When the six-player trade was made... "They're in crisis mode up there (in New England). They gave up a lot and didn't get much in return." -- Nick Sakiewicz
Jesus, how revisionist history sometimes rules here. The trade was generally better for Metro than it was for the Revs, and the Revs were desperate at the time. The thing that turned their season around was that TT and Ralston started clicking and Kante vastly improved the defense, not that Serna was suddenly rejuvenated or Hernandez was a rock. In contrast, the thing that made Metro suck since early August wasn't Diallo or Chrono alone; it was a total lack of outside mid play and shoddy defense. Meanwhile, most people here still agree that Williams is a keeper. The season sucked, but this trade was not the reason why.
I would imagine we would be worse off if the trade never happenend. (not that there is a much 'worse off")
I agree with Obie. We did in many ways get more out of it in terms of production.; I think Hernandez ends up being a very valuable piece for many years to come, but in terms of short term we got the better deal. Now, as for our teams, we fell apart completley, while Ralston stepped up adn showed why he is the best American right winger since Tab was young.
I think that's the salient part of the quote. If he thought that was "crisis mode", I'd hate to think what "mode" the metros qualify as being in right now. "Ludicrous mode"? And yes, the trade was generally better for Metro, although that doesn't mean they wouldn't have made an even better one if Nick didn't have such a ridiculous hard-on for Big Mama.
we would make that trade every time. Diallo clogs up the attack. He does score some goals but he disrupts the flow. Our attack is WAY batter without him.
Generally, the team that gave up a lot and got a little just whupped Metro's butts and finished ahead of them in the standings, even though the main player in the deal, Serna, did not play. And, generally, I think the quote says it all about Metro.
Hmm...I know where you're coming from, but I think the trade is a major reason in why things have gone the way they have, IMO this trade-along-with the Villegas trade-was a repudiation of both the dispersal draft as well as the entire 2002 Zambrano plan. And I don't want to pile-on OZ, but as he himself put it last night And there lies the difference between NE and MetroStars: Clavijo was held accountable and fired; Zambrano was given a chance in essence rebuild the guts of the team in midseason. Did 2000 buy him that benefit of the doubt? Perhaps, you have to be fair on that point, and you can argue that he was he was owed the opportunity. But I also think a strong case can be made that NE got it right: they fired Clavijo on 5/23; made the trade the next day if I have the dates right. This is why I posted the final-day rosters from 2000-2001, and most notably the opening day 2002 roster. The trade was an admission that OZ got it wrong. That says a lot to your team-affects their self-belief and the credibility of the manager/GM. Did NE panic? I'm not so sure. I think they understood the urgency of the situation, and took the fullest measures to address it. And in that regard, I think Vistula's post has it right: our house was not in order and Nick displayed arrogance. We got what we deserved last night.
It's easier to fire a coach who doesn't have a successful professional resume compared to one who's a few games shy of being the winningest coach in league history and who also sports one of the best winning percentages in league history. The latter has shown the ability to get it right, or be extremely lucky while the former hasn't.
Hernandez has been a rock. At trade time, he and AW were the biggest ?'s. Diallo for Serna: headache for headache. We got rid of Diallo, and then Serna through injury; that alone made for some good karma, that team chemistry stuff. Kamler has been great in S. Nicol's system, much better than Chrono had been giving us. Metros traded for the player he was 2 years ago. AW for Hernandez was supposed to be and seems to still be, a wash. I was mad when Andy was traded, but he hasn't won anywhere he's been. He's fun to watch though; you'll always have that.
I have much less problem with saying that the team blew it at the dispersal draft than on this particular trade. If Hernandez has been so great for the Revs, why did the team continue to lose until Kante came into the defense? Kante first played for the Revs on 10 August. Here are the # of goals given up prior to Kante entering the defense (in reverse order): 0 @ DC 3 vs. Colorado 4 @ Metro 4 vs. KC 0 vs. DC 1 vs. C-Bus 2 vs. Metro 3 @ KC So other than the anemic DC offense, the Revs defense didn't look too good. After Kante arrived.... 2 @ LA 2 vs. Chi 1 @ Chi 1 vs. Colorado 0 vs. C-Bus 0 vs. DC 1 vs. Dallas 0 vs. Metro Much, much better, and Kante was the only difference in the starting defensive lineup.
Now go figure out which of those games Hernandez played def mid for us and which he played center back. He got pushed into playing central defense with ll our injuries, as soonas he was able to be replaced, he was in center midfield. When he was at center mid, we did well, but that's neither here nor there, as it was the team as a whole (in additioin to Kante arriving) finally getting to play consecutive games together that saw our improvement.