I thought a separate thread for this would be a good idea because it could keep all rumors/speculation in one place. I assume we get an allocation, right? Of course, what good would that do us if there's nobody worth acquiring with it. What happened when Beasely, Howard, et al left -- I assume our situation would be similiar to that. Just to start the discussion off: You keep hearing how Clint Mathis wants to come back to MLS, but his name is always attached to RSL. Might the league dump him on us? Would we want him? He might be better than anything else out there ....
Kinnear mentioned looking into getting Mathis during the conference call. But the reason RSL is linked so much, is that they probably have the top allocation out there. If history holds to form, the Donovan allocation will be in line behind several others. But this is such a huge loss I could imagine some new rule/exception being made and the league should try to find a quality replacement.
I'm okay with this. He does have a strong personality but there's something about playing with the Quakes (or living in the Bay Area?) that tempers people.
Really? I could imagine them giving us Luisa Hernandez's older cousin who once played in the Mexican third division, before blowing out his knee. Of course, that knee is all healed up now! You know, we've had trouble with the left-side midfield spot. I was wondering . . . could we get Eddie Lewis? Probably not, but it sure would be fun! GO QUAKES!! - Mark
your security guards and troy dayak show time and again that san jose is a "mellow" town it's more like living in the bay area makes you hallucinate that people there are friendly and your team is worth saving.
well he cost an allocation to get he cost the highest priority allocation out there at the time being that it wasn't a bust like Bo or a mostly bust until MLSCUP like Stewart, it seems within the "pattern" that SJ would deserve an allocation upon his leaving
from the merc: But if Donovan does come back, he might be doing so with a different team. By using the allocation pick given to them by the MLS to get a replacement for Donovan, the Earthquakes would surrender their league-wide rights to him.
The Mathis idea is scary and hopefully he's too expensive. I don't know that the Quakes need to fill the allocation right away. Lets see how the draft goes and who is available during the January transfer window before doing anything rash. Might be better to have a card to hold, especially if LD decides Deutschland isn't for him. Tony
If the Bundesliga is not right for Landon after honoring his 1 year contract, I can almost bet on one of the EPL teams putting a bid on him. MLS would be a place to come back to for him to finish his career---atleast that's what I'm predicting.
I think of American players, the only allocation that would be an equal would be an injury free Reyna or JOB. But short of that, I think Mathis would be a good addition, but where do you play him? Ching and Mathis? Ching and DeRo with Mathis behind? DeRo and Mathis?
I don't want Mathis. He's too much of a hot head and too much of a streaky player. He has a stretch of playing great, then goes into a prolonged funk and contributes little. Let's look for a youngster in the second division somewhere with something to prove. Someone who's going to showup every match hoping for a shot at a big club in Europe. Also, that would enable us to keep the Donovan allocation and use a discovery pick. It would help with the cap too. What about the rumor of Joe-Max Moore getting traded to a West Coast team? Would you want Joe-Max? He's good, but he's getting on in years too. I say we look for the next Guevara/Cancela/Ruiz type player out of Central America. Or, maybe we try to get Ryan Coiner, Kenny Cooper, Peter Philapakos, or someone like that. Probably a long shot though. I'd rather scour the lesser leagues looking for someone with something to prove. Just my two cents. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
The NCAA Men's College Cup is just now underway. I sure hope that the Quakes have half a dozen or more scouts watching. And I know that a college player isn't going to replace Donovan, but I bet that MLS can't afford Luis Figo, you know? So I want to see the Quakes really scout the College Cup and find a few players to draft. We're going to need a lot of new players, especially with the expanded roster. The folks who run our team and going to have to look a lot of places in order to find players to replace Donovan, Ekelund, and Corrales. We sure can't pick up any players from the EPL, so it's the lower divisions we'll be looking in. Oh, and I thought that Frictosian and Nobaldi graduated a few years back? Where have they been playing and can we afford them? GO QUAKES!! - Mark
Clearly, we're not going to find anyone that will sufficiently replace Landon at a MLS price--not someone who isn't in the twilight of their career. I agree with the school of thought that we need someone young. Remember, we still have Alvarez and Levesque who haven't really had the opportunity to show what they can do on a regular basis in this league. Not suggesting that they will totally fill LD's shoes (no one can) but hopefully they will realize the potential the Quakes saw in them and we will be pleasantly surprised. (Please see: Brian Ching. Remember when the Quakes had the #1 overall pick and we were all bitching because we couldn't believe they were going to use it on a "no name?" Aren't we glad he made his name with us!?!) Watching Landon go, I have to believe he will be away for a good many years, too. However, as incredible as he is and given European experience to boot--I'd want to hang onto his rights as long as I was able. The only way I'd give them up was to acquire a Figo, Nedved, Owen, Larsson, Van Nistelrooy...and I don't see them falling anywhere within MLS's budget.
Barca may be interested in loaning him out since he did his knee and and will be out 6 months or so...