^What? Porter called Nagbe up and said we want you here and said we will pay you more so try to force your way out.
To add to this Nagbe is a freaking two time MLS cup champion. Of course he has a right to boss up. Winning MLS coaches (Tata, Porter) have always decided he needs to be a starter for them.
Nagbe takes a lot of underserved heat because he didn’t become the player people invisioned him to be. He’s still a very good player and useful player to have if you’re looking to play a possession based system. He’s great at breaking pressure and moving the ball. He’s athletic enough and can flex wide in a pinch. He’s a flawed player yes but still one of the better players in our pool. No he won’t put up flashy numbers but that’s not what his role is.
Reyna with some interesting comments re Lewis: “I think Lewis has gone from someone who perhaps didn't take responsibility in terms of why he didn't play to holding himself accountable now and demanding more from himself, not only in games but in training day in and day out," he said. “It's part of being a young player and growing up, and you could see that growth. I'm excited. I think he's come in after the Costa Rica game and the January camp looking really sharp.” https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/02/11/reyna-sands-lewis-here-play-nycfc-shift-away-veteran-stars
Tenorio is reporting that Kekuta Manneh is signing with FC Cincinnati. American winger Kekuta Manneh will return to MLS and sign with expansion side FC Cincinnati, two league sources told The Athletic. Manneh was in Cincinnati on Monday to complete a physical as part of the deal. Manneh currently plays for Swiss Super League team St. Gallen, but it is unclear whether Cincinnati will pay a transfer fee as part of the deal. Cincinnati has agreed to a trade with Columbus for Manneh’s MLS rights. https://theathletic.com/813177/2019/02/11/kekuta-manneh-fc-cincinnati-signs-columbus-crew/ He's somebody who fell completely off the map after Bruce Arena's first training camp.
Red Bull just signed an 18 year old Danish ST. Interested to see how much PT he gets. I know he’s not an American in the MLS but just one to keep an eye on considering young attacking Americans struggle to get PT. I know Red Bull isn’t like most MLS clubs but just interested to see.
It's plausible deniability so he can explain away not giving him opportunities up until now. But in any event, it brings optimism about his prospects with NYCFC this season on the hinges of being a national team standout. He's a project that seemingly worked out. You gotta pick your spots, because if there are too many it becomes wasteful. But I think EPB at cdm and LDLT at a-mid could also be provided springboards. It's not happening in their current situations. I would say call up Hollingshead as a "backup", but he's seemingly their starting lb this year so they could wait a bit.
I think that because a few players have demonstrated that given a real chance they should have earned time earlier we are touchy about all young players we think should also have received earlier time. Could be correct and they did deserve it but it could also be that some players have faults that need more time to iron out and others have faults that will never be ironed out and they will start changing teams and never catch on. I do agree that a lot of MLS have themselves to blame for this and it will take time to earn trust back. Reyna's an odd one in that he has a son in that very position so should be more dialed into it than coaches and GM's that aren't personally invested.
Reyna would never throw his son into a mostly haphazard MLS pro development environment. Isn't he at Dortmund, btw?
Yep. Was just pointing out he's around players that age and would know the ones who are ready and which ones may need a kick to the backside to spur growth. From what I gathered about his son he is the opposite of that like Pulisic where parents have to tell them to quit playing.
JK loved projects. 3G may not be that type. Lewis had been getting limited minutes and producing for NYC.
Not sure if anyone has been checking preseason but a lot of potential guys have been doing pretty good. Guys last night who either score or assisted: Mihailovic, Mueller, Danilo Acosta, Arriola, Ebobisse, and Baird. I see Chris Mueller as a guy who will crush it this year and get called up. Very good winger
Yeah, I was going to share the reports, especially about Mueller. Apparently his play has been great overall, not just in terms of goal-producing. May be taking a step forward after a strong year for a rookie. Gotta be cautiously optimistic though. His team sucks on paper so the service could be terrible, and it is just preseason afterall. We saw how Pulisic's and Green's regular seasons didn't anywhere close to resemble their prior form. Anyways, also heard really good things about New England homegrown and US u-20 attacker Justin Rennicks. He scored a goal against a USL side, he's being complimented for his dynamism that we saw internationally too, and it's easy to draw comparisons to Mueller last year. Seems like he'll at least be a rotational guy from the outset, which is no small accomplishment for an American attacker in MLS these days. The two teams I've personally made a point in watching are FCD and Seattle. I think they'll be the most interesting from a USNT standpoint this season. From what I've seen of them: - Hollingshead has been real solid and looks like he'll finally get a chance to lock down that LB position which would immediately put him on the national team radar. - Pomykal has looked like he's belonged, but he doesn't much resemble a 10 shirt. Would like to see more creativity from him. He's having trouble getting breathing room against men and he wasn't really a maestro type in u-20's more made combos and liked to take on players. He displays good spunk to where he might be able to play the 8, but it's a question. - Hayes is actually playing their 8. He's been workmanlike. If you don't pay attention to him you won't notice him much. I guess I can see why a club might try to better deal him. At the same time that could be a mistake because he's good positionally and does a lot of little things that don't stand out. - As far as prospects receiving lesser time..in Ferreira's case he really needs service because he's not much off the dribble. Reportedly their best finisher but haven't gotten those chances. As for Thomas Roberts, after hearing the hype, he laid an egg his first outing, but last one he came in and immediately scored a slick goal outside the box. Going to reportedly be a focal point for FCD's USL team and then probably go to Bayern in the summer. - Morris looks back from a physical perspective. They have him playing out of position as an a-wing again w/ Ruidaz at CF and he got marked out of the game by Hollingshead. He almost re-injured himself by contorting his body so he could play a ball with the outside of his right instead of his left. So another way he's back to normal. - Morris' bff Cristian Roldan is in fine form after a solid national team camp. Last season he struggled to begin the season, so that's good to see. - If Roldan doesn't eventually move up into Morris' spot that honor might well go to Handwalla Bwana. Either that or he could overtake Smith or Rodriguez. A lot of paths to him eventually starting. But I thought he looked great at taking on players, pouncing on opportunities, and tracking back to defend. Could be a breakout year, and hopefully he gets citizenship soon.
Yea it seems like there’s gunna be a lot more American attackers than last season and it’s exciting to see. I think some guys not mentioned, signed from college soccer could make some noise too during the season (Fernandez or maybe Dorsey) we’ll see
TBD. His competition is Pedroso who looked awful a week ago but is seemingly starting to round into form after off season core surgery. reports about Hollingshead are the he is the weak link defensively so far. If you watch Hollingshead every game he will wow you one game and then be spare the next. So far his consistency hurts him.
I read one random person on Twitter say it. It's bollocks. He's sniffing out attacks before they happen by rotating to cover the runner in behind. And he's seldom getting beaten 1 v. 1, blocking balls. The only questionable aspect of his performance so far has been a couple random TO's in midfield per game, and missed a golden scoring opportunity. He's been better offensively and defensively than Cannon on the other side, and better defensively than Ziegler. Healthy or injured, don't know the grounds to better deal Hollingshead for Pedroso. The eye test of many and metrics back up he deserves that spot. I think it's similar to Cameron where his role as a utility guy and evaluations from other positions get conflated with actual ability in his best positions.
https://nypost.com/2019/02/18/us-international-aaron-long-signs-new-deal-with-red-bulls/ Just months after enjoying a breakout second season with the Red Bulls, defender Aaron Long has signed a multi-year deal to keep him in New York, the club announced Monday. The United States international received a three-year contract, according to a source, with the Red Bulls using Targeted Allocation Money to make the deal possible. Stejskal on twitter was guessing about 900K per year. That's the kind of money that folds. More: Source tells me Long’s new contract puts him ahead of Tim Parker as the highest-paid domestic defender in MLS. Average annual value of deal would’ve put him in top-five among all defenders in 2018, per MLSPA numbers. Likely looking at an average north of $900k per season.— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) February 18, 2019
Hayes could be the next outstanding American CM to come out of the league. Danilo Acosta and Nani should make for a lethal left-sided attack for Orlando.
As an FCD fan, I'm not sure I buy it. I don't think he's going to be starting for FCD actually. The starting midfield trio in their 4-3-3 looks like its going to be Grueso, Bryan Acosta (new DP), and Pomykal. At least that's what I think the tea leaves are indicating to me. And I agree with @Pegasus regarding Hollingshead. He's not starting for FCD either, but is going to be a versatile bench option. Pedroso is the starting LB when fit (he's recovering from surgery right now). USMNT fans watching FCD will probably be excited about all of the young talent that's just on the cusp of breaking thru there. Last year was Reggie Cannon, who almost broke FCD's "minutes played in a season" record. In 2019 it looks like Paxton Pomykal is set up to be the breakout player. Brandon Servania looks to be the backup #6 behind Grueso (who could be gone a lot on international duty). Ferreira (whose citizenship is imminent) will see playing time on the wing and as a #9. John Nelson, their first round pick, has really impressed in preseason as a fullback (LB or RB). Thomas Roberts, Edwin Cerrillo, and Bryan Reynolds will probably see a lot of time with NTSC, but may make their MLS debuts shortly. So much young talent on FCD. Whether it translates to actually winning MLS games in 2019 is another story.............................
2019 is the year we see whether MLS has moved on to playing young players as much as the Bundesliga would. If it's close play the kid because by the end of the year he should surpass whoever he's close or tied with. Playing them also makes them more valuable. 25-35 year old starters don't have a lot of value but 16-24 year olds do and the younger the more upside and the more they are worth if they move on (if the team cashes in before their contracts are done).
If true, I guess FCD is going to keep screwing over most American footballers and in turn the US national team then as long as players are there. Hopefully these guys can find trades and transfers overseas sooner rather than later. Germany and the Nordic countries have to do one of their stated jobs of integration for them, because they're mostly talk in this department. Hollingshead and Hayes would have potential use for the national team, as would some of the youth players from success on lower levels and recent history. Message to Dallas area talent: get the early development and get out early.
My question would be, is it effective immediately, or does he need to be on that barely livable wage for the NY area of 60k for 2 more years before it kicks in? I guess either way he's guaranteed life-changing money if he gets injured. But this is the game for MLS that Roldan had to play too. Get paid dirt cheap on a 4-year deal and if you stand out in between you're incentivized to extend to protect your financial future. You need balls of steel or a cinder block where your head is supposed to be to make it all the way to free agency. In the meantime better hope the national team gives you a lifeline. Which for these guys was delayed. Could still backdoor a career in Europe if they want and the NT opps keep coming.