In fairness, if Mike Randolph couldn't run a bit then he would never have made it as a professional. You see it all the time where a player with pace is vastly overrated as a footballer (Aaron Lennon etc). Randolph's problem always seemed to me to be that he simply didn't have the ability to make a really viable winger, and didn't have the strength, positioning or the all-round ability to threaten Eddie Lewis as a potential left-back candidate, so he's not exactly a big loss. Saying that we are seemingly replacing mediocre/shite players with more mediocre/shite players and it doesn't feel like we have better options than last season.
Woah, Leeds, good to have you back man. It's been a while. I agree that we're replacing mediocre players with mediocre players, but I'd rather have our mediocre players. Give me Troy Roberts, Alan Gordon and Mike Randolph anyday over Migs, Kirovski and Sanneh. Just because we know them, and like them (to a certain extent). They actually feel like Galaxy players because they've been here for a little while. But Bruce is playing to his favorites, and that worries me a bit. I guess the other side of the coin is we know what Gordon, Randolph and Roberts (for example) can bring, and it's not much. So I guess that's the good thing about bringing in new players. We don't really know what they offer- it could be more than our current scrubs. But I really hate to see so much turnover. It would be nice to hang on to a few players for a while and build some sort of cohesive team unit. The good teams in MLS are the ones that have had the same players for a while, have a deep and solid (if unspectacular) roster, and know how to play together.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him resurface in San Jose. He did a good job for Yallop when he was here.
I liked Randolph but he really regressed last year. I think we'll be fine without him. Some have mentioned that this move is bacause we are sigining Chavez. I disagree. This is more about Delagarza. He made Randolph expendable.
Re: Trapdoor Best of luck to 'concrete-feet' .. .. And, let's add ALAN GORDON to that list .. .. Too many A-League Talents = A-League Results!!
Re: Trapdoor Yes! Once we get rid of Gordon and Randolph and replace those guys with A-list talent like Kirovski, Miglioranzi, and Bautista our results will be sure to change. Plus we have talented players like Wicks and Griffin on the bench for depth.
I can see Mike being expendable, with the left-footed additions we've brought in and the potential of Patterson. But we don't have anybody on the team that can play the BU target forward like Gordon. The guy's not a starter, but as the third option, he had a 5g 7a season last year. He ain't going nowhere. The only player left that I'm really worried about getting cut that I think would be a big mistake is Brandon McDonald...
If Bruce cuts McDonald he's lost his friggin mind. I can't believe he would be that blind though. But where is Brandon?
I disagree about Brandon. You guys might want to kick my butt because I don't think he's that good. Think about it, he didn't do much last season.Sometimes, he disappeared on the field.Please don't let one goal sway your belief. He is big and slow. Compare the difference when you see Gonzalez play. Bruce must have a reason why he didn't let Brandon play. If you want to kick my butt please stand in line....
Can one of you sign up to be Brandon McDonald's friend on Facebook and MySpace and find out whether he's still with the Galaxy?
Thanks Kilgore. But I don't have an account and frankly I'm embarrassed to say I'm too old for this sort of thing.
i'm sure arena has some reason, though we may agree or disagree with it. i'm not so fond of him bringing in all the aging talent, just because he is familiar with them. what i do know is that brandon was playing well last season, then he got injured, then we switched coaches, then brandon struggled to get playing time. late in the season he had that "wonder goal", as well. i personally think that brandon has some work on his game, but he has a great deal of potential, especially as a DM or box-to-box MF. he's got a lot of bite to his game, but his distribution is above average to, at times, inspired, with occasional give-aways. he reminds me of kljesten, to some extent, but more physical and better bite on the defensive end...including the occasional give-aways. i'm really hoping that bruce doesn't dump brandon. i'm hoping that he knows he wants to hang onto him and didn't play him for the same reason he didn't play sesay and bowen, which is, hopefully, that he already knows he's keeping them and didn't need to deploy them on the field during the PPC.
BMac Let Go??? Young and talented. I guess the odds were stacked against BMac. Everyone knows the Galaxy like old and diminishing talent.
I think this deserves a thread of it's own. I don't want Big Mac buried in the same thread as Mike Randolph. It's very disrespectful. Das Boot you dug this up. You owe it to Mac Daddy to start funeral services he can be proud of.
Well he has not said anything on facebook so maybe Mikey was just quick to tell. I hope its not true, but I have a bad feeling that it is.
This is crap. Every year it's the goddamn same thing. The new coach comes in and gets rid of the last coach's young guys so he can bring in a bunch of old players and then draft a new round of young guys who can be fired by the next coach.