000+ and the league, or any team for that matter, didn't feel he was worth that kind of money at his age. Serna will also end up somewhere in Colombia. Shame really, when he stay's focused, which is very seldom, he's been one of the top 2-3 forwards in MLS. Unfortunately, when you only have a roster of 18, you can't afford to invest so much money in a very unreliable player. Too bad. LLamosa and Serna, adios senores. Best of luck making 6 figures in Colombia. This year, many older veterans around the league will be let go due to their salary number being too high. Guys like LLamosa, Balboa, Nowak, Vermes. Life goes on. It's good to see more ex-players become assistants (Mo Johnson, Steve Trittschuh, Dominic Kinnear, Paul Bravo), this is good for the league. Let's get behind the Revs!!!!!!!!!!!! They're headed in the right direction.
Dang. I was hoping the Llamosa rumor wasn't true. So... anyone have any ideas as to where we can find another central defender?
Assuming this is true... CB, The implication of your posts is that the Revs would be given an allocation for Serna + Llamosa, and that that allocation would then become JMM. The idea has its logic. Cap space would no longer be an issue. It sure feels like the roster hasn't settled yet, though. The veteran depth is gone. The first C def, L def, and forward off the bench, and the starting L mid are likely to be unfamiliar players. If this was suspected, shouldn't we have drafted Shalvar Thomas, who went with the next pick after Noonan? I suppose not if SN feels Joseph is the real deal, and Noonan can be an effective wing this year. On top of that, I've always liked CL as much as I have disliked DS. I know CL was originally Columbian, but you don't mean to suggest ("Llamosa and Serna, adios senores. Best of luck making 6 figures in Colombia.") that he will be playing there? Jon
Well, assume the following lineup... GK: Adin Brown RB: Jay Heaps CB: Rusty Pierce CB: Daouda Kante LB: Joe Franchino DM: Daniel Hernandez RM: Steve Ralston LM: Brian Kamler AM: Peter Nowak ST: Taylor Twellman ST: Joe-Max Moore That leaves the bench as... GK Matt Reis GK Kyle Singer D Shalrie Joseph D Marshall Leonard M Braeden Cloutier M Leo Cullen M Winston Griffiths M Jim Rooney F Wolde Harris F Pat Noonan F Dimelon Westfield As I see it, the loss of Serna and Llamosa would clear more than enough cap room to sign JMM, and bring in another central defender. I don't think we've got ANY Senior Internationals on the roster, and we can bring in a defender with a Discovery option. Serna's not a big loss, because JMM will give us more this year than Diego gave us last year. And even if JMM gets hurt, we've still got Wolde, which means we're no worse off than we were last year. Llamosa IS a loss - there's no way around it. But he's not irreplaceable - especially when he would have turned 34 this year. I wouldn't have paid him $200,000, either.
I would think that BOTH serna and Llamosa are Allocation Players. Therefore one for JMM and the second to bring in a upgraded left wing/defender. I wonder if Buhlman is available??? George
Eeeesh. Mixed feelings on this one. I'll always respect Carlos Llamosa, firstly for the type of person he is: a Colombian emigre, one day a janitor at the World trade center, the next day a vital cog in the closest thing MLS has ever had to a dynasty. On the U.S. national team he has always been a rock - making up with sheer smarts and character for what he lacked in speed or physical dominance. But the time comes in a professional athlete's life (and all too quickly for an American soccer player) when he has to realize that diminishing skills and pysical abilities must force a humbling of financial expectations. Eighteen man roster, 1.7 mill. salary cap, a veteran defender whose position will be increasingly be relegated to "role player", $200K+ salary. The numbers simply do not work out. As for Serna, the guy just seems to be one of those individuals who'll always earn the mantle "his own worst enemy". When this guy was on (as he was in his first Revs game last year), he was just pure magic - and it's hard to put a pricetag on that. But the magic has to show up for practice and at gametime - and that just hasn't always happened in his short MLS carreer (pity). So we'll see what happens. If Llamosa and Serna are gone (not to doubt you clearblue) and Joe Max is in, it'll certainly leave some holes - particularly a veteran mentality on defense. But it will definitely give Nichols a chance to show his "vision" for this team. Personally, I can't wait for the season to begin.
Where's a guy like Llamosa going to go at age 34 and make real good money? Mexico? Interesting what seems to be happening. There are only 10 teams in MLS and the talent level seems to be increasing. And it's younger talent coming in that, for now, will work cheaper. A lot of guys in similar circumstances as Llamosa could be pricing themselves right out of the league. Not their fault either, it's just the way things are right now.
Who knows with MLS. By the way the rules were until last year, since the players weren't being sold or retiring, you wouldn't get ANY allocations. But with the Valderrama precedent (a player wanting to play, but the team not wanting to pay them what they want.) who knows? BTW, who's Buhlman?
I think it would be better to have DH in CB and put Rusty into CM. I just think rusty is more of a mid than a central defender. Anyway, i dont think DH is real fit for the job either. I hope Llamossa stays.
If Westfield sticks and is on the senior roster, that puts us 2 over the limit. Rooney should be one. Cloutier should be the other. I wasn't sure whether I'd rather see him or Kamler come back, but Kamler could back us up in central defense in a pinch. After seeing him in the playoffs last year, I might rather see him paired in the center with Pierce or Kante than Cullen or Hernandez. If we add another player due to acquiring another SI (through trade, discovery, or the 2nd allocation that I wouldn't expect to get) then I'd put Harris or Westfield next on the list. Jacen, Patrick Buhlman was a player from Switzerland (left mid) who trained with the Revs for a while last spring but never signed a contract. Those who saw him in practices and scrimmages were very impressed.
I still want to see a link to this story. Llamosa will probably take a pay cut and end up in another MLS team. He loves MLS. He wont go to another league. In Colombia, they just dont pay enough
You know when I awoke this AM with the same idea. I can understand the issue--a pay dispute between Carlos and the League. Other players are in the same boat. but It doesn't mean that he won't take a pay cut or that he won't be back with the Revs unless of course the Revs have already decided to cut him loose in favor of youth. I doubt that he has mnay options outside of the USA but more that one older MLS and former National Team Star has been able to find good mony offered to them in the A-League. With Serna it's a different story. He's young enough to get himself a club in Columbia nd MLS will be able to get something for his contract. Welcome JMM. Will we get an allocation if MLS is unwilling to pay Carlos??? They did for My Fezzywig but I think the fundamental issues here are different. My guess: No allocation if he's not sold. George
Cuts Rooney is definitely one, but Cloutier? Wouldn't Singer be loaned to an A-League affiliate or sign for a developmental (non-roster) spot? WRT allocations, it would certainly make life easier for MLS to give a JMM allocation for Serna now, rather than forcing a trade, and then having to award another allocation later when Serna is sold. WRT Carlos, I agree with George. There's got to be more to the story.
John, Would it be fair to say that familial issues are a factor in both decisions should they pan out? The Magpie
Re: Cuts I wasn't counting Singer in my roster players, or Leonard, for that matter. I was thinking about the Llamosa thing last night. I have no firsthand information about the situation, but he's probably signing his last professional contract, he's a known member of the national and world cup team, and he's probably (rightly) trying to maximize his earnings. He's not my favorite player, but I wish him the best of luck.
All we have to do is convince FDA that Carlos is really from Brazil and we'll read all about it in the globe next week.
Tim - You owe me a new keyboard, because I just spit out my orange juice all over this one. I'm risking my own life by just posting this.
You know what, these rumored moves would free up not only enough cap spcae to accomodate Moore, but when working out the other off-season moves, we should be able to get a solid discovery pick. If memory serves me correctly, wasn't the sticking point involving Buhlmann last year his salary demands? Hell, we should be able to offer him a good contract, we'd have a senior international slot open to accomodate him, and if he's out-of-contract... then no transfer fee for MLS. So looking ahead somewhat (and admittedly optimistically,) how'd this look to everyone: GK: Adin Brown RB: Jay Heaps CB: Rusty Pierce CB: Daouda Kante LB: Joe Franchino RM: Steve Ralston DM: Daniel Hernandez AM: Peter Nowak LM: Patrick Buhlmann FW: Taylor Twellman FW: Joe-Max Moore Thoughts? Evan
Fellopw Fans- Post of the Year to Soccertim regarding FDA! LLamosa simply doesn't wan't to play for what the league is offering and HE is chosing to not play in MLS. Serna will probably be loaned out or sold. The Revs won't receive any allocations for LLamosa and none for Serna unless he is sold. With these two gone, cap room exist for JMM. And since no other team has express an interest in him at clos to a full cap number (other that DC that chose to go with Stewart) the Revs don't need an allocation. EVERYTHING went the Revs way for JMM to land in NE. Let's support the team!
I don't think familial issues have anything to do with what's unfolding in either case. I haven't spoken to either player directly, so perhaps there are motivations that I'm unaware of. I think if you look at both player's involvement in the last few games of the season you might find some clues about what happened and is happening. I wish I could say more, but I can't. I don't believe that either player will play in Colombia next season, FWIW.