Apparently our estimeed USMNT coach thinks highly enough of it to bring in Freddy Adu for the Gold Cup I think that actually proves your point.
Re: Koke leaving Dynamo I imagine it was a trial for him too. I get the impression he can easily go back to greece.
My initial thought was that we had used allocation dollars to get Koke under the cap but that doesn't appear to be the case as he seems to have had an unusually structured contract. I do, however, take credit for planting that seed with Carlisle as he retweeted my comment to him about the Dynamo possibly being out of allocation money from Koke's signing during the Benny negotiations
Yeah even if we had, his real salary would have been posted by MLSPA. since he only made 150 and paid his own buy out from Aris....I doubt he took any allocation.
The league is ions away from La Liga and Premier League, but it is better than MLS. What you have to understand is that Aris has not won the Greek Championshp since 1946, and even then, they pretty much won because it was the first championship since the interruption of the league (because of WWII). You also have to understand that the Greek league has 3 levels, one has Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, the 2 super clubs of the league, lots of money, the 2 clubs that can hold their own against the rest of Europe, the other level has only AEK Athens, very good but not as good as the first 2, the other level is everyone else. The big 3 clubs (specially the big 2) are way better than any MLS team, the other 13 clubs, well, depends on the club, but the level drops a lot when you talk about the other 13 clubs, some of them would have a hard time playing with many MLS teams, the lower teams are not even Dynamo caliber. Koke was a big shot in a small team, they were relegated in 2005 for example, they were on the top half of the table last year for an example of how sometimes they do good, considering who they are. Thing is, it doesn't matter what league any guy is playing for, you also have to see which team, La Liga has the best team in the world, but you wouldn't want to bring a player from Real Zaragoza, the Premier League has Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, la creme de la creme of world soccer, but if you bring someone from West Ham United, I don't think you would get what we think of Premier League caliber.
I agree. Clark seems like a very good player signing considering he is just coming back from injury lasting nearly 2 years. But I do very much like the way Cisco plays and would like to see him in game action. Unfortunately it isn't possible for me to judge him accurately from the amount I've seen.
Here is an article about Koke leaving http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/05/31/koke-explains-houston-departure-my-heads-not-here
The question is did the Dynamo address the personal situation with his daugther and wife/ex-wife/mother of his child. Small but very important detail.
Like a lot of others, I'm bummed we didn't get to see him in AM; I would have liked to have seen what he could do with his comfortable position. I'm still not totally sure why he even came over to MLS. It seems like he would be leaving a lot behind, unless he was going to cash in this July if he got the DP spot, then move the family over, etc. You can't say it was the lack of fan support either. Every time he came off the bench, the fans gave him more love than several other players that have been on the team for a long time. Either way, I wish him the best in whatever his next endeavor may be. This is totally off topic, and ultimately the reason why I'm posting...as everything above, has previously been said. I saw his name mentioned several pages back and it sparked a question I've had for awhile: What the hell happened to Obodai? I really liked that guy at DM. I've tried to find what became of him last season, but didn't have any luck. -Kyle
His option at the end of last year would have made him as high paid as Davis. It looks like we were not the only ones thinking that amount is too much because he does not have a club right now. (going on 6 months).
What is that, around $150? I don't understand how salaries, options, etc. work as a whole on the MLS, but understand what you are saying. He's asking too much for what he is perceived to be worth, bummer. That also explains why I couldn't find anything about him. Thanks for the info. -Kyle
more like 250k which is roughly 10% of your on budget amount against the cap. At 150, they may have considered it IF (big if) they thought he would start. But since he only appeared in four league games last year, I don't think he was working his way into the lineup according to Dom.
Reading the Koke story on the MLS site (I think, it's the one quoted above) he explains that the team mates, coaches, fans have all been great, it's not the team or the city. He says he's separated from his wife which makes it very difficult for him to see his daughter when he's here. I was wondering why he didn't move his family over. I also wonder if the separation is very recent, maybe since he left Aris. Otherwise it seems he would have realized the problem sooner. It also explains why he was handing out jerseys to cute girls.
Based on what we know about his contract now (some sort of short term deal with options for three years since the Dynamo get cap room back), I think the post a few places back was spot on. He was probably planning on moving them all over after the "trial" portion of his contract was up. However, I think it became clear to him that without getting into the starting lineup; the payday portion of the deal was not gonna happen so he wanted out now. I actually liked him as a player and I liked what I was able to see of him prior to coming here. However, after about two games it became clear he is not the type of player that was going to fit in well with Dom's system; especially without a service man in the middle. We attack down the wings and place cross after cross into the box. Even when we are able to attack up the middle, it is usually opportunistic as opposed to a build up from the center. Koke needed the ball at his feet and was not going to do much with crosses flying in over his head. So while it doesn't upset me that he left, AND I understood why he didn't start because of our system . . . . I do give Dom a failing grade on evaluating a player that didn't fit our approach. Either get a player that thrives with service from the wing (Ching for example or what Bruin is developing) or change the system. You cannot do NEITHER and expect it to work.
Wow, the numbers I was looking at must be way off then. That is a lot of scratch for sure. But like you said, he didn't appear much, so even taking a 'severe' cute from what was theoretically available to him would not have helped much. I agree that Koke didn't fit into our attacking system well...though when he was coming over, I thought he was going to CAM, to open up other avenues for attack.
Bravo, best description of this whole sordid mess and a huge reason why this teams struggles with signings of the Offensive variety. Should the Riordan signing actually happen do you really expect something different than Dalglish or Akinbiyi 2.0?
I think the contract thing is post facto rationalization. It sounds superficially compelling but we'd have not signed a player with it in mind to cut him in July. The theory he was gone in July is thus not all that separable from his failure to launch post-signing which links up to him getting cranky and wanting out anyway. So it's more of a you can't quit I'm firing you kind of thing. I'd buy it more if there was even a hint of official Landin-esque discontent expressed; there wasn't until it was already over.
Watson quietly has as many assists as Clark does goals, but neither makes me comfortable. Do you really feel like we have an effective right wing a la Mullan? If Cruz was healthy would he be in front of or behind these dudes? My impression thus far is Clark disappears for long stretches between productive moments. All due respect but he didn't play for Houston til this year and he is coming off two straight ACL problems, so it's pretty much a what have you done for me lately question, Boswell was once an All-world Wonderboy too. I liked the Dallas goal, that was tidy, but this team is struggling for form against good teams and is premised with Ching Bruin and Weaver around wing service. When Clark adequately pairs Davis in that way I will be sold. Until then we are a one-trick pony that is too easy to stop and that's part Clark's responsibility.
These are both true. Unfortunately the only way you get to Brad Davis point is lots of time playing with the team. I have seen a few nifty service opportunities from Clark though (the chance Cameron blew against NY comes to mind).
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAZ_qfdk-KE"]YouTube - We Won't Get Fooled Again??‏[/ame]
Last thought: Oduro has 3G 2A for Chicago (Kamara has the same production for KC, FWIW). Carr hasn't played a minute for us (per his own Tweets, he will be out at least past the Fire game with continuing concussion issues). There is a DK My Way or Highway and it doesn't always turn out better for us. He held Oduro accountable for the miss but what about himself for Oduro's replacement? The Oduro-Carr ordeal is a chain of multiple bad decisions, not signing someone else, signing him, trading him for an IR player. We need to start putting more wise acquisitions other side of the ledger. That includes a little more thought about whether a player fits our scheme....Koke, who didn't so much stink as have no great place in our style and formation. I don't know Riordan or Hibs of present but my experience with Scottish ball is it would produce DK-type players, it's hoofball gone amok worthy of English League play (outside the Old Firm). Anyone know for real?
Clark is still missing one crucial part to his game that made him so good pre-injury. He used to take people on. That forced defenses to respect his ability to beat them, cross, and cut back and score (that part we have seen). My gut tells me he has a confidence issue as he rarely tries to beat people. I hope he gets over that because he becomes more like a Mullan of younger years with better touch albeit a bit slower.