The primary transfer window just opened, so I think would be unusual for teams to have rosters close to set before the window even opens. Though I will admit I poo-pooed the wirry about open roster spits a month ago, but am starting to get a bit antsy my own self. But again. I think we leave at least 1 open for summer. I think Quinton/Zengue claim one spot (CB). I think Arfstan/Fuson claim another (F). 1 left for summer. The last two will depend of how many INT spits we have and how good Nancy feels about the youngsters. GK is set. 4 guys. Room, Bush, Scott, Schulte. FB/WB is close. Like it or not. Moreira & Farsi on the right. Medranda & Sands on the left. J. Morris can also play there. That's five. F is a tad light. Cucho & Ramirez are vets. JRR the youngster. If we are gonna play with 2 up top sonetimes, we need another guy. But it will probably be a youngster/cheap vet. Arfstan/Fuson look like they have the first shot. CB might need more guys. Less so if we are not gonna play 3 in the back. Mensah, Degenek, & Williams will play the lion's share. Hughes is a reserve. Quinton is looking like he could claim a spot. I maintain Moreira is a RCB option. 5 is OK if we are playing 4 in the back. If it is 3, then we need another guy. Zengue/Moreira could be #6, but that would leave us light at RB/RWB if it is Moreira. DM/CM is light. Morris & Nagbe are the starters. Zawadzki is gonna back up at DM. Parente is the other CM type in the roster. We need one more guy here, minimum. In terms of attacking mids/wide mids/wingers. Formation is gonna dictate a lot. LZ and Matan seem more CAM types. Diaz & Yeboah more wide MF types. Molino can do either. You could make Nagbe more advanced, but then CM us really thin. I'd say we need 1 more here, maybe 2. 5 spots: +1 CB (Quinton) +1 F (Arfstan/Fuson) +1 CM/DM +1 AM/CAM/WM type. ------------------- +1 wildcard (anywhere but GK)
That sucks, but I guess 84k is better than 0k and trying to rustle up a day job with Will Hesmer or Jason Garey.
About a month ago, I posted this: For even more giggles, I decided to update the numbers: ATL 21 10 15 9 LAFC 20 8 16 9 MON 20 9 19 10 CHA 19 8 18 7 AUS 19 7 21 8 NYRB 18 10 16 9 NE 18 6 19 7 SEA 17 8 17 10 KC 17 8 17 8 NAS 17 8 17 8 POR 17 7 18 7 COL 16 9 19 8 DC 16 8 16 9 MIA 16 8 12 8 MIN 16 8 18 9 LAG 16 5 16 5 SLC 15 13 14 13 PHL 15 11 17 10 CMH 15 8 15 8 TOR 15 6 18 6 HOU 15 6 14 8 VAN 15 5 16 7 DAL 14 9 13 10 NYC 14 6 ??? CIN 14 5 15 5 SJ 13 6 15 9 CHI 12 10 12 10 ORL 12 7 13 9 Okay, I know this is apain to read, but what I did was keep the old numbers (from a month ago) in the same order, and just added the updated numbers next to them in that same order: - first number = number of players currently listed in the senior roster (20 max) - second number = number of players currently listed in all supplemental rosters (10 max) The NYCFC page wasn't working. It's pretty bizarre. Atlanta, LAFC, Miami and Toronto have 3-6 fewer senior roster players now as opposed to a month ago, and several other clubs are down 1-2. Several clubs have larger rosters, as one might assume would be the trend as the season approaches. But quite a few teams aren't even close to the 18 man minimum senior roster: CHI and MIA (12), ORL and DAL (13), HOU and SLC (14) and so on. Maybe what we'll see are teams just adding supplemental players to the senior roster to get the 19 player minimum required until and unless they sign more players who'd only qualify for senior roster status. But, again, we are certainly not alone in not having a roster structure that looks ready for prime time.
What are the chanced Nancy names himself as Player/Manager like Walter Zenga. If he does where would he line up?
Chelsea has spent 500 million without selling anyone. Even in a league immune to FFP sanctions, that raises an eyebrow, no?
You forgot Ligue 1. I misspoke in the earlier post, they sent Jorginho to direct rivals and Champions in Waiting, Arsenal for 13 million. So there is that.
They need money. Plus, let’s just be real, Koulibaky at one point was a world class defender. He’s been on the decline the last year or two though. Wasn’t the smartest purchase.
Why stop at Pulisic? Let’s bring back Steffen and ship Room off while we’re at it I mean we have rich owners who want to win right ? Make it happen ( Bez will probably give them 10 year contracts lol )
I mean he will want too much money for us to ever get him back anytime soon so unless the DP rules change drastically we couldn’t afford to spend on a GK
FWIW, Massive Report article confirms what many folk (myself included) have been saying. No big transfers prior to the season starting. Nancy wants to see what he has first. Also wants to see what the young guys are capable of. https://www.massivereport.com/2023/...ch-to-transfers-in-wilfried-nancys-first-year Now, it also says the FO thinks they are title contenders, but that is another issue.
Well, let's hope they stay healthy. I assume ths means that a couple of players currently listed as being on the supplemental roster wil get moved over to the senior roster so that we have the required 18 by the time the roster compliance date arrives? Whenever that is, since we don't have the 2023 roster rules yet.
"Nancy is also keen to give young players opportunities. Crew 2, the Black & Gold’s second team, won the MLS NEXT Pro championship last year and Nancy chose to use the preseason to get a long look at a number of players that were key in that title run, giving them the opportunity to fill in possible holes before potentially looking to bring in any players from the outside." I cannot recall the Crew having a head coach with this approach.
I like it though..... A similar concept back in the 1970s is why my team has the nickname "Fohlen" (Foals or Colts). Local guys and youth players like Berti Vogts, Gunter Netzer, and Jupp Heynckes and later Lothar Mattheus and and Stefan Effenberg to a guy like ter Stegen. It works. Especially if you are small market, like Gladbach is (pop. under 300K).
Well, to be fair, we haven’t produced MLS worthy players regularly up to this point. Besides Wil Trapp, I’m struggling to think of anyone that stuck around and was impactful. Trapp is obvious. Morris as well. Keita looked like an intriguing center back, but Porter dumped him to Colorado like he did Lalas. And Gyasi. Who else came through our academy or as a homegrown that had a good long career? I looked through the list of players who made their pro debuts with us, no one stood out. That being said, Porter is renowned for not giving youth a chance. I bet GB wouod have it he could. I agree that Nancy is here to buck the trend, and that we might actually have some good kids coming through (though Farsi and JRR are both Canadian and just got here lol).
I’m sure Nancy knows how these players did with Porterball, but he’ll play differently. Some of our players will adapt, some won’t. Hard to say until a few months in. We know our CBs can play three at the back, no issue there. Just need some depth. Moreira is a good right back, not sure he’s a wing back though, and I know someone here thinks he could play RCB, but I’m not sure. He’s 5’10’’, would be a small CB. Nagbe can probably play the Kone role, while Morris will do the same with the Wanyama role. LZ and Cucho are good to go, not sure about the other striker or AM. And who knows where guys like Diaz or Matan fit into the team. Nancy could really be debating between one #10 and two strikers or dual 10’s and one striker. Just have to wait and see. I think he knows the strengths, it’s more about seeing which weaknesses are the worst and if anyone can be improved or promoted. We probably also have limited funds, enough to maybe make one solid TAMish signing, so we need to be smart about how to use it. I like Nancy, he actually thinks and adapts, unlike Porter or GB who have a Plan A and that’s it. Nancy has ideas plural, they had just one idea.
In 3 back system you don't usually have 3 big lugs hanging out back there. Matan coming back is intriguing. I get feeling Bez values him and it was Porter that didn't. Bez wants to see him under different coach & style of play. Don't be surprised if he has a good year. If you've paid attention to what Nancy has said he doesn't care what position guys play. Call them whatever # you want. It's about the way they play, how they play off each other, how they attack the entire field. It takes smart and disciplined players to pull this off, but when you add in some creativity and skill it can can unlock the opposing defense and be exciting to watch. I wouldn't expect Barca ball but it will be more free flowing. You'll see Cucho and LZ all over the place looking for pockets to exploit in the defense.
In case this wasn't posted: Columbus Crew's Steven Moreira challenged by coach Wilfried Nancy to learn new position
I want Cucho in the box, not all over the place. And I’m sorry, but playing right back and playing center back are not the same thing.