I'm no expert on the Metrostars lineup but from glancing at it I see lots of gambles and also not many "impact" players besides Mathis and possibly Moreno. Pope is good but wouldnt call him "impact". I'm surprised that with MLS wanting Metrostars to be sucessful they didnt make a better team. I'll still be there tomorrow with a few newbie friends which I talked into going. Is this team giving you guys hopes?
WHy does it sem lame? Because it doesnt have some overpaid, old fart who hasn't played a decent game in 5 years? How do you think players like Mathis came to be? Do you think he was just BORN and everyone knew he was good? Or maybe he was once a nobody who no one knew about and when he got his chance to play, he showed everyone what he could do? I am fully confident that Bob can make these kids play well. Now if that doesnt happen, then we know exactly whos car tires to puncture.
Wow......remember a fact that a good friend of mine reminded me about a few weeks back: the champions LA Galaxy started Alejandro Moreno in the Cup final at CMGI last fall. And the year before, a guy who played in the PDL won the championship when the Quakes took it all. MLS is still about missing pieces. We've added some excellent pices this off-season in Moreno, Pope and Williams and added Digimarino through a lottery. We can also count on Clark to step right in and do a great job for us. We're solid down the middle, which is vitally important. Bradley has taken Jolley to a whole new level, and I am sure that our signings and deals aren't quite done yet. We have depth at all positions and in particular, we are breeding young American talent. We have a solid base now and a bright future to look forward too.
But because we traded Davis we have 2 MUCH younger MUCH better players with 2x the potential. Not to mention that Davis has a bad foot that will plague him the rest of his career.
Davis was a defensive liability, a cancer in the lockeroom, greedy on the pitch and highly over-rated.......
Davis I can live without. His spanish was poor, and his legs were hairy. But I am with SoccerScout on this one. Even with Jamie and Amando, we need more SA flair. I suggest sending scouts to the flavelas and convince some yopung underage brasilian youths to come to America to play for the Rotmasters. I would even offer to board them at my house. Cheers. Paul
They are NOT wasting max salary space on over-the-hill-don't-care players which resulted in weak bench players getting a lot of playing time. Their coach is a future nat coach. They are playing on a playable surface. There is a stadium on the distant horizon. There has been a big turnover in personnel. There are holes to fill. Some trades will turn out good, some bad. But overall, the team is finally looking like it has direction to go to the top.
Your original statement was correct. You are no expert. Bob has a well-earned reputation as a judge of talent. Proof is in the fact that he didn't jump at the first foreinger that tried out with the team and waited until he found the right player to fit in. With Clint and a rejuvenated Moreno running up front, a young talent in Clark and Digi in the middle and a defense anchored by Jolley and Pope, and a top keeper in Howard, this team is anything but lame. Don't expect miracles at first. It will take time for this team to gel, but I think we can look forward to a competitve season.
Well my friends I hope you are all right! I guess we shall start to decipher this mystery starting tomorrow at 730pm... Lots of newbies in the stands on Opening day...very important that they put on a good show if they want those newbie back. 0-0 please no!
The Metros will do fine this year. I can see another 2000 season happening this year. They'll start off slow, but eventually the missing pieces will be found.
I agree, now that Guevara is officially on board. His signing transforms 2003 from a rebuilding year to a Cup challenge.
"Fine" in a league of only 10 teams shouldnt cut it. Anything besides playing in a championship match should be considered a failure in a 10 team league.
Why, it makes it harder, the talent isn't as dilluted, especially within a single-entity concept. Every team is capable of playing well one work and poorly the next. That being said, come May and June, our team should be rocking.
Normally I'd agree, but with the SEM structure and its "competitive balance" philosophy, getting to the championship match is somewhat of a crapshoot. For example, last year the two teams that failed to make the playoffs were almost second seeded. The Revs almost didn't make the playoffs yet went to the finals. On the other hand, over a period of years, the cream rises to the top. LA is always good. In contrast the Metros have failed to break through. KC and SJ are recent champions that turned out to be "one hit wonders."
The entrenched belief that this team can get off to a slow start and then prosper is a myth. We have five of our first seven at home and face one difficult road stretch in the middle of the season (5 games I think). Our schedule is front loaded to get off to a good start but it doesn't seem we'll be able to take advantage. After last year's poor form at home, this team cannot afford to open slowly at GS. Attendance (actual fannies in the seats) will be below 10,000 before you know it. Also, I think in the new playoff format, home field advantage is going to be more important than in past years so one really has to be solid throughout the season. I think getting off to a good start is pretty important. Will it happen? We find some answers tomorrow night.
I would prefer a league of 50-60 teams and state and national championships so confusing even the winners of those competitions don't know what they have won. Add in a corrupt governing body and voila- a super league.
When I said fine, I meant to say that they'll do well in the regular season, and then play great in the post season. I actually think we do have a pretty good roster. Howard, Pope and Mathis are all regulars for the US team, and Clint's the US captain now. Jolley is a potential call-up for the Nats. Ziadie is now a regular for the Jamacian National Team. Ricardo Clark, Magee, Ragen, and Arena are all integral parts of the US Youth teams. Williams is loaded with experience is still pretty good. Guevara is a captain for the Hondoras National Team, is a goal scorer. Moreno could be one of the top forwards of the league this season since now he has a better partner up front.
He did have some short commings as a player, but even if he was super it doesn't matter he's gone now. There are some new players that we have or will have that I don't know about. Once they start playing then we can tell better on how the team will do. We have a good coach especially with developing young players. He likes them to use an inside game if he can get one going that is good soccer to watch. Looking forward to seeing that. My personal feeling on what kind of players you need to build a championship team. All your attacking players should be skilful, have good vison and they should all be very quick more then fast. Put a lot of players like that on the field, you will have a good short passing and a good inside short game that is not only hard to stop it is also a beautiful game to watch. When we lose the ball, everyone has to try get behind the ball, We need to be calm and organized on defense and not leave any exposed space for the opponent to attack especially on the first and second pass during transition to defense. Do we have those players? We will see.
Not where Harleys reign. The king must bow to the emperor. "Where is home? He shrugs, and gives me advice: Never ride Japanese metal; never ride bitch." --- from ATTITUDES OF FLIGHT