Interesting! Not sure if he's going to back up Baca or Dawkins on the left though. He's a pretty good passer but I don't see him beating people off the dribble very often. Maybe a Baca backup, to replace Moreno. Gotta love that conditional draft pick. Enojy #19 New York!
Yeah, I'm not all that familiar with him, but based on what I've seen, I would say that he's somewhere between Baca and Dawkins in terms of his skill set and could fill in for either. He's more probably more creative and more willing to take people on than Baca but probably does not have the engine / coverage that Baca has, and in the Dawkins role, he will take people on to some extent, but would be quicker to look for the pass.
What I'm thinking is he's that kind of guy a lot of teams don't have a spot for: the guy who passes well, but shies away from taking the ball into traffic and isn't built to be a "destroyer" either, which pretty much describes Baca. Maybe we got a steal if he's a fit here. Only problem is it's not a great sign when the #2 pick is on his 4th team in 6 years. (Of course, being traded for Kyle Beckerman and then Macoumba Kandji is not too shabby.)
the only thing i am a bit upset about is the draft pick thing. but then again i gotta ask myself; is bellouchy better than the late round talent that will be available?? Im thinking yes. Makes draft day much less interesting for us draft lovers though . 2013 will be much, much weaker than 2012 though so there is that plus. (.......still pretty bitter how our second round went down last year) good pickup though, cant be upset with it other than that. I think he will be competition for Baca and Dawkins in the middle, and is insurance once Dawkins departs. Should be another solid player like Zayner to help us out. if we can find one more body at central defense and a speedy #4 forward option (which is a more important position than for most teams given how often Gordon and Lenhart are out) ill be exceptionally pleased.
I think getting Ballouchy is planning ahead for next season when we won't have Dawkins. In which case, we'll start Mehdi on the left, Baca in the middle, and Chavez or Salinas on the right, depending on who's available. I like this, a lot. But I still want to replace Sercan with a speedy striker. I'm OK with DP, even if he's a Lenny/Flash light. It's hard to have enough target forwards in Franks system, and Flash can't have a lot of years left, can he? He's taken a beating over the years, so has Lionheart. So I'm thinking another target type in the wings is a good idea. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
Out of interest, is this some sort of strategy from Yallop and Doyle? We've seen this time and again, stretching back over a decade in Yallop's case, to sign guys who have connections with the Bay. Is there an interview or a quote explaining their thinking?
I think this is what they're doing as well. Although I don't want to give up on potentially buying Dawkins if Spurs decides he'll not quite make it there. I get the impression Simon would rather play in England even if not for Spurs, but you never know.
RB has never really taken the collegiate seriously, instead relying on home grown talent and and acquiring players from the world market. This trade was more about clearing room and cash. You will find that your new play maker has a world of talent, but often suffers a poorly timed brain fart. Also he will not be allowed to travel with SJ to Canada for away matches do to some sort of visa problem.
Is this a conditional FIRST round pick? And what conditions? Also, how valuable is the international slot? do we have a lot of those? It seems like Khari Stephenson is the loser in this move. I went to Santa Clara so have often rooted for Ballouchy. I've never been overly impressed. Good passer but doesn't seem to make a lot happen.
I don't think Simon wants to be here, but what do I know? But beyond that possibility, my guess is that if Spurs do try to sell him to us, it will be for way more money than EQLLC are willing to pay. Thus, Simon will land in Europe somewhere. Maybe Enguland, maybe the Netherlands, Denmark, or Scandinavia somewhere. So I like the Ballouchy signing. He's got some skills to be sure, and decent free kick, if I recall correctly. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
This transfer window sucks. I understand we don't necessarily wanna mess with a good thing.. but how much longer can we expect to keep coming back late in matches? That's not a formula you can ride all the way to a championship. LA is coming back into form. RSL and Seattle will be tough to beat in a two-legged series. Vancouver... I don't know what to make of them right now, but we've already lost to them twice. I don't believe that a title contender is best served by sticking with what they've got so far. The Miami Heat aren't content with the championship-winning roster they had last year. So they picked off one of their rival's Big 3. A role player for Miami, but a significant blow to the Celtics. When everyone else is making moves, we need to as well. That's how you stay a contender.
Interesting move. While it's not a real whiz-bang pickup, I think he definitely adds a little bit of grit. I seem to recall when he's been here that he's pretty scrappy.
Fits with Frank and John's MO, I think. They've always been partial to known quantity MLS players, all else being equal. I think he could fit well into the midfield, and it fits into this year's model of having MLS starter-quality backups at every midfield position.
Yeah, this is so. Let's also not overlook that many of us (me included) have been complaining that we're a little thin at outside middies, and Mehdi is an outside middie. He's not a real speedster, but he's certainly not slow either. He's got some very good skills too. He could be a real help down the stretch. At the same time, I want to see at least one more serious move by Frank and JD. Let's toss Sercan over board and get a speedy striker. Maybe we can trade Sercan, or maybe we can trade Khari, or maybe, we can package both of them for a speedy striker, and I don't mean Maxwell Griffin. We need someone good. Probably someone who does not currently play in our league, because no team is going to give us a good player for a son. Or maybe we want to sign a central defender, especially if Big Vic won't be back right away. GO QUAKES!!! - Mark
IMO, the bay area is a national soccer hotbed. it always seemed that way when i was playing at the youth levels, and for ODP and in college. i'm sure its the same at the pro level.
It's not just your opinion: http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2011/03/oregonian-san-jose-soccer-city-usa
If I am correct San Jose has 1 game in Canada left this year (@ Montreal) and only 1 game next year. (Assuming that SJ doesn't meet Vancouver in the playoffs, play at Toronto or Montreal in the MLS cup, or MLS changes the scheduling) San Jose play/played Toronto & Montreal in Canada this year and SJ played Vancouver twice in Canada this year, so Toronto and Montreal will play in SJ next year and SJ will only travel to Vancouver once next year. If his Visa issue is not sorted out by 2014, look for him to move on since he would miss 4 games in 2014.
He's got a little bit of a hack reputation due to some untimely and hard challenges. I'm not sure that label is deserved. I've watched him a little with New York this season and he's shown some good things. And I agree with those that suspect he's being brought in to replace Dawkins in the long term. As it is right now, I can't really see him getting on the field much, but who knows. He's not quite the traditional winger type, and he's not quite the cut inside wide midfielder either. Hopefully he'll be a good balance of those two roles, which is what I think is something the Quakes lack.
I think Dawkins will end up staying in MLS, probably with the Quakes. He had a six-month loan spell at Orient back in 2008 and he didn't really fit in. Spurs released him and he tried to catch on with Strasbourg and it didn't come off. He was back at Spurs training and then had trials with Celtic and Bournemouth, neither of which turned into anything. Spurs eventually resigned him in a strange move and have been trying to give him away ever since, including to Twente in the winter. SJ is the only place that's ever made him feel wanted and he fits the league. Considering he can't even get a contract in the lower divisions in England, I don't see what's here for him. A good friend of mine who is a Spurs-supporting journalist assumed he was off to the semi-pro ranks before he found a home in Silicon Valley. He's now talking about changing his international allegiance to Jamaica and playing in MLS would work to his advantage on that front. Dawkins has just under a year left on his Spurs contract. I think if come February 1st 2013 they can't find somebody to take him on, he'll have the remaining five months of his contract paid up. At that point, a permanent deal could be done.