Would he be a good player to pursue in the offseason? We need to add some American talent, and picking up cap casualties has helped other teams before - ie KC with Josh Wolff. On the surface, he might be a good fit here. He's big, fast, and athletic. He's been on Columbus's bench a lot this year, but he has historically had a nose for goal and has produced good numbers. He has 1v1 ability. He'd match well with Johnson physically. On the down side, he has problems with the offside trap. He has a rep as a bit of a ball hog. He has a high salary. And (heaven forbid!) he may have a bit of an ego. Who knows what Columbus would want for him either. He definitely has his warts, but if he didn't, he wouldn't be a possible trade target. And we are definitely in the "beggars can't be choosers" category. Hell, he couldn't be less dangerous than Kreis, right?
Kreis is old news, he's gone. Cunningham is fast and athletic as you say but not big. I look for him to spend lots of time overseas this winter, I will be shocked if he comes back to the Crew next year if Greg is still there.
Well he is more interesting when you look at this year's numbers F Jeff Cunningham games played 30 starts 19 minutes 1856 goals 9 assists 4 points 22 he did a little better than a point every 90 minutes. Not a goal a game, but did get points. And unlike Kreis, he is fast. He has to be in the same range as Kreis for salary, and he's 28 years old. But, the answer to him is the same as the answer to Kreis: The Burn will have a new forward this year, and he should be better than either Cunningham or Kreis. So either of them are totally secondary to signing a Major Allocation forward. The scenario would be Kreis gets taken off the Burn in the expansion draft, Burn land their foreign allocation forward, Oscar becomes coach, and Cunningham is picked up for Rhine and a draft pick.
I wouldn't mind seeing him in a FC Dallas shirt next year. I would say he has better qualities than Toni and Kreis as well as being an American player but not in the Nat's player pool.
No kidding but what is even more amazing is the fact that the salary he had sat the bench most of the season and had Dante Washington start in the playoffs over him!!!
Good player, but another question or two is how he would fit with the current players, and how long those players will be there (EJ & OP specifically)...
IMO, we'd better be thinking about using our one allocation foreigner in central midfield. Our midfield was beyond pitiful this season, easily the worst in the league. You could put any forward in the world in front of it and you'd just be wasting him. I guess that's another discussion though. Bottom line: one foreign allocation player does not get us out of the cellar next season. We have to find American players within the league to gamble on. And we have to do better than Quill this time.
I think it's a great question. Should Dallas attempt to fill one of it's three gaping holes (center amid, left mid, forward) with someone from MLS? I'm not particulary high on Cunningham. But what about Fabian Taylor or Cornell Glenn? The Metros are unlikely to keep both. In the midfield: Jose Cancela is on the cut list of many Revs fans. Ramiro Corrales may be left unprotected. What about making move to bring in a younger, surplus player from another team like Arturo Alvarez or Dave Testo?
Yeah, that deal would burn the Revs in the end. . . but somehow I could see 'em being fool enough to do it. Chapter XII of "Why Can't We Get Players Like That?"
I agree. Conversely, if you put Eddie Johnson in front of a quality midfield, he easily wins the league scoring title. And while we've got Ramon Nunez waiting in the wings, he might still be another year away. Which means that we gotta figure something out to do in the meantime. Another year of Oscar Pareja? I don't see how this team is any better with a year-older Oscar Pareja in the central midfield than it was this year. And our left midfield was a huge black hole too many times this season. Boy howdy.
Well yes and no. First, I still hold out hope that the league agrees to four foreign players on the roster for next year. Then both the MPA and the YSA can be foreign players, and that will put us in good shape. THEN we see about what loser we will try to re-tread into a role player. And just so you don't get your hopes up, write this one down: Ramon Nuñez will not get 5 starts next year, NEITHER will he see action in 15 games. Why? Because if he was close to starting he would have seen the field a lot more.
Or because Clarke has a one year contract. Playing Nunez in 2005 to benefit 2006 and beyond doesn't mean much if you don't have a job in 2006 and beyond.
as I just posted i the other thread... FYI.... The team had a option on Clrarke for 05. But instead he has signed a new deal. but still a valid point.
Buzz, any rumors about who the team may be targeting within MLS? I've got to think some team may be very interested in swapping surplus players for developmental players and draft picks.
Clarke says they have some ideas, and there maybe movement in the week before the exp draft... there is nothing specific in a FCD sense, just a chance to do business... The expansion draft could change things for everyone so it's not really worth talking about yet...