In a Boston Herald article last month, Steve Nicol indicated that should his camp invitees (such as Buhlmann) not pan out down in Brazil, that he'd look to bring in a new trailist this month. Assuming this would be an attacking player, likely a midfielder, anyojne have any guesses or recommendations? The Magpie.
Look for whoever Ray Hudson couldn't fit under the cap (a la Kante). Only half joking here... The Revs scouting effort/budget seems roughly in line with their travel budget. When was the last time the organization actually secured a player from outside the league that hadn't been scouted by someone else? Lessee, we had Morrales, Sunsing, Semedo...someone help me out here. I guess Cabellero and De Leon don't count (although, if you could throw them in the list would be pretty impressive)...
I don't have any guesses but since the team is practicing tomorrow in Foxborough (the bubble presumably) I think someone from these boards ought to be there and report back to us. Magpie, what does your schedule look like tomorrow ?
Here's my vote Kim Kallstrom Position: Midfielder Date of birth : 24 August, 1982 Team: Djurgardens (Sweden) Nationality: Sweden Notes: Big physical central midfielder who is a pivotal member of the BK Hacken side, scoring on a regular basis. Has had trials at Tottenham, PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and Udinese and is regarded as one of Sweden's best talents. He competed at two European U/16 Championships in 1998 and 1999, being captain in 1999. Was awarded "Comet of the Year" award for biggest revelation of year in Swedish league after this playmaker starred for Hacken. He helped them secure their top division status for another season by winning a play-off. Has played for the Swedish full international team. Signed for Djurgardens, another Swedish club after Hacken were relegated in 2001. There's also this. OK, so we may have some trouble affording him, but when he hears about the interest and commitment of the ownership, the opportunities for international exposure....
That, and Kallstrom's terrific in "Championship Manager". FWIW, a little bird tells me that the coaching staff has been underwhelmed by the quality of trialists this year. Apparently, Uribe was the best of the bunch.
Well yeah, but the Metros seem to have done quite well for themselves. The question is, to what do we attribute this underwhelming assortment of trialists?
I also think there is a very basic reality here that colors the whole picture. It seems clear that SN has a very clear and specific idea of how he wants to play and what type of player he needs to play that style--and--he's not going to be willing to settle for anything less than what he wants. Other teams are running players in and out like a Super Market. I don't think any player are being given a serious Trial by the Revs unless SN thinks he might make the team. So far none has passed his muster Looking at our small number of draft picks is just one indication of how specific and focused SN is about what he wants on the team. That having been said--we have a senior roster slot and a SI slot open--and it's getting close to show time. Where is our "Man on a Horse"?
Maybe with the "Man on the Horse"...that is somewhere else other than here. Man, that one's going to enjoy a shelf life as long as "It's all Big Frank's (Stapleton's) fault" ;-) The Magpie
Based on our previous "man on a horse", Nowak comes pretty close to qualifying. They do need a central midfielder, though, and time is getting short. The "scrimmages" in CR are coming up, and the part of the season that they (kind of) care about starts shortly after. Their track record for bringing in talent from outside the league isn't that great. Hopefully they can come up with something in CR during their paid vacation.
How about Mario Rosas? Metros released him. DC was interested in him. He is without a European team. Get him up to Foxboro ASAP.
Could it be Paulista mentioned below?? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Originally posted by Danizinho Probably the best midfielder playing for the Revs never left the country - Paulista, apparently, was the real deal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on Rosas - Let's Beat Ray to the punch D.C. United may sign Rosas By John Haydon THE WASHINGTON TIMES D.C. United is close to beating out the New York/New Jersey MetroStars for Spanish midfielder Mario Alberto Rosas, who has played with Spanish giant Barcelona and Alvares in Spain's top league, La Liga. If United lands the talented Rosas, the club can thank United forward and assistant coach Hristo Stoitchkov, who knows the youngster from their days together with Barcelona in 1998, and who, according to a source, spoke with Rosas this week. Before joining Alvares, Rosas, 22, was a prime youth prospect with Barcelona. Although he didn't earn a regular first-team spot, he did score 30 goals for the reserve team from 1998 to 2000. The 5-foot-5, 145-pounder looked certain to join the MetroStars this week, but the deal was held up as the club waited for Barcelona to waive all rights, should he be traded in the future. Alvares, which paid Barcelona $600,000 for Rosas, already had waived the player's rights, but Barcelona was holding out. It is well known that Stoitchkov, who won numerous titles with Barcelona, is respected by Spanish players and has the ear of Barcelona executives. Rosas trained with the MetroStars all last month. He scored a goal in the club's 4-0 scrimmage with the United States under-17 team in Bradenton, Fla., last week and played in the team's 2-0 loss to Chicago. United coach Ray Hudson, who did not return to the Washington area from Florida with his players this week, presumably watched both games. Earlier in this week, Hudson said there was a "tremendous bargain" — a player willing join to United rather than another team — but did not identify him. MetroStars general manager Nick Sakiewicz told New Jersey's Herald News on Wednesday that the Rosas deal was in jeopardy. A day later, the club acquired former United midfielder Richie Williams, a player similar in style to Rosas. Rosas — who was loaned from Alaves to Salamanca, a second-division Spanish outfit, for the 2001-2002 season — also had a brief tryout with English club Fulham last year. He is currently without a team because the European transfer window closed in January and is willing to play for less money than he could earn in Europe.
It does seem odd that in Brazil, where they can scrape together three reserve teams each of which can kick our butts all over the field, we can't find a midfielder or two who want first team action and a steady paycheck. As for Rosas, there was at least one rumor that Bradley didn't like him, because he wouldn't play D. He sounds like the Spanish Khodadad Azizi. If true, I hope DCU does sign him, though heaven knows where they would find the cash, or the SI slot (Stoitchkov, Nelsen, Ivanov.)
Regarding Mario (that's how Rosas is known internationally), he would qualify as a Transitional International (TI) so he wouldn't take up an SI spot yet. His salary is a bit of conjecture, but the numbers I've seen suggested are around 140k or 150k. I am doubtful that DC United has that kind of money left under the cap, so if United did make a play for him, I'd expect someone to be traded. My guess is that it might be someone like Brandon Prideaux, who Colorado, KC, Columbus and a few other teams might be interested in acquiring. That said, I still doubt that Marion ends up in DC. And frankly, I think the Metros should get him, as he was their prospect. -Tron
I hear the REVS are waiting for the spring BSSC leagues to kick off to really look for talent..........
With apologies to Rodan, wasn't Mario going to be an allocation to the Metros? As for us, I'd agree that Brazil should have no shortage of the attacking type of player that Nicol's looking for.
My point is, what does this have to do with the Revs (and cripes, can you see the NY sports headlines now, "Super Mario Get's a Kick Out of New York", for this reason alone I hope he stays mainly in Spain). I think that's the kind of thinking that got us.....Cate. I would think CR would have some good prospects. Of course that's the kind of thinking that us William "the Wonderling" Sunsing. So we'll see (or not).
Re: More on Rosas - Let's Beat Ray to the punch The timing of this is all wrong. The Willams trade was part of the Moreno/Pope/Petke/Allocation deal which was quite some time ago, November or December at the latest. This Mario business is much more recent, like in the last 2-3 weeks. And I was under the impression that Mario was an attacking MF, not a player in the mold of Richie Williams, the ankle-biting midget of death. Tom