Grimandi sounds like it's a sure thing

I can't wait for the off season to be over, and the games to begin. This might be one of the most interesting off seasons I can recall.

 

One aging Euro after another,why can they say Henry is coming to join MLS in 03. Happy New Year BS fans.

 

What's really fun is that, with the draft coming up in just a few weeks, this off-season actually seems a bit shorter.

 

So aging that a team who looks like it might make the Champion's League is also after him. Troll.

The league really seems to have improved its screening process for foreign players.

 

Euro signings

MLS needs to be VERY cautious right now.A few big Euro names at the right price will be a plus.
But we are in no position to even think about looking for high priced talent from overseas.
Let the league mature a bit and maybe when we have a more solid financial footing we can explore that option a little more.
As one who is advanced enough in age to remember the mistakes made by the N.A.S.L. I find that I can welcome these Euro sighnings but with a fair amount of trepidation.

 

In 7 years of existence, the league is supposed to turn into La Liga, right? Some fantasy land you live in.

 

I don't know. Last year's off-season was a bit too interesting.

This guy still has quite a bit of ability left if those standing offers are true. Middlesborough is a quality team this year. Sounds like a good hire to me - and he's 8 years younger than Valderamma.

 

Except he is a hack.

In his years with Arsenal, Grimandi played the "player-that-everyone-loves-to-hate" role, now occupied by Robbie Savage. His play was characterized by a penchant for disrupting fluid offensive play with fouls, instigating arguments/kerfuffles with other players and playing up to Gallic stereotypes with exaggerated gestures, facial expressions and appeals to the officials.

I don't mean that he was not an effective player in his own way - but his brand of effectiveness is not the entertaining kind. Grimandi is probably not a player who will bring flair and creativity to the league.

Here are some articles that back up my assertions:

http://www.soccernet.com/columns/2000/1019/20001019featladyman.html

http://www.soccernet.com/england/news/2002/0411/20020411afcgrimandi.html

[note the "I am the first to admit I don't have the skills of a Dennis Bergkamp or Robert Pires" understatement.]

http://www.soccernet.com/england/players/grimandigilles.html

 

Pibe/Alvarez

Good post 'pool.

I guess the optimistic take, then, is Grimandi could like the climate and be our next Leonel Alvarez. Never would have suspected it, but that guy brought a lot of class to MLS.

 

I have no opinion of Grimando, but upon reading those stories, I completely disagree that this isn't a good thing.

Strangely, a look at Grimandi's playing history prior to his arrival from his native Monaco in 1997 reveals that his record and reputation were spotless.

This is no thug with a record for loutish behaviour. Rather, Grimandi is a former university scholar who came to the professional game relatively late at the age of 19 or 20.

'He was a physical player but one who never got into fights,' said one French analyst. 'He is a good man, a quiet man off the pitch. He is more intelligent than most footballers, someone with a smile on his face.

And ...

In playing terms, Grimandi has certainly proved the sceptics in his home country wrong. Originally bought as a central defender he has proved adaptable enough to operate in the centre of midfield when required.

And, including the second part of the quote you included:

"After all, I'm the first to admit that I don't have the skill of people like Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires.

"But I am determined and I always give 100 per cent when I take to the field."

So how is it a bad thing that MLS could get an intelligent, personable, hard-working, versatile player who has played world-class soccer, but just happens to have had a streak of ill temper over the past few years when, frankly, ill-tempered antics seem to be on the rise in general (in my opinion at least)?

In those articles he discusses how he never felt fully appreciated at Aresenal at first. Maybe that and not being "a hack" has been the cause for his outbursts.

I prefer to give a guy who is wanted by a possible Champion's League team and who played for one of England's best clubs a chance to come to MLS and show what he has. Let us judge whether he is a "hack" or a guy who works his ass off in the middle of the field and shows leadership qualities that can help the likes of Chris Carrieri, Zach Kingsley and Pablo Mastroeni.

 

Easy Monster.

I never said that he was no good. I simply described his playing style is not one that will bring flair and creative play to the Rapids in the manner that a French player might be expected to bring. As far as leadership - I am not certain that Mastroeni needs help from Grimandi in this department, but perhaps you are correct that he will bring more character to the table than I implied.

If you look at my post - I clearly stated that he was not an uneffective player. I even compared him to Robbie Savage, who is a hack but whom nearly every commentator and fan in England recognizes as an effective player. I didn't call him a goon (a la Vinnie Jones) . . . even though his disciplinary record features far more red cards then your average "hard man" (Savage has none in the last two seasons, though he has 21 cautions). I did not make specific reference to the fact that he punched or stamped on players, I drew attention to the fact that he fouled to disrupt offensive play, instigated conflicts (verbal and otherwise) with other players and that he tended to be what British posters describe as a "whinger". I think that any objective analyst would agree it is not a stretch to describe such a player as a "hack".

And it is possible that he played an aggressive role at Arsenal merely because it was the only way he could get in the first team. But it is not like Grimandi was the only Frenchman, or even the only Frenchman from Monaco to play at Arsenal . . . how different could it be playing for Arsene Wenger in England then it was playing for him in France? Even if their time at the two teams did not completely overlap, it is very unlikely that he had no relationship with Wenger or Henry or any of the other members of the French Foreign Legion during his time in France. The "never feeling comfortable" excuse only goes so far. Besides, is it likely he will be more comfortable in Colorado than he was at a Francophile club in London?

And yet if you do a search on Soccernet, you find articles in which even Wenger does not apologize for some of Grimandi's deportment on the field - a minor miracle in itself, considering Wenger's penchant for looking the other way.

I hope that Grimandi is able to settle in well (since it seems so important). Maybe in a year you and I will both be able to agree that he has been a positive addition to the league and that he hasn't had to resort to the seedier aspects of gamesmanship (i.e. tactical fouls and using his mouth) in making his imprint on the league.

In summary, when you consider that Grimandi is replacing one of the MLS' most creative and successful players, I consider it a net loss for the cause of "beautiful soccer". Is that so unreasonable?

 

Point taken. Personally, I'd rather have a hard worker who gets in a scrap than a guy who rarely runs and makes beautiful passes on occassion, but yells at his teammates sometimes when his "creativity" goes awry.

I'm a blood and gutter. I want more people like Grimandi in the league.

BTW, I only found three reds in his Arenal tenure and an average of a yellow every five games, much of them in two seasons. I'm more concerned with his winning than his disciplinary record, though.

 

I don't disagree that Valderrama is past his shelf-life. But I also recognize the valuable service he has given to the league.

I think that if MLS is going to spend high six figures to bring a foreign guy into the league, he should be a player that has a different skill set from the domestic players that are available. Physical central defenders in their late twenties/early thirties are not exactly rare in the MLS.

If Grimandi is better than I think and plays an Emmanuel Petit or Dieter Hamann role in the MLS, my apologies. He is worth bringing here. But if he is going to be a slightly improved version of John Doyle or Rusty Pierce - I would keep my money in my pocket.

I do have to wonder where this move leaves Mastroeni. Are they going to play two decidedly defensive players in central midfield roles or are they expecting one of them to play more advanced or in central defense?

BTW - even though Grimandi's disciplinary record doesn't seem so glaring on the surface, but keep in mind that he did not play every match (I think 127 games total - many as a sub). I don't know if your three dismissals are only league games or included European matches as well, but that is a fairly high rate for a non-starting XI player.

Overall, I agree with you that his past disciplinary record over a fairly short time is not really a significant indicator of the contribution he will make in the MLS.

 

This is the thing. It's starting to sound like some of these guys WANT to come play MLS. Luckily we live in a country where some guys are just going to want to live, ala Klinsmann. Some will be too old now since MLS has come a long way, but others, like Grimandi, will still have some good years left in them.

Luckily, as the stature and quality of the league grows, it will be less necessary to woo Euro stars over to us, but instead they'll want to come over and play a few years so that their later transitions to living in the States will be that much easier.

I predict that in the future we're going to have many European players helping out here and coming over right around age 30. The league will just get better and better.

 

Not sure about the tactical arrangement, but if he even comes close to Rusty Pierce-level play, Nice better step up it's MLS scouting. Hell, this guy played for Arsenal last year. I doubt nine months has eroded his skills to that level.

The stats I got came from some Arsenal site. They looked fully complete t me, but I didn't check deeply. I think his only problem might be getting a reputation from the "fine" MLS refs.

Otherwise, a winner who wants to be here is a plus for MLS. Look at Steve Morrow. He's not flashy, not much flair, but I believe he helped make Dallas better. And in the long run, I think MLS will benefit more from lunch-bucket players who make a team better night in and night out than players with "flair."

Just my preference, that's all.

 

I would think that given our difficulties in defense last year, that Mastro moves into the backline, since he has experience playing at right back.

 

Re: Re: Grimandi sounds like it's a sure thing

Mathaeus was outplaying Beckham and Scholas in the CL Final. He was the best player on the field that featured the best of European football.

You know what happened 9 months later....

 

Re: Re: Re: Grimandi sounds like it's a sure thing

Lothar very obviously didn't even want to be in MLS. Grimandi seemingly does.

That's something that cannot be ignored.

 

Re: Re: Grimandi sounds like it's a sure thing

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

He was just getting the lead out of his feet.

 

Re: Re: Grimandi sounds like it's a sure thing

i think the Rapids will miss Valderrama more than you think. His vision was unsurpassed, and while he rarely hustled, his touch and his timing were beyond anything else the MLS had to offer. I'll miss El Pipe and do not think Grimandi is a replacement.

 

True. But remember, he's played for Arsenal. Their physio probably has more red cards than he does

Carry on, gents.