In-Season Player Rumors & Movement 2012

What a snoozefest for a roster freeze deadline - not only for the Union but MLS in general - typically see a little more action than what we saw this season. I would guess that the USL PRO trainees (Noble, Mkosana, Kassel) will get some playing time in the 4 upcoming reserves games in the next few weeks and then perhaps some of them get invited to the 2013 pre-season camp but Hackworth wants to stick with what he has for the rest of the regular season to see what he has (or does not have). Speaking of roster freeze deadline, how did Hackworth let one of his 2007 U17 World Cup players (Chris Klute - CB with Atlanta in NASL) slip by him and on to the Rapids roster?

http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2012/09/rapids-acquire-defender-chris-klute-atlanta

 

Indeed we must hold him to this. A couple of questions persist, though. Will upper management give him the necessary resources to go out and sign players with the quality to really elevate this team? And, how long will the club stick with their hope that all these young players will start maturing into the kind of quality needed to win regularly at this level?

Right now this club struggles with having any sort of identity. There is no real rhythm to their style of play. At least Hack sort of acknowledges that they don't play very attractive soccer at the moment. Compared to what other teams have been doing in the league, there is not a whole lot that is interesting about this squad right now. They play very pedestrian soccer. I hope this can change.

 

I don't think the club has much of a choice but to spend next year, the renewals are going to be down and if the play continues like this early next season attendance will fall off a cliff.

 

Agree - we need a creative AM/withdrawn forward, a holding forward, and a box to box midfielder. Those players don't come cheap. Either the FO opens their pockets or we are going to see more of the same as our young players gain more experience

 

Kaka and Drogba have already signed contracts for us next season #KesslerReports

 

Thanks for the update! Glad all is right in the world then. Just in time for my renewal! #RespondToAllPointlessPosts

 

I thought we were getting Mesut Özil, because clearly umlauts on our jersey will help our finishing.

 

I think LeToux will be back. He's out of contract after this season. I like the above, but I have a distrust of Costa Ricans now and I have little confidence that Soumare will be able to play.

 

I also think that the FO will make a run at LeToux. With renewals dwindling, he will be viewed as a relatively inexpensive way to boost ticket sales.

 

What did Franklin Chang Diaz and Oscar Arias Sanchez ever do to you??

 

Dills, I see your point, but I don't think Adu is a player that can play the CAM with 2 attacking forwards. He would be required to cover to much ground in the midfield and he doesn't have the speed or size. At least not in this league!

With Okugo at the DM (I still would keep Carrol there, and use Okugo at CB) and 2 forwards up top, you need that CAM player to be a box to box player. For me, keep Adu out wide left, and let's go get a solid attacking midfielder who can control the middle of the field on the offensive side (think Stu Holden). Personally, I have no idea who that players is, but then again, a competent GM probably could figure that out instead of us on BS.

 

If Le Toux is brought back i'm going to do lots of things that i cannot legally post on a public forum lest it be taken as a threat....

 

I should have qualified further to limit this to Costa Rican footballers signed by the Union.

 

Just out of curiosity, is that because you don't rate him or is it just the way shit went down?

To me, a player like Le Toux for $200k and doesn't take up an international slot is a good deal and I would easily take him back. Kick that up to $250-300k, I'll pass.

So the point is, a proven player who adds depth to the roster and is a known commodity for $200k is better then an unknown player from a foreign league taking up an international spot for $150k. But that's just me

 

I agree. He's a good guy, (mostly) a fan favorite and proven to be above-average in a position where we have too many below-average players. If anything, he would bring more people to the games.

 

Le Toux will not come back here, unless he's paid handsomely. He may have liked the area, but he may harbor some ill will towards this front office, and if he thinks that the only reason why they want him back is to help sell tickets, then he can try to bleed the Union dry. As much as I love the guy, going after Le Toux is a bad idea, and would only be a temporary thing to help sell tickets. That's not a long-term viable solution.

 

Note that if he comes back, the aforementioned "taken as threats" would be with those who have taken recent legal action, and those the legal action is against... concerning a certain soccer team....

Basically i'll go on a rampage because this season is shit and this is what started the dominos.

 

Not trying to turn this into a Le Toux thread; Lord Cheese Fries knows we had more then enough of those, but how do you know how he feels or what he wants?

Taking all the emotions out of the equation, the truth is that Le Toux has not had a good year in a contract year, and probably will be forced to take what the market offers him. He is not going to have much leverage after being traded 2x in one year, and shit to show other then his only success at Philly.

Best case scenerio for him, he gets a couple of teams offering him contracts, but I don't think he is going to create a bidding war. A fair price would be around the $200k mark, and Philly should offer that cause regardless of it adding butts in seats, it adds depth to a roster that has none.

Fair point, but still think it makes soccer sense in a salary cap league.

 

From his Twitter, it looks like he is still dating Kendall Quigley. I recall that she lives in the West Chester area. As a married man, I know that sometimes it's not about what the man in the relationship "feels" or "wants" and there are other considerations that come into play.

 

There was some buzz a few weeks ago about LeToux coming back and the FO already making some contact. It seemed his issue was primarily with Nowak. LeToux seemed to think his conversation with Nick S over an extension went well.

 

Bitter much? None of the crap that happened was Seba's fault. He scored plenty of goals here and we desperately need a finisher. I'd take him back in a heartbeat.

I'd crap my pants if we got Kenny Cooper.

 

Did i say Le Toux was to blame? I'm not rampaging on him.

It's essentially a double back by the FO who can't, when moving forward, figure things out other than from starting at the beginning. I'd like Le Toux back, he worked well on this team... the problem is it then becomes a vicious circle in which we just end up going nowhere and makes the team even a bigger joke than it already is.

 

I can agree with this. The thing is, if the FO just go out and sign Le Toux and no one else, then we should be screaming "what's the point?" But if the FO go out and get Le Toux for the price discussed PLUS the other major pieces needed, then it makes complete sense.

Its like the Adu situation. We all agree that having Adu without other key players is just a waste of money and makes the team frustrating to watch cause Adu cannot carry this team. But if we actually had a competent target forward who could finish, then having Adu is worth the price.

Its a Catch-22! Signing Le Toux brings depth only if we get additional pieces to complement the team; signing him to just to bring back fans is a disaster waiting to happen.