Re: Koke leaving Dynamo The way I look at this (if it is true) is, SORRY YOU SIGNED A CONTRACT. What happened to being a professional? We had Dero always wanting raises, then wanting to go home. We got screwed on that trade and he ended up in NY. Felix Garcia shows up for a couple days. Then he runs home because he is scared. That move cost us to move up the allocation order. Landin signs with us and cannot put in enough effort to show up even semi-fit. That was not a loss (insert increased taqueria or whataburger sales joke here). Now possibly Koke wants out after a month? Reasons listed have been misses family, too hot, city too big, he came to start, cisco should start, and why can we have Under Armour for a uniform sponsor like Aris. It seems we have some form of this crap every season. All BS aside, these are grown men who knowingly (with management help and lawyers) signed into contracts. I understand they are people and they have feelings, but you are a paid professional athlete. Suck it up. If you miss your family, move them here. If you can't, you should have thought that out. I agree Koke should start (at AM). If Dom does not think so, then bust your butt and show him he is wrong. I hope this is all rumor (my spelling is not as eloquent as Nigels) and Koke is starting this weekend at AM. If he is not happy here, I guess it is best he leaves sooner than later.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo Dear Lord. We've got some whoppers on the Houston Dynamo Big Soccer board. Assuming this is all true, anyone here think this is the first time a player didn't settle in a new country, immediately or ever? I didn't think so.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo A few years back non of this would have been an issue. There was no facebook/twitter etc. SAF probably has the right idea when it comes to his players using this medium. It's dangerous, because in a moment of weakness, intoxication, anger, sadness - or whatever, you can hit that send button and it's distributed all over the world. You can't take it back. What you say, reflects directly on your employer whether you like it or not. Dalglish had a hilarious tweetfest a few years ago, but once he got hired for the Rowdies, he had to delete the account for obvious reasons. Facebook and twitter probably need to be restricted for the use of those of us who are retired and don't give a sh*t who sees what we have to say
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo From Koke's facebook: Translation: Ok friends, as there are many people who want to know, i'm going to explain the situation in spanish. I am going to try to terminate my contract here in Houston, return home to my family and hope for the best. Its clear that my family and friends are counseling me to come home (Aris). All of my friends and family are fans of Aris. All I can say is that anything is possibe. Thanks for your love.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo So what I gather from my translator app, he wants to finish his contract here, BUT his friends and family want him back at Aris? So he is going to go back to Aris?
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo my translation from my broken spanish: hello friends, i know they are alot of people who want to know. i'll explain my situation in spanish. I'll try to end my contract here in houston. Return with my family and think what's best. it's clear my family and friends councel(want) me to go back home to aris. All my friends and relatives are now fans of Aris. Well all i can see anything is possible in these moments, thanks from all my heart
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo If this rumor is true, then it might lend credence to the other rumor of renewed interest by the club in Riordin. Otherwise, there is too much overlap at this position (esp. with Ching back) to make sense -- Bruin, Weaver, Ching, Koke, Riordin, + ..... Not enough minutes to keep everyone happy. More importantly, there is a much bigger need on the roster. One that sorta screams out and is obvious to everyone from little kids in the stands to the front office. Tie up your money in those guys above, and it's unlikely you add help where it is most needed. So, something here does not make sense. For now, I lean towards the idea that either both rumors are true, or they are both false. No middle. One telling signal may be the silence from the FO. They monitor what the fans are saying and thus are aware of this talk. Even though it's a holiday, if there was nothing to any of this then they would come out and stomp it right away. They are too PR-conscious to just let it sit there and create a problem with fans. As to Koke himself, one perception I have developed is that the speed may not be there -- he looks a little sluggish (not Landin-sluggish, but who is?). Further, he does seem to shy away from contact. Combine those two and you will have a problem in this league. Sometimes I wonder if, after a couple weeks of practice and some time in a live match, Dom told the FO, "Yeah, let's go ahead and pursue Riordin."? But, to be fair, he's new and hasnt had much of a chance. Plus, he does seem to get the attention of defenders in those rare moments the ball actually finds him. If he is staying, then he needs to be put in the best position to succeed. This is on the coach. Although he did not show much against LA, we know he has ball skills and awareness, something of a scarcity around here. So, here is what I would do, assuming he stays. I would look at the roster of available offensive players and conclude the three with the best ball skills and field awareness are Davis, Clark and Koke. Thus, I would tweak the offense so that it is allowed to move to and through some combination of these three. Have them work together instead separately, as they do now, with two unconnected guys on opposite sidelines, plus a third down front (or on the bench). Some tweaking of the offense will be needed -- someone(s) will have to be allowed to cross! But these three working together as a unit not only offers exciting potential but it offers a way to convert a weakness (our current play in the middle) into a strength without acquiring a new player. Which would be smart. Maybe I just have Barca on the brain, but my poor man's, orange-tinted version of Messi-Xavi-Iniesta has our three best offensive players playing off each other, moving the ball around with Ching (Weaver for now) giving a big target in front of the box. Bruin is allowed to roam just outside (or perhaps some day Riordin) OK, OK, its fantasy. There is no other Messi. Nor can we advance the ball unless we just fling it over the top and hope for a lucky bounce. Nor does coach like to tweak. Still, if I were the coach, I would be working hard to figure out how to allow my three best offensive players who are currently healthy and on the roster to work together instead of separately as they currently do.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo Oh ok. It said 'finish contract'. I assumed that meant play out. Thanks for clarification
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo The FO silence is more deafening than a heavy metal concert full of Marshall stacks. This has to be embarassing to them. This was a big signing, and the player publicly went out to say he wants out. Saturday's comments were no fluke. I guess he did stop and think about it but couldn't change his mind.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo Translation: I miss my family, it's hot as hell here, the league is too physical, I'm not making enough for the hassle. I'm gone. He's not coming back to the team, no way Dom puts up with it. However, this entire episode with signing Watson & Koke, missing out on Feilhaber because of those signings, the odd Oduro panic sign-play one game-trade deal really is making me question what the hell the FO is doing signing some of these guys and how they approach personnel. Watson they saw so they knew what they were gettting but really we have not done well signing guys or acquiring guys outside of MLS. With Koke, they probably signed him off what they could find on Netflix and probably didn't due the proper due diligence. In a way I almost felt like they took him as much as they signed him.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo This wasn't the first time he moved to another country, if you remember, he is not from Greece. Have you been to Greece?, If you can move from Spain to Greece and settle, you can settle anywhere and everywhere, if you have been to Greece, you will know that Houston is paradise in comparison. The only real thing is the weather, that is much better in Greece, but the thing is, you don't willingly leave a team just to call it quits not even 2 months after getting to your new team. There is something wrong with Koke and he just made a disservice to his career, if he returns to Aris, Aris will have the upper hand, "we thought you didn't want to play here, mmhhh, lets see if we can find a way for you to return", if he tries to go to another team, the other team can always use the fact that he quit on his new team after 2 months as a negotiating tool, "how do we know you will not want out after 5 weeks?"
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo Experiments gone bad/abandoned: Akinbiyi Caraccio Landin Koke The young kid from Laredo - sorry can't remember his name Am I missing any others?
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo Tony Caig Anthony Obodai Felix Garcia was the kid from Laredo. I assume we all consider Dalglish a success? Even though he didn't stick with the team after the playoff run. Also... these are all players we brought in from outside MLS there are several from inside MLS... Oduro Abe Thompson Ryan Cochrane Take II
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo I mentioned above why it doesn't bother me much that he's leaving, but it does bother me a bit that we're apparently not doing too well with our due diligence on foreign signings. I'm glad we're beyond the DVD scouting stage, but I'm not sure how Koke could have misunderstood the requirements of playing on this team and the physicality of this league so poorly. Watching several of his games in their entirety should have provided some better clues about whether he could fit in this league and this team. If those concepts weren't communicated clearly to him, then that's an error on our part. (And, yes, I'm assuming that there's more to his wanting to leave than it just being really hot or missing his family in the short-term) It's always a bigger risk when you sign players from outside your own league, especially when from a league that hasn't historically produced many players that have moved to your league. Lots of clubs in other places also have issues doing so. That being said, it's part of what it means to run a professional first division soccer club in this or any other serious league. If we don't have good expertise in-house on how to handle foreign scouting and player acquisitions, then we need to hire someone who can help. Relying on players' agents and our own expertise in this area isn't working well.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo Since this rumor did indeed turn out to be true, I guess that also means that his opinion that Cisco should be starting is also true?
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo bingo bango! two paragraphs that nail the situation. for me the one thing that comes to mind is that almost every single "foreign" player that has come to league in the past 5 years or so has said the same thing. to paraphrase "man, i really am surprised at how hard this league is". how can any player be surprised at what this league is after 16 years?
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo ...or a management team that can't sign attacking talent to save their lives. I lean toward the latter.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo ...agreed except some of the attacking talent has left for greener pastures. or can't stay healthy for more than two weeks
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo From Ortiz' article on Chron.com: So why the hell did we even take him? What's the point in taking on that cap charge for 3 months play? I generally liked what the club did in the offseason but the in-season panic and manic signings is very Mo Johnston-like (hey, didn't Canetti overlap with him in New York? maybe Mo is a consultant for us now . . .) Maybe we'll trade for Abe Thompson again right before they announce prices in the new stadium. I've
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo If I am reading Jose's story correctly, the Dynamo were going to drop him anyway before July when his salary was going to increase. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/soc/7587482.html edit: WSC beat me to it above.