Lots of discussion about whether getting Joe-Max would be better than keeping Serna. Feel free to vote and post.
How about an "other" option, just in case Moore goes back to England as expected, and just in case Serna doesn't make the cut in Nicol's eyes? The Magpie
this is really tough. the downside is both are either recovering/or older & injury prone. you could lose either one for significant games... I think as a scorer, serna has more upside... however is more volitile as well. JMM is more stable performance wise, and has more uses. And is MR REV... I give it to serna by a hair, roll the dice and hope he recovers, puts his personal problems behind him and nets a boat load of goals. It is a risker choice, but if it pans out Serna has more upside and impact than JMM.
A tougher decision than I thought. If it was a 'fantasy' league decision, I might have to go with Serna, but its not.
Moore Last year, around the time of the dispersal draft, I was moaning about Diallo. Several BS posters made me feel like a heel, as if to say why not give the guy a chance. But over the years of dealing with the public, I've rarely (never?) seen a chronically unhappy, difficult person become an unselfish team player. Flame me if you must. Tell me how it is completely unfair of me to prejudge Serna. Remind me how devastating TnT and Serna will be together. I so hope you are right. If Serna's our guy, I'll back him with everyone else until he decks Nowak or doesn't show up for practice. But if we are offered JMM instead, we know what we're getting - a 90' gamer who's used to futbol at the highest level.
Serna has talent but he also seems to have some serious attitude issues. Seeing him cry to the ref after every single tackle makes me sick. Serna has made it clear that we would like to leave the league. If he does so next year, then what do we have? I'm guessing if JMM comes back, he's here as long as we want him... JMM has always come across as a professional and he is a pleasure to watch in action. He was the reason I originally got hooked on the Revs. I'd love to see him back here doing his post-goal flips in the end zone
For me, it's like this: potential for (slightly) greater upside with Serna against the fact that JMM has earned some loyalty from me, while Serna hasn't. In this case, advantage: JMM.
Joe Max Moore is much better than Serna. I can already imagine the problem there will between Serna and Twellman. Twellman was the team's scorer last season, and Serna has been the leading scorer for Miami since he came to the league. I doubt he'd allow Twellman to steal his role. Plus Moore can play attacking mid or widthdrawn forward, unlike Serna.
I realize this is just speculation, but as the chances of Moore coming to the Revs are, well, almost exactly 0%, I choose to be a bit more practical. Serna should do fine if he's healthy, he's always had more of a scoring knack than Moore.
Serna Both are equally risky in regard to injuries. I like JMM. More for sentimental reasons. He scores points considering menatl stability , team memeber and congeniality. Is a good finisher and hustles well. Loses points for being older. But, I chose Serna. Younger, meaner and nastier. Very strong finisher. A bull who hustles like Twellman. I thought that they played well the few games that Serna was healthy. You need some "spice" on the team. They'd be a devilish twosome.
Either way, I'd be happy, either way, I'll have regrets. Like Wittgenstein (see philosophy football shirts). Anyway, I think that if both are healthy and it is 2003 that Serna is a better buy. But here is one for the record books. Do you realize that if Joe Max came back to the Revs he would be the only player on the current team who played with the Res in the 20th century? That, alone, might tip the balance in the other direction. But my gut says Serna, although I'll be shouting my head off if it turns out to be Joe Max. JIM DOW
it's a no-brainer in my mind. JMM. Serna is too interested in his own adjenda to be a team player and if he's on the field with Twellman, Twellman suffers. JMM is a team player.
Serna is more than a goal scorer. He creates opportunities for others as well -- witness Chacon's MVP season. Whan last I looked, Serna was the all-time leading MLS player in points produced per 90 minutes played. I say, give Serna a chance. He has a lot of incentive to prove that he still can play, and he potentially has a lot of years ahead of him.
Johnny Rev, better look again. Taylor Twellman is the all-time leading MLS player in points produced per 90 minutes played, with a 1.94 average. (He also led the league with a 6-goal scoring streak in 2002 - Kreis had a 5-game streak, Ruiz two 4-game streaks.) Stern John is now 2nd with 1.92, Ruiz 3rd with 1.86. Serna had a 1.48 prior to this season, and had 8 points in 944 minutes so his average went down this year.
Thanks, In Touch. I should have stopped listening to my son a long time ago. Putting aside the statistics, I still think Serna creates opportunities for others, in addition to his goal scoring. He's a very talented, strong, and fast forward. He's the one I wanted the Revs to pick first, instead of Diallo. JR
But what does he know? Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was very rarely stable. That, as opposed to Heidegger, Heidegger who was a boozy bugger who could think you under the table. Seriously, at the time of the dispersal draft, I was hoping we'd pick Serna instead of Diallo. If we get the Serna who always killed us when he played with Miami, I will be very happy. He's a bastart when he plays against us, but you got to love a guy who can do what he did for us. I say now that he's healthy, give him a chance. Tom
I have a bad feeling about Serna, much like Diallo last year, and look what happend to him. But when putting it into perspective, Serna is obviously known for his goalscoring, and goals should not be our top priority right now - it should be retaining our form that brough us to the Cup and showing that last season was no fluke. Keeping that in mind, Joe-Max would be a much better option when helping out our overall play. He's a much more usefull player than Serna, and will prosper under Nicol, as he is a Nicol-type of player, like many have said before. He's a battler, a 90 minute player, and he knows how to bag them. And most of all, he doesnt piss and moan like Serna does. Taking G.I. Joe-Max is the smater decision.
Though I'd prefer JMM, I'm not too worried about Serna - he's a serious offensive threat, something that would aid Twellman's effectiveness immensely. Besides, it seems to be a moot point - Chris Bergin is hearing that Joe-Max is very likely to be signed up with a 1st Div sign soon. I doubt we'll see him in MLS before next season.
Current rumors seem to indicate that the Wolves are not in fact after Moore, and that (depending on who you choose to believe) if he comes to the MLS, he'll either go to DC (ESPN's Mark Conolly) or KC (Planetfootball's Peter O'Rourke). Time will tell, but the Revs would only be able to get Moore (should he become available) by dint of substantial roster moves. If Serna's healthy, my feeling would be that these moves aren't worth it.
Serna Serna. Serna. Serna. Re JMM: We have *no allocation* and are just under the cap. Too much would have to be given up for a player whose pluses and minuses even out at this stage of his career. And too many teams are in line ahead of us with money, allocations, and interest. Serna--selfish bastard though he may be, as others have pointed out--is a selfish, goal-scoring bastard who needs a good year under his belt to raise his overseas market value. To me, it's an obvious choice.
If we want to staff a team based on players whose personalities, politics or attitudes we actually like then we have about as much chance of having a good record as snow does in Miami, oops, not cocaine. Anyway, I love Joe Max and rumor has it that Serna can be a right bastard (if there is any truth to all the talk and that may be complete bull) but so what? And Mickey Mantle, Lawrence Taylor, Larry Bird or Romario are nice guys? Please....... If Serna can be stomached in the dressing room and on the training ground then he will be a phenomenal presence on the pitch and contribute mightily. JIM DOW
Re: Serna I thought Serna was making league maximum or close to it. Why would we need to cut more than him and Rooney, who makes a big sum himself from what I've heard. When weighing out who would help the team more, it's pretty close, but I would have to pick Moore.
JMM for me! I don't like the chemistry I saw between between Serna and Twellman and could see Serna presence hurting Twellman's output. I almost got the feeling that Serna wants to be the "Big Name" and question if he will ever work well with Twellman. I see Serna as a selfish player and a bad mix with Taylor On the other hand, I see Joe-Max as very much a team player and think he would work well with Twellman. He also has the same kind of work rate as Twellman and would take some of the load off Taylor. For these reasons, I would pick JMM