Star Players. Maybe guest players for a only a few weeks, maybe you sign them for a whole year. These would be the kind of 'DPs' that I think would come to the Cosmos even at a D2. I don't think they will take millions either. Rivaldo Hernan Crespo Freddie Ljunberg Sol Campbell Robert Pires Jay Jay Okocha Brian McBride Hidetoshi Nakata Robbie Fowler Fabio Cannavaro Young Internationals - These are guys that were considered strong prospects that just didn't make it and might be looking for a chance to prove themselves somewhere. Kerlon Reimond Manco Collins John O'Brian White Young Americans - Mostly guys who might need a 2nd chance, showed promise at one time but maybe the Cosmos can build them up and take them to MLS Santino Quaranta - not exactly a young prospect at 27 Marcus Tracy Peri Marosevic Gabriel Ferrari Danny Sztela Alex Nimo David Arvizu Joseph Lapira Quavas Kirk Brandon Manzonelli Nikolas Besagno Vincenzo Bernardo Josh Lambo Of course the Cosmos should try to bring in some of their own youth players, I just wanted to make a list of guys they might look at.
i see you've got a bunch of players listed from that India Premier Soccer League that was supposed to happen this year. whatever happened with that? some of those players are too old now, and Ljungberg retired today apparently, but i bet a lot of those players would choose New York over India in a minnit... i personally always wished Jay Jay Okocha would have played in the USA. or maybe someone like Andriy Arshavin...
The Indian league was actually going to be sanctioned as D2 or D3 and only run for a like 2 months earlier in the year. I don't think they got enough funding to make it happen they were planning to try it again next year. If indeed the Cosmos wanted to make a splash with some names, these are the kinds of guys they will need to target. Basically hire former stars as guest players to play for a limited time in order to raise the club profile. It would keep costs down, and let some stars come out of retirement, live in NYC and help relaunch the Cosmos. IMO I doubt these guys would want to even go on road trips, you'd probably only hire them for home games and/or games on national TV. Arshavin at this point might be out of the price range of MLS let alone the Cosmos in D2 next season. He is still a part of Arsenal and could go to Zenit and make some big wages. Others 'stars' you could put on that list would be Juan Sebastian Veron Christian Vieri Ruud van Nistelrooy Edgar Davids I don't think Veron or van Nistelrooy would come out of retirement to play D2, but I think Davids and Vieri would consider it, at least as a guest player for a limited time.
For a bar fight a year and a half ago? I think he just got locked up that night unless something else happened that I didn't hear about. He is still young (25) and could still make a come back. Certainly worth a try out.
The majority of players I mentioned are D2 level players or can't establish themselves in D1. Manco is a stretch but that guy hasn't really PLAYED anywhere in years. He's been bouncing around Peru but can't seem to latch on anywhere. At one time he was considered a world class prospect, he's kinda the Adu of Peru. John last played for a team relegated out of the Iran league. I don't think there is anyone in the International/Americans list that is totally out of the question. The stars list I said that these guys would be most likely guest players. The Indian league that recruited many of those guys was not going to be D1 sanctioned either. I don't think it is totally different than a guy like McBride going to play a few games for Wembley FC. Budweiser came in and sponsored them to make that reality show, and they brought in a few stars to make an appearance. Cosmos would be doing the same thing if they went down that route. You'd bring in a few guys with names to play a few games in order to increase interest or drum up more sponsorships. I don't think you are going to get a team of retired stars to go play and entire season in NASL, but you might be able to get some to come in as guest players for limited times.
That's not a bad idea if you mean: hire a coach with MLS experience and international connections bring in fringe MLS players or former MLS players who are hoping to play well in the NASL and want to get back into MLS.
That's exactly what i would do if i was starting up a D2 team and had a good amount of money to spend. - Hire Coach with MLS experience with International connections. - Hire PMI - Get a good mix of fringe MLS players or Former MLS Players with some young prospects (college players and academy players that slipped past MLS radar.
I like the idea of hiring PMI. They have done a great job launching the Scorpions. I would think they coud help the Cosmos.
Not a bad list. I imagine some RBAcademy alumni would get a look Matt Kassel Sacir Hot Walter Hines as well as any of this year's graduating seniors RB don't sign Brandon Paul, GK, UDelaware Mark Brode, DM, Syracuse Dragan Naumoski, M, Rutgers and any Long Island guys that are already D2-D3 players looking to play closer to home.
I'd like to see us poach Collin Clarke from Carolina Railhawks for the head coach and hire Peter Wilt in the front office.
I think Peter Wilt would be a great GM. I wonder if they could get him to leave the Milwaukee/Chicago (I forget which) area? I enjoy listening to the podcast and reading his articles on Pitch Invasion.
I think you need to make a SPLASH ! Hire Neeskens Then you load up ! I am having fun with this but imagine if you gave these guys some coaching and future investment into the team. The old Cosmos had a Blend of Brazilian,German,Dutch ,and Italian stars. So i reach out and try for a starting 11 of: Buffon Salgado-Bocanegra-Nesta-Zambrota Van Bommel - Gattuso -Kuyt Ronadhino-Klose-Del Piero Cosmos ownership needs to come out big and make a statement, this is how they do it, even if you only get half of these guys it's a great start and makes people come out to see the games. fill in some American players and your on your way. I say you draw 15k with this team. Maybe more. I am having fun with this but why not give it a try ! Plus you tell these guys that there goal is a US open cup with a sweet bonus and then MLS will really take notice. Crazy but so was the thought of having Pele,Beckenbauer,Giorgio,Neeskens,Tuerat,Hunt and so on !
This is a perfect example of what NOT to do. Hiring a name with no domestic experiance as manager and seeking out near retired names that won't hold up at the expense of building a solid D2 side. Shotting for names and ignoring the local soccer market is what Metro/RB did since 1996 and a big reason they have been a total off the field failure. Hire smart, sign smart, win smart.
Ah that's boring bring the big names and steal the US open cup from MLS ! You people have fallen in love with all this start young ,train young players do it the right way, blah blah blah , you can do that but what if you did it with pros for these young guys to look up to and train with. I think you can do both, and this is THE NY COSMOS brand you can't put shit in a RM Kit or Barca Kit so why do it to a Cosmos Kit. But i would like to see a Wingert,or a Joseph on the team. But like i said put crap on the field and goodluck with the 1500 people that show up.
Manager will probably either be Cobi or Gio, I mean why have these guys on your payroll if you aren't going to move them into a manager position? They both have MLS experience and international experience. Give them a year in D2 and see what they can do. If you wanted to go with someone with MLS coaching experience then you might look at Preki or Nicol but I'm not sure they'd move down to D2 unless they were paid well and guaranteed a contract when the team moved up to MLS. If you wanted to focus on development and/or recruiting top young players then Porter might be a good choice. I think it would be foolish to bring in someone with no experience of MLS who has little knowledge of the American game. If the Cosmos want to go to MLS and win in MLS eventually they need to start preparing. I can see Cosmos going after some 'names' but they won't be guys like Ronaldinho who is still only 32 and can get a contract playing in any league in the world. This is still D2, you are going to have to recruit some guys like I mentioned who are basically done playing who might be convinced to play a season or just as a guest player for a few weeks. Their main focus should be trying to find guys who are young and have talent but just didn't work out for their clubs (Peri, Kessel, Lambo) and with some coaching and some confidence they could still come into the league and make an impact.
Honestly, if the Cosmos need to do what you said just to be more than 1500 people then they don't deserve to be revived. Besides your suggestion is insanely unrealstic. In NASL you are going to have to look sign fringe MLS players/youngsters or poach an out of favor MLS player like Adu, some well scouted foriegn players, local talent and look to maybe land a solid vet name player that is willing to sign in MLS. Obviously you want to sign as many good players as you can afford because the goal is ultimately to win NASL and get as far in USOC as possible on the field. Off the field the objective is to form strong bonds wioth the local fanbase, build the right way and treat the fans the right way, get a solid infastructure in place to eventually jump into MLS in an easy transistion. Going out and attempting sign past their prime 35-38 year old players is a recipe for diaster and places a priority on falsh over substance. Your approach would see this team fail.
MLS has shown how you can combine modest budgets with star power. Cosmos might be able to have their own 'DP' star players but just bring them on as guests for a limited time or just not go crazy with the players they bring in. Three seems like a reasonable number. If the Cosmos are indeed backed by Saudi money who are trying to put together a 400M stadium/franchise deal, then it is reasonable to think that they are going to have to be more agressive than other NASL teams to help show that they are serious. Remember they still have to get the city behind them, and if their club is absolute crap and drawing flies than you may suggest that it could hurt their chances or at least the perceived market for MLS in NYC. Even if its an unfair statement to compare NASL to MLS there may be council members who might not see the difference. This is NYC, its not like Portland where there is only one major league team and MLS will be a big deal, its going to be a tougher road, and there is value in Cosmos being agressive and showing they are serious. But there needs to be a balance. You can't take on a 20M budget with 2M in NASL revenues and think that is a stable business model.
I think the "start power" worry is overstated. No one going to Hofstra to watch them in the NASL is going to harbor any illustions of grandeur. The goal isnt to sign names, its to sign quality talent to the roster that can compete, win and entertain in NASL in 2013. If they happen to sign a "face of the franchise" or two then fine. Being more aggressive than the other NASL owners means maybe spending an extra million or two tops on salary. At the end of the day its just about fielding a competitive side that can realisticly challeneg for the league title and USOC play.