From Soccer America's Confidential: Um... excuse me? We are in the markets for forwards? Seems to me like we have a ridiculous amount of forwards. 1) Razov 2) Faria 3) Ralph 4) Jaqua 5) Dipsy and possibly 6) Beasley
We need an attacking midfielder. If we were looking for a forward I hope it wouldn't be chung or henderson who have seen their better days.
I'm not quite sure we need an attacking midfielder. Last week's line up seemed to work. And then again, there is always Andy Williams. With the young Capano on reserve too.
Last week's lineup did seem to work, but Colorado is also pretty bad.... so it still remains to be seen if we can score against a talented and well-composed defense. Also, we do have an over-abundance of forwards, but how many of them have proven that they are good (in regard to MLS standards)? Razov has shown what it takes and Ralph has shown a lot of promise, but beyond that... Faria struggled to score or create scoring opportunities in the first games and Dipsy and Jaqua haven't seen enough playing time to say one way or the other. I would say that if we could trade to get a proven forward then we should (we could possibly trade away some of our excess youth at the position). From what I saw of the game, the Rapids do not have anyone who is a proven player at the forward position, but I'm speaking in terms of general talent acquistion. With what we have right now: I think we should stick with Ralph up front and try to get some more playing time for Jaqua... with his name being touted as a potential future premier-leage player, and based on the few minutes that he's played, I think Jaqua has shown a lot of promise. Dipsy??? How is he going to fit in? Can we play Ralph as an attacking midfielder and the Dips-bomb as a forward? those are my jumbled thoughts
I agree, our pool of forwards is large enough. It's either trade for a proven forward power or keep searching for the forward that best compliments Razov within our ranks. Colorado's forward third didn't show anything worth trading for whatsoever, and, seeing that they have yet to win, have yet to this season all together. The promise for a strong forward is there in all of our young forwards, but they all have yet to move past the "promise" stage. However, as long as our defense continues to play well, I can be patient.
Quantity does not mean quality. If Faria's your second best then you are in the market for a forward.
Add me to the list of people who would question Dave's sanity if the Fire were truly in the marklet for another forward. Heck, I'm not so sure we even need another o-mid right now if Mapp keeps playing well. We'll see where we really stand after we're done with our three game road trip with games against both the Quakes and the Mutts. If we can walk out of Spartan and the Swamp with decent results, I'd say we don't really need to make any trades.
Also, some of the league leaders are primed for a fall. San Jose's got some issues, at least this week, that could knock them off their stride (no Onstad, Dayak, Ching). Columbus has hit a bit of a rough patch. Metro is likely losing Howard after this week, and maybe Mathis, too. Granted, we could lose DMB and Boca to Europe, and those two and Armas will be gone for stretches, but with the emergence of Mapp and Pause, and one former mod's favorite Orlando Perez in the back, we look like we're in a better position for the long haul. Later, COZ
So Carrieri's 11 goals and 5 assists with only 18 starts last year isn't proven enough for you? Or how about SPencer's 19 goals in 39 games in the MLS?
Mathis might go to Europe? Let's not get crazy here. One good game against MLS's worst team does not an "emergence" make. Yes, I thought the "kids" played well against Colorado, but I also think the end of this road trip is the absolute soonest we can start to declare any of our rookies "the real deal" and not care about jettisoning DMB, Armas and Boca. Thye jury is still most definitely out about where the Fire and especially the Fire's rookies really stand against quality opposition in MLS.
There's always Mathis-to-Europe talk in the offseason over there. If he does well in the USMNT competitions over the summer, it could happen. Plus, he can go on a free transfer soon, if I'm not mistaken. My point wasn't that DMB, Boca and Armas are replaceable, just that we've got perhaps more cover for those positions than other clubs who also might be losing guys. Although I still think Mapp and Jacqua have a lot to offer if and when they get on the field at the same time. I agree, the next couple of games will be critical to see if we can contend for the top of the East, or just stay the course ahead of DC and make the playoffs. But back to the trade talk, is there a position (attacking mid notwithstanding, as those guys are few and far between in MLS) that we really need a significant upgrade? I wouldn't mind some more cover for Boca, myself, but Perez can probably handle it. Later, COZ
Pause has had quite a bit more than one good game against MLS's worst team at this point. He's started four games this season, and has logged more minutes in a Fire uniform than Faria has.
When you talk about losing guys to Europe... It looks like the MetroStars may lose both Howard and Mathis. We could just as easily lose both DMB & Bocanegra. Howard, Mathis & DMB could all go midseason but Boca wouldn't likely go until the winter transfer -- but he COULD go sooner because he'll probably be cap eligible by the end of July. Are there any other teams that are in serious jeopardy of losing a player to Europe? There certainly aren't other teams in jeopardy of losing 2 are there?
Fair enough but I was talking about all the rookies, not just Pause. As far as Logan himself is concerned, for my money we won't know if Pause is "the real deal" until he stifles a decent opposing midfield without Uncle Chris there to help him out. For now, I agree with you that the initial signs look very, very good but you never really know until the true "baptism by fire" (no pun intended).
It will be interesting to see if Pause and Marsch will make a good team in midfield. An Armas-less, DMB-less midfield should by then look like: Williams Perez, Pause, Marsch, Mapp