I don't see if there is a discussion on Benny, but I am reading on twitter that Chivas may skip him to keep their number one allocation slot and that the Union don't want him. That puts NE in pole position if true, and I think it would be a good non-DP money signing. It gives us options with an aging Dabo. I hope it happens.
Re: Benny Feilharber If Chivas doesn't want him, I suspect the Revs become genuine front-runners in this contest. Philadelphia seems content with what they currently have. Knowing how things have gone over the past few years, though, I wouldn't be surprised if we signed Benny Feilharberevski instead.
Re: Benny Feilharber Chivas has a relatively deep midfield, with a dearth of scorers. We kind of are in the opposite situation. It may come down to Chivas making the Revs pay, or use him for trade bait. The Revs should pay, but I am not sure Chivas takes that risk.
Re: Benny Feilharber Taking Feilhaber would be a no-brainer if he falls to us. He'd be a tremendous improvement to our woeful central midfield. This team is crying out for players with some composure and ability on the ball and Benny would fill that need on the MLS level very well, I think. I don't have a good feeling that he'll drop to us. We don't have a lot to offer Chivas or Philly in a trade, so if they don't take him for themselves, somebody else might trade up. The only hope is that both clubs have their eyes on other potential returning USNT players like Beasley or Johnson.
Re: Benny Feilharber He would immediately become the midfielder that can pair with SJ and allow him to focus on his defensive responsibilities. It would be a great signing.
Re: Benny Feilharber I could see him getting picked by the Revs and then traded for draft picks etc, etc. Either because he doesn't want to play in Foxboro (not exactly a place to be seen by Bob Bradley as you're trying to make it back to the National Team) or because the Revs don't want to pay him (they didn't plan on signing him earlier in the season and they seem very stubborn and slow to react when it comes to deals). I hope I'm wrong though. He could play with Shalrie as a midfielder partner or in front of Dabo and Shalrie in a five man midfield.
Re: Benny Feilharber Id be very surprised if both Chivas and Philly pass up on free trade bait, but I agree the Revs could seriously use an upgrade at the CM position. Also as we are experiencing this week, we aren't really that deep at CM position and could some extra bodies in case Shalrie or Phelan go down (well it would be Shalrie or Benny going down if we get him, but you get my point.)
Re: Benny Feilharber It should also be mentioned that Benny has rarely played CM for club or country during the last few years. He's typically lined up at LM, which is another trouble spot for us. He'd give us a lot of versatility and options, especially with other players who can fit in different roles like Tierney and Perovic. He's also born in 1985. He's not an oldie and has many more prime years to give. That would be huge - a building block player.
Re: Benny Feilharber It's funny, I was going to disagree with this, saying that as long as your personally playing well, the national team coach will notice despite the fact that your club is not picking up points. Then I remembered that it's still the same short sighted Bob Bradly at the helm as the past 4 years.
Re: Benny Feilharber Chivas not interested??? http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider Union not interested??? http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/soccer/119952554.html
Re: Benny Feilharber Just to be clear must mean 1 of 2 things, correct? 1) Have a trade lined up with someone that has a player you want, and you lose your position for future players in the position you need: 2). You sign a player you don't need in order to hopefully trade him in the future; again, you lose your slot, have a player you don't really need at expensive cap space, and you hope a trade comes along. Many teams may not want Benny for the money he wants, and he us known to disappear in games. The revs are in a desperate position and are probably willing to meet his wage demands. Thus, I would not be surprised to see him land here. Hard to know much unless you are really familiar with MLS squads.
Re: Benny Feilharber UPDATE: A source close to the situation says Chivas is considering passing on the opportunity to acquire Feilhaber (in order to maintain the top slot in the allocation ranking) or trading his rights. Washington Post
Re: Benny Feilharber But Union manager Peter Nowak told the Daily News via text Friday evening that the Union "do not have any interest" in acquiring the U.S. national-teamer. Whether that is a smoke screen is yet to be seen. ******* It's all poker now and this coming week; speculation at best.
Re: Benny Feilharber Good point on the position. The versatility is an added plus. I still think his best spot at the MLS-level would be center midfield but that is really just a guess coupled with his play with the national team. Bob Bradley has given like 60 players their first cap in the USMNT jersey. Who has he been short-sighted on? Seriously, who hasn't been given a chance that deserves it?
Re: Benny Feilharber I don't think he would have a problem coming to the Revs he almost came here once before, we were in talks with him when he was leaving Derby county but we didn't as per usual want to pay him what he wanted. But now the contract is already signed and they said all top five teams in the allocation order have enough open money to get him. So lets hope this happens!!!
Re: Benny Feilharber If he falls to us I can't imagine him not getting picked up. I know his stock has fallen since that Mexico goal, but he can't be worse than Phelan (he needs to be much better actually for the allocation to be given up from the Revs POV). If someone above grabs him we are one spot closer to number 1. Anyone recall good players that have come to MLS in the past few years this way? If we do pass on him what type of player could we be hoping for?
Re: Benny Feilharber I'll be the one to say....these kinds of things don't happen to us Revs fans. You know either Chivas or Philly is going to trade their slot for someone else to snag him before he falls to us? I wish that would be us that was trading up, but I just don't see the Revs being proactive enough. Even though it would be a perfect marketing ploy..."Fans look, we have America soccer star coming to the MLS to play for your Revs." It wouldn't be a Beckham like fan attraction ploy, but it certainly would boost attendance. Yet we are the Revs......us fans don't get rewarded for anything. Prove me wrong please. (This board really has turned me into a pessimist)
Re: Benny Feilharber Seems like it's possible that Benny falls to us, and even though this is the Revs we're talking about, he just flat out is too good to pass on if we get the chance. Have to take him if he falls. No other option IMO.
Re: Benny Feilharber I'm a bit puzzled about how much $$ Feilhaber is going to make by playing in MLS ?... As I understand it, he is not going to be a DP ?.. So how much $$ do you believe we are talking about ?. In Denmark he was getting around $400k a year playing for AGF Aarhus, but a few days back he told some newspapers that he would like to stay in Aarhus, but that they had asked him to take a pay cut, if they were to extend the contract this summer... Then a few days later he is sold to MLS and the AGF director of sport is now saying that AGF were not able (or willing) to match the wage offer by MLS.... .
Re: Benny Feilharber Grab him if he falls our way. Fills a hole in the midfield, I'd play him in the middle with SJ and Marko in a 4-3-3. This allows for a front line of Schilawski, Nyassi and Radjko.....the In-Sainey Psycho Killer forward line!
Re: Benny Feilharber Exactly. We suck, he can play and we could use a spark but Im sure that if he falls to us... we'll pass for some bull#$it reason. Maybe "not the right clubhouse mix" or something
Re: Benny Feilharber This would give us the opportunity to sit Phalen down and maybe actually get a creative mid Bradley may cap a lot of people but its the ones he keeps using on the field that are causing the problem. That and poor game plans that put us in the hole with formations that cant win but that do feature his pride and joy. Does anybody in this forum believe that Bornstein is better than Michael Parkhurst?