Say what you want but as soon as he came in BAM!! 2 goals in twently minutes. We have no other player on the team that can make an impact on a game as quickly or emphatically as Hristo. I urge the Fire to try to resign him at a much smaller price in possible and keep him on board next year. Use him to teach and show. He got us into the playoffs today. Time for some of you naysayers to give credit where credit it do instead of slamming the greatest senior international to ever dawn a Fire and/or MLS Jersey in the leagues history. Right along side Donadoni and Lothar.
yeah, he looked like someone who had finally gotten the motivation (a benching) needed to actually do something. And do something he did. But having 1 good day out of 28 doesn't exactly put him in good graces in my book.
and keep this in mind: If he (and others, for sure) had done something, anything of worth over the last 6 weeks then we wouldn't have been in this position today.
Actually, this is not true. It was Nowak who made a difference. It was his incredible goal as well as a few other plays, including a couple of great passes to Stoitchkov. Stoitchkov is done, unfortunately. Watching this player going from international star level to fairly unusable was extremely painful for me.
I think both of them made a huge impact. This was the first game since he came back that Peter looked near 100%. But you are right that Peter made the bigger impact. Stoich isn't coming back next year from what I heard. Personally, I think it was the balloons and streamers that maded the difference.
Ultra Nowak didn't do Jack for 60 minutes until Hristo came in to give him a hand in regards to ball control. If you think Hristo is done then so is your Nowak my friend. Hristo has this year. Missed as many games and has abotu as many points. Your logic makes no sense bud. Nowak I love Nowak. But Hristo is the man!!!! Always has been always will be in my book. But you have a right to your opinion.
They were both worth the price of admission yesterday. I was so pleased to see Hristo get the assist on the Razov goal, especially since there was a chance that would be his last match. While Hristo is only a shadow of his former self, there are glimpses that are perfectly well suited for a playoff run as opposed to an entire season. I'm glad he's with us this fall. It should be a treasured moment for all of us to watch the end of a storied and successful career.
Two disclaimers: 1) Neither Hristo nor Nowak are the same players as they were in the first year they played for us. Age and injury have caught up with them as it does to all older players. That's life. 2) I'm happy that both of them contributed to the win and helped us get into the play-offs. I hope they both kick ass and play like 25 year olds for the next month. OK, with those two things planted firmly in mind, I don't think Hristo is worth 270K, especially when he only has almost 700 minutes played and 7 points. Jesse Marsch, Dema Kovalenko and Kelly Gray all have more points this year than Hristo and nobody is claiming they're worth 270K. And kebzach's point is valid: If Hristo had played worth 270K, the Fire would have qualified for the play-offs weeks ago and we wouldn't have needed last minute heroics to squeak into the play-offs. As far as "Hristo v. Nowak", I think it's silly. That said, Nowak's role as midfield general means the he must be judged on more than his own points total whereas Hristo as a forward is presumably paid to score goals which he has done as often this season as Carlos Bocanegra, Jim Curtin and Amos Magee. So, while I applaud yesterday's efforts and hope for more in the next month, I'm not letting my joy at making the play-offs blind me to the fact that Hristo has not been worth his large salary to us this year, at least for his contributions on the pitch so far. If he saves us in the play-offs or MLS Cup 2002 this may change, but so far there are players who have contributed much more to the Fire's season for far less $$$.
From the recap on Chicago-Fire.com: "In the 72nd minute, the Fire got on the scoreboard first. Stoitchkov collected a pass deep on the right wing. " I seem to recall that he took the ball just past the midfield stripe and exploded down the wing before making his cross. That move disorganized the Crew defense allowing for the Fire to be able to find the open man (THE Man). Hristo may not be what he was in Europe (or even his first season with the Fire) but I think Bradley used him correctly Sunday, not as a very late second half sub, but as a second half sub while there's still time to make a difference. I think many of us were surprised by seeing Walsh and Vaudreuil start. While we had a few offensive chances in the first half, once Hristo came in we became a little more dangerous. The chemistry thang seems to be gelling at the right time.
No nowak and stoitchkov are not the players they once were but both of them are still the few that can pass the ball. I started to count all the bad fire passes but the number got so high I gave up.
One of the high points for me yesterday was a field-switching *bomb* of a pass from Stoitch that hit Nowak in stride coming up the right side of the field. I'm not ready to write either of them off yet. Later, COZ
Highlight of the game, skill-wise. That was world-freakin-class, especially considering the field dimensions they had to work within.
Yes!! I am glad I am not the only one who really appreciated that pass from the left wing all the way to the right wing, spot on in stride pefectly controlled. Moments like that are what make the beautiful game.
You are right on the money with that one. It was one of the most beautiful plays I have sensin in MLS this season.
I was so sad to see Vaudreuil start. Fortunately, he played adequately. And anyway it must've made Walsh feel comfortable to only be the second worst player on the field. The 72nd minute was an excellent time to get Hristo into the match. He, Bob and Peter deserve a toast for pulling this one off. Also - as stellar as that pass to the right wing was--and it was awesome, the series of touches from Novak to Beasley to Stoitchkov to Razov past Busch into the net was one of the greatest moments of the season.
Joe, aren't you the one that likes using the little story about your grandma being your grandpa if some contingency occurs It's easy to say what would have been desirable after the fact, but it does no good to keep harping on the negative. You may have "predicted" that HS would have a less than productive season, but if you were honest with yourself, you would admit that you were thinking groin pulls, hamstring strains etc., and not a slimey tackle by a smelly little fish. We also would have been much better off not carrying the contracts of Armas, Wolff, Whitfield or Daniv this year as they were all "unproductive", and would have been in a less precarious position if any or all of the above would have been available through our losing streak. Let's start looking forward. I truly believe that anything can happen in these playoffs as there is little difference top to bottom.
Actually, it's "If my auntie was a man she'd be my uncle" which is an old British saying that I happen to find amusing. Anyway, my point is that when you're paying an above average salary, you expect above average contribution which we haven't gotten from Hristo despite the guaranteed wildly above average salary. At some point, if a guy is being outcontributed by another guy who costs 1/3 his price, you have to ask yourself "How come we're paying so much for so little?". As far as this past season is concerned, if Hristo had contributed worth his salary, the Fire would have had more goals and almost certainly won more games (I'm thinking of those games we dropped in the last few minnutes where another goal would have been the the difference) and thus prevented the need for last minute heroics from Nowak to save our asses (unless Hristo only scored when we were already winning). And please remember, Hristo didn't even start the season playing for us and then get hacked a la some of Nowak's recent seasons. At least Armas, Daniv and Whitfield were able to start the season. And while everyone correctly considers Daniv to be one of our invisible players, Serg has played only two games worth of minutes fewer than Hristo. Blaming any fishies for all of Hristo's missing minutes is a bit desperate. Looking ahead, if Hristo suddenly wakes up and goes bonkers with the goalscoring, leading us to MLS Cup glory, then he suddenly becomes worth the 270K. So far, however, this has emphatically not been the case, unless you think that two goals and one awesome pass per season is worth 270K. Let's just hope Hristo earns his keep over the next month.
Alright Joe P., we seem to be going in circles, so this will be my last on this issue. HS missed four games at the start of the season coming off hernia surgery (not an old man's injury -- just ask Wolff, Convey and Santino). The rest of his absences are courtsey of the smelly one (not unlike Wolff missing the majority of last year thanks to that A-league hack from Tampa). If that is a desperate claim, so be it. You have never explained why HS warrants derision for his salary and injuries, while Wolff, Armas, Whitfield, Nowak etc., are mere unfortunate circumstances with no talk about "earning their keep." The worst you have said about anyone else is that, sadly, it might be time for Wolff to go because we can't be guaranteed sufficient time out of him. Why is it not his fault that we didn't wrap up a playoff position earlier? He just signed a new multi-year contract that probably pays him close to the max. BTW, I'm not blaming ANYONE, simply looking for an explanation on why you single out one player.
First, I'm not blaming only Hristo for the nailbiting finish to our season. It's just that his was the most predictable lack of contribution and it was a mistake to sign him to a multi-year guaranteed contract that removed our options when other things fell apart. And of our league max players, he has contributed the least so far this season. In order of importance to our performance this season, I'd say the rash of freak injuries like Armas's and even Moore's appendictis was the most devastating factor. Hristo's guaranteed contract merely made this bad situation that much worse. Second, I've already mentioned that Wolff is a player that, depsite the fact that I like the guy and think he may have a great future if he can ditch the injuries, is someone the Fire should think of trading in the offseason. Also, I think that Wolff's game is all about speed and his production has been hurt by playing on such a small field. So maybe it's time for him to seek a better situation. Finally, we knew he'd be away with the Nats along with Beasley and Armas so even if Armas and Wolff hadn't gotten hurt, they would not have contributed as much as normal. Hristo has no such excuse. Third, Armas does not have a history of injuries or missing games a la Wolff, Hristo or even Nowak. The same goes for Whitfiled. If they both miss most of next season as well, then we can start asking questions. Fourth, despite his injuries, Nowak has still played twice the minutes Hristo has over the past two years and provided equivalent points production despite the fact that he has other responsibilities as midfield general in addition to scoring goals himself. Is this worth league max? Depends on how valuable you think having an organized midfield is. And Ive also said before that I think even St. Peter has to ask himself how long he can keep going. I suspect one more year and then he should seriously think or hanging up the boots or taking a pay cut, especially if he only starts putting in Hristo-like minutes. I hope this answers your questions on why my answer to stevedm's assertion that Hristo is worth 270K this season is that he's not.