Close-season Post-Mortem

I think this isn't so much due to Edgar's deficiencies or Leitch's deficiencies as it is due to our lack of a 3rd central defender who can be trusted not to screw the pooch. A big part of the reason Edgar/Digi and Leitch don't attack all that effectively in the 3-5-2 is because they're under constant pressure to cover for mistakes from the central defense, which severely limits how fast and how far they can push up.

Edgar's a good player, and I think he'll be back and have a chance to show just how good next season. With a quality 3rd central defender next to POpe and Jolley, he won't have to worry as much about defense next year.

He's looked best this year when he has the field in front of him and one defender to beat. Playing right behind the strikers he's struggled with his decision making and playing the ball quickly enough. For all the good work he did Saturday by getting into the right spots, he was never dangerous once he was there. Other teams have figured him out and immediately press him, which results in turnover more often than not. Put him on the flank when he's only got one guy to deal with (or, if he gets doubled it will be coming from a direction he can see), and he'll be a lot more effective.

His defense from that spot is admittedly a question, but I'd rather see a guy of great offensive capability and questionable defensive capability in the midfield than the reverse.

Thomas - Agree with most everything you said. Well put.

 

I think we can rule out Kreis and Wolff - both would scream bloody murder if they were traded to a team that plays on the rug.

The only way we get Buddle is if the league forces the Crew's hand. One thing people like to talk about is that with McBride and Cunningham, there's no room for Buddle. Well, Cunningham's gone. He's out of contract and headed to Norway - count on it.

The Revs aren't going to give up any of their top forwards. Just about anyone on the DC roster will be available - but that's because they're either past their prime (Cerritos), or no where near it (Eski, Quaranta). Same goes for Dallas - and they have the added benefit of playing their most promising forward prospect (Johnson) at right flanker in the closing months of the season. Incidently he looked miles better at flanker

I'd guess Schmidt could be had from Colorado for cheap, but he's even less proven than the DC or Dallas guys. There's no one on KC or LA we want. As for San Jose, the only guys worth it (Donovan, DeRo, Walker) aren't going anywhere. Same for Chicago, unless you think Dipsy Selolwane is the answer.

There are some people on the thread advocating siging someone from the A-Leauge. You'd be well advised to keep in mind the fact that DC did just that when it signed Thiago Martins, the A-League leading scorer. In MLS he was as useful as tits on a bull. (Another point of reference is that Our John Wolyniec was an unstoppable scoring machine in the A-Leauge. That should give you an idea of the quality of the US second division.)

So we look to the draft - which isn't promising given that the best prospects (Joseph Ngwenya, Matt Taylor, Knox Cameron) will all be gone before we pick. That leaves us with our allocations, and the hope that Magee and Nugent will improve over the off-season (count on it, especially Magee), and that Wolyniec will continue to be a useful big forward off the bench.

 

Bradley's always coveted Vaca, so I wouldn't be surprised if he made a move in that direction. That does limit the Metros however, because Vaca has shown he's absolutely not able to compete in MLS on the flank. He has to be right behind the forwards, preferably in a 3-5-2. That means Guevara drops back to be more of a distributor, which would mean Lisi probably goes to Dallas in the deal.

Lisi's my favorite player - and yes, I think he's better than Guevara - so I wouldn't move him. That said, if Dallas offered Vaca and a first-round pick, anyone would have to seriously consider pulling the trigger.

I'm going to assume that Johnson is untouchable at this point. I could be very, very wrong and I'd love to have him in the swamp, but I just don't see that happening.

That's the key, though I don't think Bradley sees Gaven as a wide player (for some reason I can't fathom). I also think that Barto/DiGi is acceptable on the left side of a 3-5-2, given that we add a third quality central defender to Jolley and Pope.

I don't think Vaca provides any more fluidity than the guys we have. The reason the midfield looked waterlogged in the second half of the year was twofold: 1) tracking back because of subpar defense on the flanks and giveaways by Richie Williams/Rico Clark, and 2) the opposition was able to push up and pressure the midfield because we had no forward capable of stretching/scaring the defense.

I slammed Clark a little bit there because he has simply been bad since August. It's clear he's gassed. That said I fully expect him to be our starting defensive midfielder next year, a fixture on the Olympic team, and a full national teamer by the end of the season. He had over 2000 minutes for the Metros, and the offseason will do him well in terms of fitness and a chance to charge his batteries.

Conor Casey's on contract for two more years with Karlsruhe, which is third in 2.B and poised to go up to the full bundesliga. He's tied for the team lead in goals with 4 in 8 games, and is among the leaders in the 2.B.

In short: He's not coming to Metro. Get over that one right quick and move on.

Lisi's the only player of those three that has any trade value, and as I've lobbied before on this board we should think two, three, four times before parting with him unless Columbus offers us Buddle. Ziadie and Williams are useless to most MLS teams and even if anyone wanted to make the trade, the most we'd get is a 4th round draft pick or some such.

I'd be happen with any of those three, but the first two are unlikely to be available, and aren't the answer as central defenders anyway. Prideaux is interesting of course, but it's much more likely DC will make Ivanov and Namoff available, neither of which should be regular starters for any team in the league.

We don't need a serviceable defender; we need a quality defender. As mentioned above Prideaux is one who may well be on the market; it's likely LA is going to part with a good portion of their roster, so Suarez or Marshall (who was terrible yesterday) could possibly be had; San Jose and Chicago aren't going to make any moves along the backline; New England, Columbus, Kansas City and Colorado have no one we want. Dallas only has unproven youngsters (Gbandi, Thomas) with lots of potential but little proof of it this past year.

In short, we're going to need Bradley to pick at least one rabbit out of the hat in the later rounds of the SuperDraft (think Jim Curtin or CJ Brown). As those two and Nat Borchers prove, there is talent to be had beyond the consensus studs (Marshall, Wingert) in the draft each year. So between that and our allocations, we're going to have to fill the holes that were so apparent in the season's second half.

 

I'm not "basking", nor "bashing" Clark. I'm merely stating the obvious - that being, he did not have a good second half of the year. Like most youngsters who play a lot of minutes he wore down over the course of the season, and unfortunately didn't catch his second wind. Hopefully he finds it this weekend for the U-23s, but he certainly didn't last weekend for the Metros.

My appreciation of Lisi's game clouds not at all my ability to analyze Clark's contributions.

Disagree with everything there but the "suspect defensively" bit, and even that I have a quibble with. He showed both last weekend and in the first half of the series that he's a capable defensive player. His defensive lapses in the second half of the season neatly coincided with him tearing a ligament in his foot, so perhaps he should be given a pass? I didn't hear anyone complaining about Lisi's defensive ability when he was healthy through July. In fact he was so consistent on both sides of the ball that Bradley felt comfortable moving him to the deep holding midfield position and pushing Clark to the wing. For the record Clark is a much better defensive player than Lisi, but that certainly doesn't mean Lisi is a liability.

As for the rest - that me makes a "decent pass" and isn't "great on the dribble" - I can only conclude you didn't see much of the team this year. Lisi's dynamic on the dribble, and easily one of the best passers on the league. Whether you want to build a team around him I don't know - it's never been tried - but your minimalizing of his obvious myriad talents is ludicrous and laughable.

And this really tells me you didn't watch the Metros this season. Seven of his team high 11 assists came after the hour mark, including two added time assists (for the go-ahead goal against San Jose back on July 2, and the Miracle to Magee at DC on Sept 28). You also have a bunch of plays he created for which he didn't get an assist - all three goals in the comeback against the Revs came off plays by Lisi. First was the perfect long-ball that Wolyniec buried, second was dribbling into the box and making the pass to Magee that Brown eventually played off Kante's face, and third was the perfect cross to Clark for the tying goal. All came after the 60th minute. Then, in the tie against LA on August 17th he puts a cross right on Mathis's head in the 86th minute. Clint puts it off the cross bar, and Woly cleans up the mess. No assists, but all were plays Lisi created.

And since he hurt himself before the 2-1 loss to New Engalnd on Sept 13, the Metros are 3-5-3 in all competitions. There's a correllation. We're a better team - the best team in the league, actually - when he's fit and on the field.

If you say so.

Andy Williams wasn't half as good in 2002 as Lisi was in 2003. To make the comparison is... hmm, let me see... how about asinine? Yeah, that works. Asinine.

He played Gaven on the right flank once - against Columbus in the 1-0 win on Woly's miracle goal. The rest of the time he played him either behind the forwards, at forward, or in a free floating role (the Zidane role for Real Madrid). To suggest otherwise is, um, asinine.

We have plenty of defenders with speed on the outside. Ziadie and Digi aren't slow. Edgar and Leitch are outright burners. In the end, what good did it do us?

We need a third central defender to play with Pope and Jolley in a 3-man backline. Our style and personnel demands it.

And better in a 3-5-2 than a 4-4-2. I'd be happy to have him here for that role.

You are so out in left field here it's amazing. Did you watch any games this season?

Corrales has spent the last two years playing inside-left defensive midfield and left midfield. He's played there for the Quakes, he's played there for the USMNT when Bruce has called him into camp. He's also slower than a glacier.

As for putting Edgar or Digi at left midfield in a 4-4-2 - again, did you see any of the games this year? Do you not remember how bad Digi was in that slot at the beginning of the season? And what about Edgar's game makes you think he'll be any better there than he was in the back? The only place Edgar looked good - and he looked very good there - was left flank in a 3-5-2.

Yep, I agree. I'd like to have him on the team. However you choose to ignore his obvious shortcomings athletically, defensively and mentally (he drifts in and out of games, and not once in his career has he stamped his will on a game).

I agree. I think that'd be a pretty killer lineup, assuming Clark comes back ready to be the man at d-mid next year (I think he will). I'd still rather have Lisi, though, as I think he's better in the deep role than Guevara, and Guevara is better in the attacking role than Vaca.

I think the other night clinched it - he was as bad as an MLS defender could possibly be. Weird, as he was on the fringes of the Best 11 last year, and had played very well in the 5 games previous to Sunday night's debacle. For all that and all his raw talent I've got to agree with you: The Metros don't need a defender capable of playing that badly.

Looks like the Uruguayan is going to LA, according to his agent.

 

So... where do we stand?

Walker's still here, still great, still on the right side of 30. The Pants retired and we're in the market for a backup, but no worries: Cronin is the cream of the crop but won't likely go until the middle of the second round (or perhaps earlier if Chicago or Kansas City bites). He might even slip to us at 21 as there's not a lot of demand for keepers out there.

If not, there are still some backup worthy prospects out there, starting with Clint Baumstark and including both Haeffner from Wake Forest and Hesmer from Penn. None of these guys are in Cronin's class, but they're all better than Grafer. And we don't even have to pick one up at 21 - we can wait and see what falls to us.

Bradley always like Bonseu, so we made the move. T-Bone is younger, bigger, more athletic, makes less money and came with the 21st pick. His inconsistency bothers me, though, as does his SI status.

Frank Yallop and I both like Edgar more than most here (Edgar is currently in Yallop's Canada camp ahead of the Barbados friendly), but it looks like the numbers game might win out. If he gains a green card he's a definite keeper, but as an SI he takes a valuable spot on the roster. Still, he hasn't yet been cut and it's not a good idea to just jettison skilled left-footers, so I'm not writing him off yet.

Good riddance.

Still salaried, if that's what you call 25k/yr, still on the roster. I guess he'll be around next season as he's a veteran lockerroom presence, has a green card and works cheap.

Bye.

Kenny was one of several Metros whose salary wasn't published, but I haven't seen news of his demise so I'm going to assume he's still on the team. Glad for that, as he's big and has youth international experience. MLS was quite a shock to him (and it showed in his performance), but he's supposed to be a hard-worker and he does have some potential.

Frequently mentioned as trade bait, and if it happens this would be the week. We'll see if he stays or if he goes - and I'll just assume you all know my opinion on that.

Salary wasn't published, but wasn't cut or traded that I'm aware of. Good riddance if he's gone, though.

Hope he lands at Hannover rather than Sunderland. Good luck, Clint.

And so ends the Andrzej Juskowiak era with the Metros.

I believe he's out of contract and know he hasn't been re-signed. Doesn't have that green card yet either, so perhaps he'll head back to Bolivia with el Diablo to hook on with his old Club Bolivar. See ya, Jaime.

Magee and Clark are now rosterd, so we have two Pro-40 or developmental slots to use (assuming Nugent and Arena are still developmental; I see no reason to think otherwise). The citizenship standing of Bartolomeu are Bonseu are real wild cards in this mix; if one of them has a green card, I think both will stay. If neither does, I can only assume Edgar will go.

Our biggest question is still at forward. I expect Magee to perform better this season - somewhere between 10 and 15 goals and a consistent presence - but there's still no surefire partner to him. Sure, Woly's in USMNT camp, but anyone can put a dress on a pig. At MLS level he's a super-sub at best.

And so we wait. Hopefully we do something with those discoveries (Transitional Internationals who can play would be nice), and then add a true center forward. My guess is we'll have some, but not all, of these questions answered by Friday night.