LLamosa becomes available

I am sad it did not work out for him.

I am sure he will hook up with someone though.

 

He's signed with another team already

I can't find the link, but he's signed with a South American squad.

 

well, if llamosa is willing to take a paycut, great.

if not, then, well, uh, i don't know how much he's worth and how much cap room we have, either.

 

Re: He's signed with another team already

This link is saying that fell through and he is again looking for a team.

 

Re: He's signed with another team already

Found it. He's signed with 'Colombian power house' Atletico Nacional of Medellin

 

Re: He's signed with another team already

the point of this article at the top is that the deal with the colombian team, atletico nacional (medellin, i think), has fallen through.

don't worry, i often comment without bothering to read the article we're commenting on, too.

 

Re: Re: He's signed with another team already

My bad - sorry

 

I wish Llamosa the best, but I doubt he'll end up in DC. I'd expect him to look to land back in New England or in Columbus, who have a stunningly big hole in their defensive line at the moment (Dunseth isn't signed, they passed on Shavar Thomas, and they intend to start Denton).

Frankly, if our defense is going to gell, I'd prefer it be with pieces that have some longevity. With Ivanov, Reyes, Petke and Prideaux all around the same age, we could keep them together for 3-5 seasons most likely. While Nelsen is currently projected to midfield, he's not much younger than that crowd as well. Considering we have 2 young keepers, we could have the entire defensive half of our team together for a long time performing at a high level. With David Stokes we should have some cover as well.

So, I don't think adding another organizer for one year is exactly our best option. Considering Hudson compared Ivanov to Llamosa, it also seems a bit duplicative.

What we do need is left wing support. Assuming Nelsen, Carroll and Namoff are our Dmids, and that Dema, Eliseo and Alegria/Harkes are our Hmids, we should be covered in the middle. But, we're a little thin at winger. After Olsen on the right we'd probably slide Carroll or Eliseo in, but after Convey on the left I can really only see Eliseo.

I'd pass on Llamosa, we already have enough talent on the back line and both Ivanov and Nelsen should provide the organization.

-Tron

 

Nelsen, Carroll and Namoff as d-mids. That just doesn't sound very strong at all. Nellie may be a better player there than he was before (probably will be), but if not, that's an area of weakness.

As for a backup for Convey or Olsen, I'd say that if one of them is out on a short-term basis, Stewart drops to the midfield and Quaranta and Eskandarian (or Stoitchkov) start. Or, with our defensive depth, Reyes can come up and play on the wing. Olsen can clearly play on the left or right, so with other guys like Dema able to play out there too, I don't feel we're nearly as weak there as at d-mid.

 

From my perspective, Atouk's analysis is spot on...couldn't be closer to my warped view of reality. If Hudson presumes that we are strong at d-mid, this is indeed going to be an odd year. I think the only way that we become strong at d-mid is if Ivanov and Reyes play that position as reserves behind Nelsen and that Nelsen has a year that is 200000000 times better than 2001 in said position.

Tim

 

It seems that the older players are getting phased out of MLS quicker now because the league has only ten teams and is going with a youth movement.

 

I'd say older players are getting phased out so the league can replace them with cheaper ones . Can anyone spell "age discrimination lawsuit"

 

The older players are getting squeezed out to be sure but I don't think it's discriminatory. I suspect it has much to do with some salary moves that were perhaps foolish in retrospect.

The younger players entering the league now are competetive with the older players. The problem is that some of the older players, because they were national team players, ended up with high salaries. I understand that there were short term considerations that might have forced those raises but in the mid to long run they were not always justified.

Now that the player market has changed those older players no longer truly command that high salary. So off they go. What MLS didn't anticipate, and perhaps should have, was how competetive the younger players would soon be for starting positions.

 

Generally I agree with what you say Knave. This applies well to a lot of circa 1994 WC vets.

However, for the case of Carlos Llamosa, I think he has earned the salary the hard way and proven to be one of the best defenders in the history of the league. Too bad he has had injury problems at times.

Tim

 

Good points all Atouk, and I don't really disagree with your analysis, but I think that Hudson has made his decisions regarding Dmid.

While Carroll is a decent prospect, he's no Ricardo Clark--as I've been saying for a long time now. Clark would have been an instant option to start. Carroll will take some time. He is athletic, has a great attitude, and is a servicable two way player, but isn't awesome on defense and is subpar on offense. He'll need some growth.

Now Namoff is the one that I think is significantly underestimated. Played as a fullback--particularly in a 3 man back line--he's a fish out of water. He can surely attack from that position but he is eventually going to get exposed defensively there, so it's a bad fit. IMHO, Namoff is best in an Hmid role. He would fit nicely with Nelsen because Namoff is fast enough to cover for Nelsen's lack of pace. Namoff is very underrated for his offensive skills IMHO. While he's not the visionary and passer that Alegria is, he is very responsible with the ball, quickly and efficiently moves it forward pressing the fast attack and passes the ball at the right time. When he is leading a counter-attack it is usually one of our better counters of the game. His physical strength is impressive and he doesn't get knocked off the ball. His transition from defense to offense is instantaneous and his background as an attacking central midfielder shows. He can put the attack into the offensive third very quickly and force loss of shape on the opposing defense. In Hudson's morphous attack, that should be utilized to create a lot of scoring opportunities.

In fact, he's quite an enforcer physically when he asserts himself. He is quick and aggressive on defense and does a good job of blunting any central attacks. But, he's still learning the position tactically, and thus sometimes he leaves a gap. As one of 2 Dmids, he has 2 layers of cover for those occasions, so he's freed to be defensively aggressive.

But alas, Hudson wants to force Namoff into a back line role, and if that's how he sees him, Namoff probably will be lucky to make the team. In fact, the drafting of Carroll probably was intended to take Namoff's spot on the roster. If not this year, then next when Carroll graduates from P-40. IMHO, Namoff could blossom like Mulrooney and Rooney did in the past.

-Tron