If there's one keeper I hate more than Causey (during the Zenga years anyway), its Garlick. It would be a blip in the Revs tradition of aquiring decent goalkeepers (even Causey had one good season). Trading Kamler would be a huge mistake. He provides the depth we need up front and he's perfectly willing to fill other team roles as well. If we're going to cut anyone wh's contributed to this team's success, we should make sure at first that they are guaranteed to bring in someone who can make the same as, if not more of a, contribution to this team. And quite frankly, Kamler wont bring in anyone with his dedication to this team unless we include someone else in the deal as well. As for JMM, as much as I loved him and was completely upset that he left, the team has definitely moved on and I have to wonder how much of a salary drain he is sitting out most of the time and being called away to the national squad (not like that's a bad thing). He hasn't really done much for the revs this season. It just seems he's the most likely to be gone this post season.
-Chris Brown is a journeyman, period. He had the game of his life before getting hurt. Name his 2nd best MLS game ... -JMM will have to swallow a big pay cut to come back -he'll have to finance the raises for Leonard and Joseph. -I can foresee a few significant trades happening in the offseason. The injuries have shown that some players are ready to become full-time starters. It'd be pretty hard to put them back on the bench after the season they've had. I wouldn't be totally shocked to see Franchino and/or Twellman traded -if the right deal presented itself. -If NE were interested in either player mentioned, they would need another foreign slot (Fabbro, Kante?). If would be somewhat harsh to say bye to Fabbro after he's played some incredibly unselfish ball to help the team (dummies leading to goals don't show up in the stats), but it's a cold business.
Well here's a question I have: does anyone think that Joe-Max may take time off/retire? I only say this in light of the recent court problems facing his other professional venture and the time it may require to fight out the issue in court? The Magpie
I think it is a bit early to assign the Revs the same quality of players that the Fire and DC United teams had before they were broken up. Yet, at the same time, there may be enough pressure at the top end of the salary scale to force the same sort of situation on the Revs during the off season. If MLS is to continue its' progress as far as quality and depth is concerned there is going to have to be a significant addition to the firm cap in order to compensate players for improvement and achievements. Hopefully, the suits will understand this and we can begin to deal with the squad concept that exists in the rest of the world. Why, on earth, should Nicol & Co. be penalized for developing a fairly deep team by MLS standards. It seems to me that such enterprise should be rewarded across the board. JIM DOW
Thinking about the $$$ that might become available if they don't keep JMM, does anyone know what kind of deals Noonan , Leonard and Joseph have? the Globe mentioned the other day that Joseph is playing for the minimum. It will take a lot more than that to keep him on board. And what about Pepe?
Rkupp makes excellent points. JMM will be 33 when the season starts next year. MLS has not been a cozy environment for aging strikers. Brown, on the other hand will only be 27. It comes down to who will be available. With the potential for injuries and call-ups, a third top-notch striker would be very helpful (I know - I'm doing an about-face here.) The Joey vs. Marshall question is very interesting. Both can play wing mid, but SN seems to see both as backs. Is there room for both? At this point JF is a much better passer, while ML is a much better man-marker. One of the constant themes in MLS team-building is replacing SI's with non-SI's (including GC-holders.) Pepe is irreplaceable. Both Fabbro and Kante have earned their keep; as likeable as they both are, I could easily imagine American replacements. Kante will be 24. (Llamosa will be 34, but he still looks solid out there.) Fabbro will be 27. The nice thing is that we don't have to feel desperate to make a change. I'm still puzzled as to exactly what picks, discoveries, etc. we get this winter, but I suppose we have months to figure that out. If we could acquire a star at any position what would it be? Are there any decent p-40 candidates who aren't going to play for ManU reserves next year?
Noonan and Joseph have both earned more money, but in the past all of the first year players were signed to multi-year deals.
I guess we can wait till after our last match of the season (and Cup Win) to sink our teeth into the above but it does sure feel great to be going into an off season with a Roster that needs little changing. At the moment I can't think of a player who has not stepped up and shown that they belong. Finding a way to keep the chemistry going, dealing with Cap realities and up-grading when the opportunity presents itself will be a real challange for SN et al. I think he's shown the skill to make good selections and good trades so this should be fun to watch. That having been said---I do know for sure that we have at least two first round draft picks and an Allocation for the sale of Hernandez. I know that SN has passed on P-40's in the past but with as many solid players on our senior roster I'll bet money we take two P-40's with out draft picks unless we trade them away. Wow, what a wonderful set of problems/questions to ponder (Huge Smile)
Maybe we'll see Twellman-type renegotiation where they get significant raises in exchange for adding a few years onto their contracts. Joseph in particular deserves it. Noonan is probably making decent money as he was a first-round pick, as opposed to Joseph who had no leverage coming back from a failed tryout in Europe.
Count me as someone who would be totally shocked if Twellman was traded - it'd be marketing suicide. Even if his production could be made up for by Noonan/Brown/Fabbro/mystery forward, he's the only name that the Revs really have. I can't imagine they'd let him go - it'd be PR suicide. Franchino, on the other hand, could be trade bait. It's nice to have a defender that you don't worry about having him starting a punch-up. I agree about Fabbro and JMM too. Fabbro is expendable if the Revs need a foreign slot, and JMM has got to be thinking about retiring after the injuries of the last several years. And aside from needing the money to cover raises for Noonan, Leonard, and Joseph, the Revs'll also need slots to bring in some youth. I don't see Ralston, Kamler, and Llamosa going all season in 2004 - the Revs need some understudy flank midfielders and central defenders. Jason Moore may cut it on the left, but Nicol should be looking for someone new on the right (and not Noonan - he should be a forward) and in the back.
Fabbro vs. Kante will be an interesting decision, if we do find another SI that we like. Fabbro has played better but we have a ton of forwards; Kante's had some rough moments but we're thin at the back. Regarding $$ for the raises, JMM will certainly have to take a lot less money to come back, if he comes back at all, and the same is probably true for Leo Cullen. I'd be shocked if Nicol traded Franchino, his first choice for captain, even if Leonard has played well.
From the Globe's article by FDA: Argentine striker Emiliano Romay has been training with the Revolution. Romay played for Boca Juniors and Huracan in Argentina, OGC Nice in France, Santiago Wanderers in Chile, and CD Saprissa in Costa Rica. Romay and Cancela were dropped after Mexican entrepreneur Jorge Vergara instituted a domestic-players-only policy at Saprissa . . . Uruguayan forward Claudio Ciccia, 31, who scored 41 goals last season for Cartagines in Costa Rica, is on the verge of joining an MLS team, according to his agent, Elias Soley. Ciccia's likely destination is either the Los Angeles Galaxy or San Jose Earthquakes. Not that the agents are always right, but how was this decided? The Galaxy have Elliott, Serna, and Fish. The Quakes have DeRo, Ekelund and Faria. (Note that each group of three includes two forwards.) Do any of the journalists have anything on Romay?
A cursory web search reveals that Romay isn't going to be visiting France in the near future.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/1260498.stm
considering this guy played with Cancela (assuming), i think it would actually be a good pickup. Why not add more flare to this hard ass team?
Cause I think it would be prudent to at least change half of the most-goals-scored/most-goals-allowed situation. If we pick him up, we need to get some really quality defende to back him up. I would be alright with dumping Kante, if there was something good waiting in the wings. However, it does water the mouth to see a Twellman-Friend of Cancela front duo.
On the loose If JMM were still able to get loose as often as he once could, then there'd be no reason for anyone to want to lose him.
I was wondering why Ciccia would be going to LA or SJ, given that neither team is hurting for forwards. USsoccerUK hints at a possible solution: "If either [the Los Angeles Galaxy or the San Jose Earthquakes] is indeed interested in Ciccia, an allocation would be needed - or a trade engineered. Both the Galaxy and the Earthquakes are loaded with forwards, and other teams could come into the picture - with the MetroStars a likely candidate. If Clint Mathis, Jaime Moreno, and Andrzej Juskowiak leave the club during the offseason, Bob Bradley's team would need forwards to fill the void. Only a small fee (around $50,000) needed to pry the striker from Cartagines." Bradley: "Everyone who plans to come back next year take one step forward...ah...not so fast there, Clint."