Balakov to Chicago/Metro?

as a short term move I like this a whole lot better than Andy Williams, but where is the money going to come from?

 

this could be interesting....

 

That jersey looks familiar...

 

ive seen him a lot this season - hes still a pretty good playmaker - stuttgart are currently third in the bundesliga

 

Kicker's ratings are out of 6.

Andy Williams would not hold Balakov's jock. Hopefully you'll keep him from the dirty metros.

 

Re: Re: Balakov to Chicago/Metro?

Anyone, but the MetroScum . . . unless it's the Gals.

 

Well this guy seems pretty cool despite the fact that i really dont know anything about him. IF he is a really great fit how long do you think we would keep him on? He will be turning 37 a day before my birthday. How much longer does he have?

 

Who knows, he may last as long as Preki. 37 is not young, but Nowak could play well at this age and so, probably, can Balakov. If he comes directly from Bundesliga, there definitely will not be any question as to his fitness level. I like this move for a couple of years, and it would allow Beasley to play in his natural position. The question is, who can we develop to take this spot 1-2 years from now. Maybe we could trade Sparky to C-bus for Kyle Martino?

 

Well, since the offseason is all about making grand pronouncements based on little to no information (more on that later in the week), I have to say that Balakov didn't impress me today. You would think he would go to town against a much weaker 1860 Munich squad. Max Bretos clearly hasn't heard the MLS rumor, as he was talking more about a scouting role when Balakov retires at the end of the season.

Later,
COZ

 

I like Stuttgart's red kit a whole lot better than our kits with the scrambled egg white trim.

 

A. It isn't Bretos, it's Alan Hopkins (who I actually prefer).

B. Balakov has an offer from Stuttgart to become an assistant/assistant GM at the end of the season--likely to pay more the MLS would. Even though he's known to like America, would he be at full tilt--or would it be Mattheus 2: Electric Boogaloo?

 

I wouldn't worry at all about Balakov's skills. He's the starter on one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. He would instantly be one of the best players in MLS and as mentioned would be in excellent shape.

If Tony Sanneh grossed over $1 million dollars w/incentives last year, and Nuremburg offered Twellman $800K along with their $2 million purchase fee, then Balakov has to be close to having a $1 million dollar per year contract. I could see league max $270 + a couple hundred thousand under the table. I seriously doubt that being an assistant or assistant GM at Stuttgart is going to pay him close to $500K U.S., which is probably what MLS could offer him.

 

First, even if we can "creatively" fit a new player under our cap (whatever that is), I can buy that it would be a drastically reduced AW. I can't see how we could sign a guy who would clearly want the MLS max.

Taking the money problems out of the equation, he may very well be better currently than AW (although I have never seen him play), but there is one more consideration. He will be 37 and we would have to give up our allocation to get him. There is no guarantee that we would get one back when he retires, and as we have seen, the Fire have not gotten very many allocations since our initial expansion acquisitions.

If he can legitimately make us a strong championship contender THIS season; we can fit him under the cap; and we can fell comfortable in the idea that we will eventually get another allocation when he leaves, then it is worth discussing.

If not, I say sit on the allocation, get some more room to manuever next year and rebuild with a younger guy. With Peter Nowak, we got a quality foreigner for five years. That is what we need to look at.

 

Actually, Balakov makes about 3m (US) for playing at Stuttgart. At least, on his current contract.

 

I was thinking around $2 million, but wow. Who knows what it would take to get him here---obviously, if he has been smart with his money, he doesn't have to make decisions based on it. He does what he wants, when he wants.

IMHO he would definitely make the Fire a championship contender. As mentioned, he would be one of, if not the best player in MLS. Championship contender is a relative term though--luck with injuries is huge with MLS' small roster sizes.

 

Wasn't this guy mentioned years ago as a possibility?

I do remember the high salary, he was one of the highest paid players in the world.

I'm sure he'd be willing to take a 90% pay cut.

 

everytime i see this guys name i think of baklava.

 

First, if he came on a free transfer, you could use your allocation on him and then use the value of the allocation on a one-time cap savings. The question then would be: is the Nowak allocation a minor or major allocation? Minor is worth $75K and major is worth $150K. The "YSA" count as minor ones ($75K). Players sold (like Diallo) that make the league money count as major. How much a player makes when he retires doesn't factor into it. I'd think that a minor allocation wouldn't be enough to afford Balakov.

Second, while I'd prefer that he went to Chicago, I'd bet he's going to the SoS. They need an A-mid, all of their other candidates haven't worked out, they've got an SI slot (2 actually), they could pay the MLS maximum (less with the cap saved via allocation) and they may still have their major allocation.

As attractive as Balakov is, you'd only get the allocation cap savings for 1 year. Which means you're looking at cap challenges again next year (b/c it's a guarantee that some of your P-40 players like Jaqua or Capano or Mapp will start most of the year--which means they'll lose P-40 designations and count on the roster and cap in 2004). I'm not trying to be gloomy here, only point out that Andy Williams (looking at this from more than just 2003) isn't such a bad choice after all. He was supposed to be making about $100K with the SoS. Cutting Daniv freed up enough cash (plus an MLS minimum salary) to be able to sign Williams I'd think.

Plus, if you don't use the allocation this year, you can use it for next year.