According to this article, Abdul Thompson Conteh is coming back to MLS, with the Colorado Rapids: http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=150951&cpid=98&title=Conteh+set+for+Rapids+adventure If this is true, then there might be a chance of us getting some compensation. I would love to get Casey Schmidt. He is a true target forward. He's very good in the air, big, strong, and fast. He definitely someone who can become a very good player in this league. Right now he's raw, but he has some things that make him a very good prospect, particularly, he's a good aerial finisher. His size and speed make him second only to Eddie Johnson on the possible monster target forwardl ist in MLS. He makes very good diagonal runs and forces defenses to collapse around him. In United's offense that generates so many corners and crosses, this guy could really do well. Colorado may get rid of a forward to bring in Conteh, or they may just add him and put Zizi Roberts on the IR and eliminate any chance of a comeback. Most likely, they'll get rid of a fringe defender to add Conteh. But if Schmidt is available, United should definitely go after him. IMHO, he's probably as good a prospect as anyone we drafted this past year. Esky is a good finisher, but I'm one of the few that thinks Schmidt isn't very far behind him, and has a lot higher upside. Also, the Rapids may possibly let him go cheaply. Although he scored a bunch of goals in pre-season (all or almost all via headers!), he has not scored during the season yet. He has a lot of close misses in a short amount of playing time. If he's available for any non-first round draft pick, I'd say go for it. I want to hold a first rounder though, in case the league decides to sign Freddy Adu. Best of luck to Conteh. -Digital
I said there might be a chance not that we should get compensation. This is MLS. We received nothing for Kante, but Colorado may need to open up a roster spot. So whether it is direct compensation or indirect compensation, I don't really care. I'd be thrilled to add Casey Schmidt. I think he's just the young target forward we're looking for. He'd pair perfectly with Stewart up top and Convey in central midfield. Our flank service would really set him up to score in bunches. His big strong and fast presence would create acres of space for Convey and Stewart to run behind. And, Schmidt makes good diagonal runs. -Digital
Yes, I have to agree that you are one of the few who rate Schmidt so high compared to Esky.... And I agree about the best of luck to ATC. I miss him and always though that Hudson really didn't give him a real chance.
Re: Re: Conteh's back?!?!?!?! I disagree. Conteh had a chance, and the fact he wasn't able to create his own chances or really do anything but be fast is the reason he was cut. In addition, there was the incident where he left for Sierra Leone, and no one knew when he would come back, and couldn't reach him.
I think but don't know this for a fact, that we would NOT be due compensation for ATC. Why? In the cases of Paule, Andy Williams, etc., their contracts were not renewed (but team rights were still owned by the original teams). That is why SJ is demanding Ricardo Clark for the rights to Joe Cannon for Metro to sign him. That's also why we got shafted in not getting compensation for Diego Sonora (when TB signed him). But leaving all that aside, ATC was just cut outright, he didn't leave when his contract expired and he didn't have an extension not picked up. D-tron, I haven't seen much of Schmidt but he sounds intriguing. But one of my big worries right now is we've got a bunch of youngsters at forward and they need PT. Stoichkov can sit and still contribute (if he get's conditioning in practice). But the kids need PT to develop and you can only play so many forwards at one time (part of the reason I was encouraged to see Santino playing an outside mid role at one point).
I also wish ATC all the best. I admire him for the effort he has put into helping his homeland, Sierra Leone. I think Casey Schmidt would be a great addition as he is a true target forward and our team has none. I also liked Santino playing an outside mid and was pleased to see him do so well there. (I guess I am just in an agreeable mood today) -The Far Side
Yes, that's my biggest concern too. At some point the coach has to define players' roles and that includes the young 'uns. Bringing in new players, or even the treat of bringing in new players, like Gazza last year, keeps the current players from getting comfortable in their roles and they then don't produce as well. Team morale declines. Ultimately it was Hudson's choice to have so many young forwards, it was his choice to draft Esky #1. Young players need time to develop in this league and getting someone like Schmidt is 1) not gonna turn the season around and 2) will only impede the growth of Esky, Ali, Q1, and Q2 (unless one of them are traded and/or cut and thus, 3) impede the growth of team chemistry of the starters. These are huge factors that Hudson doesn't seem to grasp all that well. We can go back to the title of this topic, ATC. I see Footer Phooter has correctly put down the mamagement line on why Conteh was released- which I don't buy, BTW. But regardless of why he was released what did it do for the team to release a forward who while not a great player by any means was a player who could be counted on banging in 6-9 goals for a bad team per season? - Obviously we didn't replace him with a better forward as no player on the team came near ATC's normal yearly goal scoring rate. - But more pointedly, it created more turmoil on the team: Hudson had to look for another forward, which turned into a soap opera at practices as he was constantly bringing in new players to take up valuable practice time that the current players needed to bond. Daglish, various South Americans. Gazza. None of these guys helped the team yet they all were a distraction. Does anyone really think that Arena or Bradley or Andrulis would create this kind of HAV-OC on their team? No, Hudson keeps thinking the grass is greener on the other side. At any rate, we should get nothing for ATC so Schmidt seems out of the question right now. Back to the Cureton distraction...
Ursula, I disagree with your take on this. I do want to praise ATC as a guy who is so much more than just a soccer player. Regardless of whether you praise him or not as a player, you praise him as a human being and how he works to make the world a better place. I hope he hooks on with Colorado. But last year, Hudson and Kasper made the decision to give the big guns (Etcheverry, Moreno, Pope and Olsen). We had a team with 3 massive max salaries and a 4th guy (Olsen) who was paid well. With those kinds of salaries (plus Reyes, Amman and ATC), you can't afford many middle range players making $70K. So guys like Kamler, Talley, Armstrong (also an SI issue) had to be jetisoned. Basically, Hudson had to decide: "do we... (a) stand pat--make no changes?" (obviously not a good idea since the team had not made the playoffs for 2 consecutive years) (b) "dump the big salaries in order to be able to bring in a good player--just assume that I can't count on any of those 4 to carry the team?" (possible but you get no allocations for them, Bradley wouldn't have traded for Pope or Moreno given the salary situation in Chicago); or (c) "keep the big 4, hope they can regain their edge (ie: it was Rongen, not sliding careers) and then I make improvements by eliminating middle range players (guys making between $50K-140K) and get improvement with marginal players?" He chose strategy "c", giving Etcheverry, Moreno, Pope and Olsen one more shot to carry the team to glory (while he tried to improve by changing the marginal players: Lisi, etc.). Obviously, strategy "c" didn't work. So now we've gone to strategy "b" this year. If ATC had made $50K less, he'd probably still be with the team.
Well that I agree with. Too bad that was not the reason given for his dismissal. But if the salary was the issue, and I think it was a big factor, why did Ray bring in guys like Daglish who were at least as expensive? That forwards who are proven to be better than ATC are also more expensive (i.e. too expensive for our budget)? And it's now happening again... Memo to Ray: Work with what you got. You have several forwards with real potential IF you would coach them. Don't expect the goddamn forward fairy to drop Batistuta in your lap for 30K per year.